I too, have left San Diego behind. My story isn’t the same as RenterClint’s, but the end result is the same.
Having been completely priced out of the market, a few months shy of age 40, wanting the stability of ownership (at a reasonable price) vs renting and moving every 12-18 months, my wife and I decided to move to the suburbs of Denver… we’ve been here for about a week and a half.
Thanks to Piggington, I declined the offer to purchase our rented condo townhouse in LaCosta, for ~$500K. It was 1620 sqft, no yard, needing update, 25 years old, not very convenient. Since we declined the offer about a year ago, the comps have dropped down to around $425K… phew, dodged a bullet there, thanks Piggington, and thanks H8toRent also. We rented it for $1800 a month.
So now we rent a 2400 3 year old sqft house, with a huge unfinished basement (What’s a basement???) and a 3 car garage. We rent this for $1400 a month, and total utilities are less than in the SD townhouse. We also have the option to buy this one, at $282K or less (without a realtor we expect a discount). Many other houses, from newer resales, to new contruction, all between 2K and 3.5K sqft, are available all around for prices ranging from $250K to $450K – AFFORDABLE!
We’re not going to buy right away. Prices are still dropping slightly here in the Denver metro area, foreclosures are ramapant. But the nice thing is, we can start searching now, knowing that when we finally do jump in, we’ll have a mortgage that is affordable by either of us on a single income, even though we’re currently DINK’s. We have the luxury knowing that even if the property declines 10% after we buy it, we still have the flexibility to get out without ruining our future. And we have the room to start and grow a family, and still take nice vacations. And if we decide we want to, building our own custom home is a viable, affordable option for us. To do that in SoCal??? not a snowballs chance in heck!
Plus, the people in this area have been extremely friendly, welcoming, and nice.
All this, and in exchange, I just have to teach my wife how to drive in the snow:) All in all, I think this was the right tradeoff. I will miss San Diego a lot… But I will not miss being financially burdened just to put a roof over our heads.
Thank you to Piggington for helping me make a smart financial decision. San Diego prices may be dropping, but the value for us, was found elsewhere. I could have been stuck in a half million dollar crapbox… phew! Thanks again! 🙂
