[quote=kev374]Texas does not interest me, I don’t like the topography of that area – it’s flat as a pancake. ATL is located near the Blue Ridge and Smokey mountains and the landscape is more varied.
As an avid motorcyclist who frequents the track I also have Road Atlanta and Barber closeby which are world-class racetracks. There is virtually nothing in TX. The morons at Circuit of the Americas in Austin have kept the fees so high that nobody does track days there!
Staying in LA/OC is not an option as the numbers simply don’t make any sense. Being financially conservative I want to limit myself to 3x my gross for a home and want to pay it off within 15 years. I also have some minimum standards for a place I buy, 2 car garage, 1500sqft for $400k. When I told my Realtor that, he thought I wanted a mansion for my budget. This is supposed to be a mansion? I think things have gone so out of whack here that there is a total disconnect between what is a basic home vs what is a mansion. And a $400k home is not cheap to me, that’s close to half million. I don’t get the mindset of people in LA/OC, they hardly have $20k in the bank but talk like taking a loan for $500-600k is no big deal. To me that is downright ridiculous and foolish but to each his own.
I could wait for prices to come down but i’ve waited long enough for that, there was a very very brief window of opportunity in 2012 but unfortunately I could not capitalize on that due to some personal circumstances. By the time I was ready the vultures..er..investors were trampling over each other to buy all the homes and before I even blinked the inventory was zero. I know for a FACT Realtors who were taking kickbacks during that time and selling “pocket listings” to their internal clientele…it was too late before I came to know the dirty tricks of the Realtor trade!! Anyway no point bitching about all that now! Let’s just say the LA/OC market is a circus that I no longer wish to participate in. For those that want to, good for you, I wish you luck. As for me time to concentrate on the future 🙂
It is akin to businesses moving out of state, at some point you have to run the numbers and make a decision about the cost vs benefit. I still think Southern California is one of the best, if not the best, places to live but that is only IF one has craploads of money OR one bought real estate during the cheap era. If you are not in one of these 2 categories then living here is infact much worse – you have to settle for substandard homes in substandard neighborhoods, no thanks![/quote]
I completely agree that if people can’t afford to live well (whatever that means to each individual) in CA, with funds to spare for retirement, etc., etc., they definitely need to look at other options before they run out of time and earning power in the marketplace.
It is my philosophy, and I’ve always told friends, I believe you should try to be financially set by at least 50, whether you continue to work or not, because life can get very unpredictable as you get older. That’s just my opinion, and, of course, may not apply to everyone.
