what you get for the money sac vs. (Fresno, Sacramento: short sale, rent)

[hydro]

When you take the average home in Sac, sell it and move back east, where do you end up being able to afford? Baltimore or somewhere in the south? Just curious what you get for the money.

[NewToCA]

Lot's of potential options there. Rather than post a massive list, I'll focus on the exceptions.

New York City and the Long Island suburbs would be way out of reach, as would metro Boston and metro Washington DC. Much of the metro Providence area would be too expensive. The shoreline communities from Old Orchard Beach in Maine down to Nags Head would also be more expensive. Then you also have the smaller historic type areas like Annapolis, Charleston and Savannah that are generally more expensive too.

Of course all cities have exclusive and expensive suburban areas, but so does Sacramento.

I guess you could include Chicago, but that is getting a bit far from the East.

[shelato]

The other factor to weigh in these type of comparisons is the strength of the local economy. A big part of the reason why prices levels have dropped by so much in the past 4 or 5 years is that the local economy has been really weak. Part of the reason housing prices are stronger in places like Washington DC and Boston is that their local economies have been much stronger.

The unemployment rate in Washington DC is 5.6% in Boston its 6.1%. Whereas right now Sacramento has an unemployment rate of 10.7%, just below Flint Michigan's 10.8%. In general areas where the local economy is weak, housing prices are cheap because its difficult to sustain a bidding war if you aren't sure if you have a job. In depressed areas you also tend to see a lot of people moving out of the area to find work elsewhere, which keeps a check on prices from rising too quickly. This is why housing prices have been cheap for so long in places like Flint and Detroit, their economies have been weak for really long sustained periods.

Compared with a lot of the other regions in the county with similarly weak economies, I would say that Sacramento is actually fairly expensive. Part of it is that Sacramento hasn't hasn't had a long term weak economy the way that Flint and Detroit have had or for that matter the way other Valley towns like Fresno, Merced, Modesto and Stockton have had. The other part is proximity to the Bay Area. When the price differential between Sacramento and the Bay Area gets large enough then those people who were priced out of the Bay Area start moving here and many of them can take their jobs and employment connections with them. I suspect that is what is behind the current turn around we are seeing in the local housing market and what I think will probably start to pull down the local unemployment rates, increased construction hiring to build housing for people priced out of the bay area.

[Coughlan616]

Originally Posted by NewToCA

Lot's of potential options there. Rather than post a massive list, I'll focus on the exceptions.

New York City and the Long Island suburbs would be way out of reach, as would metro Boston and metro Washington DC. Much of the metro Providence area would be too expensive. The shoreline communities from Old Orchard Beach in Maine down to Nags Head would also be more expensive. Then you also have the smaller historic type areas like Annapolis, Charleston and Savannah that are generally more expensive too.

Of course all cities have exclusive and expensive suburban areas, but so does Sacramento.

I guess you could include Chicago, but that is getting a bit far from the East.

Yep.. this is what good moving from the Bay Area did when people wanted to buy cheaper here. They totally got priced out of that market even more when homes started to devalue here and now they are worse off than they ever thought because of their greed. Americans for the most part are greedy, but I really see it most in the sunbelt areas. They probably lived a comfortable life in SF, but wanted to have more and got too greedy with more space and before they knew it ,their properties started going down and now if they want to live in any good area anywhere in this country, they are F'd. You could have moved to very cheap Louisville KY area from SF and saved even more money if you know how to budget right, then have a lot leftover, earn enough savings and be pretty damn comfortable, but most of these people don't even know basics like that. While Sac may be closer to SF and less expensive, all that has been for Californians is excuses to spend more on other crap so they downgrade their lives.. Not common sense but to each their own I guess.

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by Coughlan616

Yep.. this is what good moving from the Bay Area did when people wanted to buy cheaper here. They totally got priced out of that market even more when homes started to devalue here and now they are worse off than they ever thought because of their greed. Americans for the most part are greedy, but I really see it most in the sunbelt areas. They probably lived a comfortable life in SF, but wanted to have more and got too greedy with more space and before they knew it ,their properties started going down and now if they want to live in any good area anywhere in this country, they are F'd. You could have moved to very cheap Louisville KY area from SF and saved even more money if you know how to budget right, then have a lot leftover, earn enough savings and be pretty damn comfortable, but most of these people don't even know basics like that. While Sac may be closer to SF and less expensive, all that has been for Californians is excuses to spend more on other crap so they downgrade their lives.. Not common sense but to each their own I guess.

Sorry, but many of us just wanted a home, period.

[Coughlan616]

Originally Posted by NickB1967

Sorry, but many of us just wanted a home, period.

