« Illegal aliens - Is the 'tipping point' close at hand? | Main | an open question for Hector de la Torre »

April 29, 2005

The insanity of the So Cal housing market

...and hubby and I are about to embark on a journey into it.

Yes, dear reader, Heather has finally found a reliable roommate and is in the process of moving out (the local edition of Will and Grace). Siobhan will be leaving for the dorms in late August and with empty nesting looming on the horizon (and actually now having a downpayment saved), Eric and I have started the process of looking for our first house to purchase together.

And, damned, if we didn't get beat about the head and shoulders last weekend!

We knew it was bad, but not quite that bad. We decided to start with some preliminary footwork of an area we both remember fondly from our youth... the San Fernando Valley (he went to Cal State Northridge, I grew up in Granada Hills). We decided to trek through Woodland Hills and Tarzana and found out that even a shack couldn't be had for less than $500,000.

I kid you not.

Even the meaner streets of places like Reseda and Van Nuys, a 60 y/o unimproved house with a septic tank and a 1 car garage is going to make one cough up an offer of $450,000.

This is where I want to beat the crap out of my #$@!!#$# ex-husband who "punished" me by making me lose the house we owned for 14 years.

Another thing, is that I really got the emotional vibe from the SFV that is was a lot seedier and meaner than I remember. The streets are not in good repair, ditto curbs, sidewalks and public amenities.

And that's because the SFV is the Cinderella step-child of the city of Los Angeles. They suck the money from the Valley and refuse to return but a pittance for infrastructure. This has been an ongoing battle for years and the main reason the SFV has tried upon occasion to break away from LA. However, at each try, the usual city political pimps run to the downtown constituencies, screaming about all the "racists" in The Valley and turning out the vampire votes to keep The Valley enslaved to LA.

My heart hurts.

So, excuse me if my posting gets a bit light over the weekend. We're going to be hitting the pavement and trying not to faint when the realtor shows us what's on the market.

Posted by Darleen at April 29, 2005 06:27 PM

Comments

I hear ya. I live in the "hood" in Venice and my house, which I rent, would sell for ONE MILLION dollars. IN THE HOOD. And NO public schools of any use. It's too depressing.

Posted by: Mieke at April 29, 2005 09:43 PM

Why would you move to LA? Unless you have a guaranteed high paying position I just don't see the sense.

Posted by: Digger at April 30, 2005 12:43 AM

Actually, my husband has a good job with a young company in the West LA area (stock options that may mean a really really nice retirement) but his commute right now is a killer. So we've always planned that once my last kidlet was launched we'd move to cut that commute. It also gives me more opportunity to pursue a career inline with my aspirations.

Its unfortunate that much of the better paying jobs are either in LA or Southern Orange county...and the middle class are squeezed out of the housing market. "Affordable" homes are impacted, too, by the huge influx of illegal aliens who occupy single family homes, two-to-four families apiece, working and pooling their money.

Posted by: Darleen at April 30, 2005 07:16 AM

I don't think it's fair to say that it's "illegals" I know three Latino families, all here legally, who work very hard. Because of their close families and their hard work, the boys and their wives still live with their mother and father they did ppol their money to buys a house (in four bedroom house in West Adams). It is the age oldstory of ambitious hard working immigrants working towards their version of the American dream. Think of the Irish, the Jews, and the Italians all cramming into apartments in NYC at the turn of the century.

What is interesting to me is that I would NEVER live with my mother EVER, even if it was to save money. That's not what is done in my middle-class world, we are given a different model for that.

By the way, the families cramming into single family homes are generally doing it in neighborhoods, like West Adams, that we would never think of buying. Now, those areas are starting to look lovely because instead of being filled with rentals, there are people like Gloria, who own and care for their homes and yards- pride in ownership. It's something to think about.

If you are priced out for a while, the rental market gets very hot and competitive in the fall/winter. It's a renters market on the westside then.

Posted by: Mieke at April 30, 2005 09:29 AM

Mieke has a point, it is not all illegals. I'd argue that living like that does not prepare people for success, but rather puts a crutch there that keeps people in poverty.

You hit the nail on the head when you said in the "middle-class world" that would never happen. Because middle-class kids are tossed to the wolves and learn to make it on their own and to strive to get ahead, not maintain a low standard of living.

It's all about assimilation baby.

As for you Darleen, I completely understand your position, however you're going to have to seriously bite the financial bullet in order to "cut that commute". Having once been a "paper millionaire", I'll be the first to tell you not to put all your retirement eggs into those potential stock options. The potential wealth is just that ... potential.

Posted by: Digger at April 30, 2005 03:00 PM

Digger,

I think you miss my point. These families are working TOGETHER to get ahead. They bought a home, they keep working, then they use the equity in their home to help their children buy their homes. Two of his sons each bought homes on HIS street as they became more successful. Pedro's youngest boy is now at MIT, his only daughter is working at Raytheon (sp?) having graduated from MIT last year.

My point was that white middle-class families, at least where I grew up, have a different model for trying to achieve success, we are thrown to the wolves. It is a much more individual effort, rather than a family effort. There's a reason Pedro's kids all live near him and both my sister, who lives in Canada, and I live 3,000 miles away from our parents. Family and success are defined differently for each of our cultures.

Posted by: Mieke at April 30, 2005 10:55 PM