eric

has written 2 SperlingViews. Currently, eric is living in Santa Cruz, CA and has a little something to say:

Come for a while (rent) and leave when you want to Posted On: 2/7/2007 10:22:05 AM

Ok, it's like this here, my girlfriend and I make a combined $135K a year and we can't even come close to buying a house here. Five years ago we could have managed something. I wouldn't plan on buying here unless you have a high value property to turn over for the cash. Anual property tax is 1% of the purchase price and the effect is over $500 per month for what is little more than a shack. I'm talking a shack with no insulation and no real foundation. If you are already sold on California than SC is pretty nice for NorCal. There is much more recreation activities here than over in San Jose. If you live out of state now, I'd seriously reconsider coming to California at all. Propostion 13 makes CA a nightmare for younger people.

Rent only Posted On: 2/7/2007 9:04:11 AM

Don't move to Santa Cruz with the anticpation of buying a place. That is if you are young. The price of a piece of junk house is above $650k. Rents are affordable if you get lucky. The city has a dark side with rampant hard core drug use in the down town area. If you can handle the idiots downtown the climate is nice