Are you thinking of a move out of California?
Cashing in your home-equity lottery ticket and escape the tract homes of SoCal? Move to a quieter, more laid-back area and get yourself a smaller yet comfortable home with an ADU on some land, all for $300,000 to $400,000 and bank the rest to live on?
You may want to get going.
Long-time reader Susie is a former Californian who has lived in Boise, Idaho for 10+ years and has watched it grow tremendously. She sent in this latest listing as an example of what people can expect:
I called this one earlier today! Saw it as brand-new listing 4 hours ago. Never heard of $487/sf for the upscale North End but here’s a cute remodel. Now more will follow! Notice small sq. footage and tiny lot. So many folks want to live near Hyde Park (restaurants) and the park. See agent remarks. Yep, signed $800/mo lease in back for ADU.
TEN HOURS and it goes pending!
Take a look at the ADU thing in the backyard too:
Susie – how is the anti-Californian sentiment?
A guy who just moved to Oregon from here grew a full beard to help with the assimilation.
Susie’s comment from yesterday:
I just said this to “Husbandy” the other day, Jim. No doubt we’d see an influx from CA and Portland. In our own neighborhood, six homes which aren’t even completed yet (some only framed) have sold signs out front already. Last month, only a very small inventory of single-family homes of about 450 in Boise available. Now it’s even worse.
Just checked on Realtor website:
Boise: 958 SFH, (Hide Pending/Contingent): 243
Meridian: 891 SFH, (Hide P and C): 171
Boise population (2020): 234,571 (Annual growth: 1.25%)
Meridian pop (2020): 115,550 (Annual growth: 3.93%)
My response:
Holy Cow!
414 Actives and 1,435 Pendings? Yikes – that is scorching red hot!
NSDCC = 637 Actives and 490 pendings with around 300,000 population
“Susie – how is the anti-Californian sentiment?”
1. Get your car license plate changed ASAP-especially if you move to northern Idaho.
2. Do what I did 10+ years ago. A neighbor at my first home here said don’t mention California. I came from Santa Barbara. He said, “Everyone loves Santa Barbara, say that.” He was right! People asked why I could leave such a beautiful place.
For the record, I haven’t felt much anti-California sentiment in years. To me, it seemed much more prevalent 9-10 years ago. It certainly still exists though.
What I find the saddest is that prices have increased so quickly in the last 3 years, that longtime Idaho residents aren’t able to buy homes. Except for Micron, the wages here are absurdly low, and Idaho is a right-to-work state. Also, the once-“City of Trees” has now become the “City of Apartments.” A builder’s dad I know said people live in them for an average of two years .
PS What, JtR? No hat tip? 🙂