Thinking about a relocation... Redondo, El Segundo area

[Scott Atk]

Haven't received an offer yet, but it's coming. The thought of moving to Cal. scares me. I'm trying to figure out how much more I would need to make to break even. I'm about to retire from the USAF so I only pay Federal tax on a portion of my income now and no state tax in Nevada. So I'm looking at Federal taxes on all of my income plus California state tax which I understand is no joke. It looks like Redondo median house price is $800K so that's out of the question. I guess I'm just looking for some real life feedback, and I'm sure there's plenty of things I'm not considering. Thanks in advance. Scott

 

[TType85]

Stay far away! Taxes are horrible here. Cost of living is not cheap. The law makers are not making it any better either. If it wasn't for family obligations I would be out of this state in a heartbeat.

 

[lolo86GN]

Top income tax rate in the state is 13.3% for this year, so be prepared for a shock in your take home pay. There are obviously deductions which will impact your actual tax rate but your check will be less either way. On top of that you have high sales taxes, high gas prices, high insurance premiums and just about high anything you can think of! On the housing front maybe you want to state how much you are looking to pay and you will get an idea of what areas you might be able to afford. Keep in mind that anything in the Redondo Beach area and surrounding communities will not be cheap to buy or rent for that matter.

 

[750H.P.V6]

Scott,

California is a nice place to live but expensive as stated above. I'm not sure how much you're making right now but based on your rank and years I could probably do some math and figure it out pretty closely. If I was living in a more affordable part of the country I'd have to give very serious thought to moving here. If the job offer ends up being in the neighborhood of twice what you make now it would probably work out for you. Have you visited the area surrounding Redondo to get the lay of the land?

Neal

 

[Gary Wells]

Scott:
Money not withstanding, if you are into fast cars (unless they are smog exempt), motorcycles, and / or guns, stay far away.
No doubt about it, the PRK government would prefer unarmed peasants over armed citizens.

 

[Scott Atk]

Thanks for the responses so far, pretty much all stuff I expected to hear. Neal, Alicia and I are planning an overnight trip very soon. If I do this, it would be just me at least until I decide I'm going to like it, so I'm looking at maintaining my current underwater mortgage in Vegas + whatever an apartment costs which appears to be close to double what it costs here. I'm thinking it would take roughly 25K more than I make now just to maintain.

 

[Mikalanjavin]

I live in Torrance/ redondo beach area and can show you around. Let me know if you have any questions or want me to check out any areas.

 

[Scott Atk]

Thanks for the offer Mikalanjavin. I will take you up on that.. So, is a 68 Camaro smog exempt? even if it has a newer engine transplant?

 

[TType85]

Pre 75 cars do not have the biannual smog, but you may need to smog it to register it.

 

[1986TR]

Iam loving Cali! So-cal that is . High taxes and all!

 

[Instro84]

Hey Scot what program is that job for?

 

[Scott Atk]

Space

 

[750H.P.V6]

Space

The final frontier, These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise...

Neal

 

[daves87gn]

Pre 75 cars do not have the biannual smog, but you may need to smog it to register it.

no smog, not even to transfer title from NV to CA for 68, you might have to might have to take to DMV for a VIN inspection, at least that is what was required when i bought my 69

 

[Drewster]

Ya definitely want to live close to your work. Traffic is never fun. Unless you get paid by the hour to drive.
I didn't know I had trafficitis till I moved here
There are a lot of downsides to SoCal but one trip to the beach and ya quickly forget
Andrew

 

[turbolou]

Scott, Unless your rich & can afford to live along the coast there is no reason to come to Calif. I would choose the Carolina s or Texas. Your about thirty years too late. LA county has terrible schools with the highest drop out rates the fees & tax's are absurd. Our roads are shot & the traffic sucks. As for love of cars for example yesterday I took a customers bone stock TR in for one of our famous smog tests & it passed everything with flying colors except the inspector failed the visual cause it had red plug wires & an aftermarket cat. This is how silly things have gotten.

 

[Red C5]

Pre 75 cars do not have the biannual smog, but you may need to smog it to register it.

Actually since he's done an engine swap, he might be required to have the new engine be smog legal for the year production car it was out of. Pretty sure about that. Don't know if they'll enforce it but this is California afterall...

 

[Scott Atk]

Peter, That's what I was wondering. However if pre-75 is exempt then how would big brother even know it has a swap?

 

[lolo86GN]

Peter, That's what I was wondering. However if pre-75 is exempt then how would big brother even know it has a swap?

I think it all depends on luck. All out of state cars have to have a vin inspection at the dmv. If the inspector at the DMV sees something fishy then it gets referred to the CHP for a more thorough investigation and may snowball after that. I wouldn't worry about it too much since the DMV only checks dash vins and door vins. When I've done vin verifications, they didn't open the hood at all to look at the engine. They don't have a reason to for that matter. Peter is right about getting caught with the different engine in the car and having to smog it for the year of the engine. The key word there is getting "caught" which is highly unlikely with that 68....

 

[750H.P.V6]

Scott, Unless your rich & can afford to live along the coast there is no reason to come to Calif. I would choose the Carolina s or Texas. Your about thirty years too late. LA county has terrible schools with the highest drop out rates the fees & tax's are absurd. Our roads are shot & the traffic sucks. As for love of cars for example yesterday I took a customers bone stock TR in for one of our famous smog tests & it passed everything with flying colors except the inspector failed the visual cause it had red plug wires & an aftermarket cat. This is how silly things have gotten.

You need a new smog guy. There is no reason the car can't have an aftermarket cat since it's an OBD1 car. Why does he care what color the plug wires are? Sounds like he got up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

Neal