investor, if you used to live in SJ and consider that area “warm” (in relation to VA, maybe it is), then I agree with Ashhousewares that you can widen your scope. I myself grew up in Alameda County (SF Bay area) but have visited Wash DC, Fairfax and Loudoun Counties in VA and they are very beautiful and spacious places to live, esp. along the Potomac River. If you are from any of these counties, SD county may not offer any comparable lifestyle to what you are used to, even for 6 mos. a year. If I were you, I would research other coastal areas of CA (that your wife might eventually agree to move to full-time) such as coastal areas within the counties of Mendocino, Santa Cruz, Monterey or Santa Barbara. You might look into Marin County as well, but the prices there may be too high for you. If you end up in one of these more rural coastal counties with a rugged spectacular (but cold) beach and get a “craving” for a big, wide warm beach, it is just a 1.5 to 9-hour drive to visit beaches in Malibu, Santa Monica, LaJolla or Coronado, not 3000+ miles, like your current situation. Just my .02 “food for thought.”