Why is California so bad and so costly to live ? (Orange: rent, HOA fees)

[nightlysparrow]

There are many houses in the San Fernando Valley (L.A.) in the 300k range. In Riverside County and the Inland Empire there are real bargains. There are some in the 200k range in Ventura. It's all location and what kind of house you want.

Property taxes are about 1% of the sales price and can't go up more than that per year. No other state in the U.S. tells you what your future property tax rate will be. In fact, in the recession, my taxes went down as the property lost some value. For 2013 my taxes have gone up---by$40.00 for the year! This helps prevent seniors from being priced out of their homes by property taxes.

[sweat209]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

There are many houses in the San Fernando Valley (L.A.) in the 300k range. In Riverside County and the Inland Empire there are real bargains. There are some in the 200k range in Ventura. It's all location and what kind of house you want.

Property taxes are about 1% of the sales price and can't go up more than that per year. No other state in the U.S. tells you what your future property tax rate will be. In fact, in the recession, my taxes went down as the property lost some value. For 2013 my taxes have gone up---by$40.00 for the year! This helps prevent seniors from being priced out of their homes by property taxes.

What about East LA or South Central ?


I did read some where that San francisco and New York are the most costly cities in the US where $900,000 home will get you very small ghetto that how costly it is.

[Marv101]

The worst zoning restrictions in North America, rampant environmentalism, another notorious job-killing entity, extreme outfirts such as the California Coastal Commission, and four decades of Democratic Party dominance in Sacramento.

Placing the demaqnds of civil service union members above those of everybody else has also been a disaster, to which you'd have add the fact that gasoline is $.80/gallon higher out here than it is in Texas or Oklahoma, and also much less expensive than the rest of the Southwest.

[jeremy2788]

This guy sounds like a troll to me, why even bother?

[ccm123]

The basic answer, is, poor management from the elected officials and too many special interests.

[killer2021]

I'm surprised no one mentioned this: housing is expensive because of restrictive building codes. Those building codes place limits on what density of housing can be built. Many suburban areas of CA need to be redesigned for high density housing. CA governments simply haven't rezoned for high-density. The end result is very expensive suburban land prices.

Pay up if you want to live here.

[wburg]

The other 49 states also have zoning codes and density limits...there is nothing unusual about California zoning that makes it all that different from zoning codes in the rest of the country.

[Bayarea4]

Originally Posted by DMenscha

I have 18 homes under $250K for sale right now.

My county has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state at 11.9%

Time for a new premise.

Agreed. The Sierra foothills and Gold Country have never been hotbeds of employment opportunity, and with the downturn in the economy I'm guessing even the tourist industry must be struggling right now. But it's a wonderful place to live.

[Think4Yourself]

Desirable places cost money, this is supply and demand, get used to it. Crappy places are cheap exactly because they are crappy. It's exactly why Manhattan costs more than BFE.

[Bayarea4]

Originally Posted by sweat209

What about East LA or South Central ?


I did read some where that San francisco and New York are the most costly cities in the US where $900,000 home will get you very small ghetto that how costly it is.

I live in San Francisco, and that's not true, either. Our real estate is near the top of the list of the most expensive cities in the nation to buy (Brooklyn, NY is #1). There are plenty of million-dollar homes on the market, that's a fact. However the average sales price for a single-family house is $720,000, and that's not in the ghetto.

For example there is a home for sale in my neighborhood, 3 bedrooms 2 baths and a side-by-side garage (rare in San Francisco) with a remodeled kitchen, master suite and ocean and forest views asking $749,000. I don't want to reveal too much, but my neighborhood is adjacent to a ritzy area with a lot of multi-million dollar homes.

If you want to buy a condo that's not downtown and doesn't have a great view, you can find something for even less.