I've come upon one of those life altering decisions that I'm having a hard time dealing with. My mother-in-law works and lives in the LA area and emailed me yesterday because of a job opening in her company. The job would pay about 50% more than what I'm making now and would afford my family to be closer to my parents (Vegas) and my wife's parents (Cerritos). So, before I really push hard into this possible job, I need to know where to look for cost of living comparisons. I currently live in League City and commute about 15 minutes to work. The job would be located in Aliso Viejo...I have no clue where that is. So...if anyone with LA experience could help me out...I'm looking for a suburbanite area similar to League City in the metro LA area. My wife has given the go ahead to consider moving somewhere close, but not too close, to her parents. Any help is appreciated. Don't crack me to hard for leaving Houston...our goal is to eventually make it to Hawaii and LA is just a stepping stone to reach that goal.
Two things: 1. Your commute from Cerritos to Aliso would be awful. 2. Given LA's cost of living, a 50% increase in salary may not mean much. It could actually be less when adjusted for costs. Be aware that you (probably) will not be able to find a home for under $400K. That said living close to my wife's family here and the proximity to beaches and other attractions maks it all worth it. Good Luck.
http://www.datamasters.com/ (click on the Salary/Cost of Living link on the left-hand side and you'll get a few COL calcs) Oh, and it would take something a lot more than a 50% salary bump for me to head out there from Texas.
Oops...just read that you do not want to be too near Cerritos. Actually, Aliso is a nice place to live and inexpensive compared to LA. (Still around 400K +)
You'd need at least half a million dollars around LA to find a house equivilant to a $100K house in League City.
The in-laws actually live in Cerritos. I would definitely try to find something closer to Aliso Viejo. I know I've been through that area, but I don't remember what was over there. I could always move to Dana Point and hang out with Silk Braaaaaaaah (Rome reference).
In three words: Don't do it You will regret it Your salary would need to double, rather than increase 50%, if you wanted to maintain your League City lifestyle in Los Angeles (i.e. same kind of house, doing the same things in your spare time, etc.). Everything is substantially more expensive in Los Angeles, and unless you hit the Lotto, it just isn't worth it.
I knew the housing costs were going to be more...I've done some research on COL calculator websites. But HOLY CRAP!!! You guys are starting to scare me a bit. Part of the problem is that we've been in our houst for a year and a half now and it has more room than any place we'd be able to afford in LA. So I'm extremely reluctant to give up my space.
Wow....I was totally talking out of my rear, but just to check myself, I looked at some MLS listings on www.har.com and www.alisoviejohome.com Sure enough, $100K homes in League City and $500K homes in Aliso Viejo both were around 1200 to 1400 square feet. Of course, you'd expect the $500K home to be somewhat nicer inside, but damn.....that's a big difference.
Wow, I just checked out that website, and Houston appears to be one of the cheapest places where you can live in terms of Housing and Cost of Living.
When I first moved to LA in 1989, you could get rent assistance/tax credit if you made $30,000/yr ... as if you were destiutute. The State income tax will take a chunk of you salary increase. I agree that you'll need about double your salary when all is said and done. And maybe you could find an older fixer-upper for $400k around Aliso Viejo, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
boomboom, If you're worried about home costs, you could head inland as many do. But the heat in summer is akin to Texas, but you get tons of pollution and still have traffic. Also, since you would work in Aliso Viejo, you'd have to head north first (past the mountains) then inland, so your commute would be very long. You can't head south...those communities are too close to the Ocean and quite expensive. So you have to head north. Although you might find a steal in Huntington Beach or Fountain Valley, it would be unlikely (and Irvine is too new and likely inconceivable). In fact, anything West of the 405 or even close to it may be prohibitively expensive (some of our friends have a home in Fountain Valley and it appreciated well over 100k in just a few years). That leave other small cities like Westminister ('Little Saigon'), Garden ('garbage') Grove, Orange, Santa Ana, and others. I would never live in most of those myself. Crime, gangs, run down neighborhoods. I've met good folks that lived in Orange though, but if I were you I would definitely be very cautious about selecting my neighborhood. Some neighborhoods might look okay, but it certainly won't be like Texas.
I have a friend in LA who just had his first kid with his wife. She makes around $60,000 a year. He is a musician who works 3 days a week at a western wear clothing store on Melrose Ave., and acts as a house husband the rest of the time. They recently purchased a 1,100 sqft, two bedroom rectangular shaped house in Woodland Hills, San Fernando Valley, that was built in the 1940s or 1950s. They paid just over $300,000 for it. Like I said boomboom....you do not want to make this move if your salary is going to increase by only 50%.
yeah but one thing to mention is the mortgage rates are very low, so it's not like you would be in considerable debt month by month. You'd just be owned for the rest of your life.
Originally posted by moestavern19 yeah but one thing to mention is the mortgage rates are very low, so it's not like you would be in considerable debt month by month. Just be prepared with that $50k or $60k down. You'd just be owned for the rest of your life. Exactly. First time I lived there, the housing market depreciated 8%. On a $400k home that's another $32 k in the hole.
