Life is good in Amarillo!

[powayseller]

Way to go, Bugs!

[speedingpullet]

Mr Young, speaking as exactly the kind of person you’re looking for (renter looking to buy, enough cash to pay down a sizeable deposit etc)…..here’s some thoughts:

Yes, its custom.
But, for me and my husband its too big. We’d rattle around in that place like peas in a drum. We’d probalby be more happy in the 3-car garage!

Wierdly enough, I’ve never been one of these people that equates new with better. Over here in earthquake-prone LA, older is often better – at least you know the house stood up to temblors.
No knowing what’s going to happen to a new place when The Big One comes..

And, custom for whom? Custom implies that it was built for a particular person/family. Custom for them, but not ‘custom’ for me.

How much does it cost to heat/cool?
Granite countertops are lovely, but if I’m paying their replacement value every month in power bills then all the granite countertops in the world aren’t going to help.

I’d relocate in a hearbeat if I could find a city that has the kinds of jobs we do. Unfortunately, we’re both in the Games/Film/Postproduction business, and we live here because that’s where the jobs are.
How far would we need to travel to jobs (assuming they exist at all) of the kind we both do now? This is isn’t taking into acount the considerable paycut we’d expect by moving away from the West Coast, making your home even less affordable.

How near are the stores? Do I need a car to go and buy a quart of milk?

Explain to me how your house is better than a comparable house in South San Fernando Valley (Encino, Sherman Oaks, etc..), where prices are already steadying (and in some cases droppping) and we can commute to work in less than 30 minutes? And still see our friends and relatives?

Sorry, don’t mean to be cross, but I feel I’m being taken for a Greater Fool.

[barnaby33]

I think the, “small penis,” comment was what he meant by harsh. I’ll admit it was. Thats because to me that house, whether in Carslbad or Amarillo represents the same thing. Wanton ruthless conspicuous consumption. The Mormon tabernacle choir doesn’t need that much house. Its all about look how much I can consume, Hence the penis size reference. I stand by it, it was meant to be harsh.

On top of which you came to a board which is founded on the premise of a real estate bubble. To your credit you aren’t denying it, just trying to ride the wave, however….

People on this board aren’t equity locusts. Most if not all of us are trying to figure out how to stay here, not leave. So your thinking in terms of marketing isn’t fundamentally sound.

I will give you credit for sticking around and attempting to answer some of the jibes with facts, but the facts we are interested in are the ones you either cannot or will not answer.

On top of which even attempting to compare SoCal with the Texas panhandle is a flight of fancy at best. You may not be willing to trade and have said as much, but the VAST majority of humanity is, so in an absolute sense this is a much better place.

Its really a shame you have a vested interest in selling that house, Otherwise you MIGHT be able to take step back and realize what a vile monstrosity it is. A town with a median household income around 40k has no business building McMansions like that, especially what its main attraction is that it is in an area that is less grossly overvalued then where you are selling.

Keep up the optimism! Its sound business advice, but I wouldn’t recommend pecker checking potential buyers. They probably won’t like it.

Josh

[Anonymous]

Life is good in Amarillo!

I don’t even know if rose-colored glasses could do it for me let alone yellow. Life is good in San Diego! (Without having to paint it any particular color)

Oh and by the way it is never difficult to get to the beach, only when the folks from Texas (and other states) come to visit during the summer.

Life is good in San Diego,

-re analyst

[powayseller]

Josh, you can be harsh. The truth is, nobody likes a small p***.

[Bugs]

And all this time I was trying to sell the “it’s how you use it” line. Bummer. Well, back to the drawing board.

Seriously, all the demands we’re making for more beef and less bun probably do come across as being hostile. Still, even you have to admit that these are the types of questions all smart buyers should ask before making such a big decision. We have several realty agents who are regulars on this board and who stand prepared to back their observations and opinions up – and we love them for that. We’d love to love you, too, as long as you’re willing to share your data with us and help us to make sense of it all.

Don’t take it personally. A few of our members held a lynching here a couple days ago for a very respected local economist who was quoted in the local paper. Now THERE was some hostility. We’ve asked him to clarify his claims just like we’re asking you, and to date he has declined to respond. There’s no doubt about it, this is a tough room and if you can sell it here I daresay you can sell it pretty much anywhere.

[barnaby33]

Just remember PS, I’m kind and sweet on the inside, plus I have a great personality!

Josh

[VCJIM]

My house is tiny.

[Darrell Young]

Dear Piggington Readers,

YOU ALL make good points; a few I find difficult to resolve (with data/proofs/information/etc.).

YOU ALL have likewise completely missed my original and basically only point. That being; this house, however attractive/acceptable/garish you may find it, doesn’t represent the typical house here in Amarillo. In fact, it represents basically a brand new, custom (built special with tons of upgrades) home.

Our median house price here is $111,000. We have a growing economy, albeit not high-tech, but nonetheless signficant, which grew 14% last year. I’ve offered State published articles on my website (read them if you choose) that will answer nearly all the questions posted here.

