High cost of living, high taxes, and overcrowded cities would have me looking elsewhere. You can get similar climate and resources elsewhere and live a far better lifestyle, IMO, and have plenty of extra cash around to visit whenever you want.
I understand where OP is coming from. I live in OC and to find anything satisfactory, you're looking at least .5MM.
I would like to move from my beloved SoCal to FL. In fact, Bogleheads, enlighten me: Why would someone want to stay in SoCal, with its high expenses/density, when one could live on the water in FL, and actually use the water itself (as in swimming)?
Friends from FL say SoCal is much nicer, but I just don't get it. When I visit, I love FL and I'd rather be close to East coast big cities than West coast big cities.
I could never live in Florida. The humidity is insane. What's wrong with swimming in SoCal ocean?
NorCalDad wrote:SLO is at the top of my list as a place to retire in 25 years. Weather is great, close to the coast, cultural events at the university and an easy drive to Paso Robles/Santa Barbara County wineries. It's easier for us living in California already since our current home is worth roughly the same as the kinds of homes we'd retire into in SLO.
I know California isn't nirvana, but I still think I wouldn't live anywhere else. sscritic's point is well taken, though - you have to plan your nest egg accordingly. There are cheaper places to live in neighboring states, but also tradeoffs. All depends on what you want in retirement.
San Luis Obispo? (had to google it)
SLO is nice and many love it - but it's a very rural area albeit with a large university.
Have lived in California for 60+ years. Road the Silicon Valley real estate market but now live in Sonoma County.
What about renting a house? You are older now (like me ). Renting could give you some real flexibility but I haven't looked at the economics of it.
There are small coastal communities without easy commute access to big cities, so maybe lower priced. It would take some poking around to find bargains. Maybe try a vacation around this concept?
One 55+ adult retirement community I've heard good things about is Oakmont, CA.
BlueEars wrote:Have lived in California for 60+ years. Road the Silicon Valley real estate market but now live in Sonoma County.
What about renting a house? You are older now (like me ). Renting could give you some real flexibility but I haven't looked at the economics of i
There are small coastal communities without easy commute access to big cities, so maybe lower priced. It would take some poking around to find bargains. Maybe try a vacation around this concept?
One 55+ adult retirement community I've heard good things about is Oakmont, CA.
I have been following this thread with interest because we are considering renting a furnished apartment near our daughter who lives in manhattan bch., for a month or two in winter. After seriously considering buying something there we feel we like our house and where we live near boston best and so looking at this option.
In addition to SLO, trying looking at southern Santa Cruz County or northern Monterey county, the San Lorenzo Valley or maybe San Juan Bautista. Not cheap, but a townhouse in one of these places might work for you.
I could never live in Florida. The humidity is insane. What's wrong with swimming in SoCal ocean?
I can understand the summer humidity, but I've been in Florida (central and southern) in the middle of winter several times and it was quite pleasant with warmer ocean temps than SoCal's. I've been to SoCal plenty of times and I think what he meant by saying swimming in rough, is that the SoCal beaches are extremely crowded, especially during peak times (summer months).
OP: how about renting a home for some time during the winters in a place such as Florida or SoCal? Then perhaps stay at your current home during fall and spring times? Another possibly good compromise would be to move to Arizona or Utah and have relatively close driving proximity to California. Just some thoughts-
I live in a mid size city (250,000) in northern california. It is within a 2 hour drive of the coast (Monterrey, Santa Cruz), San Francisco/ Silicon Valley, Napa Valley,Yosemite and the vast Sierra Mountains, Lake Tahoe. The weather is fantastic, very little rain. Warm summer days but cool evening breezes. Rarely gets below freezing. Golf, hike etc all year round. I moved here from what is consistently rated as the worlds most livable city: Melbourne , Australia. But I also find northern California a great place to live. My house is a nice house with an inground pool, overlooking a golf course and next to a lovely 10 mile bike trail that runs alongside a wooded creek. The current value on Zillow? $180,000. So it is very possible for a retiree to enjoy the benefits of California without a high price tag. Maybe not if you want to live within 20 minutes from the beach. But California has WAY more to offer than just the beaches. I wouldnt mind living next to the beach, but I would prefer to keep my retirement savings for more fun stuff than just housing. For what I would pay in extra coastal property taxes I could instead get beachside motels for a couple of months a year , and explore lots of different beaches rather than just live at one.
