Owning a home in California (Nice: for rent, calculation, income)

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by CarawayDJ

For many people in CA, this whole prop 13 tax rate of 1% is nothing but a joke. Many newer developments have Mello Roos which smell and act exactly like property taxes.

Very true and often overlooked by those that say we need to pay more...

[ragnarkar]

Originally Posted by Sealtite

What the hell are you people gonna do? I'm living in CA right now, but I've got property in Pennsylvania. That's where I'll retired, grow old, and die. As for California, as lovely as this state is....it isn't lovely enough to cough up close to $1,000/square foot for a house. And this is a down economy.

Last week, I met an elderly woman from Mt. Helix who lamented to me about how difficult of a time she'd been having lately since she's on a fixed income. Her property taxes and the upkeep on her 3,000 square foot home that she and her late husband purchased in 1960, were really putting a strain on her pocket book. I should have told her that she could short-sell her house, move into the best retirement community east of the Mississippi, and could probably afford to be spoon-fed her meals by servants each day, and carried like the pope to any destination she desired for the rest of her life with the money she'd make.

As for the middle class and younger generations here....What are you gonna do? Rent? Bite the bullet, buy, and be house poor with your mortgage?
Seriously.

I've got no incentive to buy when houses cost so much, rents are so depressed, and other assets are providing better returns.

[Hawk J]

Originally Posted by nullgeo

While much of what you write is true, there are wrinkles, exceptions and loopholes to exploit. I will not give away my trade secrets too much, forgive me ... ... I do very often sleep illegally ... but have never once been identified or asked to "move along" let alone arrested ... and I have been doing this for quite a lot of years ... including right in downtown San Francisco and other California cities. It is legal to live in mobile structures under various scenarios that include time you spend in a given location and where in various counties. You have to learn the game ... when to vacate a property and for how long ... whether to move the structure or not (often only you have to vacate) ... and what kind of facilities your abode contains and how you treat waste.

I will give you all one hint: you can spend as much time aboard your boat / vehicle as you want, including cooking and lounging as long as you don't continuously inhabit including sleeping the night through. And even at that, there are exceptions. Oh, and obviously, you can't endanger anyone's health and other nasties.

Aside from mobile structures, note I pasted a couple photos of little homes that were permanent. With some exceptions in some counties, and subject to CC& R's in developments, you are allowed to build/occupy a very very small home ... Say you went luxury at $200 a foot for a 400 sq.ft. home -- a size I would consider the Taj Mahal ... do the math (here, I'll do it for you $80,000 ... it can be done easily and very nicely for 1/2 that.)

About five years ago I built a very snappy, attractive, 500 sq. ft. cabin with all amenities for under $25,000 ... it is rented out now.

In my 1978 American Clipper 'type C' motorhome for years i booniecamped/fished around CA & the western states.

Tioga George, a member of www.rv.net/forum , for years boonie camped for free around the U.S & parts of Mexico. He had a blog (might still) many folks donated to his adventures.

[.highnlite]

Originally Posted by Sealtite
What the hell are you people gonna do? I'm living in CA right now, but I've got property in Pennsylvania. That's where I'll retired, grow old, and die. As for California, as lovely as this state is....it isn't lovely enough to cough up close to $1,000/square foot for a house. And this is a down economy.

Last week, I met an elderly woman from Mt. Helix who lamented to me about how difficult of a time she'd been having lately since she's on a fixed income. Her property taxes and the upkeep on her 3,000 square foot home that she and her late husband purchased in 1960, were really putting a strain on her pocket book. I should have told her that she could short-sell her house, move into the best retirement community east of the Mississippi, and could probably afford to be spoon-fed her meals by servants each day, and carried like the pope to any destination she desired for the rest of her life with the money she'd make.

As for the middle class and younger generations here....What are you gonna do? Rent? Bite the bullet, buy, and be house poor with your mortgage?
Seriously.

Does the OP think that the residents of an area set the Real Estate prices? Supply and Demand, free market capitalism, econ 101.

If people were not buying at high prices, prices would lower, as they have over the past few years. But the demand is still such that housing prices in CA are not likely to lower to Nebraska levels.

There are counties in this country that do not have building codes or code enforcement, you build it and if it does not fall in on you, it is home.

[Aquaboy]

Originally Posted by alexxiz

Insanity... I'm not buying a home here. I'm taking cash to Pacific Northwest. Here, even if I bought a home, they'd eventually suffocate me with taxes, codes and commutes.

Wehhh. Laws are "suffocating" you. And those horrid taxes for services like police and fire. You should leave, ASAP!

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

I would say I'm doing a scaled down version of what BayAreaHillbilly is doing. I am 41, single, and rent a studio apartment. I do not ever plan to own (and don't care that much). I put a good chunk of my salary into my retirement plan. If I lose my job, I plan on moving inland to a lower cost Western state (hopefully before the next big earthquake hits).

Quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the U.S. ends up bankrupt like Greece; so while I try to live prudently, I kinda wonder if it's really going to matter at the rate we're going.

Those low cost western states don't have jobs. If they did I'd be living in Montana.

[Mr.Kurtz]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

... There's plenty of other states I could choose from.

Former Angeleno - SF Valley.

Moved out of CA - late 1990s.

I live 41 minutes walking distance from a clean blue ocean. Purchased my little place overlooking a beautiful tranquil River. The money leftover I spend traveling to exotic locales. Looking back, leaving California was one of the best decisions of my life. I miss SoCal. But in the end I felt leaving was my only option if I ever wanted to be, one day, a financially free individual. Moving out of CA enabled early retirement, travel abroad & part taking in new hobbies. IMO, California has changed dramatically the last 20 years. Unfortunately, I think for the worse.

Recent picture, the back yard ....

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by Mr.Kurtz

Former Angeleno - SF Valley.

Moved out of CA - late 1990s.

I live six blocks from a clean blue ocean. Purchased my little place overlooking a beautiful tranquil River. The money leftover I spend traveling to exotic locales. Looking back, leaving California was one of the best decisions of my life. I miss a lot about SoCal, but in the end I felt leaving was my only option if I ever wanted to be, one day, a financially free individual. Moving out of CA enabled early retirement, travel abroad & part taking in new hobbies. IMO, California has changed dramatically the last 20 years. I think for the worse.

Recent picture taken from my Balcony ....

Hey! Mr. Kurtz, good to hear from you again ... you came back.
Didn't know you could purchase condo units in asylums ... thanks, great news! Happy for you.

[Mr.Kurtz]

The view from our Asylums are wonderful ...... and many of us do not work. We are free from the U.S. Dollar or modern day slavery that imprisions millions of you non Asylumers every day, all your lives. 9 to 5 / 2 hour commutes. Yes life is wonderful ... Maybe you should get outside your little slave box, and experince real, true living outside Modern Day California Slavery.

Peace to all.

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by Mr.Kurtz

The view from our Asylums are wonderful ...... and many of us do not work. We are free from the U.S. Dollar or modern day slavery that imprisions millions of you non Asylumers every day, all your lives. 9 to 5 / 2 hour commutes. Yes life is wonderful ... Maybe you should get outside your little slave box, and experince real, true living outside Modern Day California Slavery.

Peace to all.

Good to hear!
Actually, I do not live in a little slave box -- in California, or anywhere else. I also do not work at a job anymore and DO live outside, truly, almost all the time. I though, am on the lamb, free as a bird.
Anyway, good to hear about your views from your asylum unit. You are correct: there are many contributors to the CD California forum who should be sharing your asylum!

Life is, indeed, wonderful, Mr. Kurtz!