California Real Estate

AZ Jim

AZ Jim

R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
Location
SURPRISE, ARIZONA
I was born in California and lived there 55 years. I finally left because it was getting too expensive to live there what with all the "imports" coming into the state willing to pay inflated prices for everything including real property. I was shocked today to see how bad it had gotten. I was killing time looking at street views of houses I had owned while a California resident. Check these couple of examples:

House one purchased in 1957 for $47K has now sold for 770K.
House two purchased in 1961 for $14K Now valued at 422K.
House three (our last in Calif.) Purchased in 1983 for $115K now has sold for $433,500K.

No wonder I don't live there anymore, it's insane.
 

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i agree Jim and here's my past homes in California.

Purchased 1961 for $18,500 Sold 2015 for $455,000

Purchased 1968 for $25,000 Sold 2012 for $265,000

Purchased !973 for $60,000 Sold 2014 for $ 495,000

I rent a two bed two bath apartment for $1,230 monthly
 
Lon said:
i agree Jim and here's my past homes in California.

Purchased 1961 for $18,500 Sold 2015 for $455,000

Purchased 1968 for $25,000 Sold 2012 for $265,000

Purchased !973 for $60,000 Sold 2014 for $ 495,000

I rent a two bed two bath apartment for $1,230 monthly
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The current value of the homes I listed are NOT what I sold them for, I got much much less.
 

So, who here has lost money on that ages-old investment instrument, a home? I did, a couple of times, forced to sell due to conditions beyond my control. imp
 
MrsR...WOW...:eek:mg1:

A friend went to visit her sister (real estate agent in the San Francisco area) back in 2011. She went with her to show a couple houses. The prices…incredible. We have it really good here in Ohio re: housing.
 
I lived in California twice -- once as a little child in a rural area and then as young adult in LA. I worked in downtown LA and there was nowhere to live anywhere near where I worked that wasn't either a dump or WAY out of my price range. I ended up living in a pretty nice little place in South Pasadena, but the commute every day was a killer. I finally transferred back to my old office where at least I could afford to live and not spend 3 hours on the road every day. I thought I'd like California -- I didn't.
 
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I lived in California (Orange Co) 1969-70. A completely different time and different world than it is now...with regard to housing and many other things.
 
Butterfly said:
I lived in California twice -- once as a little child in a rural area and then as young adult in LA. I worked in downtown LA and there was nowhere to live anywhere near where I worked that wasn't either a dump or WAY out of my price range. I ended up living in a pretty nice little place in South Pasadena, but the commute every day was a killer. I finally transferred back to my old office where at least I could afford to live and not spend 3 hours on the road every day. I thought I'd like California -- I didn't.
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Lots of beautiful places in So. Pasadena, but I can't afford any of them. When we were leaving LA today and in bumper to bumper traffic, which for awhile was at a standstill because hundreds of cars had to slow down and look at a car with a flat tire beside the freeway, our grandson (who has spent his whole life , except for 4 months, in the mountains) said he was starting to love the big city more and more. He is sarcastic like his grandma. :)
 
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Arizona retirement communities are full of folks who have escaped from the California and Washington state cost of living.
 
Since OP is Real Estate,.....

Hows about we delve into property taxes? My old brick bungalow, back in Berwyn Illinois (QS, take note!), was taxed at about $500/year when I sold it, 1972. Today, taxes on those old homes are pushing $4500+. Ten times more over a period of 40+years. I sold it for $28,000. Today, rough value $300,000. 10 X. Fits.

Arizona. Mohave County, 7th. largest county in the U.S. We have an 1800 sq. ft. home on 2 acres. Taxes just over $600.

Compare that to yours, c'mon, tell us.

In my retirement, no way in hell could I pay $4,000 a year in property tax. My frigging income is $14,000 a year. Tax would be a third+.

Should retirees be forced to go out and work, to pay the taxes necessary to live a realistically rewarding life? In say, SH!T no. Especially in view of what those taxes are being used for. (Do we ever really know?). imp
 
We've been in our house almost 20 years and did a lot of work on it before we retired 5 years ago. Real estate in Califonia dipped a lot after 2007 when everything crashed. Houses were selling for a fraction of what they were. People who grabbed real estate for cheap and flipped it did well (I never did that..lol..fixing up my own house was enough for me).

I love my state and would never wish to relocate. I've watched California change a lot in my lifetime..but so does every place...and in the end my heart is here.

:glitter-heart::glitter-heart:
 
Karen99 said:
I love my state and would never wish to relocate. I've watched California change a lot in my lifetime..but so does every place...and in the end my heart is here.



I agree,Karen. We did leave the SF Bay Area,where we were both born and raised, for a more rural area, but could never leave California.

:glitter-heart::glitter-heart:
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I agree,Karen. We did leave the SF Bay Area,where we were both born and raised, for a more rural area, but could never leave California.
 
My late husband's sister lived in Yorba Linda.. We would visit them every few years. They had a nice home.. but not anything really spectacular.. It was a frame home built on a cement slab. Three bedrooms... two baths.. an attached 2 car garage.. Her lot was rather small.. but she did have a nice little pool in the back.. but who doesn't in CA? Anyway.. that same home in the Chicago suburbs would have probably sold for somewhere around the $200,000 to $250,000 mark.... She sold it for $750,000. Amazing.
 
At the time I met my hubby online I had been trying to find a job and move to Cali - central or northern coast. I was looking around San Luis Obispo and Arcata. I don't regret not getting to live there. But I'd love to show Cali to husband as tourists.
 
I went to Cali 4 times during the 1990's. Loved it. Always did the coast - LA to Arcata.
 

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