Venice California and riding the waves of housing mania: An area where 1 bedroom will fetch $1 million.
Venice is an interesting place. I’ve always enjoyed the unique atmosphere and it can be argued that Venice was one of the leading hipster enclaves in Southern California. It was cool before it was cool to be cool. Similar to San Francisco, old homes are being sold for ridiculous amounts of money. We recently featured a home in Venice that had 0 beds going for over $1 million. That is how crazy things are getting in SoCal. But there is definitely more of a feeling of “get out at the top†versus “I’m buying to ride some more appreciation†sentiment. Venice has gotten wildly expensive. Even just a few years ago visiting friends in Venice you were entering questionable neighborhoods where it didn’t seem safe. But hey, who needs safety when you can live the life of luxury in a crap shack? Is it any wonder why there is a steady migration out of California by the middle class? Let us take a look at a home in Venice and get your thoughts on it.
Venice in California
Perception is everything when it comes to real estate. Beverly Hills was able to garner fame and notoriety because at least the homes looked nice. At least you were getting a home that looked like a million dollars. Right now the big marketing push is “up and coming†neighborhoods. Get in before you are priced out forever and are destined to a life of eating out of food trucks.
The home we are going to look at today was built back in 1904. You read that correctly. 1904, as in 111 years ago. Let us take a look at this place:
1130 Electric Ave, Venice, CA 90291
1 bed 1.5 baths 714 sqft
I love places that have more restrooms/bathrooms than actual bedrooms. This place has 1 bedroom and is listed at 714 square feet. I love the first few lines in the ad:
“Old School Venice living at its finest! Don”t miss the opportunity to own one of the most unique properties off Abbot Kinney! This bright happy bungalow is loaded with charm and character in one of the most desirable locations around.â€
This is definitely old school. Take a look inside:
This place screams dual income hipster household. I love that the place is pitched as old school but the price is definitely new school:
The last recorded sales price was $450,000 back in 2010. It was then listed for $799,000 back in 2011 but was removed shortly after. What justified a $349,000 increase in one year? Apparently nothing. But then in 2014 it was listed for $1,500,000! Bwahahaha! They bought for $450,000 in 2010 and were asking for $1 million more just because. Of course that didn’t work. They had to drop it down to $1,250,000 back in November of 2014. Then down to $1,165,000. And now it is listed at $1,100,000. This is still $650,000 more than what they paid for in 2010. So what justifies a 144% increase in five years?
This is full on mania and with inventory building up, people are starting to crunch the numbers more carefully. I’m curious, how does someone justify a 144% increase on this place? As we all know, real estate is essentially a game of musical chairs, especially in boom and bust California. Someone is trying to cash in on a lottery ticket here for Venice.
No mania here folks. This is all reasonable and makes complete sense.
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92 Responses to “Venice California and riding the waves of housing mania: An area where 1 bedroom will fetch $1 million.”
That … is…amazing.
In my little work of Wilshire Center/K Town look at this!
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/100-S-Hobart-Blvd-Los-Angeles-CA-90004/20780482_zpid/
At least Venice is by the Ocean!
I love my neighborhood, but $1 Million for a 3 bed 2 bath flipper (lots of lipstick on the pi of an interior) is absolutely insane.
Mr.Smith in Ktown: Based on current prices, that place doesn’t seem so terrible for 2,000 sq ft; it actually looks pretty nice. Schools are only ok, though. I would probably not consider sending my kid to a school rated less than an 8 or 9 (Great Schools rating). I will admit I’m not all that familiar with the area.
Southern California is a “Sucker’s market” and the R.E. Agents/Brokers know that there are plenty of Naive Fools to go around … So until all the STUPID MONEY is mostly DEPLETED … these prices will remain unreasonably high. Problem is normal honest people never learn from other people’s experiences .. They just can’t wait to see their Money exit their bank accounts and make someone else richer .
check out how sketchy this neighborhood is in K-town (nice ghetto fences)
this is the street view before the flip: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Fhp1KeKmPRHf5zJSFthVuvpqE6lWAuFxFNt6Q_qN1u8=w1797-h727-no
Perhaps its me, but I find the wording in the last sentence of the property description um, somewhat bold?
