Gollum Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 Still not considering oakland? Man, oakland's got it all. High rent, high crime, and high stink during high tide. Oh yea baby. All kidding aside I liked VA when I was there a year ago on vacation for a week. Even the DC area didn't seem as bad as I've heard from people. But then again, I grew up in richmond, highest crime rate in the bay area. The only thing I didn't like was the humidity. I'm not a fan of that. I'm sure other east coast places are better though. I hope you find a place you can truly call home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73ZCAR Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 I've been thinking about Prescott, Az. Elev. 5200ft. Property is still relatively inexpensive. A nice house between 150-225K avg. highs summer 80-85deg. winter lows 25-30deg. some snow.Average precip~20inches Nice small town feel, but enough industry to have some jobs. Within 90 minutes of Phx. area if you need the comforts of the big city. Eg. Racing at Speed World for drags , Phx. Raceway Park and P.I.R. for road racing. Also plenty of culture, Symphony, art galleries and what have you. Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I think Alb was rated number two recently in some magazine as the best place to live. Can't remember the magazine name, but there are alot of nice places, it's just what tickles your fancy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zguy95135 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 If you want to move to Cali you should check out places like Tracy, Dublin, Danville (nice place, I would like to live there), Walnut Creek, Antioch, ect. You should be able to get a nice newish one story house for around 300k there. Its a good location too, close to Santa Cruz, Frisco, Monterey (Laguna Seca ) ect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruez Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I've lived in North Carolina for about 20 years of my live... I have to admit, Its pretty nice here.. I'm about an hour or so from the mountains for skiing in the winter, little over 4 hours to Myrtle Beach, SC., 30 minutes from Lake Norman and about 45 minutes from Charlotte. I just wish we had a little bit more snow in the winter to play in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 Just completed the whirlwind tour of the southwest. Spent one day in Albuquerque, one in Denver, and one in Co Springs. Impressions: Albuquerque - I liked it a LOT. My wife not so much. Dry, not green, but beautiful mountains and nice scenery. GREAT, and I mean GREAT Mexican food (the Mexican food here in Seattle blows). We liked the East side of town near the mountains. Very friendly people. Didn't go to the Southwest part of town, which I hear is the bad part. My wife kinda wanted to see the bad part of town everywhere we went, I didn't really get that. It's not like we hang out in the ghetto of Seattle. We found a house in Tijera, about 20 miles outside of the city up in the mountains. The house is on 2 acres with a fantastic view and a perfect spot to put up a shop. $285K is towards the top end of our budget, but doable, and a 20 minute commute to UNM for the missus. We also found a house in the Northwest part of town which was in a tract, but regardless it was a nice house and was $220K. In addition to these two we saw some of the weirdest homes I've ever seen. One had a different but equally garish and tacky tile floor in every room including a nice 12" x 12" tile with a portrait of Jesus right above the toilet in one bathroom. Nothing like having god stare at the back of your head while you're dropping the kids off at the pool... The job market for my wife would be tough. She didn't interview here, but the people at the Children's hospital were talking budget cuts and that sort of thing. Albuquerque definitely didn't seem like a big money town, more blue collar than I suppose we're used to. Denver - I didn't like it at all. Too far away from the mountains to have a view in most of the parts of the city that we went through. Wife's work would be in the Northeast part of town, easily accessible by the TOLL highway. I have to look into this toll thing more, but it didn't seem like a particularly good deal to pay ~$7 to get to the airport. Too "big city" for me, no charm whatsoever as far as I could see. You could have transplanted those people and buildings to Anytown, USA and I don't think they would have noticed. There just didn't seem to be anything Denver about Denver. Maybe it's different when you get out of town, but we didn't really get a chance to do that too much. What we did see on the outskirts of town was vast seas of tract homes positioned about 3' apart from each other. Traffic was not good. My wife had an interview at the Children's Hospital in Denver and she can definitely get a job there, no problem. She loved the people there and she was really excited about the job prospect. Colorado Springs - We had really high hopes for this town, and we had a very bad impression after the first drive