Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire career decisions, Kalifornia???

Nice going, Paul. Tell 'em about the PFD and you won't be able to keep 'em out! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Note to all: It's not that great up here. Paul was being hypothetical.


--Mike

Mike,

Now you did it! I intentially didn't mention that <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> There are also a few women that are decent looking and aren't married or carheart wearing carpet munchers.

Yeah, yeah, it's winter 13 months out of the year, always dark and there are no good places left to hunt or fish <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Paul,

I wasn't saying that he could get more house for less money by doing the commute to the foothills. In fact, the opposite is likely true. One would pay less for more, newer structure in the city. With all the concrete. And noise. And no critters, unless you count stray cats and rats. I think you get my drift.

Consider it the difference between living dab smack in the middle of the Santa Clara Valley, and living in up off of Hwy 9. That should put it into perspective for you.

My wife's employer is going to be cutting the budget for her department by 40% over the next two years. If she gets the axe, then she has promised that we will give Los Anchorage a serious look.

BTW - what is the property tax rate in AK ? And does it vary by bourough or is it the same statewide ?

Regards,
Scott

Scott,

Property tax is 16-18 mils in Anchortown, but no income or sales tax, and vehicle reg/smog is about $130, for two years. For $300k you can get a nice house in Anhorage or Eagle River, for $500k you can get an acre or more in the hills, (some that back with the Chugach park) with an unreal view, and a nice house. My plan is

I have no clue what propety taxes are around the state, some areas have no property tax, some areas have property tax and sales tax.

Thanks for the Highway 9 Sil Valley analagy, I get it. The commute would be hell though. I live in Santa Clara and worked in Milpetas, took 45 minutes to go ~8 miles, unless I hit the traffic wrong and it was over an hour.

Cheyenne - "And while I'm sure that there are fine rural areas to recreate in California, most of the law, policy and "attitude" is dictated by the state's urban population centers."
____________________________________________________
Cheyenne nailed it. No matter where you live in Kalifornia, you'll be ruled by the Communistnazis in the State Legislature in Sacramento. Lefties?? You've not seen "lefties" such as those humanoids.... unless you live in New York, New Jersey, or Illinois.

You'll also have to register your handguns with Big Brother or go to prison. CCW??? Forget it! No one but criminals, cops, and the well armed bodyguards of extremely rich, extremely left wing businessmen, celebrities, and politicians may protect themselves... other than in their homes. The Constitution of the United States is not only meaningless in Kalif., but a bigtime ribald joke!

Just my thoughts... after having spent 35 years in Los Angeles. I love Idaho.

L.W.

Bb, go to the U.S. Census Bureau's web site:
http://www.census.gov/
Half way down their home page is a link for Statistical Abstracts. From there you can go to their Quick Facts page and compair just about everything for any city in the U.S. that has a population over 25,000. Such as California has approx. 155,000 some odd square miles with an average population of 217 people per square miles. The city of Freemont has an area of approx. 7 square miles with a population of approx 2,600 some "odd" people per square mile. Median income is approx. $75,000. Personaly I don't think there are many people in that bracket. Most I believe are either way above, or way below. And living expenses are high. Had to turn down a job offer my self back in 96 in Fremont because of the differances. One thing you might want to look into is California's interest only loans if your not sure about buying a home here. Rentals are outrageous no matter where you go. Personaly I've lived here all my life, except for the 4 years I was in the Army. I hate the State, the People, the Smog, and worse of all is the Traffic or maybe worst is all the BS you have to put up with just to make a living here. I wouldn't wish this place on my worst Enemy.

Phil

I moved more than half way across Canada for my career(I'm a Banker) and it has worked out very well for us. My kids like it here, my wife misses her family, but likes the city we live in. It's been my experience and that of my wife and kids we can be happy just about anywhere, all places have pros and cons, enjoy the pros deal with the cons. If it's a great new career opportunity for you take a chance, you might like California, if you don't you now have experience running the type of institution you want to pursue and move back home.

Medesto has some beutifull country around it. You are close to Yosemite, CA Gold Country, Sierras, etc. My opinion is that change is always good and you can always move back to Burley.
My wife's sister and her family live in Burley, ID. I hear some funney stories about that place.
Congrats on the MBA, I got mine in '99 from UC Irvine.

good luck
Keith

Lived here in the PRK all my life in the SF Bay Area. Will probably retire here too, as there are still many rural areas where gun laws are winked at, as well as world class fishing, and very good hunting.
Housing is a "problem", and is certainly more expensive in Modesto than ID, but you get what you pay for. Look at it this way: I bought my house in 1986 for $221,000. I can sell it to day for an enormous profit repaying all the payments I've ever made (including interest), taxes, improvements, gardener, and loans, and still have enough money left to buy a very nice house in a rural area such as Idaho. And I'll still have money left over. Not to mention that it never snows here, because snow is optional in the PRK. You have to seek it. Never shoveled a driveway.

BTW, BMWs and MBZs cost the same here as in ID, and service is closer. (As an MBA you will want one of these.) Same with clothing and food. Taxes, services and gas are more, in general. Of course, you do have the benefits of having Barbara Boxer as your senator, and Nancy (the Red) Pelosi as the minority leader of the House!

But if you look at an election map, the Central valley is Red country, so not too bad.