“…and rear entrance deck for private nights.” Whoa.
This place screams as a bubbletop! That being said, some biggest fool will buy it, just as the bottom falls out. After this POS sells, watch out below. Even big money realizes there can’t be much more upside. Soon as the last sucker who doesn’t know about boom and bust in California is had, history WILL repeat. Like it ALWAYS has. Wash, rinse, repeat. Same old game, new players. But this time, it is the Chinese that make it different. Foreign money looking to park before their economy dumps. However, this time we have a bubble on top of a bubble that never fully popped and Wall Street is bigger, badder and more leveraged than ever. I wonder how this might end?
Interesting times….
http://Www.westsideremeltdown.blogspot.com
Went to the open house today. House shows well. Larger bedrooms and open floor plan.
Records show a closed sale in January at 750k approx.
Two charming and sharp brokers met with me and shared info that recent comps already have broken the 1 million mark. Mind you this EAST of Western!
Did I hear bubblicious?
I was told by the listing agent that this Santa Monica house has been comped at $2.1 million: https://www.redfin.com/CA/Santa-Monica/2401-California-Ave-90403/home/6769315
Why not ask $5mil for that place just because you can?
LOL
“the windows alone are a reason to buy this house” LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOOLOLOL
“Even just a few years ago visiting friends in Venice you were entering questionable neighborhoods where it didn’t seem safe.”
Yup, you just described San Francisco. People here are buying 600, 800, million+ houses in neighborhoods no one would consider living just a few years ago. And because of rent control, gentrification of these neighborhoods is not happening as fast as other communities. BTW, what an awesome blog, I wish you had one for the bay area!
Just yesterday I was on the phone with my buddy in his 2 million dollar bungalow just off of Lincoln. He had just called the police to remove a psychotic man out in his alley. He was afraid to let his children outside.
“get your thoughts on it.” As soon as I saw the photo, the thought of this home and the price, went out of my mind in 15 seconds, maybe less,?
Looks like my dorm room, complete with loft.
Tenderloin. Never going to change that place. Techies in their Ray Bans waiting for the Google bus next to a guy smoking crack.
Don’t forget about the crap in the street! A friend of mine lives in a decent neighborhood in SF and has to step around piles of human feces on his way to work.
But hey, that’s what makes city living so interesting! I’d take that over a restrictive HOA in suburbia.
Even if the insane housing prices had not driven me out of San Francisco 10 years ago, the ever growing rivers of human urine in the streets outside my office door would have.
“Summer time in the City” does not smell so pretty when you can smell human waste from Mission to Market to Dolores Park.
Like many refugees who got priced out of the West Coast, we find it has actually been a blessing.
We sold out and retired on 2 acres of wooded property, 3 bedroom house with pool, in a nice rural small town, for 100K. And no property taxes.
For perspective, what approx $1.1 million buys in other US cities:
http://www.trulia.com/property/3205815887-60-Golden-Currant-Cir-Reno-NV-89511
http://www.trulia.com/property/3165458209-4775-N-Quiet-Canyon-Pl-Prescott-AZ-86301
http://www.trulia.com/property/3186394929-1304-Delaney-Ave-Orlando-FL-32806
http://www.trulia.com/property/3116894857-1050-Edison-Gdns-NE-Atlanta-GA-30324
http://www.trulia.com/property/3201721428-2510-Bellefontaine-St-Houston-TX-77030
Of course, these aren’t in SoCal #biketobeach #worldclasscity #100Ksalaries #surfsup #weather #cantleavelivedhere4dayz #bigdogsberunning
Do they also come with jobs and your family?
If you bought the home that the Dr. is showing us in some states, you could have just about any job and pay for it. That’s like a $35K home in my home town. You could buy one for each of your family members and bring them with you!
