Houston Nesties

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

cassielk — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:07:03 GMT

rayskit10:
cassielk:
A guy in DH's office just transferred to the Cali office. He is getting paid just about double what his salary was here and doing the same job.

yeah, you wanna talk about high COL- esp if it's LA or the Bay Area. of the major cities in CA, San Diego is the most affordable (except Sacramento, but no one wants to live there).

COL is definitely one of the only things keeping me in TX.

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

rayskit10 — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:34:07 GMT

cassielk:
A guy in DH's office just transferred to the Cali office. He is getting paid just about double what his salary was here and doing the same job.

yeah, you wanna talk about high COL- esp if it's LA or the Bay Area. of the major cities in CA, San Diego is the most affordable (except Sacramento, but no one wants to live there).

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

cassielk — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:31:02 GMT

A guy in DH's office just transferred to the Cali office (not East, but HCOL example). He is getting paid just about double what his salary was here and doing the same job.

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

rayskit10 — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:28:22 GMT

and to add, my mother's house is definitely old. it was built in 1890. old there and old here mean two completely different things. "old" houses in the north east are not falling apart stucco jobs like they are here. while her house is a duplex, it was built as a very large one family, so small doesn't factor either.

like i said before, it's just a different way of life. in fact, i know people in every city you're discussing except Raleigh. i can tell you that the way of life in houston is just different and when you get to wherever you are going, you'll be surprised at how your home buying/shopping/commuting priorities will change...

take the best job for your DH and make the most of wherever you end up. they are all great places with their own pros and cons.

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

TexasCurlyQ — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:19:25 GMT

pepomntpat:

San Diego is hardly cheap.

I can back that one up for you, unfortunately.

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

pepomntpat — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:32:57 GMT

Um, Raleigh is on the East Coast...::checks map:: yeah, East Coast.

I've been to Raleigh. It is just another city really. Loads of traffic, big highways. It gets cold in NC too and then there are hurricanes. Denver isn't very warm and San Diego is hardly cheap.

I'm a big fan of PA. BTW I live in a house that was built in 2004. Not old and the perfect size for us. There is a huge variance in COL between Maine and Florida. Maybe you are simply thinking of New England?

Where are you getting your information?

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

RaeAnt — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:07:42 GMT

UGH! Sorry to sound like a broken record, but feel I need to correct inaccurate statements. "Houses are old/small", a portion are,yeah, as you'll find anywhere. Keep in mind that those old or small houses probably also have a huge history to go with it some date back to the Revolutionary war or prior. Something like that is not typical in Texas. How could it be when settlements and towns came later then they did in the east. But to make a blanket statement of such is completely unfair and quite frankly ignorant of the area of which you speak.There are new housing communties being built constantly so a buyer has many options available to them. Buy brand new or buy a piece of history. Again it goes back to the first word in real estate: LOCATION as to the cost/size.

Yes it gets cold in the winter, though to the degree of "cold" depends on the area. Pa has run the gamut from 50 degree summer days to 75 degree+ January days. Not typical of course, but yes we have seasons; all four of them. The summers can be like the weather we're having here in Houston now or merely balmy. The winters can be mild or with 8 feet of snow or higher in some parts. The seasons you can see change even a far south as the Carolinas (Northern part, more in North Carolina than South), but you can definitely see the leaves along the Shenendoah or BlueRdige Park way through the Virginas. You don't have to run all the way up to Maine.

Princeton will have similar weather as to where I'm from in PA. Their pricing is going to be closer to NYC pricing and you'll find old,new, large and small. It's an Ivy League old money town and you are paying for the "privilege" to live there.

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

CallMeKel — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:04:05 GMT

As much as I'd hate to see you move so far away, I think I'd chose places in this order:

Raleigh

San Diego

Denver

then East Coast

Raleigh is the lowest COL-wise of all your choices, and I hear it's beautiful there (my web designer lives there). San Diego is also very expensive, but the weather there is always gorgeous...and you are near the beach. Denver I TOTALLY love, but it's also expensive, and you'd have to learn to drive in the cold...but you'd be close to skiing and other neat winter sports.

The East Coast just doesn't appeal to me at all, it's so darn expensive, houses are old/small, and it's cold in the winter (I just hate all cold weather period). But it would be cool to be near NYC/Philly....and to go see the seasons change up in Maine and stuff.

Good luck with your decision.

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

pepomntpat — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:48:57 GMT

Hello, from the East Coast. DH and I do just fine living here.

