Hmmm, that got cut off. I was trying to say, check the "view more photos" link for the full effect.

Look honey, this house has a street out front!!! We've got to see that one!

Yuck!

There's a vehicle in every single picture (if you count the camper).

Ohhh what a lovely thing to include in an RE photo - a dilapitated rusty trailer. lol

The most interesting thing is apparently there is a sale pending!

And did you see the price? $500,000 for THAT? I live in New England where home prices are on the high side, but oy vey!

And that, my friends, is what you get for $500K if you want to live in S CA! This IS a typical home at that price.

I'll be trying to sell my condo for $400K+ and it would put that poor excuse of a property to shame. but mark my word, someone WILL be blindsided by the sun, and buy it. ;o)

patty_cakes

No wonder Plano has so many transplants from CA.
For the same price, you can get this here:
http://www.ebby.com/details/292299.html

Here is a link that might be useful: house

How would I write that ad if I were a realtor and were representing this property:

Quaint turn-of-the-century one-level home won't last! Near major transportation hub. Low-maintenence yard with generous parking. Mother-in-law apartment behind this home keeps elderly parents or college age children nearby, but provides privacy. Rustic wooden fencing leads to pastoral hideaway at the back of this generously sized property. Make an offer!

$500,000 would buy you a mansion in eastern Iowa. I am SO very glad I live in the Midwest where housing prices will always remain somewhat sane.

the only problem with the beautiful home for 500k in Plano, is well, it is Plano...Same goes for Iowa, great deals on homes, but there is a reason for that...And the knock on mediocre homes on the coasts that command 500k for homes that need work,comes from those that live in the "sticks" :)..The coasts have diversified job base,much better salaries, and frankly, just a better place to live..But, that is all my opinion, and i'd be surprised if i'm not taken to the proverbial wood shed for saying such..sorry :)

That house must be in one of the more "impoverished" areas of San Jose if it's under $500K. I'm not kidding, either. For over 1100sf and 3BR/1.5BA, this house is a steal in South Bay.

And, parking is so important out here that it's a big selling point - we Californians can't live without our cars! Few garages are actually filled with cars (we've got to store our surfboards and ski equipment somewhere), "detached family townhome" style community planning means no driveways or curbside parking, and many of the diverse cultures here have several generations or sideways branches of a family living in a single home. One of the homes in my complex apparently has SEVEN cars so the HOA is doing studies to figure out how to solve the parking dilemma.

My bet is that the buyer of this home will have those parking spots filled in no time.

qdognj: the only problem with the beautiful home for 500k in Plano, is well, it is Plano...Same goes for Iowa, great deals on homes, but there is a reason for that...And the knock on mediocre homes on the coasts that command 500k for homes that need work,comes from those that live in the "sticks" :)..The coasts have diversified job base,much better salaries, and frankly, just a better place to live..But, that is all my opinion, and i'd be surprised if i'm not taken to the proverbial wood shed for saying such..sorry :)

That is your opinion, and you're certainly entitled to it. No need to apologize. I LOVE living in the "sticks" as you call it. I wouldn't live anywhere else, except maybe Ireland (gorgeous country!). The quality of life in Iowa is high...four seasons, no traffic congestion, no smog, friendly people, low crime, cheap housing, best public schools in the country. My husband and I make a very good living and are buying a house that would cost twice+ on the coasts. Yes, your salaries may be higher, but so are your cost of living expenses.

terrig: you will find friendly people in every state, not only Iowa.

Actually, you will also find areas that have no smog, low crime, no traffic congestion, good public schools in every state, coastal included.
Also, many people do not want four seasons in their own backyard.
To each his own, no need to escalate the war.
Better and best can be subjective.

Plano, Texas is certainly not in the sticks. Have you spent any time in the Plano or North Dallas area? The summers are hotter and there is no ocean close by but otherwise I don't see any great benefit Califorina has over North Dallas.

Wow qdognj - that was really rude! I take it from your ID that you're in NJ? I'd take Plano or "the sticks" anyday to the ridiculous taxes and cost of living on either coast - and I've never been to Plano or the midwest. I wonder why my MIL is moving away from NJ when her property taxes are more than 12K per year.

Having said that, I have nothing against NJ, but I wanted to address how rude qdog's post was and I used NJ as an example.

