Came to California with a good work ethic in 1988 and 5 years in my trade, spent the last 30 years here, bought a house, sold a home, 3-4 years left to work and head back to Texas with a decent grub stake.
California can be good but you MUST bring a skill.
California real estate is a great investment - actually right now the whole west coast is going crazy. I’ve researched all over and CA coast is still looking good since I’m sick of the northwest rain.
Jolla - what is the skill with which you’ve been so successful? Curious ... thanks!
You caught the tail end of the glory years in California, congratulations, well done.
Ten (or more) years earlier you did NOT need a skill. You could fall out of the sky in CA, think you wanted to do something, do it for a few years, make progress if you could show up every day and liked what you were doing (or; go try something else; and you could do that 5 times) and then either start a business of your own or begin making enough money to afford a house and on and on. If you only did that and made no horrible financial mistakes along the way you are a millionaire.
Having arrived in CA 1972, I couldn’t believe what I had found. The opportunities were infinite, the roads were excellent, of course the weather was outstanding. If you lived here then you thought “anybody who doesn’t live here is an idiot”.
California can be good but you MUST bring a skill.
Taxes, Taxes, Taxes.
And you need a way back machine to buy a house