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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 31, 2017 - 08:29am PT
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Betting on Cali real estate seems a lot like betting on Bitcoin and other crypto nonsense. There's money to be made, but if you have to ask, you won't make it.
Amen. I would insert a link to the Atlanta Fed site so y’all could read a paper about how
buying a house is a bad financial move for over half of Americans if I thought anyone
would read it. But I don’t so I won’t. Anybody who actually cares can easily find it.
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zip
Trad climber
pacific beach, ca
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Dec 31, 2017 - 08:36am PT
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Teri,
I am in the Golden Years of my career, and possibly my life.
My goal is to have no fixed property address.
Selling my home, and living in my van and boat.
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seano
Mountain climber
none
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Dec 31, 2017 - 09:28am PT
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Selling my home, and living in my van and boat. Awesome! I saw a combined van/trailer/boat rig for sale up in WA some years ago, and thought: if you could tow the boat with the van, and float the van with the boat, you could tour around the world. I doubt it's possible, but I like to imagine that this is what you're doing.
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Happiegrrrl2
Trad climber
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Dec 31, 2017 - 09:34am PT
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Here's the JT Guide, now hosted on "The Sky Above Us" section of Hub Pages. It's survived three different hosting spots, and since it went to HubPages, I haven't updated it, but I suppose sometime I should sit down and do so.
https://skyaboveus.com/climbing-hiking/firt-timers-guide-to-joshua-tree
Thanks, BTW for explaining the Roll Value variation.
Gnome - People and their games, I suppose. "I'm in, now close the gate." Anyway, I have the best spot in the Clove. I mean - who else has an iconic waterfall in their front yard?
Reilly - I know damned well a house is not a good move for myself, and as I already said, I ain't building one.
Zip - You need to have a "fixed property address" unless you intend to convert your assets to a crypto-currency and don't intend to collect on SSI, or have car insurance, or medical insurance, or pretty much anything, including a driver's license.
I have been using a co-worker's address for mail(of which I get very, very little beyond monthly bank statement), and another person to have online things delivered to. It's a bit of a PITA, but doable. But yeah, you need "something," even if it is just a false front.
RE: AZ- The whole state has similar zoning issues as here, I understand, about "camping" on your spot. I have a coworker who looked into it. However, much as I like climbing, I am not in the "bitten hard" stage any more, unfortunately.
I got spoiled when I was hanging out with "Mister Handsome Roadtripping Partner," and when he vacated, I got depressed and uninterested in going back to my old ways of "partners du jour." Then I hit a financial crisis and had to go back to working for others, and with my little ventures, it was tough to choose a day of climbing over working on the business. I did not want to lose my creative outlets and money streams, and be stuck in a low-wage job I could lose. My climbing partners drifted off, all but one who I get out with in the Gunks.
On the road, it is tough to find partners, and climb with strangers asking them out of hand to accommodate me with my dog needs. In JTNP - well, the NPS is so strict with dog rules that it actually is a deterrent for me to go there. One can only walk the dirt road by Barker Damn and Geology Tour so many times....Luckily, I have been accepted with a group of JTers who go out to Farview.
So climbing, though I love to do it, has come second this last few years. I admit that if another Mister Handsome Roadtripping Climbing Partner showed up, I would be okay with that and thrilled to be climbing more(half days preferred; must love dogs, be smart, kind and philosophical in a low-intensity way....;).
The reason I want a "spot" is really very basic - I want to be able to put out my table and cooking stuff, ad not have to drag out/put away every time I cook, so I can have decent meals and relax while having them, plus a quiet place where I can work on my jewelry craft. I like to cook and eat better when I can. I do NOT like to heat up a can on a Whisperlite in my van, and I don't know how on earth people actually prepare food in a van that is not rigged out with the tabletop.
That's really it! I would be fine parking at Walmart to sleep every night, if I didn't have to wake up and either go to Starbucks for coffee and internet or cook up a pot while squatting in my van...in a parking lot....and then walk Lucas in some very uninspiring terrain.
