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Old 02-20-2010, 08:29 PM
 
2,145 posts, read 5,049,034 times
Reputation: 1666

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles View Post
Are there any economic reasons why Southern California housing prices will not become in line with Southern California incomes (like the rest of the US)? Are Southern California incomes significantly higher than elsewhere? If not, then how can those housing prices be sustained? It may take some more time, but it is happening now.
SD,in my opinion,was 'undervalued',in many of it's neighborhoods,so when it boomed,it was making up for lost time. SD has also been notorious for lower wages compared to cost of living. always.

that has not changed.
what has changed is: more and more folks retiring here [retired military has always chosen SD-coronado island,for example]. and more and more folks moving here,period. you pay for the weather-the SD discount,they call it. lower wages in exchange for year round great weather and amenities. the bay area has higher wages on average,similar to other major metro areas in the east coast. plus,sfo itself is a peninsula,and there is only so much room to build and grow-the city has always seen a premium for it's housing,for the most part. Again,though,more folks moving to the area,has resulted in great demand. In short,people will pay it,and so it goes...

It's a supply and demand issue,in part.

Sant Cruz is what gets me!
This college town grown into the most ridiculously expensive place,with a long commute to scott's valley or san jose,for work,if you can find it.
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Old 03-02-2010, 01:40 PM
 
Location: tampa bay fl.
8 posts, read 22,394 times
Reputation: 10
Default livin on soc sec

There are 4,678,517 people in Calif livin on soc. sec, so gotta be places affordable. I guess most of you people givin answers haven't ever had to get by on $20 a week for groceries and shower in the kitchen sink after heatin your water-lol. With over 4 million people in calif livin on ss there's gotta be affordable housing somewhere, granted lots of those have additional income, but lots dont, and i am very knowledgeable in diff ways of makin money. I guess my time on this forum is over, need to find a poor mans site, cause most of ya'll seem to be well off livin in your nice homes and have no clue as to what I'm talkin about. I would much rather live in a cabin in the woods than have my 3 br home and pool with all the bills, the ex is payin for all that now. Peace
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Old 03-02-2010, 01:50 PM
 
Location: Oregon
1,179 posts, read 3,793,474 times
Reputation: 597
Quote:
Originally Posted by JetJockey View Post
There are a couple of places you can live in California (even near the coast) for $30,000 a year or so. What I've noticed is that many people simply don't want people moving in so they don't mention these towns. I survived on 15k a year while going to school and had a nice little studio apartment about 15 miles away from the coast.

If you know where to look and are willing to compromise on a few things, you can make it work. I'm renting 3 bedroom detached house with a big backyard (accepts dogs, too!) for $1100 a month, and I can hear the ocean from my backyard. VERY low crime (close to nonexistent) and lots of natural beauty.

It can be done, but it takes little luck and a lot of perseverence. I would recommend talking to locals...we got our rental through word of mouth.
Agree with you. My sister lived in a studio, and then a 1 bedroom apt. in San Diego, for 5 years, and she absolutely loved it. She had to do some looking to find a decent price in a good neighborhood, but lucked out. She didn't care about buying a house though, she just loved the area.
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Old 03-02-2010, 05:04 PM
 
11,715 posts, read 40,309,597 times
Reputation: 7585
Quote:
Originally Posted by billymac852 View Post
There are 4,678,517 people in Calif livin on soc. sec, so gotta be places affordable. I guess most of you people givin answers haven't ever had to get by on $20 a week for groceries and shower in the kitchen sink after heatin your water-lol. With over 4 million people in calif livin on ss there's gotta be affordable housing somewhere, granted lots of those have additional income, but lots dont, and i am very knowledgeable in diff ways of makin money. I guess my time on this forum is over, need to find a poor mans site, cause most of ya'll seem to be well off livin in your nice homes and have no clue as to what I'm talkin about. I would much rather live in a cabin in the woods than have my 3 br home and pool with all the bills, the ex is payin for all that now. Peace
Many of those people living on social security bought their $600k homes for $40k in the 1970's, own them outright, and pay $1000/yr in property taxes.
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Old 03-02-2010, 08:06 PM
 
Location: tampa bay fl.
8 posts, read 22,394 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia View Post
Many of those people living on social security bought their $600k homes for $40k in the 1970's, own them outright, and pay $1000/yr in property taxes.
And many of them didn't!
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Old 03-03-2010, 01:25 PM
 
4,536 posts, read 10,577,162 times
Reputation: 4068
I recently saw an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter in Colorado. There was an area of small 1 story apartments. It was kinda run down, but insides of the places were nice and all the people living there were nice, clean, employed. The area seemed to me to be a neighborhood that might be known as "the wrong side of the tracks". But it didn't seem particularly dangerous, and it did appear that the heads of household were employed. Just people with not a lot of money.

There exists no such neighborhood in Los Angeles. Everyone posting asks for a "safe" neighborhood with at least decent schools. Well, the lowest price neighborhoods that meet that criteria are Lakewood, Woodland Hills, Glendora, and probably Alhambra. So you are looking at an average house price >$400K. Or you can live 60 miles outside LA in the IE or Santa Clarita.

And its really that simple. There just is not a combination of "affordable"(by most people's definition), close, safe, and good schools anywhere in Los Angeles. The neighborhoods that exist in other cities don't exist in LA.

