Why are homes so cheap in Bakersfield? (Los Angeles, San Diego: bank owned, transplants)

[jc76]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

I have co workers that live in Bakersfield and work in Ventura. It takes about an hour and a half on a nice day. During this time of year the Grapevine (Interstate 5) can get closed due to snow.

As far as nursing, is the Indiana licence transferable to California for the RN? Californias is with an Associates degree. Not all states will be able to transfer here though. She will need to check before she comes out here.

Her and my brother do not want to settle here, so she wants to get her degree and take a job in CA and bypass working or getting licensed in Indiana.

I have heard of several hospitals taking fresh RN graduates right out of school. That's what her goal is.

I'll be living in Oxnard, they wanna move out there but want to avoid the high housing in coastal areas. They like heat, sun and dry. They don't need an endless supply of night life, just close proximity to hiking and outdoors activity. Anything is a step up from Indiana.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Not sure about Bakersfield for Nursing. I work in a Hospital in Ventura and live in Oxnard. It may not be like it was a few years ago. It takes time even in nursing to find a job sometimes. We have had a hiring freeze for a while.

Up untill 2008 it was a breeze finding a job. Not that she will have a problem, just that not every hospital will need her services. She could check with some of the employment sites to see what is available. She may want to call hospitals in the Bakersfield area to see how the employment scene at a given hospital might look like.

[jc76]

Thanks Surpise

So do the hospitals in Ventura/Oxnard do any hiring for janitorial or entry level jobs? Thinking of applying there once I get settled in.

[TimC2462]

Originally Posted by jc76

My brother and his girlfriend are considering Bakersfield after she is done with her RN program next year. Now they are in Northern Indiana and would like a change, that's really not what I want this topic to be about. Mainly I want to know why homes are so cheap there. On several real estate sites we are finding nice homes with pools etc for between 90-170K. That's the same price as homes here in the tundra.
As always, if it sounds too good to be true...you know the rest. Very weary and would like some info on why homes there are 300% less than L.A. or San Diego. Thanks!

Bakersfield experienced an surge of growth in the last 30 years. The recent housing boom during the early 2000's had outsiders investing two or three houses at a time, then selling them. Bakersfield just grew too fast in just a short period of time while home buyers were paying for houses that were overpriced. In 2002, brand new houses were being sold as cheap as $130,000. Then 3 years later, the median home prices rose to nearly $300,000 and it just dropped from there.

With unemployment being high as 10%, the local homeowners that bought higher priced homes between 2003 and 2006 could no longer pay their mortgage payments. Outsider investors that came in to buy houses to rent out, also drove up prices where local Bakersfield natives also bought into the artificial high valued homes.

Homes are still being sold here in Bakersfield, but the ones that are going fast are the ones that are NOT in distressed neighborhoods. Nobody wants purchase a house where it is located in a distressed neighborhood ridden with foreclosures.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by jc76

Thanks Surpise

So do the hospitals in Ventura/Oxnard do any hiring for janitorial or entry level jobs? Thinking of applying there once I get settled in.

You could check with Saint Johns in Oxnard, Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura or where I work at CMH. we have been under a hiring freeze at CMH. We arein the process of building a new hospital. Construction will begin in November. That will be a 3 year project. After that chances are positions will open up.

[TimC2462]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Even in West Bakersfield?

Hard to find a home for sale under 115,000 in west Bakersfield. These newer homes were built around the mid-1990's. The cheaper ones can be found in east Bakersfield.

[Fontucky]

That's what I suspected.

[jc76]

Thanks for all the info :-))))

[Kibbiekat]

Originally Posted by jc76

My brother and his girlfriend are considering Bakersfield after she is done with her RN program next year. Now they are in Northern Indiana and would like a change, that's really not what I want this topic to be about. Mainly I want to know why homes are so cheap there. On several real estate sites we are finding nice homes with pools etc for between 90-170K. That's the same price as homes here in the tundra.
As always, if it sounds too good to be true...you know the rest. Very weary and would like some info on why homes there are 300% less than L.A. or San Diego. Thanks!

Because SD is a 300% nicer place to live than Bakersfield.

[Snort]

Originally Posted by rkb0305

Because SD is a 300% nicer place to live than Bakersfield.

I think that's a gross overestimation of Bakersfield.