One of the topics of conversation between John & I centers around the difference in the real estate market between SoCal and SJ. We've talked about things like this during our many chats, but something really hit me tonight as I was home, catching up on the week's TV that I had taped.
The Adam Carolla Project is a new show on TLC, starring Adam Carolla (duh!) He goes to find a house to renovate in 13 weeks; he used to be a carpenter before he was a comedian. The first episode has him driving around looking for a house with his buddy's mom, a real estate agent. The first house they show him going into on camera was going for $800k US. 1100 sq ft. With paper-thin doors between bedrooms.
The second house they were in featured a giant steel billboard right at the side of the "front yard", if you can call it that. This was one ugly house. Ugly green dirty carpet. The backyard was a slab of cement. All that could be yours for the $400k US range.
The house he eventually bought to restore was his childhood home. He paid his Dad $739k for it. They are basically ripping it down to the studs and rebuilding, because it's all crap. It appears to have a nice chunk of land, but the house was crap.
It didn't really hit me, the full magnitude of what John was talking about, until I actually saw these two houses on TV and heard how much their asking prices were. I asked him how much a house like mine (3 years old, 1200 sq ft not including full basement), with this much land (0.44 acres) would cost in SoCal. He lives in a more swanky, upscale neighborhood, so he guesstimates $900k Canadian. $900k!!! This blows my mind. I won't say here what I paid for my house, but it started with a 1.
Unbelievable.
This weekend is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. I am thankful for a great many things, one of which is to be fortunate enough to own this house. Where I have a back and front yard, lots of room, a new lawn, and for what I now realize is a very comfortable price. I am very fortunate, and for that I give thanks.
3 comments:
John is being conservative on the house price. A co-worker has an 1,100 sq ft house near John's apartment and it was recently appraised for roughly $1m Canadian. That is on a 2,000 sq ft lot and without a basement. With nearly half an acre your house would probably fetch $1.2m Canadian.
I am thankful for the wonders of a beautiful Canadian girlfriend. Enjoy your day off.
The cost of living in Saint John is very reasonable. When people complain about their rent/mortgage, I always remind them of my friend Ranka who's bachelor apartment in downtown Toronto is is more than my parent's mortgage.
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