LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Hundreds of thousands of people have moved to Nevada since the pandemic, and a class has helped Northern California residents make informed decisions before the leap to relocate to the Silver State.
The class is titled “Exit Strategies for Leaving the Bay Area,” offered by Campbell Adult & Community Education in San Jose. Realtor Punam Navalgund created the class in 2019 and tells FOX5 that the concept was born out of necessity: clients needed direction for how to leave California, what state or city to choose, and what to expect from a major move.
“It was me hearing a need from home sellers to make more informed decisions about making their move,” Navalgund said. “There are people from all walks of life: people looking to retire, people who want to raise a family somewhere else where the cost of living isn’t as high as it is here in the Bay Area. It’s people who have a lot of equity in their homes, who aren’t really sure how much they’re going to have left at the end of the transaction,” she said.
About 70 people have completed the various classes since their launch. Navalgund said students have moved to states such as Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Texas, Florida and Georgia, but Nevada remains a popular relocation destination. Students have made the decision to move to the Las Vegas Valley and Reno.
Many residents are concerned about tax liability despite the equity; Navalgund said the class analyzes scenarios but connects residents with experts in their potential future home.
“We help people build a support team here locally, as well as in their destination. So whether that’s looking for lawyers, looking for real estate agents, looking for tax professionals, financial planners, I really want people to feel secure about making that decision,” she said.
According to a study from the Lee School of Business at UNLV, 355,088 people moved from California from 2020 to 2023 and 148,939 people were from California. Data came from licenses surrendered to the Nevada DMV.
The benefits of Nevada living? “They’re very happy. They enjoy the lifestyle. they feel like it’s just a lower- stress lifestyle for themselves than it was here in the San Francisco Bay Area,” Navalgund said.
The top challenge includes healthcare access, she said. FOX5 has reported how Nevada has some of the worst shortages for doctors, nurses and specialists across the country.
Navalgund advises students to analyze the benefits and detriments of any relocation and weigh their values against any prospective move.
“Step one is to take your favorite beverage, whether it be a cup of coffee, or some tea or some wine, and go sit in in your most comfortable place and write out what is most important to you. A lot of people don’t take that time to really put it in black and white on a piece of paper,” she said. “That’s where you weed out the places that you’re not going to move,” she said.
Brian Cronin, 35, said he weighed the pros and cons on paper before a move from San Francisco to Henderson in 2020.
“The cost of living in my [San Francisco] apartment was $2,600 a month for a small studio,” Cronin said. Homelessness and needles on sidewalks were conditions he also described as “depressing.”
“When I moved here, I got $1,000 off my rent. I completely eliminated all my personal income tax. So I basically gave myself like a 15 to 20% raise,” he said.
In Nevada, Cronin can look towards home ownership–something that was out of the reach for most young professionals in the Bay Area.
“It is sad. It’s frustrating. I know a lot of people that were working really hard, they’re dual income. They had saved up a lot of money. They were financially smart. Unfortunately the market conditions don’t allow for people in their mid 20s or early 30s to purchase a home in the Bay Area,” he said.
His advice for Californians looking to relocate to Las Vegas? Make sure you can stand the summer heat.
“Moving here during the summer, or visiting might be something to recommend as well just so you can handle the heat,” he said.
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