No, nobody who lives in these type of houses in Atlanta, Houston, Prescott, Reno or Orlando has a job or a family (insert sarcasm).
Maybe life in a small, old stucco house in an iffy SoCal neighborhood is superior. #biketobeach #weather #didthehousegetgraffitiedagain #maybeitsBanksy #artgallery #gentrify #coffee #IthinkIsawPatSajakstoppedatatrafficlight
@nathan118
Median income for a person with a job:
Los Angeles: $26.5K / year.
Denver: $32.8 K / year
Atlanta: $32.7K / year
Dallas: $29 K / year
Say what you want about Los Angeles but job wise, Los Angeles is the land of the service sector McJob. If you are not earning income in the top 25% of SoCal, based on cost of living, you are better off relocating.
Some of us have high paying jobs where we are. Posting a few random house listings from other parts of the country does not solve our “job problem” if we were to move.
Some of us live within 10 miles of all of our immediate family. Moving away from all the people we love just to get a cheap house might not be something we want to do.
Nathan118, not everybody shares your situation and/or mindset. Some don’t have high paying jobs that only exist in SoCal, some are more flexible and can find comparable employment elsewhere/job transfer, and some people don’t need or want to live ten miles from their immediate family.
For those individuals, there are options. If not, enjoy SoCal.
I guess it depends on what you consider high paying. I make in the $150K-$200K range, and our entire family is in LA, but we still moved away. The houses that we’re looking at in Portland are in the $400K-$500K range in the current bubble, and they would easily be 3x as much in equivalent neighborhoods in LA. Maybe more.
With current prices in LA, I’d probably need to make $500K+ a year if I wanted to stay there.
Your dollar may stretch further in Prescott than LA, but lots of LA money has come into the town over the last 30 years. In fact, it is no longer the nice small town it was 30 years ago, but rather a small city, complete city problems like awful traffic and meth addicts. (Just saw a video earlier today, where one was stealing a cop car — I kid you not.)
King snake Our friends live in Pescott Lakes we viisit their about 6 times a year. Without question Prescott is now a small city with some traffic and yes spotty crime. But overall the area is beautiful and excellent combo of middle class and upper class living., new homes and condos all price ranges.
It really is hometown America, modern convienences which a viable small town needs with historic downtown and turn of the century homes renovated. I think Ca. Folks who really want a slower life, with great weather, and no known natural disasters , along with front porch houses, green lawns, good enjoy a fine life. Our friends moved from the Bay Area and they have a rather nice warp around porch Tudor with 3200 ft home at 500k with all the upgrades and landscaping, and enjoy a nice game of golf every other day.
Venice Beach is a funny place. Real nice expensive homes, and skethzoo along the boardwalk.
No housing tank in 2016 :p
I think there are some interesting articles and comments on this page but you overly critical people need to relax IMO. I’m 31, grew up in SoCal and can’t imagine living anywhere else. finally scraped up enough(paid 390k no FHA) to get a good place off the 110 about a mile north of downtown LA and I don’t really see how thats a bad move.. There will always be people who need to live in LA and need affordable homes even if the markets rocky. Better than throwing away rent and get to be in the neighborhood I like that’s near work
Which neighborhood and how big of a house?
dont the gangs and ghetto birds in highland park scare you?
Not in HLP i’ll say that much, there’s no crime where i’m at… 800 sq ft and plenty of room to add on lot. The fools in this housing market are people who are paying in the 5’s 6s and 7s to live in similar neighborhoods on flipped homes. If you can get a place under 4 in an area you like I think it’s a good move
My wife grew up in SoCal, and I lived there with her for 15 years, and she’s stunned at the type of living that people have in other states. We were both ecstatic to leave California earlier this year.
The problem with buying in California is that the prices have started swinging so dramatically that you can ruin yourself financially if you need to sell at the wrong time, so just make sure you stay in that place for the long term.
Would you have said the same thing in 2007?
Doesn’t say much for your imagination.
Because there’s nothing quite like throwing away money on interest to the bank.
