How much do I need to live in San Diego?

[eks6426]

I received a call from a recruiter yesterday about a marketing position in San Diego. I love San Diego and would consider moving. But currently I live in the midwest...the land of cheap living. I know San Diego is hugely more expensive than where I am now, so if anyone is living out there what would you consider a "living wage" in San Diego? I would want to be able to buy a decent 3 bedroom house in a safe neighborhood with decent schools (I have 2 kids--8 and 16). I looked up all the cost of living indexes but wanted to hear from someone who truly lives there.

Thanks!

 

[Mara]

check out mlslistings.com and look in San Diego or similar...if that site doesn't have listings for SD..just look online (google).

SD is not cheap but it's not AS expensive as it is here in the BayArea. but just based on estimates I have heard re: that area, I'd say something like a basic 3 bedroom house in a decent area could be something like $500-600k?

on the plus side, if you moved to SD...you'd never have to ask again if you should wear pantyhose with sandals!

just teasing!

San Diego Lady should be able to assist too!

ETA I came across this site:
http://www.househunt.com/sandiego.htm

Where you can type in the city you want to live in (or area) and look at available properties. Looks like in Rancho San Diego (inland a bit...anything close to the water is v.expensive) for a 3 bedroom house would be around $800k. So I was a little off!!

But seems like where this new job is would dictate where you lived? City wise, or proximity.

 

[tawn]

On the news the other day, San Diego came up within the top 5 most expensive cities to live in! Our friends just bought a condo for $400K and it''s only 1000 sq ft. It''s cute, but nothing fancy! Rumor has it that there will be record foreclosures in the next 5 years, because a lot of people got the interest-only loans in order to qualify for a mortgage, and bought at the top of the market. I wouldn''t consider buying in SD right now, but in a year or two, I think it may get a bit better! The prices from area to area differ dramatically as well.

With 300+ days of sunshine a year, you sure can''t beat the weather! It''s absolutely gorgeous down here!

You also have to be really careful with the school systems, because there are huge differences within the different communities! We pretty much starve to death so we can live Coronado, which has a small awesome school system! However, a shack here is 1million+...and rent for a 3br starts about $2500 on the island! It''s a wonderful community though and very well protected! The police station looks like the Parthenon, I woudln''t really mind getting thrown in jail here!

Hmmmmm...I didn''t make SD sound very nice did I? It''s really lovely, but in 3/4 years, we''re taking our $$ and building a beautiful home on our land in Maine for about 1/10 of what it would be here....but I''ll sure miss all this sunshine!

 

[Mara]

Gosh Tawn you are sure are brave, thinking about moving to the East Coast!!!

I am a California girl born and bred and we TALK about moving to the EC but in reality I think I would shrivel up and die. Greg was entertaining hope as well at first but I think even he realizes now that I would not make it...he''d have to cover me with those sun-lamps you can buy! hehehe..

Also the gardening season is a drag out there too. But yes the lower house prices and the idea of ACUTAL LAND is so tempting!!

 

[Kaleigh]

Tawn, where in Maine??

 

[tawn]

My husband is from Boston, and we lived there for 3.5 years when we were first married, but I got homesick and we moved out to the Westcoast. My In-Laws just sold their house in Boston and retired to Maine, which is where my husband''s heart really lives. His brother-in-law took him camping when he was 13, and he fell in love with it and that year his family started buying land near Farmington.

I always get my own way...but this is the one thing that my husband will not compromise on at all! When our son graduates high school, we''ll be heading out there.

However, I did put in a "Snowbird" stipulation clause in for when we retire....we go somewhere sunny in the Winter!

 

[tawn]

Date: 2/20/2006 12:41:59 AM
Author: SanDiegoLady

Date: 2/19/2006 2:27:29 PM
Author: tawn
On the news the other day, San Diego came up within the top 5 most expensive cities to live in! Our friends just bought a condo for $400K and it''s only 1000 sq ft. It''s cute, but nothing fancy! Rumor has it that there will be record foreclosures in the next 5 years, because a lot of people got the interest-only loans in order to qualify for a mortgage, and bought at the top of the market. I wouldn''t consider buying in SD right now, but in a year or two, I think it may get a bit better! The prices from area to area differ dramatically as well.

With 300+ days of sunshine a year, you sure can''t beat the weather! It''s absolutely gorgeous down here!

You also have to be really careful with the school systems, because there are huge differences within the different communities! We pretty much starve to death so we can live Coronado, which has a small awesome school system! However, a shack here is 1million+...and rent for a 3br starts about $2500 on the island! It''s a wonderful community though and very well protected! The police station looks like the Parthenon, I woudln''t really mind getting thrown in jail here!

Hmmmmm...I didn''t make SD sound very nice did I? It''s really lovely, but in 3/4 years, we''re taking our $$ and building a beautiful home on our land in Maine for about 1/10 of what it would be here....but I''ll sure miss all this sunshine!

