My folks bought their first SoCal rentals in 1971 when defense contracts ebbed near the end of the Vietnam War and the local economy contracted.
They bought again in the early 80s when we had the recession described in the article quoted in this thread. All the local newspapers were full of hard luck stories about people who had been burned by real estate and were fed up with California.
I bought my house in the mid-ninties after watching real estate prices get pummeled by fires, mudslides, earthquakes, riots, base closings and the bankruptcy of Orange County.
I thought I’d be investing by 2005, but I’ll probably have to wait 3-6 years. When Time Magazine finally does it’s cover story on how “the Golden State has lost its luster” again, it will be time to start crunching numbers.
You don’t need a crystal ball to invest in SoCal real estate, you just need to pay attention, have patience and save your pennies.
