Want to move to CA (lived there before), but see people leaving (San Diego: for sale, HOA fees)

[speedoflight]

I know you're suggesting a very pragmatic solution to the issues but you do have to admit that it's quite depressing that one has to share what is already a tiny house with another family. It's no different than apartment living then.

Convert the garage to a 4th bedroom and youll have space for two families. Each family has 2 beds, 1 bath to use and may use either bathroom if the other is occupied. Husband+wife share one bed, the children share the other bed. Ditto for the second family.

Renting vs. buying is truly a state of mind, don't you think? For me, I think buying is very important but I have met people who do not even think about it. They are very happy/contented with renting. I've lived in downtown SF where I've seen people live in rented apartments for 30 years and die in them.

Lots of people do rent. Good if houses arent going up in value. If they are, buy instead! Personally, id rather move out of Florida and buy a house than rent in Florida, especially since its much, much cheaper to buy elsewhere than rent in Florida!

[margo]

We live 2 hours north of Los Angeles. We have 1/2 acre, a 4 bd 2 bath home 1800 sq ft. House would sell for around $300,000. Last year we probably could have gotten $350,000, but the market is definately softening. The house is 30 years old, and has the expected remodeling needed. It isn't a dump, but neither is it "new" condition. It is HOT in the summer, and foggy in the winter. Our lows in the winter seldom go below freezing though.

The same $350,000 might buy an empty lot in San Luis Obispo county, but a building moratorium might also keep you from building on it!

Margo

[speedoflight]

You also have a really bad tule fog situation in the Bakersfield area at night. It is REALLY REALLY thick and bad. I've driven through the Bakersfield area in the middle of the night and you can't see where you're going. I couldn't even see 3 feet in front of my car to drive.

Read this if you don't know what tule fog is or does:
http://bakersfield.typepad.com/the_eye_of_bakersfield/2005/12/the_fog_is_comi.html

http://www.wind-works.org/articles/ot_tulefog.html

Originally Posted by margo

We live 2 hours north of Los Angeles. We have 1/2 acre, a 4 bd 2 bath home 1800 sq ft. House would sell for around $300,000. Last year we probably could have gotten $350,000, but the market is definately softening. The house is 30 years old, and has the expected remodeling needed. It isn't a dump, but neither is it "new" condition. It is HOT in the summer, and foggy in the winter. Our lows in the winter seldom go below freezing though.

The same $350,000 might buy an empty lot in San Luis Obispo county, but a building moratorium might also keep you from building on it!

Margo

[jay20]

Sorry... I meant to type in "this" instead of "his".

Originally Posted by shannon94

People who can afford a home at TODAYS prices!!! By the way..NAH...I'm a she not a he!! lol

[jay20]

You would have to be crazy to move into Bakersfield. Bakersfield is ranked 3rd in the nation for bad air quality. It’s rare when we have a good air quality day. Its either high ozone pollution or high particulates. Or sometimes both. I guess if you move from LA it wouldnt be to bad be becuse LA has the worst air qulity.

Here is a link that shows the rankings http://lungaction.org/reports/sota05_cities.html (broken link)

[speedoflight]

The bad air quality and tule fog will do you in for sure. Tule fog is the cause of major accidents in the Bakersfield area. Like I'd said, you can't see in front of you. If you read the web sites I'd posted you'd see that one person couldn't even see the stop signs in front of them and got into an accident.

Driving in thick tule fog is SCARY. I'm not kidding you. You don't know if you've driven right off the road or into someone's house for you just can't even see.

Originally Posted by jay20

You would have to be crazy to move into Bakersfield. Bakersfield is ranked 3rd in the nation for bad air quality. It’s rare when we have a good air quality day. Its either high ozone pollution or high particulates. Or sometimes both. I guess if you move from LA it wouldnt be to bad be becuse LA has the worst air qulity.

Here is a link that shows the rankings http://lungaction.org/reports/sota05_cities.html (broken link)

[shannon94]

Originally Posted by jay20

Sorry... I meant to type in "this" instead of "his".

lol that was directed at (NAH....Need Affordable Home)

[shannon94]

[quote=Need_affordable_home;118086]

Originally Posted by shannon94

In other words, they could not afford that $500k house and had to use tricks to swing that way and end up house poor with risk of forclosure. Interest only loan doesnt count as affording to own a house, its alot like renting.
ARM loans once they reset will cause tons of forclosures because those people bought houses they couldnt really afford!