through. I25 is F'ed up at the north end of town, and it was bumper to bumper at 3PM on a Sunday. Not good. The reason for this traffic is road construction which should eventually improve the situation, but I was a bit put off by the fact that the speed limit is lowered to 45 mph through the "construction zone" where there was absolutely no construction going on for miles. Looked like a speed trap to me. Aside from that we looked at houses near the Patty Jewett golf course. The houses were nice, one had a 1000 sq ft garage, but the yards were TINY. We also looked at houses in the Black Forest area on acreage. One was in the trees, I liked it but the wife didn't, the other was out on the plains, and that one we both liked reasonably well. Apparently it snows a lot more out on the plains than in town too, which means more work clearing the driveway and that sort of thing. The job situation for my wife is pretty bleak in Colorado Springs. Although getting a job would be easy, she wouldn't be able to work with transplant patients, and probably wouldn't be able to focus on pediatrics even. And the pay would no doubt be lower than Denver, which is lower than Seattle. The thing that we really didn't like about Colorado in general was the housing situation. Maybe this has more to do with topography than anything else, but there are just endless seas of tract homes with no focal point. Since the plains are right there they can continue to build out into the flatlands forever, so I kinda have to wonder if the land really has any intrinsic value whatsoever. It kind of reminded me of Vegas real estate. My impression is that a home might be worth a lot of money now, but there's an endless supply of desert. Will it continue to be worth money in the future??? If supply exceeds demand, and there's no reason to stop building... Colorado people, maybe you can help us out and explain what it is about your state that we should love so much? EVERYONE we've talked to has said "Oh my brother/sister/aunt/uncle/son/daughter lives in Colorado Springs/Denver and they just LOVE it there. I have the feeling that we just missed the boat entirely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 South Texas... San Antonio, San Marcos, New Braunfels, Austin... anywhere in between. I like New Braunfels but I'm employed in San Antonio. Seems to meet all your requirements. Austin traffic is worse than any of the others... state capital... full of polititians and morons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlalomz Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Just to bring your search full circle and another vote for Sacratomato, the housing bubble has burst big time in the Sacramento and surrounding areas. You will find what you are looking for in the foothill and former farm areas. Used homes have a 7 month wait to be sold and new homes offer large incentives especially if you don't have to wait to sell your home. It is truly a buyers market. We bought our home 13 years ago and still cringe at what the prices are now but there is not the feeding frenzy of a year ago allowing room to deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 The foothills outside Sac would really be ideal. Close to about 5 race tracks, autoxes every weekend within driving distance, tons of hospitals for the wifey to work at, family there, etc. When we were there a couple months ago we were looking at the real estate magazines and checking realtor.com and the prices were too high by a pretty good margin. Maybe they hadn't yet reflected the real world reality of the market yet, but the only house we saw in our price range was a "tear down" in Auburn for $250K. If the prices fall enough that realtor.com starts showing some good listings, that area will be a primary focus for us for sure. Texas is a possibility. I haven't been to Texas, my wife has, and she didn't like Austin. That doesn't mean that we've ruled out the whole state, but we like something to look at out the window, which can be hard to come by it seems in a lot of Texas cities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 San Antonio is the #1 spot for real estate investments... nanny-nanny-boo-boo, zlalomz Just to bring your search full circle and another vote for Sacratomato, the housing bubble has burst big time in the Sacramento and surrounding areas. You will find what you are looking for in the foothill and former farm areas. Used homes have a 7 month wait to be sold and new homes offer large incentives especially if you don't have to wait to sell your home. It is truly a buyers market. We bought our home 13 years ago and still cringe at what the prices are now but there is not the feeding frenzy of a year ago allowing room to deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlalomz Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Yes, but the tow to Laguna Seca, Infineon and Thunderhill is a bitch. My brother-in-law sold his beach shack in L.A. and bought 3 investment homes in Texas, it hopefully will make him richer. I was thinking more of Placerville, Grass Valley and the