It’s not just “boomers,” Jazzman …. it’s the already retired and long retired, the WWII and remnants of the Greatest Generation. These are the generations which managed to buy the SD County “bread and butter” house in a “plain jane” ‘hood for $4K to $17K, a similar house in a “coveted” ‘hood for $18K to $25K and the “trophy” or “expansive view” house in SD best areas for $25K to $45K (yes, incl LJ and Coronado).
A huge portion of these folks will die in their houses (perhaps with part-time assistance).
I’m going to tell y’all again with a straight face that this demographic typically doesn’t need the proceeds from the sale of their home. They’re living on SS and pension(s) and many have been “savers” most of their lives, due to living through the great depression. The vast majority of them are are used to living a far more “spartan” lifestyle than the rest of us are and many of them are now too old to travel. They’re just going to hand their residence (and any rental houses they picked up when they were young whippersnappers) down to their heirs. It’s the same story up and down the state. After their deaths, their heirs’ lawyers will tell them that they are fools to sell a perfectly decent SFR in a perfectly decent area and lose it’s ultra-low tax assessment. So, if at all possible, one heir will buy out the others in a multiple-heir family.
Nor do I see boomers “fearful” of running out of money. I see the ones who have already retired content with steady monthly incomes (pensions, SS). The ones I see that have owned their current residences more than 25 years have either paid them off or have a small encumbrance left (often a HELOC taken out at one point for repairs and remodeling). A very small minority have not handled their finances well and some of that has to do with giving too much to adult children when they (invariably) get themselves into financial jams and beg for money from parents.
Not EVERYONE wants to retire and go around the world. A lot of people just want to visit county/state campgrounds or visit relatives in other counties/states where they won’t be paying for lodging. They’ll just pack up and hit the road (even taking pets with them). I’m a “boomer” and this is how I often travel. I’ve offered numerous times to take my own Gen Y kid(s) with me, who have only joined me on three out of over a dozen trips I’ve made in recent years (and they flew back one way at some point on the trip). They won’t even join me when they themselves are on vacation because they don’t like road trips. They want to fly and rent a car (way more hassle, expensive and lacking in flexibility, IMO). This is the difference in values between the generations.
The reality is that the older generations are lower maintenance.
In spite of what all the “financial advisor” types seem to be spouting on the intrawebz (spdrun’s word, lol), I don’t think a retiree needs as much income as they had while working. In most cases they can live on less and certainly far less than they lived on when they still had kids in school and college.
Jazzman, do you have any idea WHERE those 2375 (defaulted-upon or foreclosed?) currently “distressed properties” are located in the county? Could it possibly be that 90%+ of them are located in outer lizardia which was built within the last 15 years?
If so, how does this affect property values in SD County’s most established areas? Who is the demographic who typically goes into foreclosure and why did this happen to them? And who was the demographic who bought into micro areas of the state which were hard hit by foreclosure and decimation of residential property values?
Oh, and Jazzman, I forgot to add that I don’t believe San Diego County RE is “overvalued.” If anything, some areas of the county are still “undervalued.”