Theres nothing wrong with owning a home, but in SF and top places in CA, they were to be had cheap.. Many own homes from when it was better there, they stayed and now they have something to leave their kids.. Thats how to do it. What will you have to leave your kids or whoever else that wanted to get too much space and pay 300,000 + for a house with an even higher mortgage than before. Many of the new homes are shotty too, they look cookie cutter and stale.. not like the old neighborhoods. To me even 200,000 is too much to pay for a house. I will rent a room in a house before I do that and I'd be fine with it.

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by Coughlan616

Theres nothing wrong with owning a home, but in SF and top places in CA, they were to be had cheap

What color was the sky in your world? Those of us who came here in the 1990s and 2000s wanted to move out of our childhood bedrooms and get a place of our own. Sure, some people bought McMansions and big lots, but from Lincoln to Folsom there are lots and lots of cookie cutter homes that aren't that big at all.

And yes, we were caught in the Affirmative Action Mortgage Mess. I knew any mortgage deal with a "balloon" payment and/or without the 20% customary down was probably a bad deal. But hey, as long as Fannie and Freddie were underwriting it (the carrot), and as long as the "Justice" department was threatening a lender who insisted on the "racist" concepts of loan to income ratios (the stick), anything went.

[u225615]

Originally Posted by Coughlan616

Theres nothing wrong with owning a home, but in SF and top places in CA, they were to be had cheap.. Many own homes from when it was better there, they stayed and now they have something to leave their kids.. Thats how to do it. What will you have to leave your kids or whoever else that wanted to get too much space and pay 300,000 + for a house with an even higher mortgage than before. Many of the new homes are shotty too, they look cookie cutter and stale.. not like the old neighborhoods. To me even 200,000 is too much to pay for a house. I will rent a room in a house before I do that and I'd be fine with it.

People buy homes for a variety of reasons. Some buy a bigger home and take on a bigger mortgage because it's one of the few deductions that isn't affected by the AMT and it meets the needs of the family for the forseeable future. If they can afford it why not? Personally, I like my newer home. Other than routine maintenance like caulking and painting the exterior wood trim my neighbors and I haven't had problems.

Originally Posted by NickB1967

What color was the sky in your world? Those of us who came here in the 1990s and 2000s wanted to move out of our childhood bedrooms and get a place of our own. Sure, some people bought McMansions and big lots, but from Lincoln to Folsom there are lots and lots of cookie cutter homes that aren't that big at all.

And yes, we were caught in the Affirmative Action Mortgage Mess. I knew any mortgage deal with a "balloon" payment and/or without the 20% customary down was probably a bad deal. But hey, as long as Fannie and Freddie were underwriting it (the carrot), and as long as the "Justice" department was threatening a lender who insisted on the "racist" concepts of loan to income ratios (the stick), anything went.

Interesting article on the mortgage meltdown. Greed among the players was the biggest carrot of them all...no stick needed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/24/op...e-big-lie.html

[u225615]

Originally Posted by hydro

When you take the average home in Sac, sell it and move back east, where do you end up being able to afford? Baltimore or somewhere in the south? Just curious what you get for the money.

Median selling price in Sacramento is about 144,000

There's so many variables (like crime, schools, etc to accurately compare) but just for fun

Here's a house in Sacramento compared to Raleigh, NC (about the same lot size, square ft, price)

I chose Raleigh b/c it's somewhere in the south and pop is 400K + (like Sac)

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...117?source=web

Here's the house in Raleigh, NC...

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...513?source=web

I thought you could buy more house outside of California maybe similar to this...

Nottoway Plantation -Tours-Weddings-Dining-Accommodations

[New2Tn]

Originally Posted by u225615

Median selling price in Sacramento is about 144,000

There's so many variables (like crime, schools, etc to accurately compare) but just for fun

Here's a house in Sacramento compared to Raleigh, NC (about the same lot size, square ft, price)

I chose Raleigh b/c it's somewhere in the south and pop is 400K + (like Sac)

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...117?source=web

Here's the house in Raleigh, NC...

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...513?source=web

I thought you could buy more house outside of California maybe similar to this...

Nottoway Plantation -Tours-Weddings-Dining-Accommodations

It appears the Sacramento property is an active short sale while the NC property is not. Is that really a fair comparison? The question posed by the OP is really open ended due to so many variables, so perhaps comparing two properties where the actual living space is similar would be helpful. By comparing the asking prices you can get a feel for what you get for your money, which was the basic question, and I don't believe the OP had any intention of restricting the answer to area's which are similar to Sacramento.

Here is an active listing in Sacramento; http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...474?source=web

Here is an active listing in Tn; http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...698?source=web

While comparing these note the 5 acres that comes along with the drastic reduction in price on the Tn property. Figure in no State income tax, much cheaper utilities, cheaper gasoline and food and the choice is obvious.