One segment fueling the market – thanks daytrip!
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0321-tech-real-estate-20150321-story.html
Although he primarily lives in San Francisco, entrepreneur and investor Justin Yoshimura focused on Southern California when it came time to buy property, with the aim of making it his home away from home.
In December, he paid $2.04 million for a three-bedroom, three-bathroom home in Santa Monica for $250,000 below listing. Every few days, the 25-year-old flies north for the workweek, returning to Santa Monica on weekends.
“Compared to San Francisco in particular, it’s very cheap,” said Yoshimura, who founded and later sold a loyalty platform for retailers called 500friends. “Santa Monica is one of the most desirable neighborhoods in L.A. and I have a yard with a pool and a beautiful home for less than what I would pay for an equivalent-sized condo in San Francisco.”
Tami Pardee, a real estate agent specializing in West L.A., is representing several tech buyers from up north. She estimated that 10% of current clients live in Silicon Valley, including engineers from Facebook and several venture capitalists. The budgets are high: anywhere from $2 million to $5 million for a home.
“They’re buying second homes — or third or fourth homes,” she said. “We’re seeing it a lot.”
In general, Pardee said, the potential buyers are more savvy than usual, having done extensive research online before traveling down to view properties. They have specific requirements: A lot of people don’t want to be north of Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, preferring to live further south, closer to the hub of tech activity. Many say they’d like a walkable neighborhood and a home with a “refined, finished” design.
“They don’t want a modern box,” she said.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0321-tech-real-estate-20150321-story.html
JtR,
Have you worked with any buyers from SF that want to buy housing down here and commute to SF?
We know a few friends that are up in the bay area that are contemplating “commuting” from SoCal to the bay area.
The horror stories for buyers are much worse than what is reported. The situation is worse for renters.
I haven’t but it is a natural fit when you are only an hour away by plane.
I have even given this some thought, they have surf-air with unlimited flight plans going out of Carlsbad airport.
@Jiji
Precisely! Surf Air recognized an under-served market.
If they extend the runway at Carlsbad, North County will become a bedroom community for the Bay Area; no question about it.
Our tech son recently moved from San Francisco to Berlin. He’s now only paying $450 for rent, which is about equal to what he was paying just to park his car each month in SF.
Berlin will be interesting to watch: it has been referred to as the Silicon Valley of Europe. While it’s still very reasonable to live there now, prices are jumping, and apartments, well, they are gone in a day like SF. He was able to get his apartment by taking over a lease from a friend who was moving.
Of course this San Diego mom would love for him to some day live around Carlsbad and commute to SF/SV should he work up there again someday. 🙂
I work in tech and live in Carlsbad. I know several people like the one in the article.
In general tech has gotten to the point where you can work from anywhere. I work with people from around the world who I’ve known for several years and have never met in person.
San Jose and Orange County have more in common than most people would guess.