Anyone Else Thinking of Moving Out of Bay Area? (San Jose: real estate market, rent)

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by Goin' Coastal

Yes. We considered it, and we finally did it.

My husband and I met and married in SoCal, living the first 3 years of our married life in North San Diego County.
His job transferred him to the Bay Area, so after a year of renting there, we purchased a home in Fremont, where
we lived for 32 years.

For various reasons, we decided we wanted to move out of the Bay Area: too frenetic a pace, partly; rising crime in our area, partly; but mainly, we were just tired of the Bay Area. We thought surely there must be someplace else we could try.

We did much of the searching, in person and online, that others have written about here, in areas like TX (lots of my family there), the Pacific NW (lots of friends there), Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; California's Central Coast, Colorado.

We finally found a spot that felt just right for us. (Well, mostly.) That spot was SW Riverside County, in the Temecula/Murrieta area.

We sold our 1960s-era Fremont home and purchased a 2002 home down here, twice the size, twice the lot size, with a pool and a view of the Santa Ana mountains from our back yard. We pocketed a bit o' cash on the transaction because we sold at a good time.

Because we are over 55 years old, we were able to transfer our tax basis from our other home to this one. We still have higher property taxes here, mainly because of special assessments for the schools. That's OK, because the kids are worth it, and the schools down here have a generally good reputation.

It gets hot here in the summer, so we did run the A/C more often than we did in Fremont (which wasn't much). Overall, all our utilities are higher than they were in Fremont.

But we have family nearby, we live amongst friendly neighbors, we love the open skies -- so many stars at night! -- and many other things about our new location.

We moved here in June, so it remains to be seen whether I'll slowly adjust to the heat here, but I can tell you I do love January.

No place is perfect, and I was wondering how I'd adjust to life in a new place in my late 50s, but it's gone well so far, despite my dislike of the heat our first summer here. I wouldn't hesitate to move again, if I thought I needed to, but
I can't imagine what some other place could offer that this place doesn't.

Yes, we left the Bay Area, coming back to an area that felt more like home to us.

The other cool thing about Temecula (and in this respect, it's a lot like some of our North Bay communities), is, when it's summer and you can't quaff enough wine to make you forget about the heat, simply head a few miles West .... ahhhhhhhh!

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by jbunniii

I'll be moving out when I retire. Can't afford to keep that much money tied up in housing when the same house can be bought almost anywhere else in the U.S. for 1/4 the price.

We will as well.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

Not sure if you even have to leave the Bay Area to cash out. My wife and I have joked about selling our large house when we retire and moving up to the Napa valley, with a small place. By that time, we'll probably even be able to buy it with cash. The wine/culinary lifestyle sounds very appealing during retirement.

We're already in a small place. Even so, it is incredibly over priced and must be cashed out when we retire, in order to make our numbers. If we were to remain in the Bay Area only parts of the East Bay would really work unless you're talking Lake County or San Benito County. At that point, we'd rather relo to a lower cost place, that is still urban, because in spite of my handle, we need our city stuff.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

The other cool thing about Temecula (and in this respect, it's a lot like some of our North Bay communities), is, when it's summer and you can't quaff enough wine to make you forget about the heat, simply head a few miles West .... ahhhhhhhh!

Or go up in elevation ...

Kicking back with a near-perfect local vintage (and maybe something else) under a Big Cone Douglas Fir up in Agua Tibia.

Ahhhhhhh!

[bobby_guz_man]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

Not sure if you even have to leave the Bay Area to cash out. My wife and I have joked about selling our large house when we retire and moving up to the Napa valley, with a small place. By that time, we'll probably even be able to buy it with cash. The wine/culinary lifestyle sounds very appealing during retirement.

For that lifestyle, you can get it a little cheaper by moving to a good area of Gilroy. The South County has a decent winery scene as well

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by bobby_guz_man

For that lifestyle, you can get it a little cheaper by moving to a good area of Gilroy. The South County has a decent winery scene as well

Gilroy doesn't have the food scene of Napa.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

Gilroy doesn't have the food scene of Napa.

And it's over 70 miles from downtown SF.

[Goin' Coastal]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

The other cool thing about Temecula (and in this respect, it's a lot like some of our North Bay communities), is, when it's summer and you can't quaff enough wine to make you forget about the heat, simply head a few miles West .... ahhhhhhhh!

That, or just jump in the pool, drink in hand.

[teoreticar]

Originally Posted by duffdog

Income may be slightly higher than other places, but it is more than offset by the skyrocketing housing costs. If you could make %50 of what you make in the bay area, you would be able to afford an awesome family home in most other places.

That should be capital IF. I can't. Maybe you can idk. Here in Bay area I can have job working for major ON MY CHOICE tech company. Even if you suck big time at what you do in tech company you still can find job without any problem. This job market in bay area iz craziest in the world. Also major tech companies just started to hire big time.

Also I get really great weather. San Jose is probably best place in the world for life.

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by teoreticar

San Jose is probably best place in the world for life.

SJ has a lot of great qualities, but I think this one is really a stretch.