Home buying and home ownership, particularly in California, have buzzed across my radar several times today. 

Spook that I am, I am going to take that for a sign and write a little about it.

The first was this morning when I read an interesting piece in what used to be our favorite morning paper when we lived in Santa Ana - the Orange Country Register. It seems the University of California, Irvine released a study done on life in the OC, and the results surprised some folks.

DO I STAY OR DO I GO?

Half of the county residents are seriously thinking of splitting.

The same economic issue that’s prompting Lana Nunez to consider moving away from Orange County might help her pay for it.

“Housing prices,” Nunez said. “They’re just crazy.

“Crazy good if you own one,” she added. “And crazy bad, I guess, if you’re trying to buy.”

It’s a conundrum that might reshape life in Orange County, according to a survey released this month by UC Irvine.

The “UCI-OC Poll” conducted by UCI’s School of Social Ecology found fully half of all county residents (51%) are either currently thinking of moving away or have considered doing so at some point in the past four years. And among those contemplating a move, more than 3 of 4 (78%) told UCI pollsters that their No. 1 issue is the high cost of housing.

Housing costs are the biggest reason.

I remember what those then-new neighborhoods just off Culver Avenue in Irvine were going for in the mid-'80s (hubs was stationed at Tustin and I was at El Toro, both within a couple of miles), and when we look at Zillow now, for nostalgia sake, gasping incredulity at the price points for those same houses is our reaction.

Who makes that kind of money, especially when you consider the state income tax, property taxes and all that CA bleeds from you before you pay a mortgage.

It's astonishing.

...As a registered nurse who specializes in gerontology, Nunez said she and her husband, an Amazon delivery driver, earn a household income of more than $200,000 a year. It’s enough, she said, to cover the mortgage on what she described as a “very nice” two-bedroom, two-bath condominium in Santa Ana.

“We can get by just fine. We’re not struggling,” Nunez said.

“But we can’t get ahead here, either,” she added. “Not like you’d think, given the money we make.”

Long-term savings? Child care, when and if they have kids? Travel? All of that, Nunez said, would strain their finances given the size of their current mortgage.

It’s why the idea of selling the condo, which is worth about $830,000, and relocating to Spokane, Washington – where one of her sisters and both of her husband’s parents live – is, according to Nunez, “a strong possibility.”

The median price for a home sold in Orange County in June was about $1.21 million, according to real estate information provider CoreLogic. That’s about three times more than the Spokane median home sale price of $381,000 recorded by a different real estate company, Zillow.

They don't even own a detached, single-family house - it's a condo that's "worth" almost a million dollars. Both of them are working; she's in a professional job, and for a humble abode in a multi-person unit dwelling, they are living for their mortgage. That's their life, but they own something.

A Xweet this morning reinforced that.

BREAKING: An annual income of at least $200,000 is now needed to afford a typical home in 17 major metro areas in the US.

The most expensive area is San Jose, California where a household would need to make $587,000 per year to afford the average home.

The median home sale… pic.twitter.com/uVH1pDBwKI

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) August 16, 2024

As if the sheer numbers weren't difficult enough, events are piling on potential homebuyers through legislation, thanks to the recent real estate settlement. Home buyers now must sign at least three-month contracts with their agents and are responsible for the buyer's fees if they choose to purchase a property.

...Starting on Aug. 13, most Southern California home shoppers will need to sign contracts with agents to view properties for sale, binding them to paying their own commissions if they can’t get a seller to cover it.

And home sellers will be banned from advertising how much they’re willing to pay buyers’ agents in a multiple listing service, or MLS.

Q: How will it really work? How will buyer’s agents get paid?

A: Technically, buyer’s will be responsible for paying their own commissions, and sellers will be responsible for paying theirs.

But buyers can (and likely will) request in their purchase offers that sellers pay the buyer’s commissions, agents say.

“The residential purchase agreement can be used to negotiate compensation from the seller to the buyer’s broker,” a Q&A from the California Association of Realtors’ legal team said. “The maximum amount that can be requested from the seller is the amount that buyer agreed to pay the buyer’s broker in the Buyer Representation and Broker Compensation Agreement.”

If a seller declines to pay the full amount specified in the buyer’s contract, the buyer will have to pay the balance — or consider buying a different home.

Agents already are urging sellers to pay “concessions” to cover buyers’ commissions, saying they’re needed if home shoppers are to consider their homes.

Could it get any more confusing or expensive?

Probably. 

But it's gonna get a lot easier and so much less expensive for some people.

“All applicants must be California residents.”

It’s really happening.

Gavin Newsom is giving illegal immigrants money to buy homes in California.

I was born and raised in California, and I’ve never owned a home.

People who came here illegally can now own a home in California… pic.twitter.com/oZdTQT76DT

— Michael Oxford - AKA The Santa Cruz Mountain Goat (@SCMountainGoat) April 8, 2024

Jazz wrote about this unbelievable abomination earlier, and he said:

...I don't know about you, but the first question that came to my mind when I read about this scheme was how all of the current, legal homeowners in the state might feel about it. What about all of the people who had to scrimp and save for years to come up with a down payment on a home in the state with some of the most expensive housing in the country? I'm fairly sure that nobody offered them a "loan" worth 20% of the home's value and told them that wouldn't need to make any payments against that loan.

You could use the phrase "kick in the teeth." But I don't think it begins to describe what this is, this "Dream for All" giveaway to the illegal among them.

...The program will provide a loan of up to 20% of the purchase price of a home or a maximum amount of up to $150,000. The money can be used to help finance a down payment, closing costs or a first-time mortgage.

For example, if you bought a $500,000 home, you’d receive 20%, or $100,000, to help with your down payment and closing costs.

If you sell the home in the future, you’ll be required to pay back the 20% loan, plus 20% of the home’s appreciation.

How about CA residents flogging their guts out just to make do to pay for their little slice of the Golden State and their American dream, like the couple in the story? Or scraping together a down payment living in some hellhole apartment?

Where's the justice for the folks who tread water and stay afloat - never drowning but never wading ashore either?

...But being satisfied with life in Orange County, and being able to pay for it, are two different things. That’s true for people struggling with employment or income, and for some who make a living that would be considered more than adequate in most of the country.

It's such a perversion of the dreaming we all have a right to and most of us work hard for.

“Once again, California has chosen to prioritize illegal immigration and fiscal irresponsibility over the needs of its citizens, all while facing a $60 billion deficit that will ultimately be passed onto taxpayers,” San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmondhttps://t.co/m2eKs9caAf

— Supervisor Jim Desmond (@jim_desmond) August 20, 2024

I can't imagine why anyone would want to leave.