Real Estate Shocker

[Amber in SJ]

First a disclaimer:  This is not meant to come across a braggy or in any way offensive.  I am just expressing my shock.

We bought our first and only house here in CA in the Bay Area in 1997, on a little cul-de-sac.  It was the first time our house had been sold other than to the original owners in 1972 when our area was changed from orchards to residential.  Our house is a 3/2, 1168 sq, on a decent for our area lot (6880 sq ft)

Two months ago the elderly couple who were the original owners of the house next door sold their house for $800K to a realtor.  I was in shock.  Nothing in that house had been upgraded since the 70s.  Shag carpet, popcorn ceiling, crackle finish mirror paneling, rock fireplace, the whole disco shebang :)  Their lot is significantly smaller than ours, but their house is bigger because of the 2nd story (4/2,  2256 sqft)

A construction crew of some kind showed up everyday for three weeks and the house went on the market Saturday for $1.12 Million.  I walked through the open house on Saturday.  The walls were freshly painted, popcorn ceiling gone, kitchen cabinets painted, appliances replaced with the most basic type, shag carpet & linoleum ripped out & replaced with cheap laminate and the single pane windows were replaced with low-end double paned. I happen to know their plumbing is still galvanized not copper. Nothing high end, no granite or quartz counters, no fancy master bedroom suite, no walk in closets, no fancy tile, no gourmet kitchen, no fancy windows or lighting, literally nothing I would expect to find in a million dollar house.  

When the realtor (who is also the owner now) came by during the open house Dh went out & chatted him up and said he has multiple offers, several over the asking price.  He said in the last 6 months the longest he has had a house on the market is 11 days.

I don't even know what is going on in the economy right now that this could make any sense at all.  It actually gives me stress because I think this is not sustainable and a big correction must be coming.

What would you expect in a million dollar home?  What kind of property or amenities would you consider worth a million dollars?  If you went dream shopping for a million dollar home what would it be like?

Amber in SJ

[maize]

Locationlocationlocation.

And yeah it is insane. You are fortunate to have bought into the market when you did.

[rebcoola]

Location!!  Not sure where you are but we just sold my Grandmother's house for her estate.  It was similar 3/2 ranch last updated in the 80's it sold for 2.2 and will be torn down and rebuilt.  

[Amber in SJ]

I know that location, location, location is what people say, and I like our little neighborhood, but it is not the nice/ fancy part of town.  The school district is terrible (one of the many reason we homeschool.) We couldn't afford in the good school districts like Cupertino or Santa Clara.  There is a 4 lane expressway on the other side of the sound wall in my back yard.  I just can't wrap my head around it.

My adult children will never be able to live near us.

Amber in SJ

[Amber in SJ]

1 minute ago, Arctic Mama said:

The lot size is king even in a good area.  If you’re in a desirable Bay Area suburb on a cul de sac with decent land?  Just keep it clean and don’t start a meth lab and you’re golden.

 

Ha!  So true.  And keep an eye on your neighbors so the renters don't turn it into a grow house and accidentally burn it to the ground.  Which is what happened on one of the cul-de-sacs 2 blocks away across the street from our Elementary school.  

[Arcadia]

These two recently sold condominium homes are in my complex. I am near Levi’s Stadium and housing prices are crazy in the entire SF Bay Area (including Fremont, Newark, Milpitas).  We looked at homes all the way to Mountain House but that’s too rural. Even Dublin is too rural as I don’t drive and the BART is not as nice and more scary compared to the VTA light rail. (ETA: my kids have stated that they prefer not to drive when they are adults)

Sold in June 2018 

Last Sold Price $1,033,888

2 Beds, 2 Baths, 1,148 Sq. Ft., $901 / Sq. Ft.

 

Sold in July 2018

Last Sold Price, $1,288,888

2 Beds, 2 Baths, 1,280 Sq. Ft., $1007 / Sq. Ft.

Edited September 10, 2018 by Arcadia

[SKL]

Yeah, it's almost totally dependent on where you are.  I know rich people who live in a tiny (to me) townhouse - their kids sleep in the living room - and it is probably a million dollar home, though I wouldn't ever ask.  ?  Meanwhile, mine in a midwestern suburb (with excellent school ratings, close to universities and amenities) - 6 bedrooms and 4 full baths + a nice yard - appraises for roughly a quarter of a million.  And I'm good with that, since I have no plans to sell.  ?

