Anyone Familiar with San Diego?

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
My daughter has been interviewing for a job in San Diego.

They have asked her to let them know what amount of salary she would need in order to take the job.

We are not familiar with California, but I know it can be expensive near the coast.

Anyone know what it would cost to rent a one-bedroom in a safe, good area (she would be a single, young female alone)? Other expenses, like taxes?

The zip code of the business is 92121.

Thanks,

Apple
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
It is not good. I looked on Sperlings best places. The cost of housing is 2.79 times higher than the norm in the United States in San Diego.

I have a few suggestions. There are websites where you can put in your current city and compare it to the new city, and they will tell you how much you have to earn in dollars in the new city to afford your current lifestyle. Numbeo.com and payscale.com are two sites that do this, but there are others.

Just google, cost of living compare, and you will find others. Two websites that I have used a lot to evaluate places to live, where I have never been are areavibes.com and neighborhoodscout.com. Areavibes is completely free. Neighborhoodscout is partially free, but I have never had to pay, as I get very good and complete information. This website talks about everything, rents, the vibe, who lives there--young, old, rich, poor. It is fascinating.

Things like crime rate can freely and easily be obtained in other online places. If she really decides to move somewhere she has never been.

Even if it is expensive, it might be worth it to her anyway. Young people live together and split rent, but she may have a family so that would not be an option.

I am excited for her. The other possibility is that if you drive inland even 10 minutes, it gets hotter and the rents drop proportionally. But I do not know what the commutes are like.There are neighborhoods that may be safe, family oriented, but are largely Spanish-speaking. And the rents would be less. As long as they were safe, I would live there happily. But I speak Spanish

COPA
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Thanks Kalahou and Copa,

I sent those websites on to my daughter.

She has four job prospects, this is just the one that is farthest along at this point.

We wouldn't be in this situation if she had not quit her $70K a year job last fall to move to her fiancé's area (several hundred miles away), which no one except her thought was a good idea. The engagement is off, now, and she is back to her sister's and looking for a job.

Oh, well, lesson learned.

I am sure she will find something soon that will work out.

I have concerns about her moving across the country alone, with her MI, but who knows, it could work out.

Thanks,

Apple
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
I have concerns about her moving across the country alone
I think it is tremendously exciting.

I knew a woman many years ago. We were both in a nighttime chemistry course at a University. Each of us wanted to switch careers and go to medical school.

Her motivation to go to medical school? She had moved cross country to follow a man who she was going to marry. He jilted her. Became involved with another young woman, and told her bye.

The woman decided she wanted control over her life and came back to the West Coast, went to medical school and became a pediatrician.

These accidents/mistakes in life sometimes determine it for the good.

COPA
 

Marcie Mac

Just Plain Ole Tired
There is not a lot of area's in Ca. that are NOT expensive unless you move out to the toolies. Youngest had moved out briefly two years ago to rent a house (up the street from me) 4 guys paying a 2,500 a month rent. Cept his friends were a little on the flaky side (ok, a lot on the flaky side) He thought 625.00 each was do-able. Which it is for here, cept he forgot to add in electric, water, trash, cable, gas and gardener. And oh yeah, food :(

My best friend lives in San Diego, and I can ask her, if you want, about good area's and what transportation is like. Where I live, you are pretty much done for if you don't own a car.

Marcie
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I have no first hand experience but it's always been my understanding that just about everything is more expensive in California, especially near any of the larger cities. I have a relative who lives there and they just retired. They have a gorgeous home but her husband always made very good money and they bought the home decades ago when the price was about a fourth of what it would sell for today. She said it's to the point where people with average incomes just cannot afford to live in the communities where they work ... the teachers, police, fire fighters, etc.
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
it's always been my understanding that just about everything is more expensive in California, especially near any of the larger cities.
This is absolutely true. People will commute two hours each way to get to their jobs, in order to afford a house. And even these areas have risen tremendously in price. Only the central valleys which are hot and have nothing at all to do, are affordable. Or areas that may be beautiful but have virtually no place to work except a prison, maybe.
She said it's to the point where people with average incomes just cannot afford to live in the communities where they work ... the teachers, police, fire fighters, etc.
It is to the point where cities subsidize some of these people with under market mortgages and lower purchase prices.

As long as I can remember California has been this way. It just keeps getting worse.

COPA
 

Marcie Mac

Just Plain Ole Tired
I had heard something on the news the other day that home ownership is still high in Ca. but a lot of people rent out their homes once they buy them, and then turn around and live elsewhere. When I bought my house in 85, friends thought I had lost my mind moving so far out from where I worked. I would spend a minimum of 2 hours or more driving 40 miles each way. And that was using the car pool lane. But no way could I afford to live in LA
 

runawaybunny

Administrator
Staff member
My family moved from Atlanta to Orange County when I was 12. I've been here ever since. Currently about an hour north of San Diego.

