Real Estate Sticker Shock
So how much does it cost to live on the bluff overlooking Cabrillo these days? I was conversing with an artist friend of mine who has to sell her home to finance her and her husband's retirement after United Airlines razed his pension. Well, they are looking to sell at $2.5 million. In Pedro. I'm not sure if that's a record for our little burg, but it's definitely a sign of the times.
6 Comments:
More like raped his pension. Fuck.
Gah. Soon all the airlines will go under and the government will have to take over passenger routes, then we'll have a beautiful Aeroflot type of setup.
But you know, it is the government, so I'm sure they'll have our best interests at heart and you'll still be able to fly from Los Angeles to New York for, oh, $6,000 or so. One way.
2.5 million? Damn, what kind of joint is that? I thought the 4plex at the very end of Carolina going for a hair over a million was the high end of the chart. Guess that was naive, but a guy can hope.
And to think we could have bought the house we rent for a mere 350 grand four years ago. Though I still think whoever our landlord eventually sells the place to for $900k is a sucker. Well, maybe they'll have enough money left over to erect a ten foot high concrete wall to muffle the noise from the four way stop...
I think the sale price is all about the location. It's literally on the bluff, right at the edge of the cliff, and was built in 1906. I haven't been to the house myself, but I've heard it's beautiful. Knowing the owners, it's probably in amazing shape, as well. As much as I hate to see homes selling at prices like this in Pedro, I'm at least glad that the money's going to really help someone in a situation that just sucks.
Also on the high cost of living front, I got a tour of an apartment in the in-the-process-of-restoration building on 8th and Pacific. It's a huge apartment and it's going at $1 a square foot, $2,500 a month. It's most of the 2nd floor of the building, and has all kinds of features like direct freight elevator access.
Speaking of re-development of commercial real estate, it looks like nothing is moving and all of the buildings in downtown are being held tightly, presuming further profits for their owners. So in other words, there is currently a huge demand for commercial property in downtown Pedro, and no sellers, which means prices are going to continue to rise. A commercial real estate buddy of mine has dozens of clients looking to buy, and he's got nothing to offer them. He's never seen anything like it.
Burst, bubble, burst.
Don't we all wish... All of the folks that I talk to who know something about real estate are saying that the way the market looks, it won't burst, it will just deflate a little. In other words, even when it cools, it doesn't look like it will collapse, there's just too much demand out there and too many people trying to buy quickly right now. And of course it creates a vicious cycle where everyone is holding, and everyone is trying to buy in before it gets worse...
Which just goes to show that conventional "wisdom" is just as prone to wishful thinking as any individual is. And how contagious irrational exuberance really is. "It can't crash. It just...can't."
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