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Thinking of moving to California....

Welcome to the site, Jenny!

Overall, the cost of living is expensive here in California. Cost of housing is very high in most areas.

Jobs are not easy to find. I would make sure I had a job before moving. Seeing that you are interested in the Laguna Woods area, you may want to ask in the LA Forum »Southern California

Another thing you might want to consider is that we are having a serious budget crunch and many of our services, including our schools, are being cut to bare bones.

Hope this helps some,
sash
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SF Bay Area Forum ~ Team Four ~ ECO Clicks

reply to djkjb6

as already stated, make sure you have a job ready because the job market is tight right now...

reply to djkjb6
Don't move here. I've been here since '87. You have two boys that need an education, and our education system is horrible in this state. So many schools being closed. Students having to pay for sports programs. Classes being cut, etc. etc...

I'd seriously consider Oregon. A lot fewer people, cleaner air, less crazy laws, cheaper to live, better quality of life.

If you must live in California, watch out for mobile home parks. Not only are the prices of the units themselves overpriced if buying them in a park, but monthly space rent is outrageous. You will never own the land it sits on. You may not have the best neighborhood to live in either.

Obviously it's cheaper the farther you are away from the ocean here. But areas like Crescent City (by the Oregon border) are cheaper, but more remote.

reply to djkjb6
Check out central California coastal towns. They are not as expensive as coastal communities in Los Angeles metropolitan area, San Francisco Bay area or San Diego. Yet, they still have the best weather in the world – Mediterranean weather that is unique -- wet in winter and dry in summer as that makes people feel not as hot during summer time as well as not as cold during winter time. Most importantly, temperature usually around 70°F with +/- 20°F year around including day and night time temperature difference. Those small towns are very nice place to live and raise kids.

I would suggest you do it in following steps:
1. Look for housing price range that affordable by your expect income,
2. Look for a job that you like and get pay the most,
3. Have one parent move here first just to rent a cheap and small place to live and work so further in depth study can be done locally
4. Move the entire family over but still leave in a rental small place while doing house hunting, don’t rash to buy a house! More home work you do, the better result will be.

reply to djkjb6
I'll trade you your house and life in Minnesota for my Apartment and life in the middle of the Northern California Bay Area....

As has been said before, secure employment BEFORE packing up and moving out here, unless you have at least 15-20k saved up to live off of while you look. California is a REAL TOUGH state to find work in right now, I've been laid off for over a year now from the IT field and if it wasn't for little "1-off" contract jobs and a supportive family, I'd have been on the streets long ago.

Average housing Prices in the Bay Area run currently between $400,000-$600,000 getting cheaper the farther away from the Bay Area you are willing to live. The outlying suburbs like Manteca, Modesto and the Central California areas are far cheaper, but you also get a longer commute (up to 2+ hours each way) if you work in Silicon Valley or the San Francisco Area.

There was a study done a while back that said California was THE most expensive state to live in in the US, beating out Hawaii and New York for the title of most expensive.

Not trying to discourage you, rather I want to see you fully informed before making a potential mistake, but if all you want is a warmer climate to live in, there's always Florida or many of the Southern States like Texas or Louisiana which would be cheaper to purchase a house in and have better employment prospects.

reply to djkjb6
Working in the media, I see weekly stories on our median prices constantly going up. Last I saw it was at $575,000. This gets you, generally, a fixer upper. Classic 3 bed, 1 bathroom rancher built in the 60s with an inadequate electrical system and small bed rooms. There are no more cheap areas of California, certainly not on the coast. If you want to live in the high desert then yes you can buy lots cheaply, but who wants to live that remotely?

reply to djkjb6
Hey I think that California should change from the Golden State to the Rip Off State since the gold ran out long ago! Sooner or later this state will be only for the wealthy and us poor schmoes will have to get out.
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Can't wait until my FTTC (Fiber To The Colon) gets here because boy am I constipated! O_O;