I did not mean to suggest that people in So Cal dont make a choice to live here, or that the tradeoffs that you describe are not important.
I am from the east coast (Manhattan actually) and know a little about putting 75% of my take home to rent, and to figuring out how to make very little money go a long way.
I think all hometowns are parochial, be it Manhattan (you would never go to staten island, or Jersey) or southern california (san diegans dont seem to like lala land much).
This area is no more intellectual than anywhere else, if it were prices would not be what they are.
My point is that for all the developers here that are making pseudo tuscan villas, with no property to speak of, or horrendous condos with “resort style living”. People are making a choice to believe their line and that they can have their cake and eat it as well. You cant do that at 750K starting and a 100K income and starting from scratch…period.
When I am not being ‘spoiled’ with my 65$ a day or all my travel (all seven continents this year alone… not fun by the way), I like my cake. My cake is that I rebuild old cars, try doing that with some as@#$le HO association telling you what you can or cant do, and then paying MR on top! So for me, paying 450K for a 1951, 987sqft, 3 bed, 1 bath, house in clairemont is what I want. It also the most I can afford! It is also all that WE need!
Thus, whether you move here to surf, eat fresh fruit, get a plastic wife or whatever, you cant believe that the prices here arent out of whack with what normal people (like me and you) can afford.
So my comments were that for very risk averse / conservative investors (like myself) that are starting late blogs like this provide a lot of interesting advice. But it seems to be skewed towards these mcmansions.
When will the bottom come? Will older starter neighborhoods fall faster, deeper, than newer developments? These are the questions I am interested in. Because we all dont necessarily want a mcmansion or resort style living, especially when we have an ocean, mountains, and trails!
