[quote=AN][quote=bearishgurl]So what do you think of the outgrowth of Fresno and surrounds, AN? Does it appear “sustainable” to you? Has any of your spouse’s relatives commented on how the (surrounding) distressed properties affect their own values and/or on the displacement of all the families who have lost their homes?[/quote]
I have no problem with it and neither does my family members. They actually loved it, since they get to buy new big houses. Yes, seem perfectly sustainable to me. There’s vast amount of empty land there, flat and perfectly build-able. I think it’s a waste that it’s sitting there, unused. No, they don’t comment on the surrounding distress. If you ask them, of course they’ll say they’re not happy that they “lost” value in their house. But they all bought houses well within their means, so they’re going on with their lives. They have no plan in moving, so the paper lost will be a paper gain, but it doesn’t really matter to most (if not all) of them, since they have no plan on moving for a very very long time. Those who have the cash are loving the current distressed market. They can pick up rental property at $70k and rent it out for $1k/month. They’re building a nice little portfolio for themselves. Those “displaced” family end up renting in the same area, so they’re only displaced if you consider it as not owning. But they still have a similar roof over their head. They’re just renting that roof instead of owning it.[/quote]

It seems that members of your spouse’s family sold or left their longtime “city” houses and moved out into the sprawl when newer development became available. Therefore, they must have gotten caught up in millenium-boom buying (since that’s when the majority of these tracts were built) and are underwater now.

You’re right, AN. If you can’t beat them, join them. I guess being able to buy cheap rental houses now lessens the sting of an unwise purchase on one’s residence years ago :=]

For your spouse’s relatives’ sake, I hope all the “shadow inventory” around Fresno is able to be absorbed in the coming years (gets transferred to stronger hands).