Hey, that house could be in a worse place... My old home state of New Jersey!

ok, so it is fine to bash the costs of homes on either coast, say what a great deal you can get in Plano or Iowa for the same $$$, but you CAN'T say ANYTHING about those "more affordable" areas, and why they are more affordable? Come on now....
My post wasn't meant to be rude,just a reply to post about what the $$$ value of home in Ca could/would get you in Plano or Iowa...And like i said, there is a reason the $$$ buy you more in Plano or Iowa..LOCATION......

These posts are always interesting...I just think it's great that we can choose to live where we please according to what we think is important. I find it interesting that people mention "the coasts". I live exactly 6 miles from the ocean in Maine. If you you want coastal property, you will definitely have a price tag in the 7 figures. $250,000 will get you a starter home and $400,000 will get you a nicely appointed home of decent size. For that money, you will get no smog, a miniscule amount of crime, excellent schools, a short commute to Portland, a reasonable tax rate given the quality of the schools, and an excellent place to raise children (according to the Children's Rights Council...don't know enough about them to comment further) If you have education and/or in-demand skills, you won't have a problem finding a well-paid position. I also realize that you couldn't pay many people enough to brave a Maine winter. I happen to enjoy the 4 seasons, but having to shovel a foot of snow off your roof a few times a years isn't some folks idea of a good time. It's a very real possibility that as DH and I age and the children leave the nest, our priorities will change and we will reevaluate living in Maine. But I have to say that of all the places I have lived (SoCal, Oregon, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Mass.) I've never loved anywhere as much as I love Maine. It would be hard to leave.

cmarlin: I disagree about friendly people in EVERY state. I've traveled all over the United States and I have never found people in Massachusetts to be all that friendly. New Yorkers are friendly, surprisingly. Rushed, but friendly. In California, it depends on the region. People are really rude in Florida...you couldn't pay me to live there.

I, personally, love the coasts--to visit. I've been to both coasts via Florida, Maine, California, Oregon, Massachusetts, etc. I love the ocean, but I wouldn't want to pay the price to live near it. Visiting it every year is enough for me. (Maine is a gorgeous state, by the way.)

Why is Iowa and Plano, TX housing more affordable? I can't speak for Plano, but for Iowa it's because not everyone wants to live here and, frankly, that's one of the MANY reasons I stay. Iowa is not overrun with people. You can't walk a block in Boston without passing at least 10 people. Iowa offers a laid-back, take-your-time lifestyle, and I love it! I work full-time and commute 90 minutes a day, but I can honestly say that I live one of the least stressful lives of anyone I know. I attribute a lot of that to the quality of life found in Iowa. Maybe you can find the same thing somewhere else, along with low property taxes and inexpensive housing--I don't know. I've not lived anywhere else and don't plan to.

People are really rude in Florida...you couldn't pay me to live there.

Terrig, not all people in Florida are rude, I know.
I'm happy that you like your life in Iowa, but it just isn't nice (or necessary) to make derogatory general statements about people simply because they live in a certain state.

I once heard a comic say that the high cost of housing in New York and California is a good indication of how much people are willing to pay not to have to live in Kansas. (I think this was immediately after discussing the teaching of "intelligent design" as science in that state.)

There's another reason proces are higher in LA, Noo Yawk, Noo Joisey, and other places. They're URBAN areas. (Yes, NJ has been classified as an URBAN state!) They're near cities. And sprawl has made these areas more expensive.

But there are desirable areas nowhere near urban areas too. I live in Vermont with a population of 600,000 people. And real estate is rising because a good number of New Yorkers are building escape homes. What these are, are homes to escape to when another terrorist group blows up something in NYC. Same with New Hampshire and southern Maine. People needing to escape Boston for the same reason.

Another reason prices are lower in the midweatern areas is that wages are lower. The economy of Plano Texas is smaller than that of LA. So you don't need as much money to buy a home. There's an old axiom: "Expenses rapidly rise to meet income". If there's a major influx of high paying jobs to Plano, real estate prices will rise accordingly.

I don't think salaries are really that much higher in the really expensive areas. If I switched locations from Silicon Hills to Silicon Valley I'd only see about a 10K increase in my yearly salary, however I'd see a 3x increase in housing costs and income taxes would be higher so essentially I would be taking a paycut to move. I didn't mention all the other expenses that would increase too.

