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>In the central valley of California, a house cost $130k in 1993 and today sells for $400k Holy shiz, is California real estate really that cheap? 400K is a v

>In the central valley of California, a house cost $130k in 1993 and today sells for $400k Holy shiz, is California real estate really that cheap? 400K is a very basic house in the outskirts of a city in Austria(Europe), and tech jobs here pay 1/4 of what you can make in California. I feel we're being scammed over here with housing and wages.

deleted 5y ago
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axiolite 5y ago
> is California real estate really that cheap? California is bigger than most European countries... As with them, some remote areas are much cheaper than others. The Central Valley is the most remote and depressed part of the state, used overwhelmingly for farming.
sneak 5y ago
The central valley isn't really "on the outskirts of the city" in the American sense. It's a lot of farmland.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
namecheapTA 5y ago
If houses are so expensive vs labor, you could always buy some land and have one built? The central valley city I was talking about is Tracy, CA. Without traffic, it's takes 1 hour driving to get to the tech companies. Monday to Friday at rush hour it would take 2 hours. 90 minutes offpeak at 9am instead of 7am. Virtually zero tech workers are willing to make that drive. Also, quality of life in Tracy is pretty poor. Property crime is pretty big. Virtually nothing for children to do. Young adults go to the same 5-6 average restaurants and that's it. I'd much prefer to live in a town near a nice city in Austria.
- aeyes 5y ago
  Labor is expensive though. It's just that your income in relation to labor cost is relatively low due to high taxes, health insurance, pension fund and so on. Including your employers payments you go home with maybe 40% of what the company pays for your work. Building even a simple new home will set you back at least 300k.
  - namecheapTA 5y ago
    I guess quit your job for a year and build your own home! Maybe get into the home building business altogether.
    - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
      >I guess quit your job for a year and build your own home! Who can build a house in a year by himself? Even with a group of skilled professionals it can take longer. Plus you'll be on zero income for a whole year. >Maybe get into the home building business altogether. Easier said than done. In Europe this is a credentialized profession so for insurance purposes not everyone can just roll up their sleeves anymore and just start building houses like it's 1886.
- ascar 5y ago
  Building houses in Germany (and Austria should be the same) is pretty expensive. Houses here are built to last 100+ years out of mostly stone-based materials with expensive wiring, insulation and heating. Wooden houses with electrical HVAC taking care of cooling and heating is basically non existant here. Most houses don't even have an HVAC system, but just a heating system (i.e. no ventilation, no cooling). The sturdy way to build immensely drives up costs for material and labor.
  - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
    The high real estate prices Germany have more to do with the price of land/area, bureaucracy around building and nimbyism rather than material costs and labor.
johnnyanmac 5y ago
If you're willing to basically live in the boonies, yes. But you're not finding housing in or around the cities for less than a million in california. the median house in my area (after a skim on Zillow) is 800k and I'm a good hour north of downtown Los Angeles. Move another 30 minutes north (pretty much in literal desert) and housing is more around these numbers of 400-500k. But who knows? With WFH being more accepted I can see some less city oriented folk moving out to those areas and gentrifying it. It may be desert, but it still has everything you'd want out of a neighborhood outside of entertainment.
Melatonic 5y ago
You do not want to live in the central valley - that is why it is so cheap
ummonk 5y ago
The central valley isn't where the tech jobs are, unless you're working remote. In actual tech cities a basic house would be a million or more USD.
asdff 5y ago
If you think that's a good deal you should see what $500k buys you in the rust belt: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/14412-Larchmere-Blvd-Shaker-Heights-OH-44120/33683414_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/14412-Larchmere-Blvd-Shak...

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axiolite 5y ago

> is California real estate really that cheap? California is bigger than most European countries... As with them, some remote areas are much cheaper than others. The Central Valley is the most remote and depressed part of the state, used overwhelmingly for farming.

sneak 5y ago

The central valley isn't really "on the outskirts of the city" in the American sense. It's a lot of farmland.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

namecheapTA 5y ago

If houses are so expensive vs labor, you could always buy some land and have one built? The central valley city I was talking about is Tracy, CA. Without traffic, it's takes 1 hour driving to get to the tech companies. Monday to Friday at rush hour it would take 2 hours. 90 minutes offpeak at 9am instead of 7am. Virtually zero tech workers are willing to make that drive. Also, quality of life in Tracy is pretty poor. Property crime is pretty big. Virtually nothing for children to do. Young adults go to the same 5-6 average restaurants and that's it. I'd much prefer to live in a town near a nice city in Austria.

aeyes 5y ago
Labor is expensive though. It's just that your income in relation to labor cost is relatively low due to high taxes, health insurance, pension fund and so on. Including your employers payments you go home with maybe 40% of what the company pays for your work. Building even a simple new home will set you back at least 300k.
- namecheapTA 5y ago
  I guess quit your job for a year and build your own home! Maybe get into the home building business altogether.
  - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
    >I guess quit your job for a year and build your own home! Who can build a house in a year by himself? Even with a group of skilled professionals it can take longer. Plus you'll be on zero income for a whole year. >Maybe get into the home building business altogether. Easier said than done. In Europe this is a credentialized profession so for insurance purposes not everyone can just roll up their sleeves anymore and just start building houses like it's 1886.
ascar 5y ago
Building houses in Germany (and Austria should be the same) is pretty expensive. Houses here are built to last 100+ years out of mostly stone-based materials with expensive wiring, insulation and heating. Wooden houses with electrical HVAC taking care of cooling and heating is basically non existant here. Most houses don't even have an HVAC system, but just a heating system (i.e. no ventilation, no cooling). The sturdy way to build immensely drives up costs for material and labor.
- ChuckNorris89 5y ago
  The high real estate prices Germany have more to do with the price of land/area, bureaucracy around building and nimbyism rather than material costs and labor.

johnnyanmac 5y ago

If you're willing to basically live in the boonies, yes. But you're not finding housing in or around the cities for less than a million in california. the median house in my area (after a skim on Zillow) is 800k and I'm a good hour north of downtown Los Angeles. Move another 30 minutes north (pretty much in literal desert) and housing is more around these numbers of 400-500k. But who knows? With WFH being more accepted I can see some less city oriented folk moving out to those areas and gentrifying it. It may be desert, but it still has everything you'd want out of a neighborhood outside of entertainment.

Melatonic 5y ago

You do not want to live in the central valley - that is why it is so cheap

ummonk 5y ago

The central valley isn't where the tech jobs are, unless you're working remote. In actual tech cities a basic house would be a million or more USD.

asdff 5y ago

If you think that's a good deal you should see what $500k buys you in the rust belt: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/14412-Larchmere-Blvd-Shaker-Heights-OH-44120/33683414_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/14412-Larchmere-Blvd-Shak...