My mom recently retired to Walnut Creek CA. She is definitely at the lower end of the income. She retired to a retirement community Rossmoor. The condo she live in is actually a co-op. Because it is a co-op, it was actually pretty cheap for near the bay area ($200K). The only issue is that demand seemed to have picked up in the last year or two and now the seller often demand cash instead of a mortgage. The place is rather small, and a downside from her old house, but large in my opinion for 1 person.
In any case, her taxes actually drop because the tax is progressive. Utilities also dropped. There are some downsides, medical appears to be more expensive than PA and so is the food cost.
She spends her time wandering the community and doing activities. She doesn't participate in activities that cost a lot of money.
A family member of mine lives in a great little mobile home park in Tustin, CA. There is a pool and a "rec room" with a pool table. Very quiet. close to the freeways. 20 minutes to the beach, Disneyland, Angel's Stadium, The Pond, etc.
The monthly space rent is $700 or so per month. So take that into account. This example is only $57k but you'd have to use your extra $200k to help pay the $700+/month indefinitely. $700x12 = $8400 per year.
Let's assume you bought a $250,000 home. You'd probably have to pay around $3,000 per year in property taxes. So subtract $3,000 from $7200 and you're left with $4200 in additional cost to live in the park.
$4200/$200,000 = 2.1% real return needed to cover the additional cost of the space rent assuming the space rent goes up with inflation...
... i think the water bills are paid for too.
The way I invest my money is not the right way to invest, it's the right way for ME to invest.
Our son lives in LA and we were considering retiring from from Wisconsin to LA or San Diego. Too much traffic. We also like Palm Desert/Palm Springs but it is too hot. We really are east coast people having been raised in MA and NJ and living in DC/NoVA for 30 years before our Midwestern sojourn. Other than our son, all of our family is on on the east coast. So we have decided to move to Hilton Head SC. The sale of our downtown Chicago condo closed on Friday. My wife retired in April and I'm retiring on July 3rd. We will put our Madison condo up for sale, and then we are our of here. We do not want to spent one more winter in Wisconsin. No more -14 degree days.
Bustoff wrote:Where we live in the midwest the winters are cold and the summers are unbearably hot and humid. Played golf on Thursday but it was so hot and humid it's not enjoyable -- and it's only June.
My plan is to live on a lake in Missouri (Lake of the Ozarks), April - December... And then rent for 3 months in warmer climates from January-March... One year Florida, one year California, one year Mexico, etc.
Being on the lake helps with the heat (we usually go out early in the morning, or later in the evening on the hottest days)...
Pretty affordable this way. Renting a small condo for a few months isn't as confining as living there forever.
High cost of living, high taxes, and overcrowded cities would have me looking elsewhere. You can get similar climate and resources elsewhere and live a far better lifestyle, IMO, and have plenty of extra cash around to visit whenever you want.
I understand where OP is coming from. I live in OC and to find anything satisfactory, you're looking at least .5MM.
I would like to move from my beloved SoCal to FL. In fact, Bogleheads, enlighten me: Why would someone want to stay in SoCal, with its high expenses/density, when one could live on the water in FL, and actually use the water itself (as in swimming)?
Friends from FL say SoCal is much nicer, but I just don't get it. When I visit, I love FL and I'd rather be close to East coast big cities than West coast big cities.
In my experience, the main difference from Florida to SoCal is bugs... How come there's no bugs in SoCal? We stay there with family occasionally, and they just leave the windows open all day long with that nice breeze from the ocean coming in (they live about 3-4 blocks away). Mosquitos would be all over you if you tried that in Florida.
