We are thinking of selling our home in SF and moving somewhere cheaper...need suggestions for

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14. My wife and I were in a similar situation in New York a few years back

I had lived in the Bay Area before moving to NY and meeting her. I always wanted to go back but knew SF would be just as expensive as living in NY so we tried San Diego/La Jolla, Half Moon Bay, Monteray, Santa Cruz but found that we'd have to cough back up most of the money we got from selling our home to buy one out right in those areas.

So we tried Palm Springs, too isolated though. We tried Phoenix, too much driving, too hot, and too red.

We tried Tucson, it and Flagstaff, both college towns, a plus, are the blue areas of Arizona. Tucson might be a little slow for you though coming from SF.

We settled on Las Vegas (not as hot as Phoenix and tired of shoveling snow, homes are less expensive by quite a bit, the state is turning blue, especially in the Vegas area where all the people are, but culturally — galleries, museums, even art movie houses it's still evolving. UNLV is here though, and the new Smith Performing Arts Center.

Try renting first wherever you go to get the lay of the land and since you'll have the cash you might find a real bargain on a foreclosure in a good area.