Lemme preface this with a small story: I'm a 30-somthing professional, married, no kiddos (likely not going to have them). My wife and I are both former military and looking to move to Cali. If you check my profile you can see I was planning on something in the Antelope Valley (perhaps I was too optimistic) We are moving for 2 reasons; a.) We own and operate a small business and we want to move towards a net 0 energy home. b.) We want to be legal when taking care of our medical needs (both PTSD and physically injured during military service), marijuana quite simply replaces a metric ton of prescriptions. What I would like to know is what are some good places for us to be looking into, besides the Lancaster/Palmdale area? Here is what you'll need to know: We have the cash (not a loan) to purchase a 4 to 6 bedroom 3+ bath home, in the Antelope Valley area. Incidentally we are not looking for that large of a space. Ideally we are looking only for a 4+ bedroom, 2+ bath, single story (we are injured so this is a must). To make this even easier to understand we really only need 2 bedrooms and a LARGE room for our business (so a finished garage with a carport would fit our needs as well) Efficient upgrades are a big PLUS for us (e.g.; low flow toilets, low drip or arid lanscaping, south facing roof, networked home, upgraded thermostat, re-purposed materials, etc.) We have lived in Asia for many years and are used to smaller living spaces, we do not need vaulted ceilings, "open concept" floor plans, or anything else that is a silly waste of space. Ideally we are looking for 300 to 400 sq ft. for the business and 1500 sq ft for the home, total of 1800 minimum to 2000(ish) exceptions can be made as our business is growing rapidly. Unusual "must haves" -- access to a 10mb or higher internet provider and space for a hot tub in the back... yeah we're not picky at all. Why is it so hard? ---- Any help would be appreciated ---- Why am I asking on GCF? We're tired of making frequent trips to areas to buy real estate and coming up unsuccessful--that shit does cost money LOL. We've made trips to "north of LA" 5 times and are astounded at how difficult it has been and how utterly lost some of our realtors have been (granted we did have one jewel amongst the crowd but we've heard some hinky shit from realtors, like "trust the system" and "cash in hand is a handicap in this debtor market"...WTF guys n gals.) This is my last attempt to buy a new construction or renovation-ready home. If this comes up as a loss I will hire an architect, at this point I could have covered any overages with the 5 trips totaling over 3,000 a piece. TL, DR: Pass it over. This requires a read.
Wish I could offer more assistance but would this combined with google maps help? California Real Estate Property Listings
If you have your heart set on SoCal. I can't be much of a help to you. However, if you are looking to have a legal, private growop and don't mind a little bit of isolation. Look in the Boulder Creek area up north. It's sort of a rainforest climate and houses are relatively cheap (by CA standards) because it's a 10-20 minute drive into the next town or city and people are looking to be near schools and WalMart. Also, typically, the houses run on a good set of land and usually the property is being sold by DIYers and artists so they have workshops and are probably more likely to be self-sufficient/ come with efficient upgrades. I've come up on some houses that are completely and totally self sufficient. In the mountains, it's not a luxury, it's sometimes a necessity. Wish you luck. Hope someone can help you.
TLDR: Don't live in too small of a city. I live in a town with 30,000 people (Paso Robles) and it honestly sucks ass. There is nothing to do here for both children and adults. Same goes for all surrounding cities. Closest place with anything actually decent is a 30 minute drive away (SLO) Try not to live in too small of a town, Drugs are popular around here. People get high just to forget they live in this crappy town...if you decide to have children later on that might not be the best thing.