California housing prices....

[JeffreyLebowski]

You guys always seem to forget the most important part of the equation, people WANT to live in Cali, no one wants to live in those other places which is why it's so cheap to live there. If you want cheap move to Wyoming where there's nothing around at all and you have to drive an hour on the hwy to get a gallon of milk but hey, it'll be cheap to live there.

Yup, that's why people are flocking to Texas. Texas has had the highest % of people moving from other states than any other state for a few years now. Houston was the #1 city for growth in the nation, with the DFW area #2.

The key is, In places like the large cities in California and New York, there really is no where to expand and stay in the "big city".

If you move to Texas we have so much usable space it's obscene. From the Red River down to the Gulf is all viable land. Far East Texas has swamps but also has plenty of land for development. West Texas is dry and hot, but livable and has plenty of usable land. Pretty much everywhere in Texas is developable and all the major cities are expanding. Dallas/Fort Worth used to be a long drive of nothing between. Now it's completely packed. It's expanded in all directions and shows no sign of stopping.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

What I think is funny is all the people bashing living in Texas. These same people have never been to Texas, because if they had, they'd understand why Texas kicks ass. The stats don't lie people. More people move from other states to Texas than any other state. We welcome all. We just ask that you leave your voting practices back in the state that sucks so much you left.

 

[JS80]

Yeah I know someone who bought a $3 million dollar home in a beautiful part of Orange County. He's paying out the ass in property taxes, while my uncle (only lives a few houses down from him) is paying jack shit because he bought the property when the area was developed.

Our state would be in a lot better shape if Prop 13 was abolished.

A lot of people would have lost their homes if Prop 13 had never existed.

 

[JeepinEd]

Yeah I know someone who bought a $3 million dollar home in a beautiful part of Orange County. He's paying out the ass in property taxes, while my uncle (only lives a few houses down from him) is paying jack shit because he bought the property when the area was developed.

Our state would be in a lot better shape if Prop 13 was abolished.

Think of it this way:

You buy a house with a particular budget in mind.
Property values then skyrocket and your property tax, along with it.
You lose your house because you can't afford to pay the taxes.

I purchased my house in 2000. By 2007, the appraised value was 250% higher than when I bought it. It has the potential to ruin a persons budget.

Another example:

You retire and buy a house for 200K. You now live on a fixed income.
The next housing bubble hits and your property is now worth 500K. Your property taxes go through the roof, but you still live on that fixed budget......by by house.

This is one of the reasons prop 13 was enacted in the first place. Many people were losing their homes due to property taxes going through the roof.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Before I met my wife's grandparents, she said they had a home in Torrance and that it was worth probably close to 750k. We get there and I was like, "uummmm...where's the house?" It's a little 3 bedroom house; nothing crazy or extravagant. But it's worth $750,000. I guess people that live coastal either inherit homes, rent, or really do make boatloads of cash.

She said he bought it in the 40's or something...

 

[Squisher]

Very outskirts of suburban Detroit, $500K will get you 3800 sqft. right on the lake with a dock.

Come be my neighbor.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/194-N-Liberty-St-Belleville-MI-48111/88280141_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-list-address}

 

[zinfamous]

meh. You should check out downtown Palo Alto.

D:

 

[zerocool84]

meh. You should check out downtown Palo Alto.

D:

Palo Alto is bad but the greater Los Angeles area is still the most expensive in the country. Hell the most expensive Zip Code in the country is in Duarte, CA. Freaking Duarte. There's nothing there.

 

[zinfamous]

Palo Alto is bad but the greater Los Angeles area is still the most expensive in the country. Hell the most expensive Zip Code in the country is in Duarte, CA. Freaking Duarte. There's nothing there.

Is that Newport beach?

They have that number 1, with Palo Alto #2, then SF close behind.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ontheblock/detail?entry_id=73053

From what I recall, Atherton (next to Menlo Park, near Palo Alto) is nearly always the most expensive neighborhood in the country.

I remember that not too long ago, maybe 3 years, Manhatten was the first market to ever hit $1k/sq. ft prices.
nuts.

 

[datalink7]

Damn. I haven't looked at that site in a while. Apparently my house has gone from $250k to $210k in the last year!

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Is that Newport beach?

They have that number 1, with Palo Alto #2, then SF close behind.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ontheblock/detail?entry_id=73053

From what I recall, Atherton (next to Menlo Park, near Palo Alto) is nearly always the most expensive neighborhood in the country.

Atherton $970/sq ft
Woodside $749/sq ft
Portola valley $810/sq ft
Los Altos Hills $797/sq ft
Menlo Park $626/ sq ft

Baristas at Starbucks make $10+ an hour. Single earner households are extremely rare. People postpone having kids till 35.

Finding two couples renting a 2bdrm apartment is common. 2bdrm median rent in San Jose for an apartment is around $1500/month currently for about 900 sq ft.

 

[DrPizza]

I tried to find a third option for you in my area, OP, but I couldn't find anything in your price range and still get a tiny <1acre lot.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8446-Stout-Road_Cuba_NY_14727_M30495-31058
That's kinda nice for $268k It's on 10 acres though, and since you're looking at a .15 acre lot, I figured you just hate mowing lawns.

Here's a tiny lot; around a half acre. But, the house is 4000+ square feet, and there are 4 fireplaces. I figure, if you don't want to mow a lawn, you probably don't want to split firewood to have a cozy fire in the wintertime. Beautiful inside though, great neighborhood. And only $224k.

But hey, if you want to go big, how about $335k for 92.00 acres, 5 bedroom, 2.5 bath, nice view (in my opinion)?

