[quote=evolusd]I’ve basically given up on San Diego, at least in this stage of life (early 30’s with kids). My wife stays home to raise our kids, which we both feel is very important. San Diego just isn’t a great city for a one-income family, even though I do pretty well for being 31.
Austin’s cost of living is way lower, while standard of living seems pretty equal (except for weather, of course). . .
Am I missing something? Other places I should consider with similar cost of living?[/quote]
evolusd, do you have any relatives in SD? Are you from SD? Do you have any relatives in TX? Or CO?
You say you have young kids and do not want to be a two-income family. If I were you, I would want to be near relatives to help me with my kids, if at all possible and they were able, esp. if my spouse ever did have to take employment for any reason. You never know what can happen in life.
Are you aware that all parts of TX frequently have over 95 deg. weather and is simultaneously quite humid at least 7-8 mos. year?
TX has different RE laws than the rest of the nation. For this reason, the RE there does not appreciate very fast, if at all. If you purchase there and then later decide you want to sell, you may have to dig out of your pocket to sell and pay your closing costs, even if you held the property for several years.
I have watched several local San Diegans (old friends) move to all parts of TX over the years, thinking (like you) it would have a lower cost of living. All of these people have since returned to SD (even prior to the recent RE “bubble”) and did not have the ability to re-purchase the same property they sold prior to moving to TX and were forced to rent in SD upon their return. Two of these people were close to retirement upon moving there and returned broke and jobless. Part of the reason for this is that they spent ALL their sales proceeds from their SD homes on a very large (sf) property in TX in which they sold for as much or less than they purchased it for and still had costs of sale and closing costs to contend with. My friend that was gone the longest stayed about seven years there and this was the case for him, also. The rest returned to SD in 2-4 years.
evolusd, have you ever asked yourself how much it would cost to purchase a property in SD 15 years from now, when you might want to move back? Had you ever considered renting out your current house and renting in another city to try it out first?
As to Colo., if you are a one-income family, I would NOT move to Denver. A decent SFR in Denver that IS NOT in an underwater area but instead well-located within a decent stable area COSTS THE SAME OR MORE than a similar property in SD. Utilities are higher there as well as snow tires, winter gear and doctor bills. For these reasons, your cost of living would be HIGHER than in SD. In many far-flung poorly-built (currently underwater) subdivisions, your commute could be REALLY BAD in the weather, which BTW, can stretch out past nine months a year. If you are a tech person, the two “tech-center” areas (one SE of Denver and one SE of Boulder) are both surrounded by pricey neighborhoods. Many adjacent areas east, NE and south of the pricey Boulder tech area are all still very much UNDERWATER, in some instances more than 60%. Nearly all subdivisions within six miles of the Denver Tech Center (bet. Cherry Creek and Parker) are VERY pricey.
I’m not saying here that Denver’s a bad place to live . . . quite the contrary. It can be good if you have $$ and you don’t have to commute too far and you are able to purchase a property that you won’t lose $$ on when you sell it. As a one-income family, if I didn’t have relatives there to help me with kids, I wouldn’t move. IMHO, the amount needed to live comfortably in a stable area in Denver for a family of four would be about $150K+ per year.
If even one of you has family in SD and you are currently employed, I would stay put for now. Again, just my .02.
