Another get the hell out of Cali. thread.

I was lurking around and came across the Austin Texas thread.
As many of you guys on here that know me personally, I have been disenchanted with Ca. for a few years now.I want a home on acreage and that is just not gonna happen here. I went driving way out in the country and 5 acres 20 mile from anywhere was still $400,000.00. Unbelievable!
So the whole family and I are going to Colorado Springs Co.
the whole first week of Sep. to have a look around. I have a buddy that already lives in the area so its not like we would be going to a totaly strange place and not know anybody there.In fact our original day care provider for my 2 girls moved out there 2 years ago and have adjusted quite nicely.
On the surface Co. seems to be a good compromise. It has MORE riding that Ca.More rain fall and or snow fall than Ca. and the home prices are reasonable.Low humidity,and 4 full seasons. My buddy tells me that winter in that area is not as severe as on the western facing side of the Rockies. He gets to ride up until well into Nov. and starts up again In Feb.
I can get a comparble house to the one I am in now (3 bd, 3.5 baths 2000 sq. feet 10 years old ) brand new for less than $300,000.00 and my house will sell for around $560,000.00 and I only payed $147,000.00 for it brand new.

I looked up Austin too, I found new homes there comparable to mine for under $200,000.00.

But this time I want to buy a parcel and build my own house and build a good size shop building too.

So anybody from the Colorado Springs area got any info for the bundster?


bundy

Give me a call brother!

bundy

Thanks guys,

Dont get me wrong, I do have some feelings of remorse at the thought of leaving Ca.
I basically grew up here, I moved to Ca. at the ripe old age of 23 for a job with my girlfriends moms company. Bought a house,started a family ( I have 2 wonderful little girls 7 and 10 ) and after 19 years with the same awesome wife I thought I was here to stay.
Well my trade took a turn after 911 and there was a slow down, I didnt worry at first because construction is like that but when things started to come around and get busy again, all the contractors I worked for had started to poor mouth. You know,(when things were slow we had to bid these jobs cheap just to get them, blah blah blah ) and they started hireing guys and paying them hourly( 9 to 20 an hour depending on experiance, most barely speak english) when we always got payed piece work before. Now before you guys go off on me,I know 20 and hour is good pay to some people, but their is no benifits or anything. Hell I never made less than 50,000 and made close to 100,000 before 911! Plus in the Ca. economy as it stands now 50,000 wont get you very far, just to rent a small 3 bed room house my sister in law spends close to 3000 a month.But the single biggest thing is that because of health ( terrible arthritis in my knees, so bad that in a few years I may need knee replacement surgery )and age (41) I can no longer work as fast or as long( for the above reasons plus having a family that I want to spend more time with) to make the big bucks.
Just read in the paper yesterday that in Santa Barbara a combined income of 160,000 qualifys you assisted housing! The median house there is 1.2 mill.
I dont care how great this place is there is a limit to how much of my income I want to waste on just day to day living exspenes.
I could care less about beaches, I grew up in Fla. and got my fill of beaches. In Fla. I rode at my own house ( had 10 acres )
or a few minutes away was a good riding area. In fact in the time it takes me to get to Jawbone I could of went all the way across the state.
But the single thing that gets my blood to boiling is the traffic! I just can not stand wasting hours a day of my life like that, I dont have many left! LOL!
So we are going over there with an open mind and maybe we will find what we are looking for, maybe not? I dont know.I just know that as it stands now, I will never make enough here to get that house on 10 acres like I grew up on and even if I could afford it it would be so far away from everything to practical!

I think it will take an unbelievable job offer here to change my mind set.

But to all you Ca. lovers, dont get all hurt everytime someone talks about moving somewhere else, unless you guys have to reassur (?) yourselves that you are making the right scrafises for yourselves.
But lets hear your reasons for wanting to stay here so bad!


bundy