We live in a condo in Lancaster, PA and I love it. We are close, as Raeant said, to most major metropolitan areas without being in them. DH commutes to Philly most days and sometimes to other cities.

Princeton is not the only town. Stay away from the Ivy League towns and big cities and you should do okay. You learn to live where you need to.

Also, DH and I both have cars. There is very limited public transit here. There is, however, a farm in my backyard.

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

RaeAnt — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:33:06 GMT

LMAO!!!!!!!!

Oh my!!!! There are a lot of misconceptions about the East Coast. As with anywhere, it's about location. Princeton.....yeah you are going to pay through the nose to live in that area. You have many well to do families that have lived there for generations.....old money in other words. And yes, the proximity to the "city" (NYC) is part of the cost factor as well. That said, expand your search to other areas of the East Coast, that isn't such a metropolitan city, you aren't going to find as high a price. As the more rural areas down here are cheaper, so are they in the east. I"m really not quite sure how the way people live are much different. The pace is definitely much faster, and well, the people can be more rude, but on the whole I haven't seen much difference. And on the subject of the kind of car you drive not mattering?! Um.....absolutely wrong. Yeah, we aren't into the gas guzzling pick-ups, but instead we have the Hummers, Navigators, and the "luxury" ones while others really like the Prius and other more "friendly" cars. Cars are VERY important on the East Coast. it's a status symbol. Unless you live in NYC or maybe Boston where it's too costly and really doesn't make sense to have one due to great public transportaion, you have to have a car. Square footage is also a status symbol. The difference is, the idiots in the east, will spend all their money to buy this million dollar and then they can't afford to furnish it. Here in Houston, you can buy the same house and furnish it for 1/2 the price! Dh and I have been house hunting and the house we plan on buying, for the location and the size and what's included, would sell for about 3/4 of a million at least back in the same type of location back in PA and it wouldn't even have the community center, splash pad, or any of those ammenities. Down here, it's under $300,000. So yes, most people have smaller houses, because they can' afford more if they want in a certain area or want furniture or to be able to afford the mortgage. Finlly, as for he pay, well, that depends. We moved here because Dh was offered 3x the pay he was making in PA for basically the same job. Usually the bigger the city, the bigger the pay. my house in PA is about 1.5 hours from Philly, 3 hours from NYC one way and 3 hours from DC in the other direction.

As a pp mentioned, if you could get the Raleigh job, I think you would be the most happy with the location/cost of living. Denver and CA are both going to be pricy as well. If you like Princeton and don't have an issue with driving, check about 30 minutes in various directions. I think you will notice a nice reduction in prices.

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

hendy02 — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:43:24 GMT

believe me, it's not easy. dh and i have lived here for several years and the high COL is insane, esp now that food prices have gone up so much. i'm looking forward to getting out! :)

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

rayskit10 — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:54:01 GMT

Lawfrog:

Well, if you must move () go with San Diego! It's beautiful, weather is very nice.

So sorry there is no possibility of a job in Houston for Jason. That is a bummer.

and my 2 BFFs are n San Dieggo (Carlsbad) so you would have instant friends!

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

Nanner — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:13:41 GMT

04JaxBride:

we almost moved to massachusetts a couple of years ago... i rememebr thinking how cool it would be to have a basement!!!!

most of our east coast friends just flat out don't have as much "crap" as we do... like extra things they spend money on just for the hell of it.

Your friends should talk to my BIL and his family. They're on Long Island, and they have more crap than I've ever seen in my life. In their basement, they have one small corner with some couches and their huge wall-mounted TV and surround sound system. In every other inch of the basement, there is nothing but junk piled up 3 feet high. Old toys, clothes, old luggage, home decor they no longer use. They are indesperate need of a rummage sale!

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

Suzi-G- — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:13:30 GMT

Ugh, I'm sorry it looks like you're going to have to move. When I was job hunting I looked at the East Coast because there is a LOT of work for historians up there (especially compared to down here where we bulldoze our history) but even up there, no one pays historians THAT much. We would have been living in a cardboard box in the slum, probably with a roommate.

Re: How do people afford the East Coast?!

04JaxBride — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:09:13 GMT

we almost moved to massachusetts a couple of years ago... i rememebr thinking how cool it would be to have a basement!!!!

most of our east coast friends just flat out don't have as much "crap" as we do... like extra things they spend money on just for the hell of it.