Living in California: real estate
California is a beautiful state, to be sure, but be prepared to pay for it as far as housing goes. No matter where you live, you are going to pay some pretty decent rental or housing prices, assuming that you don t live in a rundown housing project or something similar.
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Population decline may actually bode well for renters and "wannabe" homeowners
That said, though, population decline in California is the greatest its been in many decades. More and more people are moving out of the state to areas where the cost of housing is much more reasonable and where the commutes are not nearly as long. In fact, experts state that if things continue as they are, California is slated to lose all of its educated work force by the year 2020. That may in fact bode well for someone who wants to live there, because if the state has to begin to attract residents back, it may just adjust its cost of living, rental and housing prices to do so. Therefore, there may be a sort of boomerang effect whereby the cost of living eventually in California will be *lower* than it is in surrounding states.
Buying a house
If you want to buy a house, in some cases, you are in luck. Foreclosures are way, way up, which means that depending on your credit score, you may be able to get some very good deals indeed. In fact, real estate prices have fallen at least 25%, more than that in some outer suburban neighborhoods. While it used to be true, for example, that a long commute was no detriment to living in the suburbs, today, the increasing gas prices makes that questionable at best. (Even though we have had recent drops in gas prices, there s no guarantee that the drops will continue, and consumers continue to be skittish about whether or not this will continue. Thus, this negatively impacts real estate prices in suburban areas with long commutes specially.)
What does that mean in terms of market and home price, though? Actually, average home prices have dropped at least 25% and as much as 40% on average in many areas. This is the biggest drop in real estate prices in over 30 years. Again, if you re looking, and you have got a good enough credit score to qualify for low (assuming you don t have the cash on hand), it s really a buyer s market and you can t go wrong.
Other factors to consider
Although you might have heard otherwise, the cost of living in California (other than housing) is really not that much more expensive, if at all, than it is any other area of the country. You do have to be careful and plan well, but one of the best things about California is that it s got quite a good public transit system in most areas. That means, if you don t want to fight the traffic in California, you really don t have to. And, it will save you money on gas to take public transportation, too.
Bottom line?
Despite what you might have heard, California is really a great place to live -- especially now, given the exodus of so many from the suburbs who moved to places with more reasonable housing values and shorter commutes. That said, though, now might be the time to get in, since California s going to have to scramble, and quick, to either win back old residents or attract new ones.