Friday, April 28, 2006

Why am I so pissed off?

Because I can't get a house in Sacramento. Ever.

Sure, there are houses in the "lower-class" neighborhoods. My buddy got one a year ago. He's had people jump his fence. He's had people try to steal his car (in broad daylight, in the gated driveway). He's had a drunk driver smash through his fence. This is within a six month period.

Average home price for Sacramento is $480,000. - MLS statistics

Average salary for Sacramento is $38,000. - IRS statistics

So the Price to Income ratio for a normal home is 12.6.

Conventional wisdom for the last 30 years has recommended a Price to Income ratio between 3 and 4.

My coworker moved from Sacramento to Houston. He sold his house and got a job there. He fixes things, like cars and conveyors. He's not going house-hunting. He's going mansion-hunting.

What am I doing here again?

I'm moving to Kansas or Alaska. Screw California.

2 comments:

Don said...

Some people prefer not to be subjected to things like unbearable humidity, or hurricanes ascending from the Gulf of Mexico. We, Californians, like our disasters spread out over time. I'll take an earthquake any day over a tidal surge.

Cryptobadger said...

Uh, DON, YOU'RE IN THE BAY AREA. So not only are you sitting on a fault, but you're in Tsunami range...

I need to build an underground compound on the most tectonically inert location in the US. So, like, in Kansas, but 100m underground. But on a hill, so I don't get flooded. With a fiberoptic pipe. And Patriot missiles and Phalanx gun platforms surrounding it.

All of which, ironically, would cost less than a 3 bedroom 2 bath single family home in Sacramento.

Man, this isn't working. I'm going to have to move to Space.