Interesting article about people who do leave California where they are moving to (Fontana: sale, renting)

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by Berrie143

My husband and I spent about 7 years trying to buy a house in CA and each and every time we were outbid by out-of-state or foreign investors who came in with full cash offers. These were not people looking to begin a new life or settle into a new home- these were people who were going to slap paint up on the walls and rent the homes out for exhorbitant amounts. .

Interesting, Berrie. And disturbing.

Originally Posted by JJonesIII

2) You have no idea who's purchasing your home.

3) Once you sell your home, you have no control over what the buyer will do.

They never got a chance to buy a home. And a seller can always decide which offer he will take.

[TacoSoup]

Originally Posted by Berrie143

My husband and I spent about 7 years trying to buy a house in CA and each and every time we were outbid by out-of-state or foreign investors who came in with full cash offers. These were not people looking to begin a new life or settle into a new home- these were people who were going to slap paint up on the walls and rent the homes out for exhorbitant amounts. It was never about building the community up, it was always about the bottom line.


I know most people selling their homes don't care where the money comes from, as long as it comes. But for some of us, it matters. We have dedicated time and energy to become part of our community in TX and it has paid off. Given the massive frustration, disappointment and heartache we dealt with because of all of that crap in CA, we vowed to NEVER sell any home that we owned to an investor. Ever.



Until you experience that kind of feeling, knowing that unless you literally have a suitcase full of cash at the ready you are SOL, you honestly don't know what it's like to deal with it. Call it stupid or shortsighted, it really doesn't matter to me. What matters to us is to make sure that the FAMILY neighborhood we moved in to will still be a FAMILY neighborhood when it's time to leave it. And if that means "settling" for a deal that doesn't include a suitcase full of cash, then so be it.

I’m sorry but the numbers don’t support your claim. Less than 10% of sales are by foreign nationals, and all cash sales usually fall in the 20-35% range. You either had the worst luck known to man, the worst realtor on the face of the planet, made the lowest offers imaginable, or didn’t make very many, to be outbid for 7 years. I know you’re trying to make a point, but what you claim isn’t reality for most homebuyers.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by luckydogg

It's funny that nobody ever thinks about the California locals that are getting shut out of their own housing market for the very same reasons. Even if you own a standard house in California if you sell it you are better off leaving the state because there's very few places left to go that's affordable.

People seem to have this crazy fantasy idea that just because they were born somewhere or "local" that they have a god given right to live there and that market forces of supply and demand don't apply to them. Well they don't. If they did I wouldn't be thinking about leaving myself....

Yep! I've had this debate with people (both friends and strangers) on Facebook a few times, and everyone seems to think they've got the market on outsiders "invading" their states - namely in regards to Californians who have moved. Well, why do you think WE are moving?? It's basically a continuous cycle in this country, and probably most others, where a certain percentage of long-time locals/natives are pushed out when their region becomes too popular & expensive.

But what choice does someone have, if they can no longer afford to live in their home state? Should they just live in a box, in order to avoid offending anyone in another state? Yeah right. Sorry Oregonians, Arizonans, Idahoans, etc, but we have to look out for ourselves too... and if that means packing up and moving somewhere more affordable, we have every right to do that. Usually my short response to those folks is simply "welcome to our world," because their complaints are exactly why we're leaving CA.

FYI: I was considering relocation myself, and it's still not off the table completely. But a recent change in my job situation (better position with more hours/pay) delayed my plans, at least for the time being. I did get one job offer in Oregon a few months ago, but even with the COL difference it didn't pay enough to justify moving.

[JJonesIII]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

They never got a chance to buy a home. And a seller can always decide which offer he will take.

I don't have any idea what you're talking about here (maybe try not to selectively edit and refer to specifically what it is). This comment makes absolutely no sense in reference to what I said in its entirety.

[Berrie143]

Originally Posted by TacoSoup

I’m sorry but the numbers don’t support your claim. Less than 10% of sales are by foreign nationals, and all cash sales usually fall in the 20-35% range. You either had the worst luck known to man, the worst realtor on the face of the planet, made the lowest offers imaginable, or didn’t make very many, to be outbid for 7 years. I know you’re trying to make a point, but what you claim isn’t reality for most homebuyers.