Well........exactly....and ALOT of that is going on in California right now. Over 70% of the home loans that were taken out last year in Cali were these types of loans. Still think there won't be a huge correction??? C'mon!!

[speedoflight]

I believe there will be a correction. Prices are already falling slightly. But the correction isn't going to be that much to the point that the average Joe can now run out to buy a house. Real estate in CA has always been higher than everywhere and higher than normal. It's a supply and demand issue as well. There's just way more people than there are houses to go around. There's little land left to build around here in the SF Bay Area. That's why when you buy here, you're unlikely to buy a brand new home. It's not like in TX where there's SO MUCH land even in the metro areas. There, unless an older home has tons of appeal, people tend to want to go for a brand new house. Why not? There's a builder around every block showing you nice designs for the same prices as old homes.

So instead of $650k for a house, you might see it drop to $620k. Well, that's still very high and out of reach for most.



[quote=shannon94;119339]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

Well........exactly....and ALOT of that is going on in California right now. Over 70% of the home loans that were taken out last year in Cali were these types of loans. Still think there won't be a huge correction??? C'mon!!

[Need_affordable_home]

Originally Posted by speedoflight

A 1/1 condo is listing near the $300k range in a mediocre suburb/neighborhood. They can get higher if the condo is newer and in a very nice neighborhood. Probably like $350k for some of these. As said, you must factor in the HOA dues. There are many high paying professional jobs here but...many are with start ups. The SF Bay Area where I am is more start-ups, small-to-medium size biz based than Fortune 500 large corps.........(quote too long to post)

How many square feet for $350k in a nice neighboorhood? If 700, thats $500 a square foot! Of course losing your job is a concern because you face forclosure and lose your equity unless you can quickly find another job. It might be wise to apply for several jobs, get accepted at a few then choose one to work and tell the others youll work for them if you lose your first job.
Renting will offer protection but zero equity.

Where does the money on high HOA fees go? Who decides the HOA? We could all vote to fire the president of the neighboor that made up this ridicuolous HOA! Best if you buy in a place with low or no HOA, thats alotta money saved.

LOL $640k for a terrible 1200 ft. tract house that needs plenty of repairs and in a bad location? No thanks! Thats $533 a foot before repairs! Might as well buy an upper middle class house(like 3500 ft!) in Yuba city and commute by train to San F. Even for $250k you can get 1200-1500 ft of nice house in a good neighboor in Yuba city! The commute would kinda suck, maybe you can buy closer to SF for a still reasonable price and cut the commute by half.

The mobile homes arent worth the money when you can rent a nice apartment for that price! Over here in south Florida, mobile home lot fees are less than half of what an apartment rent is and no need to take mortgage, the mobile homes are pratically pocket change to buy! You can take owner financing and pay him every month for a year if neccessary. However in my case, no point staying in Florida since I can live anywhere that has broadband internet for my home business.

Unless you get a good high paying job in SF and are willing to pay thru the nose for rent(no equity) or a small condo or save alot and do a long commute from areas like Yuba city, youd be better off finding a job elsewhere in Cali or move out of Cali alltogether.

Originally Posted by speedoflight

I believe there will be a correction. Prices are already falling slightly. But the correction isn't going to be that much to the point that the average Joe can now run out to buy a house. Real estate in CA has always been higher than everywhere and higher than normal. It's a supply and demand issue as well. There's just way more people than there are houses to go around. There's little land left to build around here in the SF Bay Area. That's why when you buy here, you're unlikely to buy a brand new home. It's not like in TX where there's SO MUCH land even in the metro areas. There, unless an older home has tons of appeal, people tend to want to go for a brand new house. Why not? There's a builder around every block showing you nice designs for the same prices as old homes.

So instead of $650k for a house, you might see it drop to $620k. Well, that's still very high and out of reach for most.

Its true Cali has always been higher, but at those prices, some correction is going to happen, especially in the expensive areas/cities. In Yuba city, you can get an upper middle class house(3000-3300 feet) for $500k so I doubt much, if any correction is gonna happen. You can get a smaller house, half the size(like 1500 feet) for around $250k. Not all that cheap but reasonable for California! Even in some areas of San Diego, you can get a nice house in a great neighboorhood for $300 a square foot. Thats considerabily cheaper than other areas so I dont see much correction there either. Theres plenty of land in some areas of Cali, especially up north. People are gonna buy there cheap and find a job there or commute to a nearby city.
Newer houses almost always cost more than older unless the older house is "historical" or in a highly desirable location.