Nearly EVERY family I meet here in Amarillo that hails from the LA Basin or Sacramento or Stockton or the last one from Redlands has told me they cannot continue to live in SoCal because it has become too expensive in too many ways. I don’t live there, but they did. THEY are telling ME this. My experience with these families consists of 7 different family units. Once family, hispanic in culture, told me the racism was too difficult to cope with. They lived in Stockton. They wanted out and they are now happy. They lived in a 1300 square foot box but sold it for over $290,000. They bought a nice, 4/2/2 built in 1995 for $166,000 and are happy as clams because by trading their equity for a paid off home, they can afford to work a little less and still have money for their kids to attend Amarillo College (best community college in the State of Texas).

I came to this site thinking I would meet individuals who were looking for something else. What I found were bitter, angry, testy, aggressive people who seemingly have nothing better to do with their simmering thoughts than to unleash them on an “outsider” and enjoy the hell out of the heckling and cutsie commentary.

Many of you wonder “how dare I”. The last time I checked, Americans can pretty much say what they want. I’ve tried to answer your questions, but too many of your questions are poised at the comparison of SoCal to West Texas. Sure, there’s a helluva difference – but guess what CA? I’m not whining about bubbles and skyrocketing costs of living or, dare I say it; “Proposition 13”. My air doesn’t stink. I can drive as fast as I want because it’ll be a few miles before I hit lots of traffic. My rush hour is more like 5 minutes. I can clip along through the center of Amarillo on I-40 at nearly 70 mph on two lanes at 5:00 pm every day and be home in just under 6 minutes. My neighbors don’t look at me sideways and I don’t represent anything scary in my community.

Commerce, well, sure, we have 5 Walmarts for our little town of 188,000. If we don’t have it here, its because we didn’t need it. The next biggest town is Lubbock, two hours away and beyond that, its either Oklahoma City or Dallas.

Again, EVERYONE of you missed my point. If you have equity and are retiring or want to transfer that equity into outright ownership, consider us. Thats all, just consider us. There are roughly 260 million Americans in this country, and roughly 18 million of them live in California. But to listen to the media hype and politics, etc, you’d think you guys invented most of what happens in peoples lives. From the stories I’ve been told from those who have escaped CA, I’d more say its a little freaky and somewhat surreal to live there. I bet most of you are simply just indoctrinated into how things are there and its just what you know.

I’ve encourage anyone to contact me, pro or con on my posts. Instead, you’ve done the chicken-shit thing and responded negatively with all sorts of anonymous forum blasts/flame storms using some simple moniker like Josh or RE or slimyguy or whatever.

I’m done posting here. My message has fallen on deaf ears. I should have known. I will sell 21 Sandhills, I will collect the commission – and yes, you’ll still be sitting around, wringing your hands, seething about something and wondering where your equity went and whether or not you’ll fall into the Pacific when the big one hits.

AMF’s

[speedingpullet]

LOL!

You answered my question….’freaky and surreal’ as CA may be, it beats a 3+hour drive, each way, to a city big enough to have the kinds of businesses we work for.
600K can buy me a nice house much nearer to my work, even here in LA.

Thanks anyway, and good luck!

[Anonymous]

I would suggest someplace like the Atlanta metro as a lot better than Amarillo. You can buy in a top area for $100/ft. or $135/ft. at the outside. Large metro area with everything SD has (except the beach, hey what can you do) but in any case a lot more to offer than Amarillo. Pay is nearly identical to SD. Winter no where near as harsh as Amarillo but admittely summer is similar.

Plus relatively easy drive to Florida beaches or SC beaches which are nice. I would move a lot of other places before I moved to Amarillo! And yes I’ve been there, twice.

[PerryChase]

Mr. Young, please let us know when you sell 21 Sandhills and for how much. We’d love to know. After you sell that home, my confidence in your advice would be increased, and I might, just might buy a house from you.

[Bugs]

The challenge was to either put up or ….

I have no doubt he probably will sell the house, and the seller will probably get their price. Amarillo is still on the upswing side right now.

But did you catch his comments about the imported money comprising a good part of his business? That’s what we were getting at when we asked about the role of imported equity in his market. I hope they’re not getting dependent on that windfall because once our tap turns off they’re going to dry up too.

It’ll be really interesting to see where this buyer ends up 2 years from now, and if they’re doing any hand wringing.

[Anonymous]

So Mr. Life is good in Amarillo shows his true colors. About time. Yes Californians are proud of where they live, but as I’ve experienced with Texans and as you’ve shown with your post, Texas tops the list. If that’s what you like, live it and love it buddy. But don’t come around here thinking that a bunch of devoted Californians are going to see your dream.

By the way, racism in Stockton? By whom? Other hispanics? Hispanics are the majority in Stockton and Stockton is considered to be one of the most culturally diverse cities of its size. Did your buyers name happen to be Cheech or Chong? Because he was smokin’ a whole lot of somethin’. I lived in the San Joaquin Valley for 20 years, I know that valley.

It’s fine by me that you cast stereotypes on California. In my opinion the fewer the better.

Life is good in California,

-re analyst

[CardiffBaseball]

I lived in West Texas for 8 years, and both the wife and I graduated from colleges in Abilene.

I miss the beef, and BBQ, but that’s about it. We were more than ready to get out there. I can’t imagine Amarillo being much better. OTOH, while I was living there I enjoyed myself. It’s just that when moved to Dallas, and later back to Cleveland (warren, really) Ohio, I looked at the time in West Texas as OK, but nothing I wanted to go back to. The bigger cities just have more to offer in what I am interested in which is primarily pro-sports.

[Author]

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