It was a Tuesday evening when the Ortiz family gathered to watch television together. The family’s now living with less stress than they were three years ago when they first moved to Clark County after living numerous years in Southern California.

“In L.A. it feels like you’re living paycheck to paycheck,” recalled Jessica Ortiz. “Depending on what you’re doing and the size of your family. Out here I don’t really have to worry about that.”

In August 2016, Jessica Ortiz and her husband sold their Los Angeles area home, packed up their kids, and purchased their new two-story home in Henderson, Nevada. They say their home is one they would never have been able to afford in Los Angeles.

“If you want something on the salary you make, you have to compensate for it,” Ortiz explained. “You have to get something older or smaller; rundown. Out here you can get a brand new house for a quarter of the price houses are going for in L.A.”

It’s a scenario that Zar Zanganeh, the owner and broker of Luxe Estates and Lifestyles, sees more and more.

“From the last 10 years, the Californian buyers have evolved quite a bit,” Zanganeh explained. “Ten years ago it was about a third of our business, and today it makes up 65 to 70-percent of our home-buyers that are relocating here from the state of California.”

Reports show the city of Henderson is growing, and quickly. Employment is up, land is selling, and new homes have sold more than they have in the past 10 years.

Data from the Department of Motor Vehicles shows that the number of California licenses and ID’s surrendered, relocating from California to the Clark County suburb, has increased.

Zanganeh says the timing couldn’t be more right. “It’s a perfect trifecta between cash being cheap to borrow, having equity in their California homes, with the amount of inventory that we have here in Nevada… It just makes it very easy for them to move down here,” he explained.

The Ortiz family is part of an HOA now, and even with the extra fees for the HOA, they’re still paying much less than their former Southern California mortgage.

“Grocery shopping, state income tax; everything is a lot cheaper out here than it is there,” Ortiz said.

As the Ortiz family’s monthly spending decreased, their quality of life increased reaching new heights.

“What Las Vegas has to offer outside of The Strip area — we fell in love with it,” Jessica Ortiz said with a smile. “These are all things we weren’t getting in the city we were living in, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s amazing.”