Actually not if you pay it off quickly.
If you can pay it off quickly enough then there’s no point to rush into a loan. Regardless you’ll never stop throwing your money away on repairs, taxes, and insurance.
It’s fine to be a permabear, but there’s a point where the pessimism gets unrealistic. There most definitely IS a good side to buying, not now in some areas obviously, but let’s do the math on this and see whether buying really is “throwing your money away”. We’ll use an imaginary house startlingly like my own place as an example. 4/3, 2,000sf, $250k in 2009, 20% down. It would rent today for $2,000. Schools right around the corner are 8 (middle school) and 9 (K-8 and high schools) on the Great Schools rating system. Two very moderate white collar incomes or one engineer could easily pay this off in 15 years. This assumes we’re going to live here 30 years before heading to the old folks home, and we’ll do it all in today’s dollars. I tried to err on the high side:
RENT
$2,000 x 360 months = $720,000
maintenance = $0
value (to you) after 30 years = $0
BUY
HOA = ~$20k
taxes = ~$100k
down payment + principal + interest @ 4% = ~$315k
insurance = ~$30k
maintenance = ~$100k
let’s throw in $50k for upgrades.
total spent = $615k
value after 30 years = $250k
So we spent $355k more (nearly double) to rent for 30 years. Which is throwing your money away again? The BUY choice also works six figures in your favor even if you paid today’s prices for the same house ($400k), although obviously that’s not the best decision.
@ John D:
Where do you buy a $250k (or even a $450k place) where you can send your kids to 8 and 9 schools? Are we talking a 2 bdrm condo or something (not that there’s anything wrong with that)?
Also, while I completely agree with you that it’s generally much smarter to buy than to rent long term, in the short term, the decision is not so clear. As others have noted here before, you can really get burned if you buy at the wrong time in So Cal. I happen to think that buying now is one of those times. Overpaying by $100k-$200k or more is a huge amount of money (to me anyway) that would take most people a long time to save. I’m not in a hurry to risk that in the current market.
As Warren Buffet has reportedly said: “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful”. Now seems to be a greedy period. I’m waiting for the fearful period to buy. If that time never comes, I’m not above moving out of state to greener pastures.
@John D: Never mind my condo comment- I see you noted that your place is a 4/3, 2,000 sq ft. Anyway, still curious to know where that is with the decent schools and all. I’m guessing 909 or 951 somewhere.
You guessed right – Temecula. I wouldn’t buy at the current prices either, just because I recognize a peak when I see one, and not for the short term. Besides watching the last bubble expand and unravel, I know several people without high incomes who are very comfortable in retirement due to real estate, and they did it by buying (at the right time) and holding over the very long term. They would move up every 5-10 years, buying each property to live in but with rental appeal in mind, gradually fixing them up, letting tenants pay them off.
This has nothing to do with being perma-anything nor pessimism. @John Roller began with throwing away rent and all I have done is provided the same argument from the other perspective to demonstrate how there is no universal right answer, regardless of how desperate inexperienced first time home buyers and speculators may be to prove otherwise to themselves and others. Your breakdown doesn’t work out the same when applied to this guy’s situation one mile north of DTLA.
value (to you) after 30 years = 30 years of shelter
The housing rent vs buy discussion is complicated by the fact that you have to live somewhere.
Unless you plan to work until you die at 78, you need someplace to live when you retire. If you plan on saving money with rent for 30 years, you had better have saved enough to keep renting until you die or have enough money to buy a house in some location at some unknown price.
Obviously I don’t advocate paying ridiculous prices for housing in coastal CA, but I do think an honest look needs to be given to:
– how am I making the rental situation work for my future? Am I putting away this money in a way that will house my future self?
– if not, then why am I in CA when I could be building equity in a cheaper place and/or saving more on rent to house my future self?
You will pay to live in CA, either in higher rents or higher prices than elsewhere.
It’s not complicated because you pay for what you use one way or the other. @two cents is putting a huge asterisk on CA but CA is the topic like it or not. Some of us have family, obligations, and other circumstances keeping us in CA that is beyond the realm of discussion here.
