I live in the valley of Calif, and Im wondering if anonymous people think its worth 100K MORE to live @thebeac

Question

Near the beach in San Luis Obispo County -

15-30 minutes from the beach -

I am in my mid 20's and want to purchase a second home. I want to get out of this horrible heat and bad air quality.

I am wanting a nicer location in california.

The prices in S.L.O. County, CA are 50K-100K above what a house would be in my location (FOR MY PRICE RANGE) and I am just wanting to know, if this would be a descent investment. I would be spending about 300K on a house...

and would be paid off in about 30 years...payments would be about $1,500 per month plus insurance(s)/all other bills that go along with owning a home.

I only owe 50K on my Valley home, and its worth about 100K rock bottom...

Im a little nervous! I didn't speak with a realtor yet, thought I should ask the YAHOO CREW!

Thanks any advice would be GREAT...also...I am going to try to go with OWNER CARRY BACK, putting 30K down.

What would you advise a YOUNG mature person to do?

Answer 1

Beach people think it is worth the extra.

But you gotta really like living in beach communities. They struggle with tax revenues because half the city, frankly, is water, and the water doesn't pay taxes.

Sand fleas and beach bums and bindlestiffs and panhandlers and storms and tsunamis and hurricanes are a real pain. Nice sunsets don't make up for it.

Young and mature, eh? Use this opportunity to grow your wealth.

OK, here's what I suggest: rent your house, and go rent a place in a beach town. See if you like it there! With your first house rented (charge enough to cover the tax bill, insurance and mortgage, plus some for maintenance) you will build equity once the housing market recovers. There are a lot of foreclosed families looking to rent now--you should find a good tenant quickly.

Now, with that house in your pocket, you can expand out. Let the housing market fall to rock bottom and then make an offer on a second home near the beach. You'll know what house to buy after renting in that area for a while. Trading on your equity, you find yourself owning two homes, and one of those generates cash flow, pays a mortgage and gives tax benefits.