We have visited/vacationed in the Tustin area several times in Orange County. We had a beautiful 3 bedroom condo that is probably close to $500k now. But the neighborhood near Tustin Ranch (golf course, shopping, etc) was quiet and beautiful. A person with cash money in 2009-2010 could have had some awesome options. That is the general area we are targeting. It may not ever happen, but making a list of the places you could live is fun. Here are a few others:
Tustin, CA
Marathon, FL
Anthem, AZ
Palm Springs, CA
Gulf Shores, AL
There are no bad ideas, just many many ideas you don't implement.
HomerJ wrote: How come there's no bugs in SoCal? We stay there with family occasionally, and they just leave the windows open all day long with that nice breeze from the ocean coming in (they live about 3-4 blocks away). Mosquitos would be all over you if you tried that in Florida.
No rain for 6-7 months in the summer will do that.
We've lived in CA all our lives and retired from expensive Portola Valley in the hills above Stanford to expensive Montecito, a small town adjacent to Santa Barbara. SLO might be a good choice, but it does get hot there. For me, a better choice would be Oxnard or Ventura, beach towns with mainly agricultural bases. Both are close to PCH and a splendid drive down the coast through Malibu to Santa Monica. The only big city along the coast on your way to Huntington Beach is Long Beach, and it's not that big. A short drive up 101 will get you to Carpinteria, reminiscent of a 50s beach town, Montecito, and Santa Barbara. I don't know what $2.5 K will buy in Oxnard, but it might be pretty decent.
dbphd wrote: A short drive up 101 will get you to Carpinteria, reminiscent of a 50s beach town, Montecito, and Santa Barbara.
Do you grow orchids? My father used to drive down the coast from the Bay Area to buy orchids in Carpinteria. They even have what is called the California Orchid Trail (a marketing term, for sure):
Cal-Orchid, Inc. - Santa Barbara, CA
Gallup & Stribling Orchids - Carpinteria, CA
Orchids Royale - Carpinteria, CA
Hatfield Orchids - Oxnard, CA
Santa Barbara Orchid Estate - Santa Barbara, CA
Westerlay Orchids - Carpinteria, CA
Zuma Canyon Orchids - Malibu, CA
I am not retired (not even close!), but recently moved to CA. If you're flexible on looking into northern CA, I would strongly suggest you look into Sacramento - we love it here! It's an easy 90 mins drive to SF bay area without the crazy housing prices. In my opinion (after having lived in SF and LA for a few years), Sacramento is the most 'bogleheadish' big city in CA.
We grow orchids only on our balcony, but they do thrive here. We live about a block from the beach where morning overcast is common during the summer. We occasionally shop at some of the commercial orchid vendors in Carpinteria. The road behind the commercial flower fields north (actually west, because the coast is south in this area) of Carpinteria has become lined with large estates with substantial horse facilities. The polo fields are nearby, and it's sort of an extension of Montecito.
There are so many places in California where $250K will buy something decent. There are even places quite near to the beach in Northern CA that can be had for this price. Also, beautiful mountain cabins with views in this range. It's simply a matter of looking.
In Southern CA, San Diego is more affordable than much of Orange County and generally nicer. Of course you are not going to be within walking distance of the beach.
jay22 wrote:I am not retired (not even close!), but recently moved to CA. If you're flexible on looking into northern CA, I would strongly suggest you look into Sacramento - we love it here! It's an easy 90 mins drive to SF bay area without the crazy housing prices. In my opinion (after having lived in SF and LA for a few years), Sacramento is the most 'bogleheadish' big city in CA.
Sacramento is amazing! I've lived in Natomas since 2011 and just love all that midtown has to offer!
jay22 wrote:I am not retired (not even close!), but recently moved to CA. If you're flexible on looking into northern CA, I would strongly suggest you look into Sacramento - we love it here! It's an easy 90 mins drive to SF bay area without the crazy housing prices. In my opinion (after having lived in SF and LA for a few years), Sacramento is the most 'bogleheadish' big city in CA.