I love Coronado!! Ahh.. I would LOVE to live there!!! You''re right though Tawn, (as someone who has been studying real estate.. and may, or may not take the exam...) I have been predicting the mass exodus of people losing thier mini-mansions here in the coming two years. Which, I hate to admit, will be a great time to buy up repo''s...

But it will happen.. those balloon payments are going to nail people.

I hope to scoop a couple up.....

Some friends bought one of those "River Run" condos, right across from the Mission Valley Mall, and Staples, etc....It''s a refurbished apartment building, and they''ve had a few problems. Apparently, there is even talk of a law suit because problems were just "built over" rather than repaired properly. Scary stuff...Their mortgage is huge, and then they have Condo fees and utilities! Crazy!

I wish you luck with buying all the stuff up, if the market nosedives! With the huge difference in "low wages vs high-living costs" in SD...I can''t see how the market can continue to go on as it''s been.

Coronado is pretty darn nice though, but we give up a lot (diamonds) to stay in the area for the school system!

I also love the fact that you can wander around at night, and you feel safe, probably due to the fact that criminals can''t really escape the area either. In additon, tbe amount of police for such a tiny area seems to be a little overkill? I''ve heard that we have more than our fair share here...has your FI heard anything like that?

Seriously SDL, we''re going to have to arrange a Starbuck''s date now that we both have our new rings! Are there very many others from SD out there?

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 2/20/2006 12:41:59 AM
Author: SanDiegoLady

Date: 2/19/2006 2:27:29 PM
Author: tawn
On the news the other day, San Diego came up within the top 5 most expensive cities to live in! Our friends just bought a condo for $400K and it''s only 1000 sq ft. It''s cute, but nothing fancy! Rumor has it that there will be record foreclosures in the next 5 years, because a lot of people got the interest-only loans in order to qualify for a mortgage, and bought at the top of the market. I wouldn''t consider buying in SD right now, but in a year or two, I think it may get a bit better! The prices from area to area differ dramatically as well.

With 300+ days of sunshine a year, you sure can''t beat the weather! It''s absolutely gorgeous down here!

You also have to be really careful with the school systems, because there are huge differences within the different communities! We pretty much starve to death so we can live Coronado, which has a small awesome school system! However, a shack here is 1million+...and rent for a 3br starts about $2500 on the island! It''s a wonderful community though and very well protected! The police station looks like the Parthenon, I woudln''t really mind getting thrown in jail here!

Hmmmmm...I didn''t make SD sound very nice did I? It''s really lovely, but in 3/4 years, we''re taking our $$ and building a beautiful home on our land in Maine for about 1/10 of what it would be here....but I''ll sure miss all this sunshine!

I love Coronado!! Ahh.. I would LOVE to live there!!! You''re right though Tawn, (as someone who has been studying real estate.. and may, or may not take the exam...) I have been predicting the mass exodus of people losing thier mini-mansions here in the coming two years. Which, I hate to admit, will be a great time to buy up repo''s...

But it will happen.. those balloon payments are going to nail people.

I hope to scoop a couple up.....

yep,it will happen within the next 2 yrs. about 15 months ago the housing bubble bursted here in the Sacto area.i love SD,beautiful weather

but can''t afford to live there.

 

[selflove]

IslandDreams--I''m in LA so it''s not exactly the same but pretty darn close. I used to be a head-hunter in So Cal too so I know the salaries a little bit. Bottom line, if you''re going to move to So Cal, you''ll get a higher salary in LA and home prices are about the same as in SD. I once had a discussion with some professional colleagues about how San Diego is a career death-sentence (which kind of bummed me out b/c I thought it would be so much nice to live in SD than LA!). The SD real estate market, from what I''ve read in publications like Money Magazine and Business Week, has ballooned more than almost every other market in the US. I think SDL is right about $800K+ in a decent neighborhood for your kids to attend public school.

You should definitely scope out the area when you come to SD for the job interview. I would explore it but really do your homework. And if I can find one of these cost of living calculators on the web I''ll post it.

Personally, being from the midwest and living in LA for the past 8 years, I would jump at the chance to move to a place like Chicago where it''s much cheaper to live. We can''t afford to buy a house in our neighborhood where we rent now unless we both keep working full time--and he makes almost $100K. A 2-bedroom townhouse sells for $600K+. God, it''s depressing!

But the trade-offs are pretty cool, it''s about 68 degrees and sunny today, same as yesterday, tomorrow will be about 70 degrees and sunny. If you want winter you can drive to the Sierras which are about 7 hours from SD, or to Big Bear, about 2-3 hours. And if you like the beach, you''ll be in heaven.

 

[bar01]

Somewhat related - my dad sent me this link

www.zillow.com

You can see home prices for any steet or area on a sat map. Even see other house prices as you move around the map. Prices seem a little low in my area - but fun to look around.

 

[selflove]

Hmmm...I found a calculator on the web and I put in Chicago as the "from" city and San Diego as the "To" city. It said if you make $100K in Chicago you''d need $86K to maintain the same standard of living. I don''t believe it.

Anyways, here''s the link. They have an exhaustive list of cities:

http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html