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FTA: If my husband and I tried to acquire in California what we have here in Idaho – namely, 20 acres with a good-sized house and a barn – we’d be spending upwards of a million dollars, easily. And we’d have a mortgage to match. But we spent one-tenth of that by moving to Idaho instead. And we bought this place solely on the income from a home woodcraft business, for Pete’s sake. Try doing that in California.

I live in southern California (San Fernando Valley fer sure dude) and have tried to buy a house but I cannot do so on a single income. I almost did after the collapse of prices but even the low cost ones were expensive compared to elsewhere. If it takes 2 people to pay for a home then it is too much plus the house you get for $350,000 is not much.

I recently invested my down payment in Apple stock and hope it goes up so I can buy a home. More then likely it will be out of state (I like Minnesota just not the long long winter). There are places in California where prices are reasonable but my job keeps me here. It could be done from home (Help Desk support) but the company wants you in the office.

Being from Minnesota and knowing the prices there I could easily buy a home by a lake with a big yard.

Thanks for the photos. My comparison regarding the 4 seasons
aspect refers mainly to the north-south area where the
foothills start to meet the Sierra Nevada high country at
the 2,000 - 3,000 ft elevation. A large part of that is
where Hwy 49 winds its’ way through the region known as
the Mother Lode. The photos in your link depict the
foothills at the lower elevations, closer to the Central
Valley. Many of the small communities which line Hwy 49
resemble New England towns in certain ways. I grew up in
one of those small California towns and we most definitely
experience all four seasons although maybe not quite as
pronounced as New England.