[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by WorldKlas

. . . I just did a Realtor.com search of houses in Temecula and was surprised that home prices seem to be pretty comparable to the nicer areas in Anthem, Seven Hills and Summerlin here in the LV area.

Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.

[WorldKlas]

OP ~ one other thing to consider is the pretty bad reputation of health care in Las Vegas. Good docs are hard to find and an increasing number are going “Concierge” due to the situation here. I pay $140/mo to be on my doc’s roster, and my doc isn’t taking new patients. Many of my friends have gone to LA or Phoenix for serious surgeries or treatments. My plan, if this happens, is to stay at my house in DFW to access the great medical services there.

[txman210]

Thanks. I'm very familiar with the medical environment in DFW, and I'd say it's acceptable, but would not give it an A. It doesn't compare well with peers such as Houston or Atlanta. I appreciate all the comments. Does anyone here have input on AZ or NM as options?

[moguldreamer]

Originally Posted by txman210

Thanks. I'm very familiar with the medical environment in DFW, and I'd say it's acceptable, but would not give it an A. It doesn't compare well with peers such as Houston or Atlanta. I appreciate all the comments. Does anyone here have input on AZ or NM as options?

You've mentioned the costs of living in CA as being prohibitive and a primary driver of looking for a new location. What kind of budget are you playing with for what type of property (SFH, condo, townhouse, rental)?

In most every area with at least 100K residents and with a major research university, there are neighborhoods with "good schools" - Las Vegas included. You just have to hunt for them. And, of course, they typically command a price premium.

I'm most familiar with the high tech industry - and you'll find high tech in both AZ and NM, and there are good schools in both AZ and NM. Engineers and scientists don't want to move some place for work, bringing along their families, if the schools suck. For example, when Intel Corporation put fabs in Rio Rancho New Mexico decades ago, the company famously had to invest to build up the schools to get employees to transfer there.

Good schools/educated families provide a boost, but as another poster mentioned, bright motivated students who attend so-called "failing schools" also will do well. I attended a high school on the wrong side of the railroad tracks with 660 in my graduating class; exactly 12 of us went on to college. It was the 2nd worst in the State of California that year. Police came through on horseback multiple times each school year to break up race fights; drug use & dealing was rampant. As a skinny bespectacled nerd, I had the snot beat out of me numerous times for the sin of being smart.

Fast forward: while in grad school, I had the good fortune to study under 4 separate professors who went on to earn the Nobel Prize, and a classmate of mine later went on to win one as well. I went into high tech and became named inventor on almost 20 patents and directly had a hand in the technology you currently use to read this message, achieving financial success along the way.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by WorldKlas

I have to agree that both crime and traffic seem to be getting worse in the Las Vegas valley. I just did a Realtor.com search of houses in Temecula and was surprised that home prices seem to be pretty comparable to the nicer areas in Anthem, Seven Hills and Summerlin here in the LV area.

Traffic is pretty bad in Temecula/Marietta too. Only one interstate in and out of that area. That said, it is a great friendly area if one wants to be able to get to San Diego for visiting friends. There are also areas in San Diego County where one can buy a nice home in a family friendly area for more reasonable prices. For instance, Alpine, Rancho San Diego, Ramona, east Chula Vista/Eastlake even parts of Escondido.

[movin1]

Home prices near San Diego may be similar to Vegas, but how are the property taxes and personal income taxes? I think that's why lots of people from California have moved to Vegas. I lived in Illinois most of my life and got tired of being taxed to death. My property taxes were three times what they are in Vegas.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by movin1

Home prices near San Diego may be similar to Vegas, but how are the property taxes and personal income taxes? I think that's why lots of people from California have moved to Vegas. I lived in Illinois most of my life and got tired of being taxed to death. My property taxes were three times what they are in Vegas.

Prop 13 here in California "locks in" a property tax of one percent of your purchase price at the time of sale.

Any additional assessments from voter approved bonds can increase your original property tax by no more than 2 percent per year. One of the reasons that the housing market in California is so overheated is that this encourages homeowners to stay in their homes long term because their property taxes are so predictable.

However, if you're over 65, under Prop 19, you can take your original property tax for one house and apply it to another home in California, as long as it is of equal or lesser value.

We've been comparing California property taxes to other states (especially Colorado), and it really is one area that California shines in, especially for retirees who want to have a stable property tax over time without worrying that they may suddenly have a huge jump in property taxes as their home value increases.

[txman210]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

Prop 13 here in California "locks in" a property tax of one percent of your purchase price at the time of sale.

Any additional assessments from voter approved bonds can increase your original property tax by no more than 2 percent per year. One of the reasons that the housing market in California is so overheated is that this encourages homeowners to stay in their homes long term because their property taxes are so predictable.

However, if you're over 65, under Prop 19, you can take your original property tax for one house and apply it to another home in California, as long as it is of equal or lesser value.

We've been comparing California property taxes to other states (especially Colorado), and it really is one area that California shines in, especially for retirees who want to have a stable property tax over time without worrying that they may suddenly have a huge jump in property taxes as their home value increases.

Doesn't Colorado have some of the lowest property taxes in the country? Arizona has very low property taxes too.

[movin1]

Property and income taxes are parts of your overall monthly/annual budget. You have to compare cost of living expenses in every place you might want to live. Home owner's insurance is high in Florida. Power and water bills are high in some places (they were in Illinois). My expenses are lower in Vegas than they were in IL and FL.

[movin1]

https://www.rocketmortgage.com/learn...taxes-by-state

I forgot to mention car insurance rates, they keep going up everywhere.