My neighbors just told me they are moving. They are in their 70's and can't afford to live in SoCal.

[quote]live in housecow and houseoaf central in Los Angeles.

Come again?

What expenses? They probably have no housing costs and property taxes are low compared to everywhere else, especially since they've been there so long. They're stupid to leave. They're probably making a forture on their sale and are just making up a sob story.

OP I love housecows

They’ll probably make pretty big bucks off of the sale of their home. Yes it’s sad they have to move but at least they’ll have some $!

I feel bad for those that sold just before the rush, then “rented for awhile” and were being choosy about buying again. A client this morning mentioned this and she’s an older realtor!

Unless you’re downgrading into a smaller condo, many of these people are too late and will burn through their savings. They’re priced out now.

The market is not going to fold anytime soon.

[Quote]property taxes are low compared to everywhere else, especially since they've been there so long.

What? Property taxes rise every year and that affects people on a fixed income, unless CA is different than the NE.

Perhaps they borrowed against their home equity? Or R2 is correct and they are just making up a story.

R6, California is different concerning property taxes.

For the most part, California property taxes are based on purchase price. There may be a 2% increase in that assessed price per year but that's not universal. There are also exceptions for older people.

They're lying to you, OP. California is only priced out for new arrivals.

R6, under California law (Prop 13), property valuations can only go up 1-2% per year. So the same $1M house might have a yearly tax bill of $3000 or $20,000, depending on when it was last sold.

Anyone that sells a house they bought in 1978 in order to rent, in this market… is not playing with a full deck.

It could be they ran out of savings. Selling and downsizing is a good idea, but only if they stay in California. They can transfer the prop tax assessment that they pay now to a new property via Prop 19. They also don't have to pay capital gains.

So a quaint mobile home in a cute central California town would be a good financial idea.

They still have to pay the difference in taxes if they buy a more expensive home, like if they sold their LA home for a million and bought a condo in SFO for 1.5 million, they would have to increase their taxes on the 500K part, thats like if they could get a condo for that price…

r13 But they wouldn't do that, because that defeats the purposed of what they are doing.

But, yes. You are correct about how Prop19 works.

sad.

The old couple may have been duped into getting a reverse mortgage in order to try to stay afloat. I know someone like that who was lucky enough to be able to sell his New York house for good money during the pandemic to a developer and had just enough left over after paying back the reverse mortgage with high interest to buy a (bigger, better) house in the south.

If their house has been paid off for years, they’ve had no housing costs (other than maintenance and taxes) for a long time. There’s no excuse for not saving money over that time and now being unable to “stay afloat”.

They are probably right wing assholes who belong in Texas or Florida

Not sorry. They have a house that will sell for a king's ransom. They will have great opportunities if they stay as the bright poster above has stated.

I lived in San Diego for 19 years, until I was 66, at which point I realized I couldn’t afford to retire and still continue to live there.

So I sold my condo, and moved to St. Pete, Florida, where I bought a great place only 10 minutes from the beach. St. Pete was far more affordable when I moved here 7 years ago.

No regrets.

Just make sure you don't say gay r20.

Affordable how, R20? What were the expenses that priced you out?

They just can’t stand living next to you anymore, OP.

[Quote] They just can’t stand living next to you anymore, OP.

They actually love me. I house sit while they are gone. They had a cat and dog.

OP / R24 What happened to the cat and the dog?

R17 Just because someone owns a house doesn't mean they're rolling in money. They're probably retired and thus on a fixed income. You can only keep staying where you live for so long before you're no longer able to afford the multitude of taxes.

There are many reasons why an elderly couple might not have a lot of money tucked away at their age. Maybe they never made much through life to begin with. Maybe they had a family and spent most of their money putting their kids through school. Maybe they got hit with medical bills. Bad investments. Maybe they gave a lot to charity. Or were keeping someone else afloat. Maybe a family member or "friend" conned them out of money.

You don't seem to have any experience with the real world or the majority of people who live in it. Or maybe you're just a cunt, R17.

Speaking of cunts, R18 sure does love to accuse people of being bigots while spewing his own bigotry about people he doesn't even know (just someone a stranger posted about on an anonymous forum).

OP not telling the whole story. He has been engaging in homo erotic with the old guy. The wife found out and filed for divorce. No big deal.

[Quote] What happened to the cat and the dog?

Cat was eaten by a coyote and the dog died of old age.

R28 Ok

I know pre covid the wife was having autoimmune issues and was in the hospital for a short time. It lingered for 6 months or so but she has been fine since then. They had to take $ out of their equity to pay the medical bills. They are/were self employed therapists.

[R24]: I realized that, even with taking Social Security, I would still have to continue working full-time to continue living there. And I wanted to stop working and retire.

Which I have been able to do.

And, folks, don’t think I left some liberal enclave, because San Diego is really a rightwing bastion, with many ex-military residents. It was no accident that Mitt Romney lived in La Jolla.

Enjoy your fascist dictatorship r20.

R30 Then why are you surprised they're broke?

[Quote] Then why are you surprised they're broke?

Where did I say that?

Having been born and raised in Santa Monica, with lots of relatives and friends still living in the Westside area, I know and talk to a lot of older people when visiting the area and understand-syhmpathize with some of the issues these longtime residents are dealing with. But in order to know whether to feel sad or not, I'd need to know where the couple you're talking about are moving to.

People think these folks are "making up a story" that they can't afford to live in Southern California? I guess you don't follow current events?

[Quote] I'd need to know where the couple you're talking about are moving to.

They will rent still in the SGV somewhere. I said is rent affordable? I didn't go any further.

Forgot to say they are staying in the same area SGV for now until their youngest daughter has her baby by the end of this year.

"Cat was eaten by a coyote and the dog died of old age."

That's what the OP told them and they bought it.