Life is good in Amarillo!

[Darrell Young]

I feel your pain California. Depending on your perspective; you’re either losing/winning or just hanging in there. The Eagles sang a song with a lyric that reads, “Call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye”. Maybe its time to do just that.

Consider this: sell out now, for what you can get and move East. For instance; check out this house:
http://www.21sandhills.com

I can help you understand that there is life in the rest of these United States that’s truly wonderful in other States.

I encourage any feedback so if you’re moved one way or another on my post, email me. [img_assist|nid=932|title=Luxury Living at $164.97/SF – http://www.21sandhills.com|desc=Check out this luxury home!|link=node|align=left|width=400|height=173]

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

[img_assist|nid=934|title=Energy efficieny, sand (dirt?) hills, neighborhood vibe|desc=I especially love the energy efficiency (lots of hot water), the lovely view of the sand (dirt?) hills and the vibrant neighborhood feel in the pictures linked from this advertisement. All for a mere 650K. Please take your ads somewhere else.|link=node|align=left|width=400|height=295]

[PerryChase]

$650,000 for a house in Amarillo, TX? Talk about a bubble!!
That’s how much that same home will be worth in So Cal when the bubble bursts. So why move?

Personally, I’d rather live a well designed and nice appointed urban flat. I wish that in San Diego, builders would build affordable condos downtown without all the amenities that require $300+/month HOA. How about a nice urban condo with $50 HOA — an empty square space that I’ll appoint myself?

[PerryChase]

Did you also know that stairs pointing straight out the front door is bad Feng-Shui? That means that the family living in this house will have chi (energy) flow outward causing lots of pain in the future.

[Bugs]

I thought Amarillo was one of the last remaining hot spots right now for the itinerant investor class. Is traffic slowing up some?

That same type of house went for that same price level here in eastern SD County (Ramona Country Estates) back in 2003, which means we may very well see it again before this cycle is all over. And if San Diego county shakes back down to yr2003 prices (or lower), then it’s a cinch that Amarillo’s gonna drop a lot, too.

So I wish you good fortune in selling that house, and I hope your buyers have what it takes to hang in there for the coming loss.

[speedingpullet]

Is it just me, or does that house bear a striking resemblance to the one in “The Munsters”…

..ok, maybe its just me.

[barnaby33]

That place is a scary looking dump. I imagine it being an albatross around somebody’s neck quite soon. Is there a single job in Amarillo which would pay well enough to afford that monster? Harder to fathom still, if there is would that person be mentally unhinged enough to buy that place?

Wow that is just mind blowingly ugly. I think at its most visceral level the reaction I get is TINY PENIS, extremely tiny.

Josh

[Darrell Young]

First, the pictures you collected are of the new development area of La Paloma. Second, please understand, Amarillo HAS NO BUBBLE. Our cost of living, income levels and disposable income have been rising “steadily” for years now. There is no “wild speculative” investment like what’s occurred in San Diego and elsewhere in the coastal cities of California. Amarillo, Texas grew by a steady 14% last year (per CNN MONEY).

The point of my post is truly a marketing effort, however, your missing out on the point. Your market is odd and way off to the rest of the US. I’m suggesting you capitalize on your temporary good forture now but cashing out and taking your money to a lesser economy where you can “own” something with the equity in your California house.

You’ve complete knocked my town and this top of the line neighborhood because you’d rather live in a box for $350,000 hoping someday you can get that equity out. I’m merely pointing out a solution to a life long problem (what to do before I lose everything “my equity”).

Did you read the captions on the photos? If so, you understood what it was I was showing you.

Again, thank you for your response, I did ask for it. What I did ask for was condescension from someone who lives in constant traffic, bad air, millions of gallons of rainfall, and overall, a hectic way of life. Sure, you’ve got an ocean to “swim” in but its an all day event getting there.

Life is good in Amarillo,

Darrell R. Young
http://www.amarealtor.us
Amarillo, Texas
(806) 236-4102

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

OK, I am interested. Please send me a list of job openings in the High Tech Sector. We are interested in openings in Biotechnology and Architecture.

By the way, to afford this house these jobs will have to pay a cominbed income of $175K (assuming we put 20% down) to maintain our current lifestyle.

P.S. – How much are property Taxes & HOA fees on this house ? My frineds in Dallas and Austin pay over 2% in prop taxes. Hope it’s cheaper in Amarillo.