[katilac]

Million-dollar homes ain't what they used to be. That doesn't sound high to me for a 2,256 sq ft house in California. 

We've had some houses that size or a bit smaller sell in our very blue-collar neighborhood in the deep south for $200,000+. Very casual, bad school district, no HOA - when you drive, you are pausing frequently for basketball games and weaving your way around cars parked on both sides of the street. I mean, I like it, but it's not winning that classiest neighborhood award any time soon, lol. 

Granite counters and other high-end upgrades don't pay off for the seller. Most people who want that stuff want to pick it out, to the extent that I know more than one person who has pulled out granite counters so they could put in . . . granite counters. 

Edited September 10, 2018 by katilac

[Arcadia]

By the way, the housing market in downtown Seattle and Bellevue is just as bad or worse than here. We have a relocation opportunity and the real estate cost (including property tax) is scary as there is no Prop 13 in Washington state.

We bought in 2005 here so our property tax bill with all the bond measures included is less than $6k annual.

[Farrar]

A million dollar home in a half decent part of the Bay Area? I'd expect a modest house, honestly, just from everything I hear.

A million dollar home around me? I'd expect a larger home in a better neighborhood with some remodeling or possibly a really crazy good home in a decent neighborhood that hasn't been updated in decades or longer, but not a mansion. Our home is pretty modest - a rowhouse - but with a good city location. It's worth well over half a million. 

[marbel]

Yeah, the Bay Area really doesn't compare with any other place in the US right now that I can think of.  Maybe Manhattan?  

I mostly great up in San Jose and spent my high school years in a house my parents bought for about $40,000 in 1970. The house is nothing special, tiny kitchen, only 2 bathrooms, about 2200 sq ft, on a tiny, mostly useless lot (because much of it is hillside). When I lived there the school district was considered pretty horrible. It was a little bit up in the hills so we had spectacular views of the valley when we first moved in, but over time trees grew and when we left in 1998 the view was pretty obstructed.  Anyway, from time to time I look it up on Zillow; it's currently estimated at $1.1million.

Edited September 11, 2018 by marbel

[Garga]

Dag, girl.  Sell that house and move to the house up the road from me:  $154,000.  You can put your money into savings (ETA: I mean investments) and pretty much retire.  Get a nice low pressure job and call it a day.

?

Edited September 10, 2018 by Garga

[Rachel]

12 minutes ago, Garga said:

Dag, girl.  Sell that house and move to the house up the road from me:  $154,000.  You can put your money into savings and pretty much retire.  Get a nice low pressure job and call it a day.

?

Agreed! Move to the middle of the country, invest the proceeds from the sale of the house. 

I’m my area a million dollar house is really nice. If it’s more toward the center of town it may not be big but it has high end finishes. On the outskirts or in the suburbs it would likely be big, have nice finishes, and have some land. 

[maize]

1 hour ago, Amber in SJ said:

 

My adult children will never be able to live near us.

Amber in SJ

 

Take Garga's advice.

[maize]

We left California because we knew we would never be able to buy.

[gardenmom5]

yeah - location location location.   I'm in one of those locations.  a year ago, a house on my street sold for $805K.  no view,  sits behind another house.  they just tore it down (sure they would have done it earlier, but permits take a lot of time around here. - and a year from design to breaking ground is not uncommon.)    dh jokes - our house is a tear down.  (considering what they're now building on our street.)

[gardenmom5]

keep in mind - you have to consider the job market where you live.  that is the biggest driver of housing prices.  then availability of land.  our county gov't created an 'urban growth boundary' - anything outside of it is pretty much closed to development.  so, everything is being forced into a much smaller geographical area.   and we have very high paying tech jobs who can afford to pay more - that drives up the costs.   it also drives the flip junk houses market.

plus - we are now dealing with the chinese who no longer buy in vancouver bc - so they're buying here.  (vancouver natives were so tired of not being able to afford to buy a house - regulations were passed that non-citizens had to pay a premium on top of the house price.  - so they've come south to the seattle area.  I understand why they want their money out of china - but it does drive up prices elsewhere.   vancouver has gotten so dense - the last time I was there were places I felt positively claustrophobic.)  

 

eta: I did have fun with one flipper.  we were looking at the house for dd - I had to point out to them, - you are marketing to the tech sector - and you're expecting them to use wireless . . . . wireless isn't fast enough for a techie.   when dd bought her house - before she moved it, she had cat6 installed so it could handle the speed she needed for her job.

