'Stupid' questions here concerning Sacramento (Fresno, Fairfield: sales, crime, bad credit)

[ArizonaBear]

I have driven through Sacramento 4 times back in 1990 along I-5 so my knowledge is sketchy at best.

I have lived in the Wash DC area, SF Bay area, SoCal and am presently in the Phx, Az. area............how would Sacramento compare to the previous 4 cities? I am referring to overall vibes, cost of housing, etc.

My impressions of Sacto by just listening to the radio stations back in 1990 was quite favorable.

I tend towards being 'Liberal' with the notable exceptions of being extremely anti illegal immigration (no matter the race/ethnicity of said lawbreakers) and pro gun ownership.

Any thoughts; good, bad or indifferent?

[getshorty]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

I have driven through Sacramento 4 times back in 1990 along I-5 so my knowledge is sketchy at best.

I have lived in the Wash DC area, SF Bay area, SoCal and am presently in the Phx, Az. area............how would Sacramento compare to the previous 4 cities? I am referring to overall vibes, cost of housing, etc.

My impressions of Sacto by just listening to the radio stations back in 1990 was quite favorable.

I tend towards being 'Liberal' with the notable exceptions of being extremely anti illegal immigration (no matter the race/ethnicity of said lawbreakers) and pro gun ownership.

Any thoughts; good, bad or indifferent?

The only thing Sacramento has favorably when comparing those metros is the cost of housing. Other than that, you can forget it. I currently reside in Fairfield with S.F. 40-45 miles west and Sac 30-35 miles east along. Which do you think I prefer to spend my weekends/freetime? I live close but I haven't visited Sac in over 6 months. I try not to bash other California cities but I'm having a hard time liking Sacramento. I guess the biggest thing for me is that for a metro of it's size and popularity, it has very little to no cosmopolitan flare. If you are comparing, all those metros you mentioned above are cosmopolitan places. Sac would be more comparable to places like San Antonio, Tucson, or Fresno

[ButterflyUK]

I loved Sacramento. I only moved away because I was getting married and my British husband had a daughter that was to young to move away from. We would love to move back if we could afford it. There are many lovely areas around Sac that are fantastic if Sacramento doesnt fit the bill. It must be pretty good for the amount of people who have moved there over the last decade.

[getshorty]

You can probably compare Sac and Phoenix although Phoenix is cheaper. Actually no I take that back. Phoenix area trumps Sac in my book. Sacramento lacks the Mill Ave. scene. Good times there

[getshorty]

Originally Posted by ButterflyUK

I loved Sacramento. I only moved away because I was getting married and my British husband had a daughter that was to young to move away from. We would love to move back if we could afford it. There are many lovely areas around Sac that are fantastic if Sacramento doesnt fit the bill. It must be pretty good for the amount of people who have moved there over the last decade.

People only move there because inland California is cheaper. If coastal California was affordable people would ditch that place in a heartbeat.

[Mossy]

Originally Posted by getshorty

People only move there because inland California is cheaper. If coastal California was affordable people would ditch that place in a heartbeat.

So true! You don't know how many people would live along the coast if they could. I would do it in a heartbeat.

[ArizonaBear]

WOW!

Either Sacramento is really 'bad' or the posters here perceive the SF Bay Area to be much better, relatively speaking.

I agree about housing being reasonable (by California standards); realtor.com confirmed that.

How do wages rank compared to the Bay Area? I am an automotive/suspension tech by trade.

Myself; I am more of a 'coffeehouse' type of person...........and, after 20 years of hot Arizona summers---------Sacto's summers do not scare me (assuming the humidity is low).

[ArizonaBear]

UPDATE: Sacramento is cheaper most places here in Arizona. Either that place is truly crime ridden or, with the imploding housing market-----------Sacto really took it on the chin.

[Zel Ya]

Originally Posted by getshorty

People only move there because inland California is cheaper. If coastal California was affordable people would ditch that place in a heartbeat.

I left my heart in Sacramento
Low on the pancake flats
and a windless sea of nothingness
Where little cable cars don't exist
And I'm climbing the walls
To return to SF the city I really miss

And when I come home to you (Ha!)
I'll have a big bottle of Prozac
To stop feeling so blue
Wonderin' why I ever came back

[zen_klown]

The median price of housing in Sacramento County peaked in August of 2005.

In August 2005, the median sales price of a home in the 95630 zipcode of Folsom was 552,500. In September of this year (from the most recent release) the median in the same zip was 423,750. Today median sales prices in that zipcodes are 77% of their Aug 05 price.

In the 95817 area code which locals would recognize as Oak Park but which the Sacramento MLS is labeling East Sacramento. In August of 2005, the median sales price in that zip was 275,000. In September of 2008, the median sales price is 60,000. In Oak Park, the median sales price is 21% of the August 2005 median sales price.

http://www.sacrealtor.org/documents/...pcodes_805.pdf
http://www.sacrealtor.org/documents/...codes_0908.pdf

If you want to see a map of those zips you can look them up here.

Click for a Zip Code Boundary Map.

If you do that process repeatedly what you will notice is that the low end areas of Sacramento have dropped significantly, but in the higher end areas, prices haven't dropped nearly as much. Some people will argue that proxmity to employment explains this, but Oak Park is pretty close to downtown Sacramento whereas neighborhoods that were wealthier but further afar held up much better say Fair Oaks or Davis.

My explanation is that it was in the low end is where people were using subprime loans and up until know that was were the housing bust was mostly felt in Sacramento.

In Oak Park once again its quite profitable to be a slumlord. Those 60K homes in Oak Park offer positive cashflows, so I doubt those properties going forward are going to be dropping significantly more.

But the high end properties in Sacramento generally were financed with alt-a loans. Those loans are starting to reset, so going forward, I think prices are probably going to be dropping more in the high end homes than in the low end.

If you don't know what alt-a loan is think of it this way. A conforming loan is something could be bought by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. A subprime loan went to borrowers who's credit rating was too low for Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. An Alt-A loan was a loan that Freddie Mac nor Fannie Mae would purchase even though the borrow had a better credit rating. So if you got a stated income pay option adjustible mortgage, if you had bad credit it was a subprime loan, but if you had good credit, its an alt-a loan.

http://economist.mrwhipper.com/IMFresets.jpg (broken link)