Enjoy! And don’t ever leave for God’s Country. Keep it real by the freeway SoCal style!
KUDOS!
I got $210K cash saved up gettin 1% interest… waiting to buy my first home… I am 30 years old.. I dont want to live in the ghetto… but $390K sounds intriguing…. did you buy recently or a few years ago?
This is far over the top even for the zany precincts of the Los Angeles area. However, I can’t help, after paging through Los Angeles listings in every price bracket, that you get MUCH more for your money in the $3M to $4M range, on a per-square-ft basis, than you do.
So, rather than one or two people stretching themselves to $1.1M for a ridiculously small house (that would almost fit in the living and dining rooms of my vastly-cheaper Chicago condo), why not combine with 3 other people, and buy something like THIS beauty, linked below, for $4.8M? You would have 10X the house, with many luxuries, for slightly more than 4X the money. A young hipster with a good paycheck and downpayment could form a land trust with 3 other people , and maybe even 5 other people- this place has 6 beds and 5.5 baths (you could make that half bath a full), and live with real style and grace in a lovely house with ample grounds.
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/07/1940s_hollywood_regency_time_capsule_in_belair_asking_49_million.php
This is only one example of the many large and beautiful homes available at disproportionately reasonable prices in Los Angeles and its fancier suburbs. This house has over 5,000 sq ft, making the $4.8M tag reasonable relative to the $1.1M for a run-down 111-year-old frame cottage in a dodgy neighborhood in Venice.. which is obscene.
I’m only half-kidding, folks. After all, religious cults and foundations have bought other large homes for communal use in prestigious L.A. burbs, with little or no interference from authorities. Be aware, though, of local laws and codes such as have been passed into law in other upper bracket burbs across the country, that expressly forbid anyone but immediate family living under the same roof- no extended family or live in “friends” allowed.
You each would have shares in the trust or incorporation equal to your financial contribution. No fights over who owns how much. You could build equity while living large at a prestigious address in a delightful neighborhood. And as for sharing the oversized kitchen…. how many hipsters spend their lives in the kitchen anyway? In any case, I’m sure you could work out an equitable sharing arrangement with your roomies.
Many immigrant families are living your thesis right now. And it’s really not a bad idea. Let’s take it to the suburbs where a million dollar home gets you some good SQFT’g. If you can get a 6 or 7 bedroom home and split that between 3 income earning groups you can live in a mansion for effectively the rent of a good 2 bedroom apartment. Sure you have to have the right people to make it work (family or otherwise) but is it really that different from cramped apartment living. In reality its like having a luxury 2 bedroom apartment with a shared kitchen and perhaps 2 shared “media rooms” with TVs and such. You’d probably get a REALLY nice pool and 4 car garage. It would get interesting when someone wanted to cash out. But that would be little different than what is faced in a divorce. The Housing Bubble as social experiment…
If you look at the listing I posted, you’ll note that this great old house has FOUR main living areas, giving each potential occupant his or her own “living room”. There is the immense living room, equally massive dining room, impressive library with its herringbone floors and rich paneling, and a sizable paneled office. Four singletons would never feel cramped in this place. There’s even a pretty swimming pool.
So if you’re high-tech and have a salary of $200K and have saved another $200K, just find 3 others rather like you.. solid people with high salaries and good down payments. Be legal and business-like… each person should be checked out and a land trust or other incorporation created- get a good attorney who handles things like this.
Just try to find people who work for different companies… you don’t all want to be working for, say, Qualcomm, and get laid off at the same time.
Be aware, though, of local laws and codes such as have been passed into law in other upper bracket burbs across the country, that expressly forbid anyone but immediate family living under the same roof- no extended family or live in “friends†allowed.
Now that gay marriage is a Constitutionally protected right, it’s only a matter of time before that’s extended to group marriages. So there goes zoning limited to “immediate families.”