Edited September 10, 2018 by gardenmom5

[Guest]

Quote

on't even know what is going on in the economy right now that this could make any sense at all.  It actually gives me stress because I think this is not sustainable and a big correction must be coming.

I agree it doesn’t make sense. I agree a correction is coming.

when we sold our previous house at the top of the market before the bubble burst, sales in desirable locations were exactly like this. Ugly sponge paint bathrooms, kitchens and bathrooms due for a gut job, brass everwhere, hideous carpet - none of it mattered. Houses sold in days with atrocious reno needs at top dollar. It was why I petitioned dh to sell that house and why I never regretted that move. It was perfect timing. 

[rebcoola]

My area https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/58394208_zpid/700000-_price/2820-_mp/globalrelevanceex_sort/46.464112,-119.115487,46.197656,-119.55082_rect/10_zm/

My Grandma's area https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/19621637_zpid/700000-_price/2820-_mp/globalrelevanceex_sort/37.343692,-122.061842,37.341295,-122.065243_rect/17_zm/0_mmm/1_rs/

[lavender's green]

DH's California colleagues talk about houses listed as "bulldozer ready" that cost a half million. When we had the option to move within the company, we chose the best COL area (within the country). It's not for everyone, though. It's hardly a hopping area.

A million dollar house here would give you 5,000+ square feet, all the fancy upgrades, maybe a pool, and possibly some lakefront acreage. 

 

[gardenmom5]

4 hours ago, Arcadia said:

By the way, the housing market in downtown Seattle and Bellevue is just as bad or worse than here. We have a relocation opportunity and the real estate cost (including property tax) is scary as there is no Prop 13 in Washington state.

We bought in 2005 here so our property tax bill with all the bond measures included is less than $6k annual.

Has been for several years.  Based on median price vs last year median price.  Time on market, price above list. Number of offers..  .. .

My friend is looking forward to selling her 40 yo condo next year.   Her "everything is original" neighbor just sold for $750k. 

And you should be afraid of taxes here.  Sound transit shamelessly lied to get a tax hike raised.

[Scarlett]

6 hours ago, Amber in SJ said:

First a disclaimer:  This is not meant to come across a braggy or in any way offensive.  I am just expressing my shock.

We bought our first and only house here in CA in the Bay Area in 1997, on a little cul-de-sac.  It was the first time our house had been sold other than to the original owners in 1972 when our area was changed from orchards to residential.  Our house is a 3/2, 1168 sq, on a decent for our area lot (6880 sq ft)

Two months ago the elderly couple who were the original owners of the house next door sold their house for $800K to a realtor.  I was in shock.  Nothing in that house had been upgraded since the 70s.  Shag carpet, popcorn ceiling, crackle finish mirror paneling, rock fireplace, the whole disco shebang ? Their lot is significantly smaller than ours, but their house is bigger because of the 2nd story (4/2,  2256 sqft)

A construction crew of some kind showed up everyday for three weeks and the house went on the market Saturday for $1.12 Million.  I walked through the open house on Saturday.  The walls were freshly painted, popcorn ceiling gone, kitchen cabinets painted, appliances replaced with the most basic type, shag carpet & linoleum ripped out & replaced with cheap laminate and the single pane windows were replaced with low-end double paned. I happen to know their plumbing is still galvanized not copper. Nothing high end, no granite or quartz counters, no fancy master bedroom suite, no walk in closets, no fancy tile, no gourmet kitchen, no fancy windows or lighting, literally nothing I would expect to find in a million dollar house.  

When the realtor (who is also the owner now) came by during the open house Dh went out & chatted him up and said he has multiple offers, several over the asking price.  He said in the last 6 months the longest he has had a house on the market is 11 days.

I don't even know what is going on in the economy right now that this could make any sense at all.  It actually gives me stress because I think this is not sustainable and a big correction must be coming.

What would you expect in a million dollar home?  What kind of property or amenities would you consider worth a million dollars?  If you went dream shopping for a million dollar home what would it be like?

Amber in SJ

Ha.  I would be selling my house and moving. Well, probably not if that was my 'home'.  I guess I would stay put and enjoy the fact that I had a million dollar house that I didn't pay a million dollars for.  

What did you pay for your home in 97 if you don't mind saying.

Oh and a million dollar house here....well, there is currently for sale in my county  a 20 acre place with a 8K sf house that belongs to an attorney from the city.  It is listed for $800,000.  