farm lands south and north west of Sacramento. I found a few possibilities looking under Sacramento Real estate sites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Texas - You could try farther east... lots of trees and hills. But it's more humid there. I wouldn't like it in the summer. The foothills outside Sac would really be ideal. Close to about 5 race tracks, autoxes every weekend within driving distance, tons of hospitals for the wifey to work at, family there, etc. When we were there a couple months ago we were looking at the real estate magazines and checking realtor.com and the prices were too high by a pretty good margin. Maybe they hadn't yet reflected the real world reality of the market yet, but the only house we saw in our price range was a "tear down" in Auburn for $250K. If the prices fall enough that realtor.com starts showing some good listings, that area will be a primary focus for us for sure. Texas is a possibility. I haven't been to Texas, my wife has, and she didn't like Austin. That doesn't mean that we've ruled out the whole state, but we like something to look at out the window, which can be hard to come by it seems in a lot of Texas cities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Central VA is nice. The prices are going up in the nieghborhoods near me, but the average house value is going down. Stay away from a nieghborhood and you fine. Who wants to live in a nieghborhood anyway-all the rules and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelToad Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Delaware SUX ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 I had my suspicions! Besides, everytime I think of Dover it reminds me of Creepshow: "Thanks for the ride lady! Thanks for the ride!!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Jon, I was stationed at McClellan AFB while in the service so lived in Sac for almost 7 years back in the 80s and 90s. I liked it well enough that I'd move back if the job took me there. That being said, the job would require much better compensation than I get now to account for the higher housing costs (and they are higher regardless of the bubble bursting) and the additional state income taxes Cali hits you with. Wheelman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zV8 Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 I say stay local and move to bellingham... It doesn't rain that much, it's only rained like 5 times this whole summer (NW gets a bad rap for rain, but the weather here is alot better than most places). Never gets to cold, never gets to hot.... everything u could ask for, mountains, ocean, rivers, lakes, racetracks, big cities close, lots of hospitals, traffic isn't even a issue, good housing... 2800 sq ft. 4 bd 3 bath house's for $320k. Alot more relaxed than Seattle.. i love it here, i lived in Santa barbara for 2 years and it got old, the same weather everyday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 modesto-about an hour south of sacramento.giant new kaiser hospital just starting to open-hiring hasnt started yet.2 hours to laguna,1.5 to sears point,2.5 to thunderhill.downside-e$pensive real estate compared to rest of usa.mucho taxes and restrictive smog laws.suburban sprawl and bad traffic because people buy homes out here and commute to the bay area.but its kind of centrally located-you can drive to yosemite,tahoe,sac or the bay area fast.winter kind of sucks for 2 monthes -it stays grey and foggy and about 40 degrees.but finding a house with space for a shop at 300k will be tough but might be possable with the recent real estate slump.my neighborhood has 1200 to 1400 sq/ft houses runnning in the $350k range.i want to move out of cali myself-to many taxes and too much traffic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2ManyZs Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Northwest VA isn't too bad... a little too close to DC for me, but I'm stuck here. Housing prices were getting out of hand with all the idiots from the DC area getting into bidding wars for homes in the mountains away from the city. Some were paying 50-100K over the asking price to get the contract. Racing? Summit Point, less than an hour Plenty of Auto-X's in the DC/Baltimore area VIR, bout 3 1/2 hours Beaverrun, bout 3 1/2 hours Mid Ohio, bout 6 hours Watkins Glen, bout 6 hours Road Atlanta, bout 7 hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 On a recent business trip to Denver, I wasn't particulary inpressed either. It felt like a typical mid-size midwestern city; small downtown surrounded by older sections not quite blighted but rapidly approaching that condition; a token entertainment/social district (a few overpriced bars), and miles and miles of cookiecutter houses. This certainly did not feel like one of the leading metropolises in the nation. It lacked the pulse, the energy, the intensity of urban feel. And it confirmed my suspicions that a truly significant city should be on a coast - or at least on a navigable river, and ideally on both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.