There are actually neighborhoods that meet all criteria EXCEPT the schools. There are very large latino areas that are middle class or blue collar and are safe ok areas and affordable. Particularly Whittier, Norwalk, and Downey. And these are close to LA. But the schools are crap. Recent immigrants from Mexico move into the apartments in those areas, their kids speak marginal english, there is minimal family emphasis on education, and these kids drag the schools in those neighborhoods way down. The second and third generation(and beyond) latino families in these areas do want a good education for their kids, but its not a priority with parents that don't speak english.
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Old 04-18-2010, 05:31 PM
 
3 posts, read 8,662 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by batransplant View Post
Maybe the real question is where do middle class people live in California? Im sure there are some areas...places nobody has ever heard of...like Arcadia or Belmont or Pleasant Hill or Torrance. These are regular, middle class communities where police officers, construction people, bus drivers, grocery store employees, retail sales people, teachers, and nurses live that are also safe communities and relatively close to urban centers like LA and San Francisco.

Belmont is anything but affordable for 50 to 60,000 anual wage earners to afford a house
they start at i believe now at 500,000 for a shack
280k will buy a nice house in east palo alto though as far as crime well probably no comparison to belmont but thats the way it is here in bay area especially the penninsula
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Old 04-18-2010, 05:41 PM
 
3 posts, read 8,662 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonotastic View Post
Realtor.com

Search Results for 3 bed, 3 bath home/condo up to $250,000

Redwood City, CA: 0 results
Anaheim, CA: 1 result
Petaluma, CA: 0 results
Santa Clarita, CA: 0 results
Oakland, CA: 6 results
Hayward, CA: 3 results
Oceanside, CA: 7 results
Los Angeles, CA: 36 results
San Francisco, CA: 0 results
San Diego, CA: 20 results

---

Las Vegas, NV: 6,339 results
Denver, CO: 402 results
Houston, TX: 654 results
Cleveland, OH: 570 results
Orlando, FL: 314 results
Atlanta, GA: 848 results

You are misleading people who want to live in a safe and nice area by saying, "oh you can get a 3 bedroom home for $1100 per month near the ocean".
I'm not saying you're lying, but for every 100,000 people who move to California, I bet only 1% to 5% will be able to find a similar deal.

I just mentioned Redwood City and there are currently no 3/3 houses or condos for less than $250,000, NOT EVEN ONE!

East Palo Alto there is
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Old 04-19-2010, 03:45 PM
 
Location: Oxygen Ln. AZ
9,319 posts, read 18,677,064 times
Reputation: 5764
Quote:
Originally Posted by billymac852 View Post
There are 4,678,517 people in Calif livin on soc. sec, so gotta be places affordable. I guess most of you people givin answers haven't ever had to get by on $20 a week for groceries and shower in the kitchen sink after heatin your water-lol. With over 4 million people in calif livin on ss there's gotta be affordable housing somewhere, granted lots of those have additional income, but lots dont, and i am very knowledgeable in diff ways of makin money. I guess my time on this forum is over, need to find a poor mans site, cause most of ya'll seem to be well off livin in your nice homes and have no clue as to what I'm talkin about. I would much rather live in a cabin in the woods than have my 3 br home and pool with all the bills, the ex is payin for all that now. Peace
If you don't mind mountain living, go to realtor.com and put the zip 95954 in or 95969. These are very inexpensive areas of CA up in the foothills above Chico and an hour and a half from Sacramento. You have all the shopping and hospitals you could ever want. There are some cheap trailer parks that older folks rent or own and have little or nothing as far as income. They also have cheap cabins futher up the road. Why would you pick CA if you have so little to live on? I would go to the gulf of Alabama.

go to the retirement forum and look at Retiring on a Shoestring. Lots of fantastic ideas there.
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Old 04-20-2010, 02:55 AM
 
Location: Living on the Coast in Oxnard CA
16,289 posts, read 32,186,268 times
Reputation: 21885
Their is cost associated with living in many places. I live on the coast in Oxnard. I have seen homes selling in the low $200,000 range in poor areas of the city. Older homes in the North End of the city are going for $300,000 for a 1,300 Square foot home that was built in 1973 and sits on a 6,000 square foot lot. For me that is cheap. I have friends that bought into the Victoria Estates development in Oxnard. Homes are on or near the Golf Course in a gated and Security Staffed entryway. Many of their former homes are selling in the $400,000 to $600,000 range now, a nice drop from the $850,000 to $1,250,000 they were selling for back in 2007 - 2008. Very cheap if you ask me. Apartment rents are in the $1,000 range for a 1 bedroom although lately I have seen some 1 Bedrooms going for under $1,000. I just saw a sign on a newly remodeled building that has 1 bedrooms starting at $825 and that is in Ventura within a few miles of the beach. That is very cheap for around here. Inexpensive, cost effective, cheap, are all relative terms.

I don't know how someone makes it here on Social Security or any other Social program. You would live in poverty if you tried it. Then again those programs were never designed for that. Social Security is a safety net program and not a retirement program. The planning for retirement takes place when you start working. Most people just don't do what is needed though to maintain their lifestyle during the retirement years. Someone retiring today would probably need at least $1 million to retire. Someone like me that has 30 years will probably need more than $3 million to retire.

What I am saying is that if someone wants a certain lifestyle they need to work for that lifestyle and do what they can to put them in a position to take part in their chosen lifestyle. At the same time their are no promises that you will achieve the end result. We are given Life, Liberty, and the persuit of happiness but not the promise of happiness.
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