So is this housing market going to crash? (San Jose, San Francisco: sales, to rent)

[hubbard53]

Originally Posted by spicydreamt

To counterpoint, I see $800k houses sold to Indian families which still do not have furniture in the main/living room after a year (and who drive a "regular" car), and to Chinese families with 3 generations moving in. So people who can just barely afford to purchase in their school area of choice also do contribute to the housing market, much more than you give them credit for. In my area they seem to be the majority.

Interesting point. Is this also the reason builders seem to cram too many bedrooms into their homes here? I don't know how many 3000 sq/ft 5 bedroom homes we looked at. If you do the math, you realize that makes for some tiny bedrooms, living rooms, etc. We really noticed this in the Dublin new builds.

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by hubbard53

Interesting point. Is this also the reason builders seem to cram too many bedrooms into their homes here? I don't know how many 3000 sq/ft 5 bedroom homes we looked at. If you do the math, you realize that makes for some tiny bedrooms, living rooms, etc. We really noticed this in the Dublin new builds.

Smaller bedrooms could be part of it. Also, we don't have as much when it comes to bonus rooms, man caves, basements, etc. With the weather so nice, people spend less time indoors and do not require as much space. In my view, anything over 3,000 square feet is a waste of space anyway and promotes having more clutter, higher heating/cooling costs, maintenance, etc.

[hubbard53]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

Smaller bedrooms could be part of it. Also, we don't have as much when it comes to bonus rooms, man caves, basements, etc. With the weather so nice, people spend less time indoors and do not require as much space. In my view, anything over 3,000 square feet is a waste of space anyway and promotes having more clutter, higher heating/cooling costs, maintenance, etc.

We think the opposite the less space, the more cluttery it feels. I just don't understand the number of bedrooms! My other home, in Ohio, is 3800 sq/ft and has 4 bedrooms which allows more space in each bedroom. Yes, the reality is that we don't use all that space except for when we get visitors.... Interesting to see the regional differences between here and there

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by hubbard53

We think the opposite the less space, the more cluttery it feels. I just don't understand the number of bedrooms! My other home, in Ohio, is 3800 sq/ft and has 4 bedrooms which allows more space in each bedroom. Yes, the reality is that we don't use all that space except for when we get visitors.... Interesting to see the regional differences between here and there

I guess its more about less space = buying less stuff. I can understand if you're used to having more things, but I guess because of the high cost of living, we're forced to do more with less. I don't see why a 3,800 square foot house is really necessary, if you're only a family of 4 or so. Its nice to have a large master bedroom and some decent sized living space, but I think the kids bedrooms can be small, maybe a room for a guest room / office. Not sure why smaller sized families will need anything more than that.

[hubbard53]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

I guess its more about less space = buying less stuff. I can understand if you're used to having more things, but I guess because of the high cost of living, we're forced to do more with less. I don't see why a 3,800 square foot house is really necessary, if you're only a family of 4 or so. Its nice to have a large master bedroom and some decent sized living space, but I think the kids bedrooms can be small, maybe a room for a guest room / office. Not sure why smaller sized families will need anything more than that.

Yeah, sometimes you're "forced" into minimum square footage based on neighborhood. Generally the nicer the area, the bigger the homes

[mistercommuter]

boy howdy!

i just keep posting that i cant wrap my head around the fact that ohio is different than the silicon valley!

and then i post the same!

again!

as a native of this area, the ive recurrently seen middle americans have the most difficult time accepting the COL here because they are so used to getting so much for so little in middle america

their problem is that they just cant stop thinking comparatively, and so they dont

its a different ballgame here, its that simple

would you go to london or tokyo and expect to pay the same square footage for the dollar as you would in ohio???

[hubbard53]

Originally Posted by mistercommuter

as a native of this area, the ive recurrently seen middle americans have the most difficult time accepting the COL here because they are so used to getting so much for so little in middle america

their problem is that they just cant stop thinking comparatively, and so they dont

its a different ballgame here, its that simple

would you go to london or tokyo and expect to pay the same square footage for the dollar as you would in ohio???

As a native, you've never been in the situation. . . The point of the thread is that perhaps the market is over inflated. And as all good threads do, it evolved into a deeper discussion. Talking about sq/ft had more to do with the number of bedrooms and relative space. Man, you Californians need to lighten up and learn to accept there are other regions and opinions than yours...geesh...

[spicydreamt]

Originally Posted by hubbard53

Is this also the reason builders seem to cram too many bedrooms into their homes here?

I don't think so. Regarding the older housing stock, correct me if I'm wrong, but for ex. the smaller 2/1 housing units on Benton St (Santa Clara) were built for returning veterans, and the 1400sqf you see for a 3/2 was considered on the larger side when it was built 60 years ago. The more recent constructions, well... based on the construction quality, maximizing profit is the only driver, and one cheap way to achieve that is to increase the number of bedrooms.
Lots of people transform their garage into semi-living space - either a dining area, a spare bedroom (or two) or a home office - and then they park their cars outside. Other garages are filled to the brim with stuff. If you give them more bedrooms they'll quickly find ways to fill them out, so why not.

[easybay]

Man, you Californians need to lighten up and learn to accept there are other
regions and opinions than yours...geesh...

Welcome to California!!!

It was TOUGH moving here from Texas - where we had a 4600 sq ft 4 bdrm, pool, backing on to a green belt in a cul d sac, best schools, and sold for $475,000. But there is land in TX - lots of it, room for the suburbs to grow. That just isn't the case here. So to go back to your original question - is the market inflated and going to crash - yes it's inflated, and no I don't think it'll "crash". There are too many factors keeping it up. Add to the fact that there is no where to build, there are laws limiting new development, people with $$, low interest rates, tech industry, foreign investers, and the area itself.

The question to ask is why it crashed in 2007? What can happen again based on 2007 that will cause our market to crash?

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by easybay

The question to ask is why it crashed in 2007? What can happen again based on 2007 that will cause our market to crash?

Well, lets be honest about 2007. If you were in the outer suburbs, yes it crashed. If you lived in the inner bay (SF, Marin, peninsula), it went down slightly, but it did not exactly crash. It held up much better than the rest of the country.