You forgot about: places that are incredibly expensive but with few jobs

It was a better plan than what I came up with 20 years ago when I visited the place.

Load all my tools in the back of my truck, put it on a boat, and fix Datsuns when I get there.

There is one other way.

When I was at the airport ready to depart a pretty young lady asked me if I wanted to marry her. Quite surprised I said " really"

She said "you like it here don't you? $10,000 is the going rate"

Not my experience, but my expectations might be different. I've been developing land in the inner Bay Area for 25+ years, and if u want to live next to good jobs, be a great school district, low crime, live in a nice home, and not have to commute for hours yours paying well over $1.5M+ .... yes in some areas u can find half way decent 25+ year old track homes for close to a $1M, but their not great places to live.

Only much of what you call out here is subjective... I live in Martinez, in a house built in this century for less than $750K. My sons school is awesome and our area is safe. So I'm confused by your post...

Jeff

Its certainly subjective, and thats great u like Martinez (never been there), but in my area Danville, Alamo, Pleasanton what u describe doesn't exist...in general the costs in these areas are $1.5-2M for something thats nice...its ridiculous....

Since you've been developing land for over 25 years, you either have auto-correct turned on or must only deal with commercial property. You meant to say Tract homes.

Everyone has a different definition of “awesome.”

BTDT....

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Gotta agree with Jeffro here. You're basically telling everyone here in the Bay Area who lives in a <$1.5M property that their home & neighborhood are sub-par, which is false and a little offensive. Even for "your area", where my offices are located, I don't concur.

Here's an example of a property I sold in your area for around $1M (see photo). Good condition. 4-bedrooms. 1/4 acre. Wasn't Brand New, hence the nice-sized lot. Most of the new home developments have postage stamp lots where you can pass the Gray Poupon to your neighbor through the window and smell each others' farts. And they cost at least 30% more than the resale homes. I generally don't recommend those.

New custom home on large lot? Sure. Big bucks. $1.5M-$2M+.

I just don't like this false narrative that you've got to be loaded to own a decent property here. Way too many people hear that and believe that and never even try to become homeowners, which is sad because they're getting bent over on rent and missing the boat.

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You do realize that the $1 million house you are showing is $200K to $400K in big chunks of the country, right? While people in the bay area, if they are in a high demand field, make more money, they don't make five times as much. The reality is, outside of people in highly compensated professions, most people are better off with a lower paying job in a much lower cost community. The only catch is that they can't ski and surf in the same day.
This is what a million bucks buys in Reno. https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/14501-Quail-Rock-Ct_Reno_NV_89511_M21978-63653?view=qv

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I wasn't trying to offend anyone, so sorry if u took it that way....my original comment was that the cost of housing in the inner Bay Area will most likely be out of reach for our kids, which is pretty sad. By the way large homes on big lots are well over $2.0m+ .... Just around the corner a new house that was 4800 sq ft on an avg size lot just sold for $3.2 M.....my guess is the house in the photo above was 25+ years old and needed a shit load of work....so yea u can convince yourself its affordable, but in reality its not even close....u take that $3.2 M house and put in Salt Lake City and it would be under a $1M.....postage stamp houses on tiny lots in Dublin sell for $1.5M....its a joke, and unless your trading up or have a bunch of cash your not buying a new house in the Bay Area.

Thats exactly right.....without knowing the details that house would probably sell for well over $2M in the Bay Area....what people don't realize is one of the key reasons its so expensive is obtaining permits is very challenging, and once you get the permits the City fees are out of control...in some cases their well over $150K before u put a stick in the ground...city governments have gotten out of control.

House wise and somewhat car wise if you stop trying to keep up with the most impressive out there and settle for a style and lower price you like...you may could have more pins and retire sooner.

Even if you won a big ass lottery, or just did so well in business, etc., why blow all that on a bigger house than you really need, that you can not even take care of yourself?

I see massive mansions being built all the time, and I am like why?

You would not believe the house a while back I helped with in my trade(grading and pipeline), it was like the hotel from The Shining, 10 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms(the man said he used to be tired of his wife hogging the bathroom in the past), and I swear, this is just a couple, with no kids, wtf do they need with all that? And the lot, and the land, was so bad that no way they could ever get anywhere close to what they paid to build the place if they ever needed to sell.