Seems like it wouldn't be true, would it? Unfortunately, it was, for us. Were we consistently trying to buy a home for 7 years? No. Did we try 3-4 times a year, each year? Yup. The last year that we tried was even more than that, as we were scrambling and trying to figure out if we wanted a life there in CA or to begin a new one in TX. Did we ALWAYS offer more than asking price? Yup. Did the sellers always come back and ask for more? Yup. Did our realtors do their due diligence and work hard to fight for us to get into a house? Yup. I didn't choose realtors who were fly-by-the-night types. I researched the hell out of those people, interviewed them and made sure they were willing to go above and beyond and they did.



But, as I said before, money talks. All we can glean from our experience in CA is that we ultimately weren't meant to live there anymore. If it was that hard to do and the culture was making us that miserable, then it just wasn't our place anymore. We've seen several of our friends and some relatives still struggling out in CA and it's hard to see and hear what they're dealing with.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by TacoSoup

I’m sorry but the numbers don’t support your claim. Less than 10% of sales are by foreign nationals, and all cash sales usually fall in the 20-35% range

Come to Los Angeles, especially the San Gabriel Valley. It is FAR more than 10%. The number of cash sales has increased in the past few years.

"No state in the country has attracted nearly as much attention from Chinese buyers as California, site of nearly 40 percent of all Chinese home purchases in the U.S."
https://calmatters.org/articles/data...-neighborhood/

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by JJonesIII

I don't have any idea what you're talking about here (maybe try not to selectively edit and refer to specifically what it is).

You made a statement about that poster's information that had nothing to do with final sales. H/she was posting about offers on a home, not final sales.

[TacoSoup]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Come to Los Angeles, especially the San Gabriel Valley. It is FAR more than 10%. The number of cash sales has increased in the past few years.

"No state in the country has attracted nearly as much attention from Chinese buyers as California, site of nearly 40 percent of all Chinese home purchases in the U.S."
https://calmatters.org/articles/data...-neighborhood/

So 40% of Chinese that buy in the US prefer California, shocker, actually thought it’d be higher.

Did you read the article? In 2017, 3% of California home sales went to foreign nationals. For the record cash sales have decreased every year since peaking in 2010-11, I believe they mention that too in the article.

Anecdotal eveidence of what you might see in particular neighborhoods isn’t reality. In my neighborhood in San Diego all the houses have been bought by married couples, and families. I’m not about to use that as gospel about what’s going on in California, I like to stick to hard facts for that. Although my example is much closer to reality than yours, when you use the data.

[JJonesIII]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

You made a statement about that poster's information that had nothing to do with final sales. H/she was posting about offers on a home, not final sales.

Well, at least I made an attempt to ask for clarification. Unfortunately, the response is just as illogical as the first reply. You clearly don't understand what my comment was about. Oh well, I'm not going to split hairs over it. Have a nice day.

[payutenyodagimas]

Originally Posted by Berrie143

Seems like it wouldn't be true, would it? Unfortunately, it was, for us. Were we consistently trying to buy a home for 7 years? No. Did we try 3-4 times a year, each year? Yup. The last year that we tried was even more than that, as we were scrambling and trying to figure out if we wanted a life there in CA or to begin a new one in TX. Did we ALWAYS offer more than asking price? Yup. Did the sellers always come back and ask for more? Yup. Did our realtors do their due diligence and work hard to fight for us to get into a house? Yup. I didn't choose realtors who were fly-by-the-night types. I researched the hell out of those people, interviewed them and made sure they were willing to go above and beyond and they did.



But, as I said before, money talks. All we can glean from our experience in CA is that we ultimately weren't meant to live there anymore. If it was that hard to do and the culture was making us that miserable, then it just wasn't our place anymore. We've seen several of our friends and some relatives still struggling out in CA and it's hard to see and hear what they're dealing with.

when we bought our house, we were the first to give an offer, right when it was advertised for sale. once we visited it, our realtor said, if you are serious about it, give an offer now. we asked him if the asking price is just right and he said based on comps its just right. so we just offered what they were asking, showed our financial capacity to close the deal and that's it. we got it.


even our friends did not go into bidding war. one friend even got a discount. and certainly we didn't offer more than what the sellers are asking. we just showed that we could close it immediately if we got the deal.