In Modesto you are very close to good fishing and hunting. Yosemite Park is nearby, and even Lake Tahoe is relatively close. Many recreational opportunities are nearer you than the Bay Area.

Ruminating even more:

I have a son that lives in IF, not really near Burley but similar hunting and fishing opportunities. He's working there as an accountant. If he was here in the PRK, he'd be making twice as much money, but more important, in the two years he's been working, he'd have made more in equity on his home than his ID salary!!!! With today's low interest rates, housing is in some ways more affordable than ever. A lot of creative financing around. He has a house in IF, but appreciation is zilch.

Some of the previous posters have the right idea, come here to make money, and then if you really hate it you can leave with plenty in your pocket.
I just wish about 30,000,000 people would make the same decision. But they all stayed!!!!

Then again, if there is a burp in the CA housing market, and one uses creative financing to get into one of those crazy priced homes, they could easily end up with -$100k equity. Just as the stock market corrected due to hype vs reality on the dot coms, the CA real estate market will adjust at some point in time. The bigger the bubble, the bigger the pop.

458 Lott, right-o. When I came out of grad school (in 92, not too long ago), Cali wasn't so hot. My employer had just escaped from there, literally months before the "correction".

At that time, the largest section in the real estate ads was "abandoned". Not 15 years ago.....

The economy is looking up, which means employment will go up. Inevitably, interest will go up substantially. With an additional 3% interest, a mortgage payment on a 500,000 house will go up only $1,250 per month!

Can't happen?

It happened in the 70's

It happened in the 90's

.........


Dutch.

this could very easily happen and did several years ago to people I know in Sacramento........I just can't see how people can afford to buy houses anymore.......I make a reasonable living and if I didn't have any bills and didn't plan on buying anything for the next 30 years I could probably afford to buy a hubble.........but then I just checked that calculator and I would have to make $1500.00 more a year by moving to Alaska to be where I'm at here in Calif...but I sure would like to visit Alaska before my time is up.

Justin,

Well if you own a handgun, California gives you 60 days to register it (only applies to people moving into the state). You get to pay a $19 per handgun fee to report them. You may not bring magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Many handguns are not sold in California because they have not been tested by local labs.

You can't have an assault weapon, a .50 BMG and probably can't get a concealed carry license.

If you want to buy a gun from another citizen, you have to go via a registered dealer and wait 10 days.

You have 10 days to get a California drivers license, and 20 days to relicense your car. Be prepared to provide your social security number to the DMV, get a smog certificate, and possible to pay a use tax on the car (depends on when you bought it).

Welcome to California!

jim

I've lived here all my life, and there have been several burps. But that mostly affects investors. As a homeowner, if the value of your home goes down, your payment still doesn't change, and you still have a place to live.

As a CPA, as well as an investor, I think I can categorically state that no one has ever lost a dime in the California real estate market LONG TERM--more than 5 years.

After all, 36,000,000 people can't all be wrong.

I couldn't afford housing in the bay area 8 years ago when we moved out, and I was making a decent salary then. Housing prices have since roughly doubled. I was a day late and a dollar short to get in on the IPO's that provided tidy down payments that allowed folks to get in on the housing market that was already inflated at that time.

The historically low interest rates, and folks greed to get the most expensive house they can by taking out interest only loans is what has driven up those house prices, not salaries doubling.

Sure, it would be great to leverage oneself to the limit, get a $500k home, and see it appreciate 20% in 2-3 years then sell it. But, the economic forces that have made that house sell for $500k today, vs $250-300 5-10 years ago aren't going to last, and you'll be a hurting unit if that house suddenly drops back to $400k, you have 0 equity in it, and aren't putting any equity into it. You have 2 choices, be stuck in it for a minimum of 5-10 years hoping it goes back up and then you can break even, or file bankruptcy.

Now if one gets a home in a nice location, then it wouldn't be so bad, because homes in nice locations are always in demand. Trouble is you can't touch a home in a nice location in CA for less than $1mil.

Burleyboy,
What are they paying 6 figures for is you cant make the important decisions? Are you sure you got a business degree? Just kidding. I also have a BS degree in marketing but my masters is in educational administration not business. You are more than qualified to make the right decision, but I think you need us to justify it for you. I worked four years making a bunch of money in business until I realized I wasnt living the life I wanted. No time for hunting or family. (I think family comes first, I forget). I teach with a lot of passion and love my job, buy most importantly I have time for hunting and my family. Only you can evaluate all the positive and negative variables to find the best decision.
Some more variables to consider.
Handguns need to be transported in a locked (key or combo) container. Not the glove compartment.
A baseball bat in your car can be considered a weapon if no baseball glove is present.
The laws of purchasing a gun will be frustrating.
Check the laws pertaining to the guns you presently own and see if they're even permissable here.
Also, the racial makeup is probably different. I love the diversity here in LA but others may not.
If you can make 70K in Utah, your standard of living is much more than 150K here. After taxes (almost 40%) and mortgage, not much difference.
Just things to consider.
Good Luck.
mike

The CCW permits are issued by county sherrifs. In the central valley they tend to be conservative and willing to give CCW permits to honest citizens.

I would look at living in a nice small town in the foothills that is below/on the snow line.

Conrad