I do spend 2.00 a week on the lottery, and doing fine anyway. If I were to win the lottery, or a business deal pays off big time, the last damn thing I would do would be spending money on a big ass house I do not need. However I would travel more, and spend more on food than I do now, and buy more pins, and probably have to have a new big building built to house all the pins.

Forget about all the fancy and expensive house crap, just have a awesome building for pins, and have it filled with awesome pins.

Ahem ...

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I'm amazed that the 1M home pictured is in your mind reasonable. As someone else mentioned, that's a 300k house in my area. We're in the RTP area which is dubbed silicon east so plenty of tech jobs that are making the aforementioned 150k a year. But School teachers, government workers, police officers, small business owners, retail managers, etc can still afford these types of homes. I dont understand how the regular middle class of people in service industries in California have any opportunity at home ownership. Seems like a huge bubble that has to burst at some point. All those tech people arent going to teach their own kids or cook their own food.

Multi generational homes is how many are doing it now. I though the bubble would burst too but so many people are willing to commute and do it, I don't know if it will. I know even if my kids are very successful they will not have a shot at home ownership without a lot of help if they want to stay in the bay. I am basically planning on giving them my house in the future. As my goal is to get the hell out of here!!

Fricken 7:00 AM this morning!

You do realize the East Bay expands far beyond those boundaries? Speaking of things that are ridiculous, I think it's ridiculous for you to make such a statement about how knowledgeable you are about this, that, and the other, and then say something like you've never been to Martinez... There's this fallacy that's been put out there, NorCalRealtor talks about it, that everything in the Bay Area is unaffordable when that's simply not true.

Yes, your area is expensive, no doubt. But to make such a blanket statement based on one generalized area doesn't make much sense.

For the rest of the country commenting on our real-estate values here, no one is disputing you can buy more (usually far more) somewhere else outside of LA/SF Bay Area. As such, you can think our property values here are as ridiculous as you want but our weather here is as close to perfect as it gets, really can say the same thing for the entire CA coast, and our proximity to high-paying jobs is unlike anywhere else in the US. Things are so expensive here because the market dictates they be, that's how it works. If no one wanted to live here and there weren't a gluttonous amount of high-paying jobs, then no doubt the real-estate prices wouldn't be so high comparatively speaking.

Jeff

But then I'd have to live in NC where I personally don't want to live. The weather there doesn't remotely match up to the weather here on the CA coast for starters. Furthermore, there aren't plenty of tech jobs in NC paying 150K+ per year, I know, I've looked... I've been recruited several times by companies in NC, and TX, and neither can hold a candle to the salaries paid for equivalent work in CA...

Jeff

Dont think anyone is disputing that CA is a beautiful place to live. And for those with the high paying tech jobs, it's great. I'm just trying to understand how all the non tech people in the service industry that provide services for all those tech people are able to afford housing. You cant have a city entirely of tech people....you need grocery workers, gas attendents, fast food workers, teachers, police, etc. How are these people able to live in the same communities? Renters only?

Take into account that CAs cost of living is 1.6x NC, and I think youd find there are as many high paying jobs here than in CA. I give you the weather...hard to beat CA...we have mild seasons but brutal humidity in the summer.

Let’s get back on topic!

Where we want to live!

Be there in two hours!

And I get update the ghost busters code when I get there!

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Nice!

Got me thinking about one place in So Cal where you don't have to worry about traffic or smog, and hopefully not leaf blowers either.

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Weather is subjective. Some people like 4 seasons, some people like your weather, some people want it to never get above 50, other in the words of Seinfeld would like to sit in a recliner on the sun.

I hear you, buddy. I'm not saying $1M is reasonable. I think it's very expensive. I was mainly just countering that guy who was saying there's nothing nice here for <$1.5M-$2M. There are plenty of nice places <$1M, which is what most of us here live in.

Regarding how on Earth normal people can afford these types of homes, from my experience most here either got in when values were much lower, or had to work there way up. The pictured home is not a starter home for most Bay Area people. I originally sold the owner a modest place for <$500k several years ago. He also picked up a cheap rental at the bottom of the market for around $200k. Recently sold both for him for a nice profit which enabled him to buy the pictured home.

