Question for people who bought houses in CA in the 60's and 70's

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by SoCal Person

It really is expensive here in California, isn't it?

Yep, hence my screen name. I wish I could stay, but I refuse to live in an apartment or be house poor the rest of my life for this state.

Your parents neighborhood sounds like where I grew up in OC in the 70's. Lots of stay at home moms. Hell, my dad sold furniture and made enough for my mom to stay at home with me for years. Today it takes both of our incomes to barely afford a smaller house than my parents have and we don't have kids to support.

[Thunderbird]

My parents bought the home I'm living in now (in the Victorville area), back in the 70's for about $55,000. It was a homestead home with 1 bed and 1 bath on 5 acres. It has been added on to and now has 4 bed 2 bath and sold in 06 for about $250,000.
I think their payments were under $250. The income I'm guessing was about $12hr., for my father. My mother was a stay at home mom and did not work.

[Thunderbird]

Couldn't edit and wanted to mention...
we were offered $300,000 for the house last year, but sold it for $250,000 to a relative.

[graffixjones]

My grandparents bought a house in the Los Altos Hills, that borders with Palo Alto, Cupertino and Mountain View (Silicon Valley) back in 1971 for $48,000.

I'm not sure what my grandfather made at the time, but he was a plan checker for a general contractor in San Francisco, and had the house paid off in eight years, so I assume he was doing alright.

The house sat on 1 acre (the minimum parcel size in that district), and I estimate was probably 2,200 to 2,500 sq.ft., 3bd, 3ba, dining room, living room, office, laundry room, bonus room and detached 2-car garage.

By the time it sold last year, the house had deteriorated to the point that it wasn't worth fixing up, but still fetched the asking price of $2.25m.

Not a bad investment, IMO.

[Dennis P]

Back in 1971, my parents bought a new tract home in Cerritos for about $30,000. It was about 1,700 square feet, single-story, 4 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths and a fireplace. There was no landscaping at all so my parents and our neighbors all pitched in to plant the lawn and decorative shrubbery, both in the front yard and the backyard. That same house is worth about $600,000-$700,000 now. My dad was in the military at the time, winding down towards retirement, and I think his income back then was about $900 a month. My mom at first stayed home to be a stay-at-home mom then got a part-time job with the school district about a year later.

To this day, I STILL can't believe that we were able to survive on one income back then--and with my dad being in the military at that!

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by dennismpat

Back in 1971, my parents bought a new tract home in Cerritos for about $30,000. It was about 1,700 square feet, single-story, 4 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths and a fireplace. There was no landscaping at all so my parents and our neighbors all pitched in to plant the lawn and decorative shrubbery, both in the front yard and the backyard. That same house is worth about $600,000-$700,000 now. My dad was in the military at the time, winding down towards retirement, and I think his income back then was about $900 a month. My mom at first stayed home to be a stay-at-home mom then got a part-time job with the school district about a year later.

To this day, I STILL can't believe that we were able to survive on one income back then--and with my dad being in the military at that!

But even at $900/mo gross pay, that $30k house was still only 3x his annual pay. My house is smaller, has 1/2 the bedrooms, and cost 6x our combined income. Having kids and one parent staying at home isn't even an option.

[Dennis P]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

But even at $900/mo gross pay, that $30k house was still only 3x his annual pay. My house is smaller, has 1/2 the bedrooms, and cost 6x our combined income. Having kids and one parent staying at home isn't even an option.

And to think that my dad didn't want to buy a home because he felt we couldn't afford it back then. But my mom (bless her heart) convinced him that it would be worthwhile, and it was.