I can even work on jewelry in the library lot and not actually miiiind, but a nice view is just so much better, and to be able to actually set up a table and work outside on sunny days, instead of using the two front seats of my van and the floor between as "studio" would be really much more enjoyable. I know it would also elevate my creative abilities, as environment is a component.
Re: Using a spot on someone's land - I have been offered it, and though I appreciate the generosity, decided it is not the thing to do.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Dec 31, 2017 - 09:58am PT
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A couple points. First, I agree with ontheedge that unimproved land is not a good investment. If you want to get your foot in the door, fine, but consider whether you'll have the funds later to build. If not, you'll have a piece of land burning a hole in your pocket. Some of the lots I looked at 10 yrs. ago are priced only a little more now than then. Even then, they're only worth that if someone buys it at that price. I worked on an estate where several undeveloped plots in the Johnson Valley sold for several hundred each at auction vs. the several thousand they were appraised at.
Two, there's a definite bubble now. I remember thinking I might to buy soemthing cheap at auction about five years ago when there was alot in the $60-100k range. No more. There's currently a place south of 62 (on Anaconda) that sold for $130k in 2015 that's now listed at $585k (!). Yes the owners made some improvements, but when you get people in Josh buying and flipping properties then you know it's not a buyer's market.
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zip
Trad climber
pacific beach, ca
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Dec 31, 2017 - 10:34am PT
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Seano,
My sailboat is 0ver 40' long. Not trailerable.
Terri,
I am no longer going to own any property in the form of land.
I will have a PO box.
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seano
Mountain climber
none
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Dec 31, 2017 - 10:50am PT
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Too bad about the boat, though I imagine a 40-footer is more fun to sail and live on. Also, speaking from personal experience, you'll want to maintain a non-PO-box address to renew your driver's license in the US. Proving residence in a particular state to get a license can be a pain.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 31, 2017 - 11:42am PT
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if you could tow the boat with the van, and float the van with the boat
Saw a nice ‘boat’ in Newport Beach. He had his BMW X3 on the deck next to its crane.
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Happiegrrrl2
Trad climber
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Dec 31, 2017 - 11:45am PT
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Fat Dad - The way I got intrigued was someone telling me about the tax sale, and last August I attempted to participate. I ended up not even bidding, but watched the parcel I had chosen(primarily) get bid on the first day. It went beyond what I had saved by second day and I was glad I had not taken people up on their offers to lend me money so I could get it if the cost was more than I'd saved.
It sat and sat at that price, juuuust beyond my reach, and I started to get mad at myself because maybe had I borrowed.... and here I was, going to lose out being just a bit shy with the cash.
It stayed at the price until the last day. I was SO peeved. Then, it started to go up, but again stopped at an amount I COULD have borrowed. At 5 minutes to end, there it was, and I logged off. When I went back to check after the auction, it had doubled, and went for over $10K. I have to wonder if the buyer got caught up in the excitement, or if they had been smart and knew what they were doing. If that lot were on the market right now, it would be probably at least $15 and maybe even as high as $25.
Edit: Locker - McD coffee is just annoying. It is so watery. At least at S/B it revs my motor(actually really does - too much, even). Besides, the smell of McD grease can be nauseating. Besides - no electric plugs most of the time.... besides..... hahaha
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Dec 31, 2017 - 12:35pm PT
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Hey but people spotting at Walmart is one of the highlights of Yucca Valley
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cbburton
climber
Burbank, CA
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Dec 31, 2017 - 02:42pm PT
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Hey Reilly, would you mind posting the link? i've looked thru some of the Atlanta Fed's site, but aren't sure which paper you're referring to.
Amen. I would insert a link to the Atlanta Fed site so y’all could read a paper about how
buying a house is a bad financial move for over half of Americans if I thought anyone
would read it. But I don’t so I won’t. Anybody who actually cares can easily find it.
thanks,
Chris
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Happiegrrrl2
Trad climber
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Dec 31, 2017 - 04:21pm PT
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I don't recall the last time I heard anyone, much less a ST typist, suggest home ownership was a good way to gain wealth. Actually - not true. I remember seeing ads all over the NYC subway and bus stop shelters touting how one could absolutely not go wrong in purchasing a home. That was back in the "you don't even need a job! But hurry and get in on this now, because values will ONLY rise!!!" scam. Was that around 2004? Maybe , the years begin to blur for me, when it comes to the small things.