Everybody has different reasons for liking where they are at and as long as people like where they are that is all that matters. I do find it interesting to see "what you get for your money" in different areas though.

BTW Plano does have a very well paid work-force with high-tech jobs and are a good comparison for San Jose as salaries are not that much higher in San Jose.

Sorry if I offended any Floridians. I have been to FL probably 30 times and have never encountered very many friendly people. Perhaps I just haven't been to the right places? But I keep coming back...LOVE the beaches, fresh seafood, Everglades, and Disney. Even got married there on the beach near Fort Pierce this year. And have many wonderful memories of my spending winters there with my grandparents.

lyfia, here is a cost of living calculation from San Jose to Plano,salalries not even close to same, though $ for $ wages to housing Plano may be a better deal

Salary in San Jose CA:
$100,000
Comparable salary in Plano TX:
$64,402.19

If you move from San Jose CA to Plano TX...

Groceries will cost: 29.554% less
Housing will cost: 66.466% less
Utilities will cost: 1.495% more
Transportation will cost: 5.321% less
Healthcare will cost: 10.599% less

What You Get for the Money is interesting. I suppose much of the salary differential, job turnover etc, would depend on your occupation. Besides salaries, housing cost, land cost and property taxes, there are also quality of life issues like crime, quality of school systems, traffic, air quality, home size, land size access to outdoor recreation such as camping, hiking, swimming, fishing, boating skiing etc.

Myself, my family and friends all make decent money, but our quality of life (if even possible in some places) would cost us a fortune in some areas of the country. I sold a 3,000 sq/ft Upstate New York lakefront vacation home to a couple that lived in California that laughed when I told them it was a little pricey. People from downstate own quite a few of the homes in the area.

I guess it depends on how the cost of living calculator is used. If it says that you make 100K in San Jose you will only get paid $64K in Plano then I could see it being a worthwhile comparison, though anytime I've used those calculators they've always been to compare how much I would have to make in the 2nd area to have the same quality of life. Which doesn't really match with the reality of the salary that you can actually get in the area. I know several people in Plano that moved from San Jose/Santa Clara area and make only 15K less. In my field it is even a closer gap on the salary difference.

I should have chosen a house in Seattle...

For what its worth, I'm hoping I could sell my house in Westchester (NYC suburb) when I'm ready to retire and have a lot of $$ to play/live with -- somewhere else of course ;) My dream is to retire to New England - Maine would be lovely.

Californians flock to Texas more and more every year. I wonder why?

My sister lives in NJ. She had a dinner party while I was visiting (she had to ask me to not wear my cowboy boots that evening *honk*snort*). A very nice and proper gentlemen struck up a conversation with me about my home state of Texas. He was very sincere when he said, "I moved to Texas right after college for a job. It's a nice place to get your start, you know, before you get serious about life."

Some folks just don't get it and that's fine by me. I don't think I would prefer to live in a shack by the ocean when I can live in a very well appointed new house for almost half the price of the shack with this as my "backyard:"
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Oh yeah, we have hospitals and schools and jobs and those great big buildings with pretty stuff in them by people that go by the name of Dali, Gauguin, Degas, Van Gogh and Cézanne . . .

Why do so many threads turn into an argument about the "best" place to live. There is no such place, we all like different lifestyles.
Why do people feel the need to attack another choice or defend their personal choice?

kellyeng, stop it right now! You don't really want to let out the secret of "the sticks", do you?! ;)

Hey Susan, DH saw my post and said, "Don't show them our pictures!"

But whay can I say, I'm proud of my (oh okay, OUR) wonderful state!

Kellyeng, those pictures are beautiful! So many people think all of Texas is like west Texas; dry and flat with few trees.

While the pictures are indeeed beautiful, that life would not be for me. No offense, but I would consider living there to be unbearable. Different strokes for different folks I suppose. I'm a city person: my ideal housing situation would be in a high-rise condo in Manhattan or some other big city location. Although I currently live in a SFH, there are about 200 restaurants and numerous shops, art galleries and movie theaters that I can walk to from here. In fact, there are four different Starbucks locations each within 1/2 mile radius of my house (not that I'm a big Starbucks fan.) And if that weren't enough, I can walk four blocks to the subway and be in DC in 5 minutes.