I agree that Sacramento is very "Bogleheadish." One of the few places left in California where professionals without exorbitant salaries can sock away BH-recommended amounts of money for retirement/college and live near good schools with a short commute. If we lived in the Bay Area or L.A., so much more of our net worth would be tied up in our home rather than our investment accounts. Sacramento flies under the radar, but it's a livable, affordable place to raise kids with great restaurants and recreational opportunities that lacks the traffic or headaches of larger urban areas.
There are popular retirement communities where you could get a home for about $300,000. That said, I still want to retire in SLO because we'd like to be closer to the ocean and try something different after we're done working and raising kids.
I could never live in Florida. The humidity is insane. What's wrong with swimming in SoCal ocean?
I can understand the summer humidity, but I've been in Florida (central and southern) in the middle of winter several times and it was quite pleasant with warmer ocean temps than SoCal's. I've been to SoCal plenty of times and I think what he meant by saying swimming in rough, is that the SoCal beaches are extremely crowded, especially during peak times (summer months).
I find that a lot of people are too picky about the water being "too cold" in California, thus I never have a problem finding a spot to swim in the Pacific. It's definitely a lot warmer down in Southern part of Mexico (further from Gulf of Alaska)
In Southern CA, San Diego is more affordable than much of Orange County and generally nicer.
San Diego County is lovely - not cheap though. I think a condo in Encinitas 5-10 blocks from the beach would be around 500k?
Living right next to the beach is pretty cool but can have its drawbacks. Two I can think of are salt air corrosion and tsunamis.
For us it takes maybe 1/2 hour to get to the beach on a beautiful country road through wine country.
To find a really good location, good for your lifestyle, requires some detective work. Some initial web studies are probably useful. Once a general local is found, the next step might be to set up a real estate preview with a good agent in advance of traveling to the area. Just some overall thoughts, hope it helps.
It's not the nicest town in the world, but it's next door to San Francisco and close to surfing and hiking. If you sort by cheapest price you see a few houses for ~$250k
It all depends on what you want to give up. I think you already know that acreage is something you have to give up to go from just about anywhere to the populated areas of California.
Work is the curse of the drinking class - Oscar Wilde
California is bigger than some countries. There are many places and climates from which to choose.
I live in the Bay Area (the East Bay) in a 55 unit building with a 92 walkability rating and a view of a Lake in the middle of the city. Units have sold in the $300-450k range recently, but 25 minutes away is a terrific retirement community, Rossmore, described above, where some units might be more affordable.
I just took a walk this morning along the Bay shoreline, a short drive from my home. It was great! But if you want Southern California coast or desert living, or mountains, or acreage, that's a different animal.
Regardless, if you're serious about moving "to California," you need to do a lot of research and local travel. It's a very big state!
"What does not destroy me, makes me stronger." Nietzsche
ok, we've been thinking the same thing as OP - I have friends who live in VERY NICE manufactured homes in Palm Springs - about $120K - yes, they have A/C but use swamp cooler sometimes to save money. I would have a problem with all that heat. I think you can find condos in Orange County for under 150K and also - have you considered Las Vegas - or Henderson? Very desirable locations. I understand what you mean - you dream of it, but we can only save what we can save. My husband and I plan on staying in the Midwest for the time being and possibly renting a furnished condo for a month here and there. It's tough to part with the big bucks and it's a huge change. Consider Nevada - it's so close to everything and when you live out there (as I had previously) you just take all these weekend trips. Best wishes on pursuing your dreams!
dbphd wrote: For me, a better choice would be Oxnard or Ventura, beach towns with mainly agricultural bases. Both are close to PCH and a splendid drive down the coast through Malibu to Santa Monica. The only big city along the coast on your way to Huntington Beach is Long Beach, and it's not that big.
I don't mean to quibble, but, that is a bit misleading. As far as I am concerned it is one large city all the way from Malibu to Huntington Beach even though it is given different names like Santa Monica, Venice, Marina Del Rey, Westchester, El Segundo, Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo and Seal Beaches.
BlueEars wrote:Living right next to the beach is pretty cool but can have its drawbacks. Two I can think of are salt air corrosion and tsunamis.