[JenneinCA]

I live in the Bay Area too.  

We tried moving to somewhere with a better housing cost.  Metro Phoenix was great for that.  We had a brand new 2000+ sq ft house with a pool and it backed up on a green belt.  It was our dream house.  But then the layoff happened and there just wasn’t a job that met his needs in the area.  He took a 35% pay cut so we could stay in that house because it was half an hour from my parents and family was important.  Geek jobs just don’t pay as well there.  And then a few years later it was relocate or be unemployed and we chose to relocate.  We couldn’t take the pay cut a second time with college costs on the horizon.

It is all great to say move for cheap housing but we need a job too.  Whatever else you might say about the Bay Area, geek jobs are here. And so we stay at least until the kids are out of college and we aren’t facing those costs and trying to stay afloat.

 

 

[gardenmom5]

7 minutes ago, JenneinCA said:

I live in the Bay Area too.  

We tried moving to somewhere with a better housing cost.  Metro Phoenix was great for that.  We had a brand new 2000+ sq ft house with a pool and it backed up on a green belt.  It was our dream house.  But then the layoff happened and there just wasn’t a job that met his needs in the area.  He took a 35% pay cut so we could stay in that house because it was half an hour from my parents and family was important.  Geek jobs just don’t pay as well there.  And then a few years later it was relocate or be unemployed and we chose to relocate.  We couldn’t take the pay cut a second time with college costs on the horizon.

It is all great to say move for cheap housing but we need a job too.  Whatever else you might say about the Bay Area, geek jobs are here. And so we stay at least until the kids are out of college and we aren’t facing those costs and trying to stay afloat.

it always gets me when people say "move somewhere cheaper" . . . - you go where the jobs are.   

we're also insane house prices, and geeksRus for jobs.

while telecommuting gets touted  by some  - you have to be a certain level/job to even think that as a legit option.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

it always gets me when people say "move somewhere cheaper" . . . - you go where the jobs are.   

we're also insane house prices, and geeksRus for jobs.

while telecommuting gets touted  by some  - you have to be a certain level/job to even think that as a legit option.

Yeah, and not just that - there are other reasons to want to stay where one lives. My friend in Louisiana has said that before, “Y’all could sell your house in Maryland and live like KINGS here.” Well, I guess, but I don’t want to move to LA. I complain about Maryland some but we have great public libraries, first-rate medical care available, beautiful public parks, great schools, a wonderful mix of geological features. And we have the best steamed crabs! And a great-looking state flag! ? And this is where our relatives live. This is where my ancestors are buried, even. I’m very attached. 

[Crimson Wife]

If you had told me when I was a kid that I'd be living in a house worth a million dollars when I was 41, I'd have expected something a LOT nicer than what we have. We couldn't afford to buy it if we had to pay current market value, which is crazy since we've owned it fewer than 9 years. If we ever leave the Bay Area, we're renting it out instead of selling because that's the only way we could ever afford to move back should we have the desire to.

[Crimson Wife]

Closest thing to a $1M listing in the town where I grew up in MA is a 4200 s.f. 5 BR 4 BA home on 3.5 acres for $990k. There is also a pondfront 2900 s.f. 3 BR 3BA on 1 acre for $950k. Both of those homes are MUCH nicer than our current house. The houses similar in size to ours are going for the low $600k's but they're on much larger lot sizes (generally at least 2 acres vs. ~0.2 acres on our lot).

[JenneinCA]

52 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

So, are you saying there are NO "geek jobs" anywhere but the expensive places?

 

 

Absolutely not. There are geek jobs everywhere.  

But my husband needs a job where he is challenged and surrounded by people who are like him.  A bored, under challenged, and unhappy husband is a bad thing.  Even in a beautiful house.  The easiest way to get him the work environment he needs  is to move where there is a high concentration of geeks.  Everyone wants to be in a place that fits.  Someplace where there are ‘people like me’ and we didn’t find that anywhere else.

[forty-two]

1.3M in our rural county will get you 6bd/4.5ba, 5500sqft on 85 acres.  There's also a guest house and a barn, plus woods and a lake.  It looks gorgeous.  More common are working ranches for 750-800K - the house is "normal-sized", but it comes with outbuildings and a few hundred acres.

Eta: Where I grew up, 950K will get you 4800sqft on a half acre. There's also a surprising amount of multi-million dollar homes there, too.