But again, my ideal would be in a condo right in the middle of things. When we had our house on the market last year, the idea was to sell and move to a condo downtown (although we don't have high-rises here). Our plans have changed somewhat in that we now plan to take early retirement and move when we sell next year. We're thinking of a condo right on the strip in Las Vegas, or perhaps doing a two-home combination for summer/winter and also buying a condo in downtown Chicago.

Nice pictures. What you can't see are all of the bugs, the heat, humidity, and...well...the 'Texas' part.

No thanks. I'll keep my "shack" on Long Island Sound with its beautiful English-style gardens & our Nordic Tug. Oh, and I'll keep my Ramon Tenza shoes & let you keep the boots.

It's nice that we're a large country. There's something for everyone.

/T

Just a comment on the "parking parking parking" of the original post and the idea that you need to sell parking to car-dependent Californians...

Here in NYC the hook is outdoor space - you can have a 6'x6' roofdeck or the crappiest tiniest garbage-strewn overgrown never-landscaped cast-in-shadow backyard , but that gets top billing in your real estate ad. I should try to track down some listings that have five pictures of the outdoor space and one tiny pic of the living room.

We have condos and cities in Texas, too. Also Starbucks, movies, shopping, gardens, and art galleries.

But it is hot in the summer.

My sister lives in northern NJ (Bernardsville) and she says that the Japanese beetle is destroying her garden and the humidity is almost unbearable. I guess bugs and bad weather is the common denominator.

Except in California. We vacation in Del Mar almost every year and the weather never disappoints and I have yet to see a single bug. Of course the trade-off is wild fires and earthquakes . . .

I had very definite preconceived notions about Texas before I was dragged here reluctantly by my dh. I have learned, however, that it is a diverse and interesting place. It has a rich history and culture, widely varying landscape, and people from all over the world. I've also learned to trust that most places have more depth than what their stereotypes would lead you to believe.

I rarely see anyone in boots, BTW. Sandals are much more likely.

Kelly - those are lovely pics!! How did you get them directly inside your post? Is that your backyard? I'm moving to TX!! Humidity and all! lol

happyladi: "We have condos and cities in Texas, too. Also Starbucks, movies, shopping, gardens, and art galleries."

I'm sure that you do. The point of my post was not that I wouldn't want to live in Texas, but that since I can walk to all of the places mentioned in my post, I wouldn't want to live in a rural or non-urban area or someplace where I would have to get in a car and drive to reach "civilization."

Those photos are beautiful. No concrete, no asphalt, no sidewalks, no urban blight. No Starbucks. (I have never been to a Starbucks as we don't have any of that stuff around here.) I understand coffee costs $5.00???

But the heat is a problem for me though. Some love the heat, but I absolutely hate it. It went to 87 degrees up here last week end the kids were jumping into the rivers to cool off. That night it went down to 42 degrees and we all slept comfortably.

But the responses are quite interesting. Some believe that God meant for man to walk on concrete and nothing less will do. Others will never consider living in a suburban, let alone urban setting. Some will never leave the seaside, while others think all you get is a shack there. Some believe people literally living on top of each other is the way to go and others think that anything less than 5 acres is confining.

Some talk about having fine stores nearby to buy things, while others have no need for more "stuff".

I love northern New England. I love when the leaves start to change in mid September and reach their peak around Columbus Day. I love the lack of urban areas. The biggest town in Vermont is Burlington with under 40,000 people. I love walking down my dirt road on a snowy evening in December and smelling woodsmoke in the air, knowing families are gathered around the hearth. I like the fact we have no streetlights.

But there are plenty of people here that would consider my lifestyle backward.

That's what makes this country so wonderful!

bethesdamadman-

Why did you have to mention the MD/DC area??!!!!! Shhh!!!! I don't need to be reminded that I am living in a tiny town in Western NC. I moved from DC after getting married - DH could not find a job in DC and he is not fond of cities and my career field is limited to certain places. Arghhhh....all of those wonderful places I could wander around. Only one comforting thing is that the mortgage is less than 1/4 of a mortgage in Takmoa Park.

DH could not find a job in DC and he is not fond of cities and my career field is limited to certain places.

It should read as:
DH could not find a job in DC and is not fond of cities. Also, my career field is limited to certain places.