Perhaps. My partner is so averse to flooding, landslides, and other 'scary unusual water events' that it will probably prevent me from ever attaining the goal of beach/lake/river - front property of any kind.
What can I say, California is the Golden State, and gold ain't cheap.
Remember, California is
where bowers of flowers
bloom in the spring
each morning at dawning
birdies sing at everything
a sunkissed miss said, "Don't be late!"
that's why I can hardly wait
open up that golden gate
California, Here I Come
Actually, a lot of us would like to close that golden gate, so, OP, you are right, California is too expensive. Stay right where you are.
P.S. We are still the home of Sriracha, and from what I have heard, homes right next to the factory are not that expensive.
ThatGuy wrote:It's not the nicest town in the world, but it's next door to San Francisco and close to surfing and hiking. If you sort by cheapest price you see a few houses for ~$250k
It all depends on what you want to give up. I think you already know that acreage is something you have to give up to go from just about anywhere to the populated areas of California.
Those are mobile homes at that price.
The cheapest house that isn't a condo is $450k in Daly City.
The average home price in Daly City is $658k, according to Zillow.
BlueEars wrote:Living right next to the beach is pretty cool but can have its drawbacks. Two I can think of are salt air corrosion and tsunamis.
Perhaps. My partner is so averse to flooding, landslides, and other 'scary unusual water events' that it will probably prevent me from ever attaining the goal of beach/lake/river - front property of any kind.
I would think the bigger problem for people moving and living there in the future will be non-water events, meaning drought and the wildfires it brings, with economic and political costs as various groups and regions battle for an increasingly scarce resource.
I think the OP should consider renting, especially he is not sure where in California he wants to live.
The price to rent in California is overall not particularly financially favorable to buyers now, IMO.
Prop 13 favors buyers in the long term, as property taxes will be relatively stable in the long term.
But buying now to retire also means committing to stable, but high property taxes.
Many long-term landlords can afford to rent out their properties for less than what it costs to buy, because they bought their properties such a long time ago, and are paying very little in property taxes under Prop 13. They can undercut new landlords that way, who are paying much more in property taxes.
Of course, as a renter, you will be subject to the rental market's variations. Rents went up significantly during the subprime mortgage crisis since 2008, because all those former homeowners still had to live somewhere - and they rented. Now the sales prices are going back up, and the rental prices not as much except in a few crazy areas (SF) where both are going way up.
As an example of what I am talking about, in 1997 I rented a 750 sq ft 1 BR apartment in Santa Clara. It cost $1200/month then. I can't find a place in the same complex for rent now, but similar size is between $1700 - $2100/month now on craigslist. And there are some 2 BR/900 sq ft for rent too in that price range too.
Now, I know this is not an area you are considering living in. But over that 17 year period, that's only a rate of appreciation of between 2 and 2.5% each year, which is much less than the appreciation for property prices which is closer to 5.5% annually for that same period in that same city for a townhouse I bought in 1997 for $228500 and now valued on zillow at $559k.
You might want to study historical rent prices in areas that you are considering living in, and see if you can live with the rate of rent increase. A 2-2.5% rate of increase might be acceptable, IMO as your portfolio might well achieve that.
It's not that far from the 2% maximum annual increases in property taxes under prop 13 (but they actually increased much less overall - that is just a max). Maintenance and insurance costs may increase more than 2% annually as well if you are a homeowner.
Depending on your tax situation, renting may work out better than owning too. Even if you bought a house in CA for cash and didn't have a mortgage and thus no mortgage interest to deduct, you may not be able to fully deduct your property tax for purposes of federal (and maybe state) income taxes. Whereas your landlord will be able to, for sure, which impacts the amount of the rent.
We vacation up in Carpinteria,CA and the Los Osos area a few times a year. Sleepy little coastal towns
that we just love. In talking to the locals and looking at the RE listings, the home prices are
very reasonable compared to So Cal.
Milano wrote:
6 blocks from the beach (now called Silicon Beach thanks to Google in Venice) $245,000 in 1998. If I sell I cannot move back in the neighborhood.
