<p>The Cotati- Rohnert Park area in Sonoma has seen inventory decline 70 percent over the last two years.</p>
<p>Inventory is now at 5 year lows.</p>
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<p>That’s amazing.</p>
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<p>There aren’t other investments where you can do better? Would you say that things are getting bubbly or just returning to normal? It seems that things are either really hot or really cold in California.</p>
<p>The one house down the street from me which still was for sale yesterday now has a sale pending sign on it. So all 3 homes on my street sold within two months of each other. I think it’s a sign.</p>
<p>I don’t know if things are normalizing or are going to bubble.</p>
<p>Real estate is kind of a religion out here. :)</p>
<p>I don’t think a 4 percent cash on cash return is good…but home prices in Marin never get low enough for a better return…well maybe in Novato. </p>
<p>And I am not talking about all of Calif…Cal is a very big place. Some areas are depressed and going to stay that way for a long time. And you can get better cash on cash returns in those areas. </p>
<p>I just got off the phone with a friend of mine and he said there are just a few places in the world where people…really…really want to live…</p>
<p>You can name them as well as I can…</p>
<p>NY, parts of thr SF bay area, London, Paris, Beijing, Parts of Shanghai, Moscow…and more…</p>
<p>Home prices always sell at a premium in these areas…</p>
<p>Emilybee…I know things are turning if you are getting more positive. :)</p>
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<p>I guess everyone isn’t heading to North Dakota for the great oil shale jobs then.</p>
<p>Lol…</p>
<p>A friend of mine is building homes up there… :)</p>
<p>dstark- There are parts of Ca where people are always going to want to live. Most of those areas also have been built to a point that no new housing is going to be built. You and I both live in those areas. Southern Marin is always going to be more desirable then Novato or Rohnert Park.
In Santa Barbara/Goleta you can find houses selling for 500,000 and possibly less. Investors are snapping those up, many with all cash.I know someone who bid on a bank owned property the day it came on the market and there were 6 offers. These aren’t fancy houses but old stucco houses in track neighborhoods mostly built in the 60’s. People are always going to want to live here. The rent on a 4 br track house in Goleta depending on the neighborhood will rent for about $2500. In my neighborhood which has homes from 1.4 million to one property down the street on the market for $14 million things are selling. Several lower prices homes in the $2 million range have sold in just weeks. In my neighborhood if something is considered a good deal it goes quick(mainly older homes that have not been updated). That leads me to believe that the houses that are sitting on the market are priced slightly above the market or way overpriced. Or in the case of the $14 million property there are not that many buyers looking in that price range.
My S went to school in Stockton. No matter how cheap you can get a house in Stockton it isn’t cheap enough. People aren’t rushing to live in Stockton and they never will.
In my experience in the two areas of Ca we work, dollar for dollar you get a much higher rate of return on a apartment building versus a single family home.</p>
<p>In Marin…there are too many people that want to buy apartment buildings…</p>
<p>Mom60…I like your post.</p>
<p>$2,500/month sounds pretty good for a 4 BR house. That’s probably what you’d pay around here. Does that mean that it is relatively undesirable?</p>
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<p>I picked up one of the large REITS two weeks ago. I don’t want to buy an apartment building but would like some exposure to the rental markets. Not the greatest time to be getting in but the yield is decent. I guess that it’s somewhat of a play on the jobs picture.</p>
<p>So what was the yield?</p>
<p>It’s 2.2% now - I think that it was higher when I bought it. Hmm. Maybe not so decent.</p>
<p>Hmmmm. I think I might pass on that one…</p>
<p>My DS is in Bay Area real estate. The big winners are towns where Facebook and other SV IPO employees want to live. So the wealthy towns around Palo Alto and the parts of SF in easy driving distance to the Valley are going wild.</p>
<p>^^Too bad…my D is going to be relocating to either that area or the Boston area (depending on where she can find a job). Looks like it will have to be a pretty darn good job to afford housing.</p>
<p>Yep, Waverly.</p>
<p>I don’t know how my daughter can afford to buy a place here.</p>
<p>I think prices are going to rise…but I don’t really want them to rise.</p>
<p>Maybe… if I wave my magic wand… :)</p>
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<p>Boston is very expensive in the desirable (and safe) areas and there’s a lot of expensive stuff where your daughter might not want to live. If the job is convenient to public transportation, then that opens up a lot of options on where to live. You trade convenience in the form of time for low housing costs. The areas further out may be in less fun areas (for young adults) too.</p>
<p>Some of our new hires over the years were in regular Craigslist mode renting out a big place and with roommates coming and going as they changed jobs or moved on. It keeps the rent down but you have to be able to live with roommates.</p>
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<p>Does your wand work for stocks and options? If so, I could use it when you’re done with it.</p>
<p>“Does your wand work for stocks and options? If so, I could use it when you’re done with it.”</p>
<p>Lol…</p>
<p>It’s broken… :)</p>
<p>We need some of that magic wand duct tape.</p>
<p>Lol…</p>