[Darrell Young]

Energy efficiency? I remember the screaming two years ago about California energy costs. Texas never said a word. The pictures of the dirt are the “undeveloped” part of this otherwise, top of the line neighborhood. This neighborhood is “brand new” as in 2 years. Sure, we have a little construction sand in the streets.

Once again, I realize I’m here to peddle a house, but you need to realize WHY I’m posting here. Its because your INFLATED California economy just might be a godsend to you IF you capitalize on your equity now. In other words, sell your dang houses and move the equity into another property that is COMPLETELY PAID OFF.

I’ve lived in many States including California. Pound for pound, I wouldn’t trade the love and sincereity of the people of Texas and the Panhandle for nothing. We have zero rush hours, weather that changes completely in 24 hours, tons of sunshine, a (steadily) growing economy, excellent high tech industry (Bell Helicopter/Marine 1 (Presidents choppers are built here) as well as 1/3 of all the Beef industry in the entire United States. As I’ve said before, life is good in Amarillo.

Thanks for your post/response. I wish I could have seen a litte more careful or well thought out response rather than your cute collage of misunderstood photos and snide commentary. My posts are all about quality of life sir. I’d never trade you mine for yours – been there, done that.

Life is good in Amarillo,

Darrell R. Young
http://www.amarealtor.us
Amarillo, Texas
(806) 236-4102

[no_such_reality]

The median income for a household in the city was $34,940, and the median income for a family was $42,536. Males had a median income of $31,321 versus $22,562 for females.

Sorry Darryl, $650,000 for a 4000 sq ft house is only appealing compared to related prices in California. For the housing market in Amarillo with a population of 183,000. It’s 20X median income.

[Monster]

Just shoot me if that is my future. Beers, steers etc etc. Guess what is the neighborhood topic every weekend/all year long? Texas football!!! Hook ’em Horns!!! Maybe a drinkfest at the Lonestar restaurant by the mall before the game. Sorry, but life is too short to look at dirt.

[VCJIM]

I think it’s kind of cute in an ugly sort of way.

Most out of state realtors want to capitalize on California’s huge run up in prices.

[EJ]

This is a nice house, I hope it sells. Your idea is decent that someone from CA could cashout and buy your property, however most the people on this board believe that there is lots of speculative activity in many markets nationwide (myself included). Why is someone selling a big beautiful home only 2 years after custom construction? Was there high appreciation these last two years in the region? Was this appreciation driven by market fundamentals (higher wages and rents)? I believe there are similar size/priced homes in regions of southern CA far from economic centers (Victorville comes to mind).

Now to address the the location bashing: you like TX, I like SoCal. Maybe you ride horses, personally I ride waves (and it doesn’t take me long to get to the beach, I see it from my front window). I am sure each location has it’s ups and downs.

Good luck with the property!

[Bugs]

I agree that some of the responses have been a little harsh, but if you had taken the time to read our content here you would realize that if we think a house like your’s would be overpriced here then there’s no question as to what we think about that price in your town.

Here’s a serious question that I often ask of appraisers all across the nation:

What percentage of price appreciation would you attribute to imported equity (from Calif, New York, Florida or wherever) and how much is attributable to local employment enabling local move-ups? ‘Cause the word I get from appraisers in various areas is that equity flight from the metro areas is fueling most of the increases in the more outlying areas.

Without imported money initiating the increases and competing with local money, many of these other areas would have never started into this current upswing. That’s a generalization and I really don’t know how applicable it is to Amarillo, but you might give that some serious thought. It stands to reason that as our pricing declines, so will our exported equity. To that extent it will have some effects on other areas of the nation and some of them will follow us into decline. Regardless of where the money is coming from your stability will ultimately be tied to your local wages – how are local wages doing anyway? Are they also increasing at 14% a year?

BTW, my ex-wife moved to Amarillo back in some years ago with a job change, and bought a little ranchette outside of town for $125,000. When she moved 3 years later she couldn’t sell the place for what she had bought it for even though they had made a number of improvements. It took them almost 2 years to sell at a break-even. Now I realize her place was nothing like this house and that neighborhood was nothing like this neighborhood, but I would also point out that $125,000 is not $650,000. If the lower price ranges got squashed that badly last time around, what makes you think this much higher price range is so stable?

As for quality of life, it all depends on a person’s priorities. If I didn’t have family here, if I didn’t surf (a lot), if my business wasn’t here and if I didn’t hate the desert then I’d probably think Amarillo is a wonderful place to live. Alas, I don’t have the priorities that would allow me to enjoy life in Texas.

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