And yes, there are many many people who can't even afford a condo who are either renting or commuting a long distance. The longer the commute the cheaper it gets. Some driving 2 hrs each way! Also, particularly in certain cultures, lots of multigenerational families sharing the same home. Probably not too different for any pricey metro area.

Or Brazil

Then you'll be able to afford to get the license and build some pins.
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Its pretty amazing the way it got cleaned up.

It really is nice the way smog is gone in Los Angeles. It used to be a large problem. There is no smog now, our current blight is homelessness. It can be solved too.

That was supposed to reference someone else’s comment.

No, I don't live in Hemet, Ca. any more......but I can say to those who may want to move to Ca.-----DON'T. Brown and Newsom have let out dangerous criminals, illegals without car ins. or the ability to read signs, drug users everywhere, high gas prices(.63 cents tax per gallon), cost of living very high and of course global warming especially in Ca.

Its going to shake us off like a bunch of fleas.

Lucky for Brown and Newsom, there is someone who knows more than scientists about global warming.

Only surrounds himself with the best people, not counting those in prison, of course.

What... My state is not on this poll...
That is actually smart. It gets way too cold in the winter with way too much snow, and we have some of the worst taxes in all the states in the country. Still. There are few benefits. Not many, but a few. When I think of them, I'll list them.

I hear the sausage and pizza are pretty good.

Actually you may be right. I think the only good thing, besides parking availability and being free in the suburbs is the pizza.
So many great pizza places to eat at. SOOOO SOOOO MANY!!!!

My favorite is Chicago Dough company location in Bradley. They have 2 other locations, but the pizza is a wee bit different at the other two. They make my favorite deep dish. Even though its just a little bit thicker than a traditional double dough and so some people might not claim its the Chicago style deep dish(because its not), but its awesome and my favorite.

That is actually one of the things I didn't enjoy when I lived in L.A. the pizza choices really stunk. It was hard to find a good pizza joint, let along a great one. Sure, there were a few. But, most stunk. And most states consider pizza hut or papa johns good pizza. That pizza is trash pizza. Sure if it's all you got fine. But, in IL you got so many great choices.

You are right. The pizza in SoCal sucks. Absolutely nothing that is any good at all, at least that I have been able to find. Can’t find a good gyro anywhere either.

Mexican food is A+.

You know. I lived in L.A. for a whole year, and I don't think I ever ate a gyro when I lived there. Which is funny, because I eat one at least once a month. Probably more like 2 times a month. There is a great dive diner 7 blocks away from my house, and they have an amazing gyro plate. AJ's diner. One of the best gyro plates in Joliet, and there are like 3-5 other restaurants that have good gyros plates as well.
So yeah... I guess we got fatty and greasy food.
And we sell a lot of Wisconsin cheese too. I know some people think you need to buy it in Wisconsin, but nope check the label on a lot of the cheeses chunks(not hte mass produced slices) and those are from Wisconsin. So we got that too... I think that might be it though with living in IL.
When the blackhawks get good again, they can be up on the list.

You know nothing Jon Snow.
SoCal has everything including the best pizza places. It’s got the best food in the world, the best weather in the world, the best entertainment in the world. Try Lamppost pizza and their wings. Best ever. Sure our homeless problem has gotten pretty bad the last few years, but that’s because homeless are being dumped here by the jack booted nazis that plague many of the other states. Would you rather deal with the homeless, or all the religious racists? That’s what it comes down to.

From pizza to religious racist....that devolved quickly.

Its pretty easy to ignore someones opinion that hides their location....especially on this topic...

Is this turning into a Game of Thrones fan fiction thread? If so, I’m tapping out.

Yeah the humidity is BRUTAL in NC. I was born in Smithfield and spent a lot of my childhood in Carolina.

Absolutely love it there though. But I’m a Tarheel!

Got me wanting some BBQ and hush puppies right now

Yeah, it has nothing to do with tolerating defecating in the street or rampant illegal drug use. Nope, it's all the fault of those racist, homophobic, (insert your favorite "ist" or "ism"), intolerant religious zealots who live in other states and don't vote for your politicians. Most cities in America have homeless but it's only a few (looking at you L A, San Francisco, Seattle, Wash DC) where they are turning streets into third world slums.