Help! Is there any affordable place left in California? (Sacramento: appointed, condo)

[darylhallfan]

I am a native Californian from the Bay Area. We left there in 1995 because we could not afford it.

I want to come back and WHOW what a shock about pricing. Before I make the move to the midwest I would just like to know if there are ANY places in Northern California that has new larger size homes around the $250K-$300K price range? I know I am probably dreaming here, but would rather ask than move all the way to the midwest only to find there was a chance that I could have come back.

Thank You,
Chris

[socal06]

the cheapest HOUSE that you can find around the bay area is probably $600,000+...if you go more farther out towards places like Tracy and Manteca, the homes there are more "reasonably" priced starting around
$300K for the older homes, $400K+ for some of the newer homes.

[socal06]

if you want more prices or if you are looking for a specific city, check www.realtor.com

[darylhallfan]

Thank You..... That is what I was afraid of.
Are there ANY areas that you know of in Northern California at all that might be a possibility. I have heard of Chico.
Thank You

[smu7070]

The cheapest places I know of in Northern California are Eureka, Sacramento and various cities in the San Joaquin Valley. In those areas (with generally average to low desirability) expect to pay $350,000 for a 1,500 sq. ft. home.

To be honest, your request for a combination of affordability and home size in California is virtually impossible. On your budget, I would recommend simply buying a condo.

If you can consider areas outside of California, places that you are looking for exist in various other states. Try Flower Mound, Texas; Highland Village, Texas; and Sugar Land, Texas. You will not be disappointed with the schools, the desirability, or the prices. Trust me, these aren't the 'backwards' places you normally think of when you think of the midwest.

[shannon94]

Originally Posted by darylhallfan

I am a native Californian from the Bay Area. We left there in 1995 because we could not afford it.

I want to come back and WHOW what a shock about pricing. Before I make the move to the midwest I would just like to know if there are ANY places in Northern California that has new larger size homes around the $250K-$300K price range? I know I am probably dreaming here, but would rather ask than move all the way to the midwest only to find there was a chance that I could have come back.

Thank You,
Chris

wait 2 years...there will be better deals

[RedNC]

For you to be able to purchase a new larger size home in any location in CA for $250k-$300k there would have to be some kind of catastrophic event preceding it. Such as a statewide earthquake that levels all of the state, or terror event that does the same.
Short of that you would need property values to drop by more than half and that ain’t ever gonna happen.

[fastfilm]

ditto to Red NC's assessment. Our San Fernando Valley home values plummeted after the terrible destruction of the 1994 earthquake (allowing a whole new less than wholesome demographic in, since it terrified the professional white-collar middle class away forever) but it regained its value as people repaired their homes. Now it's normal overinflated values here like everywhere else in Calif. You can dream, darylhall, but it's an impossible one in this case, like wishing everything were the Middle Ages again.

[AV Native]

Chris, from one native Californian to another. . . you'd have to loosen up on your criteria (new, larger) and maybe be open to something other than a single family house. I looked around the net this evening and, for example, there are houses in Porterville (northeast of Bakersfield) going for your price range. . . over 100 of them. I know that's a long way from the Bay area, but it's a thought.

Have you ever thought of something like a mobile home in a place like Clear Lake or Upper Lake? Not a lot of jobs, but the living is comparatively affordable. Beautiful country up there, too.

Also, there's places like Susanville, or better yet, Lake Almanor and Chester if you like snow. Still affordable by California standards.

If you are the kind of person who can live anywhere because your skills are in demand in small towns as well as big cities, what I'm saying is something to consider. If your employment is tied to particular types of locations, my suggestions would be a lot tougher to implement, I know. It's worth a try on my part, eh?

The earlier comments about a major catastrophe lowering house prices are also worth considering. . . but why stake your future on the unknown? I live my life on what I do know for certain, fwiw.

Wishing you all the best,

s/AV Native

[WillitsCA]

I live In Willits, CA about 3 hours north of SF. (The 1st street light on 101 between here and SF). We're about as far North as you can get from SF before there's nothing but trees. But we're not so far that we can't visit SF in one day.

We bought our home in 2002 for about $165K (a 1970s 3bd/2ba 2 car garage). 4 years later homes in the neighborhood are around $350K. But I think we live in one of the better areas of Willits.

Strangely though, rents here are pretty affordable. In some cases, 1/3 to 1/4 of what a mortgage payment would be. So that's always an option.

For another $40K-$50K, you can live in Ukiah and be 2.5 hours from SF. (Ukiah was once ranked the #1 small town in CA).

Someone also mentioned Clearlake. The lake is very beautiful and homes can be cheap. But some areas look like a 3rd world country. Lots of drugs, very dirty and some call it drop-off for ex-cons. (But if you're a dirty ex-con with a drug addiction - it's perfect!) Lakeport and Kelseyville are better. But not too many jobs in the area.

20 years ago I heard someone joke about how unreasonable CA home prices were. Some things never change.