Eta2: Where we used to live, 1M will get you a 5bd/6bath, 4900sqft on a .33ac lot.

Eta3: Honestly, I vastly prefer the custom build here to the mcmansions you can get in the suburbs where I've lived.  Even the working ranches are much more preferable to the giant house on a proportionately small lot, if I had that kind of money to put into a house.

Edited September 11, 2018 by forty-two

[HS Mom in NC]

Could you please buy in the east valley of PHX?  People from Cali are shooting the housing prices up in PHX and I want my brother to sell there and relocate here to NC. Thanks.

[Liz CA]

6 hours ago, Quill said:

I agree it doesn’t make sense. I agree a correction is coming.

when we sold our previous house at the top of the market before the bubble burst, sales in desirable locations were exactly like this. Ugly sponge paint bathrooms, kitchens and bathrooms due for a gut job, brass everwhere, hideous carpet - none of it mattered. Houses sold in days with atrocious reno needs at top dollar. It was why I petitioned dh to sell that house and why I never regretted that move. It was perfect timing. 

 

It usually does sooner or later. We were actually looking earlier this year but have stopped because we'd feel like fools buying in a market where people outbid each other and drive the price up. I am sitting in a nice little house, no rush here. We are a little outside a metro area in orchard land and the real estate boom has been crazy for this area. So much so that a well-known realtor pulled up next to me in a grocery parking lot in a Maserati.  :)

[gardenmom5]

1 hour ago, happysmileylady said:

So, are you saying there are NO "geek jobs" anywhere but the expensive places?

expensive places are expensive because they have a high CONCENTRATION of geeks.   there's such a thing as a critical mass to be able to have appropriate job openings.    we are still having an influx of people every year chasing jobs from other parts of the country, because jobs are available. 

sure geeks needed other places - but generally not in a high concentration. 

1 hour ago, Quill said:

Yeah, and not just that - there are other reasons to want to stay where one lives. My friend in Louisiana has said that before, “Y’all could sell your house in Maryland and live like KINGS here.” Well, I guess, but I don’t want to move to LA. I complain about Maryland some but we have great public libraries, first-rate medical care available, beautiful public parks, great schools, a wonderful mix of geological features. And we have the best steamed crabs! And a great-looking state flag! ? And this is where our relatives live. This is where my ancestors are buried, even. I’m very attached. 

my grandparents were born here - I don't exactly want to move, but there are changes I don't like.   but blackberries and sockeye salmon, and mt's and water . . .

1 hour ago, Crimson Wife said:

If you had told me when I was a kid that I'd be living in a house worth a million dollars when I was 41, I'd have expected something a LOT nicer than what we have. We couldn't afford to buy it if we had to pay current market value, which is crazy since we've owned it fewer than 9 years. If we ever leave the Bay Area, we're renting it out instead of selling because that's the only way we could ever afford to move back should we have the desire to.

my childhood home is guestimated at $1M. . .it was just an average home.

dh has said the same thing - we ever leave, we rent this place out.  but that is also  part of the problem with house prices.  people are renting it out, not selling it.

 

right now, the cheapest house in dd's search area is $675K... . .  it's a hair over 1000sqft.  3bd, 1 1/2 bath.  surprisingly - it has a two car garage.   

[Liz CA]

1 hour ago, Quill said:

Yeah, and not just that - there are other reasons to want to stay where one lives. My friend in Louisiana has said that before, “Y’all could sell your house in Maryland and live like KINGS here.” Well, I guess, but I don’t want to move to LA. I complain about Maryland some but we have great public libraries, first-rate medical care available, beautiful public parks, great schools, a wonderful mix of geological features. And we have the best steamed crabs! And a great-looking state flag! ? And this is where our relatives live. This is where my ancestors are buried, even. I’m very attached. 

 

I get this now - in my somewhat advanced age. When we were younger we figured we'd retire to an area with a lower COL but I suppose we found out we are Californians for better or worse. Some roots go deeper than others but they are there nevertheless.

[marbel]

12 hours ago, Quill said:

Yeah, and not just that - there are other reasons to want to stay where one lives. My friend in Louisiana has said that before, “Y’all could sell your house in Maryland and live like KINGS here.” Well, I guess, but I don’t want to move to LA. I complain about Maryland some but we have great public libraries, first-rate medical care available, beautiful public parks, great schools, a wonderful mix of geological features. And we have the best steamed crabs! And a great-looking state flag! ? And this is where our relatives live. This is where my ancestors are buried, even. I’m very attached. 

