Lucerne Valley (Los Angeles, Napa, Barstow: crime, mortgage, refinance)

[Serena123]

I can't find much re Lucerne Valley on City-Data.

Anyone live there and can comment on if they like it. Crime, friendly, shopping, etc. Any comments would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Fontucky]

One medium sized grocery store that can't compare in quality or price to the big boys. Most everyone does their main shopping in AV or VV.

There's a hardware store/lumberyard, a NAPA auto parts store, a few gas stations. Gas is usually a few cents more there.

A few decent restaurants. A couple of feed stores.

Demographics are shifting as LA people move in. Crime is on the rise. The local SB County deputies are about useless.

It's very windy on a regular basis. The secret to living in LV is to live as far up the alluvial slope (towards the SB Mountains) as you can. The elevation rises as you head up that slope South of Hwy 18, and the difference in temperature can easily be 10 degrees up around Emerald, Azurite, Topaz etc between Crystal Creek and Mesa. Less dust up there also.

It's a fairly friendly area, by So Cal standards.

[Donn2390]

Hi again. LV is a tiny community, not even a town. There is no formal government there, just a few business' in the middle of nowhere... Just guessing that the population would be in the low hundreds..! That might be generous..
There are three Mines in LV, which are the back drop of the community. A lot of day time residences, most are gone at closing time. Some good restaurants we like there.
We were there last weekend, for an Indian Pow Wow...!
It is mainly on the road to other places...!
Property is cheap there, because it's the middle of nowhere in the middle of the desert. If you want to be away from it all, this is the place for you.
It's about 10 miles from AV, so put it on you list of places to see..!

[Serena123]

Thanks all ~ we'll be checking it out this summer ~

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by Donn2390

Just guessing that the population would be in the low hundreds..! That might be generous..

More like 8000...

[JohnG72]

I don't understand why people want to live in the desert where there are few jobs and its difficult/impossible to drive each day to get to Los Angeles where there are jobs, but still not that many. All just because homes are cheap. Homes are cheap for a reason. Anywhere in California at the moment with homes under $150K and especially under $100K, there is a huge reason for that.

Anyway, Lucerne Valley is basically rural desert with little going on, not much scenary, and I can't imagine why anyone would actively seek to move there. Seems like a little armpit of the high desert to me, though its probably nicer to live in than Barstow. I don't think that says much good about it.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

Anyway, Lucerne Valley is basically rural desert with little going on, not much scenary,

There's an abundance of beautiful scenery in LV, as long as one is a fan of the stark beauty of the high desert. That's why my weekend home is located there.
That and I'm able to have no close neighbors.

[Donn2390]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

More like 8000...

You're correct, I looked it up, and it's close to 8000..! Don't know where they hide them all, everytime I go there, I only see a few people and a couple of dogs. They must get those numbers from all of the surrounding area. It doesn't appear to be anywhere nearly as big as my little town in Oregon, and it's only 6k..!
I can see why you have a second home there. It's not for everyone, but I like the area...
Our favorite place to eat is Lettie's. Best and most Mexican food anywhere...

[DesertDog2]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

I don't understand why people want to live in the desert where there are few jobs and its difficult/impossible to drive each day to get to Los Angeles where there are jobs, but still not that many. All just because homes are cheap. Homes are cheap for a reason. Anywhere in California at the moment with homes under $150K and especially under $100K, there is a huge reason for that.

It all depends on what you want from life, life is more than just jobs.
I grew up in the South Bay of Southern California. I have enjoyed some of the best weather in the world. Jobs were always available for me. You could find almost any kind of store imaginable. I have enjoyed my 57 years there.

During those years, I found that I would spend a significant amount of time and money getting out of town. I enjoy the recreational opportunities of the desert. I can only look at wall to wall houses, stores and busineses for so long before I want to remember what dirt looks like.

In my neighborhood, housing prices have tumbled to about 700k. Do the math, think about what size that payment is! Now, in reality, we bought our house for $260k, over 20 years ago, but I have done cash out refinances several times since we bought the house. We now owe 350k on our 260k home. Our home is about 2000 sq. ft. and the lot is about 5300 sq. ft.

So, for us, we did the math again and figured that if we sold our home at 700k, paid of the loan, we would have 350k in the bank.

Take 200k of that, and buy a home in the desert. That home is 2500 sq. ft., 3 car garage, high finish level and on half an acre. Now, that I own a larger more luxurious home outright, with lower taxes and no house payment, I can afford to work at minimum wage if I want to and live a better life style than I did in the south bay, where I had to work 60 hours weeks at a high skill job and still barely make house payments.

So lets see, shorter hours, nicer home, nicer neighbors, newer community with all of the niceties I enjoyed in the south bay (except for weather), closer to my chosen forms of recreation, yet still within reach of mountains, forests, lakes and beaches, better air quality, yada yada yada.

The only benefit I can see to my old way of life and my new one in the desert, is the weather, and for the 600k difference between home prices of equivalent quality, I am sorry the weather is nice but not worth over half a million to me. When you consider that the true cost of owning a home is multiplied by the mortgage, I am living a better life style and saving money.

If I compare to similar houses in the two different communities, I would save $1,095,876 between payments and property taxes over the life of a 30 year mortgage at only 5 1/4% interest, more at higher rates.

I can think of better things to do with the money than give it to the government and mortgage companies.

Plus, never forget one thing, some of us actually LIKE the desert!

[Serena123]

Great post, DesertDog2