I’m serious. While group marriage is not for me, I know people in the libertarian movement who live in a group marriage and have been advocating group marriage rights for decades. They even have a website: http://www.livethedream.org/
As a professional web developer, I have to say that is one of the most hideous sites I have ever seen …
RECESSION ..3..2..1
Curious how China’s recent major stock market dips and government economic prop-ups will play out here. It’s rattling world markets, but will it cause more money to flow here for Chinese investors looking for a safer bet? If that happens, all I can see is a collapse coming very soon….meaning HOUSING TO TANK HARD IN Q4 2015.
Please explain – if the Chinese want to take their money out of China, why wouldn’t they buy CA real estate? Chinese money is pouring into my neighborhood. At least they own a tangible asset and they have a place to live if they decide to leave the country. Why do you think housing will tank because of problems in China? All I’m seeing is a flight to dollar based assets.
@mtampoon
What will happen to the volume of RE purchases from the Chinese if their source of income dries up due to economic turmoil, i.e. too much debt and not enough demand, at home? There are reports already some had to sell their RE property to cover their losses in the tumbling Shangai Composite.
For those in SoCal whose jobs aren’t as readily available in other, cheaper parts of the country, I feel for them. Especially if they have a family. But even if I was in SoCal making 130K, I think I’d jump at the chance to take a job for 75K in the heartland.
No kidding. I just came back from visiting the town in Indiana where I grew up, population 55K, and you can buy houses that are equivalent to the nicer homes in Toluca Lake for $130K-$200K. We’re talking vast, wooded properties with old beautiful homes that are 4000 sq ft. My friend there, who probably doesn’t make much more than $70K combined with his wife, just bought a beautiful old home on a golf course. I probably make double or triple what they do, but I couldn’t come close to buying that same house in LA for $2 million.
Didn’t someone say ‘there is a sucker born every minute’ … I dare say there are a lot to suckers who are willing to spend that much on these shacks! In the real estate market, the last in, are the hurt the most, and chasing after high 6 or a 7 figure crap shack is a recipe for a huge financial let down. The next crash, people will be trying to find someone to blame all over again, when they only have to look in the mirror for their answer!
Venice Beach is where East L.A. meets the beach. MS, V16 Orale!!!
Housing Inflation — exploding
Renting Inflation —- exploding
Paid 4.21 for Gas —- Mad Max
This is no state for low wage Americans
California Dreaming
http://www.LoganMohtashami.com
Wow. I was visiting Indiana this week, and gas prices were only around $2.
You might want to check Redfin market trends for Arcadia and Temple City where Chinese cash buyers have bought houses at ridiculous prices. Now # of houses for sale is 110% more than last year and their prices start to drop!
Clearly you didn’t get the memo – nouveau riche Chinese escaping Red China elbowing everyone else out of the way at the buffet line to get into SoCal are in it for the long haul and aren’t prone to speculative gambling.
/sarc
That’s a huge increase in inventory…back to 2011 levels. If inventories all over start going back up to those levels, and rates start ticking up…there’s no way this peak holds.
I feel this is the last hurrah before a correction. With huge stock market swings, interest increases on the horizon, uncertainty in Europe and the Middle East, I think we are headed for a correction. Judging by the recent increase in inventory, it appears that many people feel the same way and are trying to cash in before the music stops. Los Angeles is becoming too expensive for middle-class families. Many people are realizing that they can get substantially more for their money elsewhere. That being said, I see a 15-20% correction on the horizon. Probably within the next 6-12 months. Unfortunately due to all the pent up demand, the window of opportunity may be small. It’s very likely that people who have been sitting on the sidelines for years will come off the fence and bid prices back up. Just my 2 cents,
I think that will depend on whether the banks, investment firms and overseas buyers start dumping properties. Plus, although recent mortgages are built on more of a foundation than 8 years ago, those people still need jobs, so foreclosures could be coming with the crash, too.
BTW, nothing will happen as long as buyers continue to fall all over themselves to buy overpriced crapshacks. As of now the dance continues. I just sold a small 2/1 home in a sketchy part of LA last week. Was on the market for one week, had multiple offers all over asking from day one.