Why?
Your neighbors have blackballed you for some reason???
steve_14 wrote:Typically you want to spend your working years in the high wage area then retire to the low wage one, not the other way around. Unfortunately, almost all of coastal CA, even those away from the urban centers, are expensive, so you'll have to make some compromises, and spend $500K+ even for a modest condo. Depends on what's important to you. You will save on utilities.
ding.
the route i see a vast majority of people around me are taking are to work your career in ny, then flee to tenn,sc,nc,fla with the fat pension and retirement and live easy.
staying in ny at retirement is brutal- the taxes just eat up too much of most fixed incomes and the benefit of earning a higher wage is gone so the only reason that keeps people around is attachment to friends/ family.
as far as CA- nice to visit- incompatible with my retirement $ wise.
Agreed with the people suggesting SLO, though the climate (and options for entertainment) won't be the same as the big cities.
Another suggestion is to live inland just a bit in an area with terrible schools. For example, portions of Hawthorne/Gardena/Lawndale are just a few miles from the beach, but you can get actual houses in the $300s, as long as you don't need it to be too big. There are some high-crime areas in those cities (as you head north and east), so try to stay closer to the 405. These aren't going to be gorgeous million-dollar Huntington Beach houses, but the location/weather should serve you well.
Sacramento area has reasonable housing prices and is big enough to have all the right shops, restaurants, entertainment and medical facilities. The surrounding foothill towns like Roseville, Folsom, El Dorado Hills have low crime and are desirable neighborhoods. You're also close to Tahoe, San Francisco or the wine country. If you want to visit Southern California, I-5 takes you anywhere down there in a day's drive or you can take a low cost flight.
I just returned from Huntington Beach two weeks ago. The area and weather is awesome to say the least. The home prices are a whole different ball game. I could not see tying that much up in the equity of a home at any age let alone retirement. Still, for us California came second to the beautiful state of Florida.
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
abuss368 wrote:I just returned from Huntington Beach two weeks ago. The area and weather is awesome to say the least. The home prices are a whole different ball game. I could not see tying that much up in the equity of a home at any age let alone retirement. Still, for us California came second to the beautiful state of Florida.
The crazy thing is Huntington is one of the cheaper beach cities out here...
abuss368 wrote:I could not see tying that much up in the equity of a home at any age let alone retirement.
I use percentages, not dollars (this may be the only place I do). What's $1 million out of $10 million? You would still have $9 million left for a beach cruiser.*
Again, if you want the retirement you want to have, you have to have the resources to have the retirement you want to have.
P.S. If my kids and grandkids didn't live where they live, I might move back. I might even buy the condo next door to my ex. When we were still married, we discussed that living in separate condos might be the best plan for us.
cmr86 wrote:I live in Sacramento and my house was $234k (I purchased in 2011) for a 2200sqft. corner house in a nice suburban neighborhood. Weather here isn't too bad. Summer months can be from low 90s to 110, but the evenings cool off considerably (to about a nice lower sixties) due to the delta breeze.
*shrug* But being close to the ocean isn't really a high priority for me. I really love Sacramento.
The two best things about the Sacto area are: Lake Tahoe and San Francisco!
Actually, North of Sacramento is nice and places are still affordable.
We looked into retiring in the beach town of Cambria by Morro Bay. Water is a HUGE problem there and your nearest hospital is in San Luis Obispo (SLO). Things to think about as your age.
SoCal has some of the best medical facilities right in our backyard. I love the OC...would never want to live in Riverside area.
Why don't you rent for year and explore different areas before deciding? Each town has its own set of problems and perks.
I hope to semi-retire very early in California. My plan is to build up a big enough portfolio to live anyplace that has a standard to low cost of living area. But instead, my wife and I will work part-time (maybe 20-30 hours a week combined) and that will be used to cover housing and travel. After our child(ren) go to college and SS kicks in, hopefully we'll have enough to retire completely in CA. But I think we're the type who will always want to make money doing something.