What would you do if you live in a very expensive neighborhood ?

[Gaurav S.]

I have been waiting on the sidelines to buy a home since 2006. I live in Santa Barbara and after 5 years of renting a one bedroom apartment frankly my patience is running out. We are planning to have a kid and need to move into a bigger place. I am paying 1500$/month right now and would be paying over 1800$ to rent a decent two bedroom.

Median price of a home in Santa Barbara is 550k.

So here are our options

1) Pay around 430k to buy a SFH(3bed) in a very poor condition but in a good school district in Santa Barbara.This home will probably need another 50k over time to make it a home.

2) Move to Ventura(40 miles away) and pay around 330k for a decent home (3 bed). Commuting would be 1 hour one way.

3) Buy a condo for around 300-320k and pay 400$ HOA :(. I am totally against condo's based on what I have heard on biggerpockets.

4) Keep renting

5) Move away by changing jobs. I have a very stable job,like the town and people and earn more than I would earn elsewhere for a similar position.

Someone who has lived/worked in an expensive neighborhood please let me know what you did in this situation.