” I’m curious, how does someone justify a 144% increase on this place? ”
I can answer that question real easy…the fuccing appraisal!! Either a ‘friendly’ licensed variety appraiser, or an over eager real estate agent who either point to an anomaly in or within a questionable distance of the subject property, and does a bunch of calculations to try and justify their crime.
Happens every day. Always remember…AN APPRAISAL IS JUST AN OPINION!!!!
the US home ownership is at 48 years low, the rents are at all time high http://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/qtr215/currenthvspress.pdf
The new rules of real estate:
1) Do you ever hear a gun shot?
2) Are illegal immigrants in the area?
For most of the Los Angeles area, one or both of these questions get a solid yes. Do not buy since these properties will fall fast once the market slows.
If the answers to both questions is no, then the property is deep into the seven figure range. Forget about that one.
Bottom line … it is unlikely you can afford a quality property. Rent.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/28/la-gangs-hashtag-bet-kill-100-people-in-100-days.html
“Gang members say it will remain “on†for 100 days straight—and innocent people driving between the streets of Western and Normandie in Los Angeles could be risking their lives over a game on Twitter.”
But it’s gentrifying, so buy.
Its an amazing time in history to see a certain political party promote the self extermination of their constituents through lax law enforcement, financially supporting the break up of their families, and the support of an abortion industry that has been set up in their neighborhoods to kill their young and harvest their body parts (for what, is it all going to scientific research?). No Sci-fi writer could have ever conceived of such evil.
+1 there J Bastiat – could not have said it better me self.
There were more black babies killed by liberal policies than the jews killed by Hitler during the whole WWII.
Black lives matter!!!!…
Go ahead, buy it. Then you will know how a lemming feels as he and thousand of other rodents plunge off a cliff into the sea.
Try my recipe for Lemming Meringue Pie.
wHO can we blame this time,
Stop the blame.
Strong housing on verge of reversal: Redfin
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/23/strong-housing-on-verge-of-reversal-redfin.html
Lets hope its true things are out of control. I have heard radio commercials that houses are at their prerecession prices and you should take this opportunity to refinance up to 100% of your homes value. What could go wrong??
This is absurd. You people are out of your mind for buying a “house” like this at this price!
For all those people moving to small towns, what do you do for health care?
I’ve lived my whole live in either New York City or Los Angeles (actually, Santa Monica). The hospitals are first rate. There’s a vast variety of medical specialists. Top doctors in every field.
This is an especially important consideration once a person approaches his Golden Years. What sort of health care infrastructure can you expect in a small town? Nothing comparable to L.A. or NYC, I assume.
I think you assume wrong, Miami-WPB has several top notch hospitals, Phoenix has several top rated facilities. There is the Cleveland Clinic, which has branches around the country..
Now the big hospitals in urban centers are often the best place to be if you are shot, they do not have a monopoly on best care for Golden Age issues like cancer and heart problems.
With the cash you can save living outside the LA NY bubbles, you could visit what ever specialists you need to where ever they are.
SOL
Depends on where you live. If you live on an island in Puget Sound most advanced medical care can be had in Seattle. Seattle offers one the best medical care in the world. You can not over do it to sing praises to the qualifications of those doctors and the top of the line medical facilities.
Coeur D’Alene (ID) has a large medical facility but the best regional hospital is in Spokane, WA, 20 minutes away.
Walla Walla has 4 hospitals and one is rated in top 100 in the nation. That is something for a relatively small town (30k). It also has one college and 2 universities, again something relative to the size of town. Also lots of federal jobs (Corps of Engineerrs), state, county and city. In a word, lots of well paying jobs and low unemployment.
Hope that helps.
SOL
I forgot to mention that although most surgeries can be performed locally by top doctors, if something require special qualifications, Seattle is 4 hours drive or realy fast by helicopter. Very rarely someone has to go to Seattle. Many top doctors like to live in smaller towns where they can have higher income, lower cost and better quality of life.
