Over 21% of homeowners in SD County have paid off houses

[UCGal]

[quote=earlyretirement]

I always wondered about how things will end for some. And funny about you mentioning the topic of net worth. I just finished reading, “The Number” by Lee Eisenberg. It was a great and interesting read. (They have it at the San Diego County Library so you don’t even need to pay to read it).

http://www.thenumberbook.com
[/quote]

Thanks for recommending this book. I’ve got it out from the city library now… It’s an easy read – I read about 1/2 of it this weekend, in between dealing with kids basketball, yard work, and chores.

Makes me look around at myself and others, slightly differently as I try to figure out what categories they fall into. And the prologue was very interesting – how lots of rich wall street types have moving numbers – based on status, ego, etc.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=UCGal][quote=earlyretirement]

I always wondered about how things will end for some. And funny about you mentioning the topic of net worth. I just finished reading, “The Number” by Lee Eisenberg. It was a great and interesting read. (They have it at the San Diego County Library so you don’t even need to pay to read it).

http://www.thenumberbook.com
[/quote]

Thanks for recommending this book. I’ve got it out from the city library now… It’s an easy read – I read about 1/2 of it this weekend, in between dealing with kids basketball, yard work, and chores.

Makes me look around at myself and others, slightly differently as I try to figure out what categories they fall into. And the prologue was very interesting – how lots of rich wall street types have moving numbers – based on status, ego, etc.[/quote]

You’re welcome UCGal! I agree it’s a super easy read. I read it in a long weekend. Yes, so funny you mention that about looking around trying to figure out where friends/family/neighbors, etc. fall into. After reading that I noticed I find myself wondering more about that.

I just started “Exposure” by Michael Woodford. It’s very interesting. CEO to Whistleblower. A guy losing his job for integrity. Not very many times you will see that these days. Also, recommended.

[bearishgurl]

paramount posted a LA Times article on the “flu strikes out …” thread last night.

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-southland-housing-20130213,0,5286697.story?track=rss

In it, there is an interactive map of CA, showing the percentage of paid-off homes in each county.

http://graphics.latimes.com/calmap-california-homeowners-free-and-clear/

Looking at all the “green” counties, it is CLEAR where the “boomers” and older have chosen to retire: the wine country areas of Ukiah to Mendocino (Anderson Valley), Ft. Bragg, Eureka, Crescent City, Mt Shasta, Yreka, Yosemite and Mammoth Lakes).

I may very well be right behind them 🙂

This could also be a function of “old-timers” in those counties who never had anything to prove. Thus, they didn’t repeatedly remortgage their homes over the years to buy vehicles, bling and vacations, etc, as homeowners in the more populous CA counties did.

Note that one of the counties with the lowest percentage of paid-off homes is SB. This obviously includes the “resort” areas of Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake, which are both small in size in terms of permanent population (in relation to other SB Co cities). These two towns also likely represent mostly vacation-homeowners (whose primary home is somewhere else) and retiree-homeowners. And, of course, as we know, the City of SB had to file for BK protection, mostly due to the “boom and bust” nature of all the excess subdivisions they approved, causing them to hire hundreds of employees that they couldn’t continue to pay. And it appears that all the overbuilding that went on in the high desert since the early nineties (Adelanto, Victorville, Hesperia and Apple Valley) will be mortgaged for a VERY long time yet :=0

Thanks for sharing this “very-telling” article and chart, paramount!

[bearishgurl]

Here’s another link in paramount’s article which depicts nationwide percentages of paid-off homes:

http://graphics.latimes.com/storyboard-free-and-clear/

Not surprisingly, the “flyover” states of TX, OK and NE top the list.

Not only are houses relatively “cheap” (by coastal stds) in these states, but the “culture” in these states encourages living within one’s means, being as debt-free as possible and giving your kids a “leg up” in housing by subdividing your own land for them and helping them to build their own home on it.

However, I also noticed from the map that TX’s highly-urbanized regions were heavily mortgaged.

[Author]

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