Calling AZ, OR and NV residents - thinking of moving :)

[Russell]

We'd like to buy a house in the near future but its quite obvious that we can't afford one in a nice area in CA. Currently we're renting in an upscale neighborhood of Southern CA. The reason we like it here so much is because its safe, quiet, peaceful and people are generally nice and curteous. This is an ideal place to live for us but sadly we can't afford the 1M+ price tag on these houses. Tiny town-homes start at $600k...

So, looks like we have two options:

Plan A: Move to OR, AZ or NV. Hopefully a nice neighborhood is not super expensive. The weather although isn't exactly like CA buts its close (minus the extreme heat and constant rain for a few months). Hopefully there are enough tech/IT jobs that we can find work there

Plan B: Buy a house in OR, AZ or NV as a retirement home, rent it out until its time to retire. In the mean time we keep renting where we are now.

In either case we want the area to be a nice, safe and peaceful. Some place with good schools and cultural diversity (gotta have my Mexican, Thai and Indian food).

Based on the info, can you guys suggest some areas in your home states that might meet our criteria ? Right now its hard to even do a job/housing search not knowing where to look.

[Fern]

I don't live in any of those states, but check out www.findyourspot.com.
They have a rather detailed questionnaire about your preferences for where you want to live, then come up with detailed list of best towns/cities that meet your criteria.

[zakity]

Well, Oregon still is lacking on IT jobs. It is improving, but still not great. I know the Portland metro area has alot of people out of work still (don't know about the rest of the state). You might try some of the other large cities (Bend, Eugene, etc.). Houses are at least in the 200,000. Any of the major cities should have decent ethnic places to eat.

You might want to consider Washington also. Certain parts has weather similiar to Oregon. The economy is supposed to be better also. I think that houses are supposed to be cheaper also.

[CRFSaver]

I used to live up by Sacramento. LOVED IT!!!! Lots of IT jobs (Intel and apple have big offices up there) and the housing is still semi-affordable. I thought Reno was a decent place to live and the economy only gets 15% of its income from tourism (versus Vegas at 95%).

[Sands]

Hi Russell,
I'm new here but I couldn't help but share. I am also from SoCal (Inland Empire) real estate is nowhere near OC prices but still quite high. My family and I are planning on moving to the Dallas area for that very reason. We are planning a trip in October to check it out and if all goes well we'll buy a very nice home for about $175K. I will be able to quit my job and stay home with my 2 year old and maybe even have another baby! Something that would be very difficult for us if we stayed in CA.

Good luck.

[Russell]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions everyone

Sands, goodluck with the relocation. I too lived in Corona (909 in the house! ) for a while but we got tired of the commute and unfriendly people/drivers in general. I've thought about Dallas myself but I'm not wanting to move too far from CA in case I get home sick...I know I will!

I live in Phoenix Arizona.. which is one of the larger big cities -- along with Tucson and Flagstaff. Flagstaff is prcy to rent or buy.

Phoenix or Tucson are more reasonable and have a larger varioation of house sices and prices... The further south in the state you go, the hotter the summers are. Flagstaff acutally gets snow.

In Phoenix and the surraounding area-- the houses start at around $100,000 for an older, smaller fixxerupper. all teh way to 6-7 hundred thousand for a really nice one. ALthough there are still those houses in the million doller and up range for thos ewho have unlimited funds -- which dont sound like you ro you wouldnt be moving here??

Condos run from $40,000 for small 2-3 bedrooms all the way up to over 1 mill for ritzy places in a highrise...

Small towns like Sedona, or the suraounding areas are ery overpriced as well and the job market smaller...

I can try to answer more detailed questions if you post them.

[Russell]

Thanks Tracy, perfect timing - we're driving out to Phx next weekend to look around a bit since we're totally clueless about what the communities are like out there. At this time we're considering areas around Tempe. Do you have any comments on the following areas ?

Vincenz
Meadows at Eagle Glen
Glenwilde

The criteria is:

- good schools
- decent tech/IT job market
- nice neighborhood - I usually avoid neighborhoods with Rotwiellers and lots of pickup trucks, specially the 'customized' ones

You mentioned condos, which are usually a good rental property. We might be interested in those as well since DW just got a promotion so we won't be able to move out to AZ for at least a yr. However, we are still interested in buying something now and renting it out until we move out there.

Originally Posted by Russell

Thanks Tracy, perfect timing - we're driving out to Phx next weekend to look around a bit since we're totally clueless about what the communities are like out there. At this time we're considering areas around Tempe. Do you have any comments on the following areas ?

Vincenz
Meadows at Eagle Glen
Glenwilde

The criteria is:

- good schools
- decent tech/IT job market
- nice neighborhood - I usually avoid neighborhoods with Rotwiellers and lots of pickup trucks, specially the 'customized' ones

You mentioned condos, which are usually a good rental property. We might be interested in those as well since DW just got a promotion so we won't be able to move out to AZ for at least a yr. However, we are still interested in buying something now and renting it out until we move out there.

I'm not as familiar with neighborhoods in the Tempe area. ASU is in Tempe, so I imagine the higher number of studens in the imediate vicinity of the school might make for noiser weekends -- parties and all you know!!

I havent looked for jobs lately, so cant heop with that -- or the schools since I dont have kids. I wish I cold be of more help there. Maybe during your weekend you can drive around and observe the neighvbor hoods....??

CHeck for things like lots of broke down cares that look like they are permanent fixtures... THings that tell you which neighborhoods are poorer than others, and more likely to have higher criminal activitiy

If you have time, perhaps checking out the local libraryy -- to look at back issues of the newspapper for the past month or so. This sounds weird at first -- but can give you an idea of which neighborhoods there is more crime in.

I live in Phoenix, near I-17 and Indian school road. Therefore I have better feel of the aries closer to me.

I wish someoneo who lives in tempe could post and help out more.