Yeah, but not for long.  Enough people from high CoL areas move into low CoL areas, then prices start rising and it's not so cheap to live there anymore.

We moved to Oregon, Portland area, from Cali in 1998, not to escape high CoL but to escape Silicon Valley in general. (And my husband was offered a great job.)  It was cheaper to live there. By the time we left in 2007 it was getting more expensive. For a long time we thought about going back to Oregon, but now we see we couldn't afford to buy anything even remotely like the house we had before. And people are trying to leave there because it's gotten so expensive. There was a poster here not too long ago looking for places to move because they couldn't afford the Portland area anymore. Several people we knew when we lived there have left or are leaving. 

ETA: of course we were part of that problem, though we didn't offer over the list price of the house we bought in Oregon. And, we were apparently on the leading edge. Like an MLM, it works best for the people who get started first.   Though when we sold our house in Oregon, it was at a bad time -  there was some fiddling with the Urban Growth Boundary, and we were on the border. So our house could have been a tear-down for development, or not. And we had to sell then, so we didn't get the best price.

I would never recommend anyone sell just to take a profit and move out of a place they like.  As others have said, if they change their mind, they can never go back. Well, till the next crash.  :-/

Edited September 11, 2018 by marbel

[Carrie12345]

There are only a few houses listed over a million dollars in my county. Ginormous, fancy, and on acreage (except one that’s only a bit over an acre, but in a foo foo community. )

3/2s with builder’s grade finishes on .25-1.5 acres are practically a dime a dozen here. Many options under $150k. Just don’t expect local jobs. 

[gstharr]

My area does not have any tech jobs, but it is extremely popular with Chinese (foreign) investors.  As the owners of the ranch homes die off, the house is sold for $1.2 mill cash. Then it is quickly torn town without the new owner ever occupying the home.  Replaced by a MacMansion that takes up nearly the whole lot. The new homes are easily $2.5 -3 miil. 

[mommyoffive]

Yep if it was me I would sell that house now move to a cheap place and invest the profits which would be huge.  In the midwest you can get a great house in a lot of places for under 200k. 

 

We don't currently have any houses for a million in my city. Houses by us are cheap.  The ones that are on tons of acres, huge 6000 feet or more, or are on a lake are at tops going to be 500-600k.  But mostly 300s for something awesome. 

[G5052]

Yes, Silicon Valley is insane. A relative had two houses there that were sold in the last few years, and it was utterly bonkers how that went. The houses were purchased in the 1970's. 

[BarbecueMom]

9 hours ago, Arctic Mama said:

I know right?  We moved specifically for jobs in the sci/tech sector and that is precisely where this area is seeing so much growth, along with biomedical.  It’s been a slow process but the high cost of business and living plus absolute saturation has forced a lot of those industries to spread back out into cheaper real estate again. Cities with lots of infrastructure and cheap land are good bets, hence why we are wall to wall slammed at hubby’s work ?

And not everyone in a tech-related field wants to live in tech culture.  DH would be pretty miserable surrounded by non-hunters.  I would be pretty miserable surrounded by non-Cardinals fans.

There's a "castle" on 60 acres for sale near me for about 2.2 million.  ?

Edited September 11, 2018 by BarbecueMom

[Mimm]

1.1 million dollar home in my area. 5 bedrooms, 7 baths, 9700 square feet, gated community, just under five acre lot. Sun room, mud room, master closet bigger than my youngest daughter's room. The second basement kitchen is bigger and in nicer shape than my only kitchen. ?

[Ann.without.an.e]

nm

Edited September 11, 2018 by Attolia

[Amber in SJ]

2 hours ago, Margaret in CO said:

I pointed out that we LIVE where other people vacation!

We had this come into focus when our daughter got married.  All her college friends treated it like some  kind of destination wedding.  They came for a week, toured SF & spent a few days at different beaches, they did all the touristy things.  I think they had a good time & we gained a greater appreciation of the place we sometimes take for granted.

Amber in SJ

[marbel]

10 minutes ago, Amber in SJ said:

We had this come into focus when our daughter got married.  All her college friends treated it like some  kind of destination wedding.  They came for a week, toured SF & spent a few days at different beaches, they did all the touristy things.  I think they had a good time & we gained a greater appreciation of the place we sometimes take for granted.

Amber in SJ

One of the nice things about that area is the proximity to fun, interesting destinations. ?