[quote=bake]I grew up in Marin bearishgirl, loved it but too expensive now and too cold for me too. That’s one reason I like Austin – it feels a lot like Nor Cal of 40 years ago…[/quote]
bake, I LUV Marin Co, esp Muir Woods and Beach, and yes, it is probably now too expensive for me to retire in for the communities I would want to live in. I grew up in Alameda County 94566 (now “Pleasanton” but formerly Dublin/Pleasanton/San Ramon [uninc]) 45 years ago, lol. I have lived in SD County over 35 years and would LOVE to return to Nor Cal. I still have one HS-aged kid left and cannot move yet.
I HAVE driven through the ENTIRE state of TX, incl Austin and San Antonio (except the far SW corner along the Rio Grande west of McAllen). I have many relatives in that area of the country. The San Antonio River Walk is very beautiful. The Houston skyline is gorgeous at sunrise. My impressions of it is that there is a LOT of space, the biggest sky I’ve ever seen, it’s HOT and humid and most of the residents are not afraid of hard labor and are a resilient lot. Certainly it is a completely different world than NorCal. Of course, the relatives’ homes I stayed in were on acreages, NOT the starter home that the OP posted here, all built by themselves or other relatives. I have stayed in a friend’s condo in Port Isabel for a weekend and rented an ATV to frolic among the storks, lol! I just don’t like the blowing sand and the gulf as much as I do the Pacific. But RE is definitely cheaper there, for what you get.
Most TX natives never leave, or if they do, they come back . . . for good. They’re very proud to be a Texan.
Several San Diegans that I’ve known that have moved to TX have all moved back to SD within 3-6 years, after losing money on their RE purchase(s) there (mostly transaction costs in selling).