Yes, a lot of people, even here, fell for that and discovered they'd been had, once they realized they were not alone in having taken on those obscene mortgages. But again - this was almost a decade ago.
So, what made you suggest that STians were advising otherwise, Reilly?
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cbburton
climber
Burbank, CA
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Dec 31, 2017 - 07:50pm PT
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many thanks.
Chris
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jstan
climber
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Dec 31, 2017 - 09:26pm PT
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Recurring expenses are what kill you. Recurring cost of insuring your car is more important than the cost of the car itself. Recurring costs, like rent, will never stop going up, and they come due every month. You buy a place in Ca and Ca not only limits those increases to 2% a year but allows the property to be inherited at your basis. You can't beat this, long term. In 1990 I considered going out to East Mojave and getting everything out to the horizon. But then realized I eventually would need access to doctors. So I settled for a place costing $174/mo and much closer to Locker.
I figure if I have got shoes I am good to go.
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JLP
Social climber
The internet
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Real estate is a great investment, if you can afford to make the investment. If you're too leveraged, too in a hurry to make money, have zero savy for location and appreciation, etc, then it might be a very bad investment. We have a few places that have doubled in value in the past ~15 yrs, almost paid off. One of them was flat to a loss for over 10 years, bit of a cash pit to keep it going, but we held anyway.
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Over time all CA real estate will prove to be a good investment. Just depends how much time and capital you have to beat the clock
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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People thought real estate was a good investment in 2005
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Happiegrrrl2
Trad climber
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The water hauling issue is a big consideration, and making the gamble more risky.
Does anyone have any idea as to whether the people are gaining any leverage in their fight to reinstate the right to be able to haul water? I haven't done much research yet, but remember when the "big change" happened and thought only "Well, it has just come to the time when municipal water was more feasible, and that is why the change is being put in place." Apparently that was shallow thinking.
A friend has told me that as it stands now, one may only haul water IF their place is grandfathered in with an existing water tank. Otherwise, you must pipe municipal or dig a well. One could foreseeably buy a parcel that had the existing tank, but......I am guessing that there would be very, very, few parcels "in the lower ranges" that would have a tank remaining on the land. My thinking is that if someone had, say, a parcel with an old homestead cabin with a tank, but the cabin has either been left to the elements and not inhabited, or taken down, with only the pad remaining, any tank on that plot is long gone, scavanged.
Someone also mentioned to me that they heard of a person bought an old Rec Cabin spot and "luckily the tank was there so could be grandfathered." I thought I caught a whiff of "...there was no tank one day, but when the inspector came, viola!" Or, maybe that is just the cogs rolling in my devious mind. But I did not ask. That sounds like a dangerous game, if one was apprehended in the act of trying to flimflam, but it also sounds like the kind of thing that would happen out here, the most difficult part being the locating and moving of a properly patina'd tank, especially with satellite imagery that might not have been updated in a while.
A few clicks the other day took me to some news links where people are upset and calling this elimination of water hauling to be a land grab, because for many, the elimination of hauling water has devalued their properties. Many had bought BITD as retirement home plots, or as investment, and the added cost to pipe in or dig a well is bad enough, but some cannot get pied in, and a well may not produce adequate or reliable water. They feel they cannot sell or develop, and that the law constitutes taking of land without compensation.
I will see what more I can find, but of course input from those wh might already have an idea is appreciated.
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Many had bought BITD as retirement home plots, or as investment, and the added cost to pipe in or dig a well is bad enough, but some cannot get pied in, and a well may not produce adequate or reliable water. They feel they cannot sell or develop, and that the law constitutes taking of land without compensation.
Unless you have unlimited resources, real estate should be purchased as a place to live. I have little sympathy for people who buy as an investment. Health and safety regulation is unlikely to be a taking, ever.
Does the ban on hauling water apply to city or county property? Sounds like a real game changer for all that property north of JT.
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