Or, look at prices of real estate in NYC. The point being, in every state, there's a HUGE range in what you can get for your money. Edit: the other point being, if you're going to attempt to contrast how much you can get for your money, you did a pretty shitty job picking that house in Texas.

 

[zinfamous]

lol. fuck you , Dr Pizza!

 

[zinfamous]

http://www.realtor.com/realestatean...oad_Cuba_NY_14727_M33519-60812?ex=NY520472785

D:

that is one gorgeous looking house, holy crap.

550 in Palo Alto, for example, gets you one bedroom, no lawn.

if you're lucky.

ffs.

 

[DrPizza]

http://www.realtor.com/realestatean...oad_Cuba_NY_14727_M33519-60812?ex=NY520472785

D:

that is one gorgeous looking house, holy crap.

550 in Palo Alto, for example, gets you one bedroom, no lawn.

if you're lucky.

ffs.

That particular house is on a local lake. Personally, you couldn't pay me to want to live on that lake. I can't figure out why so many people in the area (especially lawyers) are so infatuated with that lake. The lake is very over crowded, and the "scenic view" is little more than a circle jerk of people trying to outdo each other with their cottages that are right against the lake. It's also the most expensive real estate in the area, *by far*. But hey, at least they pay their share of taxes. (I hope.)

 

[Mr. Lennon]

I tried to find a third option for you in my area, OP, but I couldn't find anything in your price range and still get a tiny <1acre lot.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8446-Stout-Road_Cuba_NY_14727_M30495-31058
That's kinda nice for $268k It's on 10 acres though, and since you're looking at a .15 acre lot, I figured you just hate mowing lawns.

Here's a tiny lot; around a half acre. But, the house is 4000+ square feet, and there are 4 fireplaces. I figure, if you don't want to mow a lawn, you probably don't want to split firewood to have a cozy fire in the wintertime. Beautiful inside though, great neighborhood. And only $224k.

But hey, if you want to go big, how about $335k for 92.00 acres, 5 bedroom, 2.5 bath, nice view (in my opinion)?

Or, look at prices of real estate in NYC. The point being, in every state, there's a HUGE range in what you can get for your money. Edit: the other point being, if you're going to attempt to contrast how much you can get for your money, you did a pretty shitty job picking that house in Texas.

Christ.

 

[Zebo]

Seriously? Western and Slauson is a shit hole. No fucking way would I even drive through that area let alone buy a house there. That's only about a mile from Florence and Normandie if that means anything to anyone. Might as well live in East L.A. or Watts or Compton...or North Long Beach. I think that covers all the major shit holes not including the Valley or the Inland Empire of course.

Uh no whole inland empire is shit. Smog alone will make you have mental and physical problems.

 

[Pliablemoose]

So cal is going to be a mess for years, housing here is going to be really crazy, there's a ton of unsold stuff the banks are sitting on.

 

[JulesMaximus]

not sure if I like that method. Sure it rewards homeowners who bought in a while ago and havent moved, but it means that one homeowner could be paying vastly lower property taxes than his neighbor who just moved in, even though they both use the public services equally. IMO property taxes should be based on current assessed value. But that has its downsides also.

So, you want to kick people out of their homes because their property values went up? It's not as though your property value adds anything to your net worth unless you sell so why should you pay more tax on it? It is basically ass fucking those who made wise financial choices and rewarding the state (and making ignorant worthless cry babies smile). :thumbsdown: I vote no fucking way.

We paid $220,000 for our house 11 years ago and it was worth $600,000 at the height of the real estate market so our annual tax bill would have gone from around $2500 to $9000 annually. Tell me, would $550 a month put a dent in your budget? Because it sure as fuck would mine.

 

[trmiv]

You can find cheap property in California. Plenty of cheap stuff in Barstow, Los Banos, Kerman, Stockton, Salida, Gustine, etc. The rub is no one wants to live in those places. If you want to live in the SF Bay Area, LA, San Diego, Monterey, Santa Barbara, etc you gotta pay.

Thats why I left California after being born and raised there and living there until I was 31. I knew I could never afford a house in an area I actually wanted to live in. Now we own a great house here in Raleigh. But, the thing is, after four years and leaving behind friends, family and familiarity if I had to do it over again I probably would have found a way to have stayed.

 

[DrPizza]

So cal is going to be a mess for years, housing here is going to be really crazy, there's a ton of unsold stuff the banks are sitting on.

So, let me get this straight. There's a shitload of unsold houses on the market, but housing prices are so high because of the, uh, high demand. :\

 

[JeepinEd]

So, let me get this straight. There's a shitload of unsold houses on the market, but housing prices are so high because of the, uh, high demand. :\

It makes sense if you don't think about it....

 

[airdata]

location location location...

It is a crazy difference. There are areas in Texas where pricing is comperable though. If you get down into areas around downtown dallas, there's older neighborhoods there off of Greenville where the houses are like 300k for a 1500 sq foot house.

I can't really imagine trying to make a move to california save for being able to get a medical mj card.

Unless I won the lottery or something.


http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Prop...64.5-million-vacant-homes-in-China-18895.html
64.5 million vacant homes in china. US prices, problem is that the people there make pennies. plus you need like 50&#37; down.

 

[pookguy88]

+1 to the guy who said whether anyone wants to admit it or not, California is the place where everyone wants to be.

 

[OCGuy]

So, let me get this straight. There's a shitload of unsold houses on the market, but housing prices are so high because of the, uh, high demand. :\

No Pizza, the supply is being held artificially low by banks sitting on inventory, as well as loan mods, HAARP, and the general delay in forclosing on homes.