As an example, the local endocrinologist was from Mayo Clinic which is top in the world for that field. Why a doctor like that prefer a smaller town? The answer is quality of life for her and family. Not all excellent doctors like big cities with all the problems big cities create.
The real concern would be with proximity to trauma centers and emergency service response time. There are excellent trauma facilities all over the country. Concerns of specialty care don’t apply much because patients with reasonable means end up at the better facilities with good doctors that are located in various regional population centers that dot the country. People in small towns make the travel when necessary. It’s generally more about level of payment ability as on average even in top doctor top hospital L.A. the MediCal patient is probably going to end up being treated over at County instead of the well insured patient that ends up at Cedars. Another consideration is that the overcrowding of emergency rooms that plagues the larger inner cities generally isn’t an issue in smaller areas, and that could make all of the difference depending on the case. It’s not surprising that someone who hasn’t lived outside of NYC or LA would know that many parts of the rest of the country manages to offer medical treatment on par and potentially better depending on the circumstances. There are also awful hospitals in NYC and LA that continue to operate despite Sloan, Presbyterian, UCLA, and Cedars being available.
http://www.propublica.org/article/should-hospital-ratings-be-embraced-or-despised
I wanted to echo everything else said above, plus, you don’t have to live in a small town to leave LA and still get way more for your money. There are lots of major cities in the Midwest that have great hospitals, and they’re considerably cheaper to live in than LA.
Having just left LA after 15 years, I’d say just about the only reason to live in that city is if you’re trying to make it in the entertainment industry. With just about anything else, you’re going to live a better lifestyle in other places in the country, even if you make half as much money.
I remember Venice in ’93. Huge two story, 4 bedroom Victorian mansion one block from the beach …. and the guy couldn’t give it away. They were asking one million.
Do you mean THIS Victorian mansion in Venice: https://www.redfin.com/CA/Venice/101-Paloma-Ave-90291/home/6776773
My thoughts are that few can afford that million dollar crap shack. Come to Oxnard, you can afford a great place by the sea and the Taco stand every day of the week, not just the Taco Tuesday. It is siesta most of the day here for me. In the PM, it is Corona time on my boat in the marina. I only work in the AM. You too can hook up with this life. Summertime all year around.
Hey Carlos,
As a Ventura County boy I hang in the ‘nard now and again and have looked at properties at the beach and in the harbor. It seems to me that while they’re cheaper than OC, even in Oxnard houses on the sand are beyond the reach of most ordinary mortals. Last I looked the price for a decent house right on the beach was in the $2-3M range. Hey, maybe worth it if Oxnard really gentrifies but still pretty firmly available only to a fraction of the top 1%.
Homes in the marina are a bit more “reasonable”. A SFH in Channel Islands harbor with it’s own attached slip seems to be running in the $1-1.5M range these days with some OK (though older) similarly equipped townhomes down below $1M. Maybe affordable by the 2-3% instead of the fraction of 1%, but still definitely for the very well-to-do. Fun to think about, but I’ll pass (and keep living up T.O.) Like the old bumper sticker says, “Don’t laugh, it’s paid for!”
PS. For those who haven’t been there, this part of Oxnard is more amount Monday Margaritas on the main deck than Taco Tuesdays from the truck.
Per Zillow, 304 S Bay Front, Newport Beach, CA 92662 , 4 beds 3.5 baths 2,668 sqft, For Sale $5,700,000 , one block from Newport Bay. Oxnard is still millions cheaper than Newport, hence my logo, Oxnard, the Newport Beach. I have my pilot’s license, so no hard liquor for me, per the Coast Guard warning.
This week’s PERFECT LA weather brought to you by humidity and high heat from the coast to inland. Flash flooding further inland is so enviously amazingly perfect! Be quick and move out from your imperfect weather area in the rest of the country and get in on this perfect weather action we ALWAYS have going on.
Hmmmmm……
http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate-news/ci_28546364/no-room-at-inn-innocence
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