When we moved to CA, it was a huge shock. I had sworn off CA when I left in 1999. R and I came to visit months before I got a job offer here and I remember saying, "it is a nice place to visit occasionally, but I would hate to live here." This post has little to do with California or the real estate market here. It has more to do with professors, their peers, their salary, and housing prices generally.
Professors face an interesting problem in that they don't make enough to live near people with similar standards, interests, and goals as they have. Most of us have been in more school than almost everyone, we thrive on ideas, and we have a unique subculture. Maybe I am a snob, but I like living near people who are thinkers - analytical types. This is not to say that I am an education snob. One of the most amazing people that I ever met was a water well worker. He prided himself on thinking, but had little education. He taught himself physics and was well versed in scripture. He was a renaissance man who commanded respect, but was extremely humble. How I wish that I could be like him. I digress...
In my mind I see professors and their peers in Old Victorian houses, walking with briefcases to work, having summer parties, talking about the books that they read - you know, very aristocratic. I think of "Crossing To Safety" by Wallace Stegner. I see bowties, tweed jackets, coduroy trousers, a house with a library and a claw-foot bathtub. However unrealistic, this is my vision of an academic lifestyle.
On housing... We were warned about our house before we bought it that a drug dealer lived next door. We had looked all over the area and couldn't find anything in our price range that would put us where we wanted to be. We bought a house near my sister (which has been great), on the edge of a not so nice neighborhood, with a great view, next to a drug dealer, at a price that we could afford (if $190K is affordable). It was likely the cheapest house we looked at and an undoubtedly good deal. We remodeled the house and it is nice... inside. The problem is that my neighbors aren't like us, and it is difficult to find comfort here (besides my wonderful sister and her family). It is awkward to get home from school and try to share an experience from work or some useful insight on regulatory strategies with my nice neighbor when she never graduated high school, has 25 teeth, and spends her day caring for her children and grandchildren (all of the same age - more on that upon request). Most of my neighbors struggle to get their children through high school, let alone college. Needless to say, we share little common ground.
We have been looking for a housing upgrade. The places where we want to live start around $350k. Those aren't all that big, and they are still 30 miles away from my school. I could barely make that monthly mortgage payment even with our very substantial down payment. The houses that are cheaper in those nice areas have been snatched up by investors who can pay cash and ask no questions. I am the analytical type - always trying to calculate the best move, but slow to decide. Each time I calculate, I end up with the same conclusion - Strong Sad is adopted.
Maybe all of this isn't true outside of major metropolitan areas, but it is true for me, and that is all that matters right now.
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5 comments:
Every time I think about the housing market here, I get depressed. I too wish that you could live in a home with a library and claw-foot tub.
Thanks for the reference to Strong Bad; I love that guy! So Dang Funny!!!!
JT writes: "more on that upon request."
I say: "Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter."
Our nice neighbor lady had a child, Raymond, who grew up to take care of her. He allows her to live with him in exchange for babysitting, cleaning and most domestic duties. His wife is there too, but works long shifts. Sometime before the mother moved in, her husband died and she subsequently shacked up with someone... resulting in a child who is younger than her grandchildren. (You thought this only happend in mormon families - parents with children younger than their grandchildren).
I forgot to mention that her oldest grandchild (that lives in the same house) is ~12. The lady's daughter is not even 2. Her child is the youngest in the household.
JT I remember the days you would say "California is a nice place to live but I wouldn't want to live there." After I "visited" I really wanted to move back but now I'm glad I did not. Remember home ownership has dramatically changed from even 3 years ago. There's no harm in renting, or take your time in upgrading on houses. It's a good time to be analytical. Even though interest rates will go up remember that housing values are still going to fall (some reports claim another 20% market decrease in the next year.) I'm excited to see you doing so well!
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