After 45 years in San Diego as teacher, real estate investor, and contractor we are leaving. Apparently, so are a lot of other people. The cost of living, and especially the housing cost difference is one of the many reasons, and here are the specifics:
1. Our brand new custom-designed house will cost about 1/3 the price we are getting for our current house and be 10% larger, all on one level.
2. Our HOA will fall from $495/month to about $100. For that HOA we will be a two-block walk from a clubhouse with an exercise room, two pools (one summer, one winter), tennis courts, pickleball courts, etc., etc.
3. Our property taxes will fall from $16,500 per year to about $3000.
4. Monthly utility costs will be vastly lower.
I will try to guess use math. 1/3 price means property tax rate is $3000*3/$16500 = 54.5% of the CA rate.
So that’s the lowest property tax rate in the US. Top 3 lowest property tax rate states are: Hawaii, Alabama and Colorado. Alabama should be cheaper in per square feet and Hawaii does’t need winter pool. So I would guess Colorado.
This thread brings up one of the things that I think people overlook. We whine about how expensive housing in San Diego is, and get lots of talk from politicians about how they are going to create affordable housing. But expensive housing is how we discourage people from moving here (or to stay if they are here). Expensive housing is how we keep San Diego from being even more congested than it is.
This thread brings up one of the things that I think people overlook. We whine about how expensive housing in San Diego is, and get lots of talk from politicians about how they are going to create affordable housing. But expensive housing is how we discourage people from moving here (or to stay if they are here). Expensive housing is how we keep San Diego from being even more congested than it is.[/quote]