San Diego Pros:
Great variety of activities and entertainment venues.
The weather is really mild.
Lots of good restaurants and cultural resources.

San Diego Cons:
It's expensive to live there. http://livingwage.mit.edu/metros/41740
Traffic can be slow.
CA taxes are the highest in the US. http://www.salestaxinstitute.com/resources/rates http://www.tax-rates.org/California/income-tax

My sister moved from So Cal to Idaho a few years ago. She bought a house for what I think would have been 1/3 of the price of a comparable house around here. My sister appreciates the lower cost of living in Idaho, but her kids complain about the weather.
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
home ownership is still high in Ca. but a lot of people rent out their homes once they buy them, and then turn around and live elsewhere.
I had not known that. It seems like a good strategy to me to get the appreciation but have somebody else to pay for it.

I am from a big metropolitan area in CA. I had houses in the Metro area but had left for one reason or another, and I lost ground. Renting to others would have been a good strategy, but I was always over my head with either responsibilities or goals.

When the housing crash happened I bought (like you but farther out, still) where the commute to most jobs is 2 hours each way. People still do it. But not me. I temporarily relocate where the work is. And I have a type of work where I can work where I live if I want.

This is such an interesting topic for me because it has defined my life. My home is a central part of who I am. It used to be where the house was. Amenities. Culture. Urbanity. I have found that as I got old, the house itself, my security, my sense of comfort with the people, increasingly are more important. I will relocate temporarily to get what I need in another place, but return home.

M my Significant Other says the latter pattern is typical in where he is from, Mexico.
People buy one house for their whole lives and for the lives of their children, hopefully. They will travel hours to get to work or temporarily relocate without their family to keep their home. If the house becomes too small, they build up, or extend the house in the yard or patio.

It is interesting how we change.

COPA
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
Here in Central CA (aka The Boonies), housing is relatively inexpensive. However, our county's unemployment rate is about 12%, with some of the rural towns up to 40% because of the drought. Being dependent on agriculture means we're at Mother Nature's mercy for jobs and food.
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
Here in Central CA (aka The Boonies), housing is relatively inexpensive.
Housing may not remain inexpensive. The valley is developing, is it not? And you may be close to a proposed station for high speed rail. There is nowhere else in CA nearby to San Jose/Bay Area to go. Newly arriving ethnic groups are going to the Valley, because others in their clans have settled there.

The town where my Dad came from, in the past 20 years ago has been transformed by immigration. At first, the old timers dominated. Now, the new arrivals are to the point of almost taking control politically. The county has flipped politically from one party to politically and soon I believe there will be a voting block whereby city governance might flip too.

I think what is happening in the Valley is interesting.

COPA
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
The closest city to us is at the center of the high speed rail. I hate to see them destroy the farmland for something like that. My great-grandfather took the train out from Tennessee in the 1880's and bought 80 acres for a dollar each. The family was still farming that land over one hundred years later. But no longer...

If we don't have farmland, we don't eat. Simple as that. Give the farmers the water and they will grow our food.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
There is not a lot of area's in Ca. that are NOT expensive unless you move out to the toolies. Youngest had moved out briefly two years ago to rent a house (up the street from me) 4 guys paying a 2,500 a month rent. Cept his friends were a little on the flaky side (ok, a lot on the flaky side) He thought 625.00 each was do-able. Which it is for here, cept he forgot to add in electric, water, trash, cable, gas and gardener. And oh yeah, food :(

My best friend lives in San Diego, and I can ask her, if you want, about good area's and what transportation is like. Where I live, you are pretty much done for if you don't own a car.

Marcie


What amount of money does a person need to make to live in San Diego?

My daughter would be living alone, as she doesn't know anyone to room with in that area.

She lives debt-free, so she has no outstanding bills, credit card balances, student loans, or anything other that her personal needs, living expenses, and her small dog's needs. But still, I see that an apartment is at least $1600 or more per month and state taxes are HIGH (she lives in a state with no taxes).

She has a reliable car, so won't need public transportation, but she definitely won't want to commute more than 45 minutes each way.
 

Marcie Mac

Just Plain Ole Tired
I would think about 50,000 minimum to be able to afford to live decently. I don't think there are a whole lot of apartments that come furnished, there is first/last months rent, pet deposit. Our state tax is really high (8%) and recently we are able to get gas here a little over 2.60 a gallon. Maybe it would be a good idea for her to visit and stay in an Extended Stay Hotel and check out the lay of the land. Try googling how expensive is it to live in San Diego - they have some pretty good web sites that break down the cost of living, food, transportation etc.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Wow! So that means that gas there is a whole dollar a gallon MORE than it is here! It's $1.59 at the station near my house, even less in other towns.
 
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