Here Versus There

Atrios pointed to this yesterday and so I thought I would do my own little take on the insanity that is the US housing market, or more specifically, what was the US housing market. As most people are well aware, the housing market in this country has totally tanked, but when you dig a little deeper, it's not a uniform tank. In many parts of the country, housing prices never saw the huge bubble and as a result, prices just haven't plunged. While there are a fair number of homes in Louisville and other fly-over markets in foreclosure, the fact is, the housing market has been relatively stable.

California is one of those states were things have tanked in a big way and to tell you the truth, I really don't feel sorry for most of those people. So many got in way over there heads and had no business taking on these crazy ass mortgages that they couldn't afford. Of course, the plan wasn't really to live in those houses for too long, the plan was to flip the house as quickly as possible and turn a big fat profit in a then hot housing market. Well, reality is a bitch and now it's time to pay the piper. The house I am about to show you is located in the Turtle Rock area of Irvine, a place I've never been too and have no plans to ever go to.


PIECE OF SHIT HOUSE IN IRVINE, CALIFORNIA

This piece of shit 2,128 square foot home is on the market for a cool $799,000, a half million less than it fetched this time last year. That's right, this shit ass ugly home with no yard sold for $1.3 million. It simply blows my mind that something so ugly and so sterile could ever sell for that much, but sell it did. What's worse, the home is advertised as a great opportunity to do a complete remodeling. Evidently the people who got forced out, trashed the place and now it's just an empty shell that will take a couple hundred thousand dollars to fix. Unbelievable. Now lets assume it wasn't trashed and that it was in move in condition, would it still be worth what they are asking, much less what it sold for last year? Well, I don't know, California is California and they say the weather is mighty nice year round, but give me a break.

So, what can you get in Louisville, an thriving midwestern city of 1.3 million where it does tend to rain and snow a bit more than in California? Well, it turns out quite a bit. Just one example is this classic turn of the century (19th-20th) mansion in the Cherokee Triangle, by far the most prestigous neighborhood in the city. It features 5 bedrooms, 4 full baths, 2 half baths, 6,175 square feet and a 3 car detached garage. It's within walking distance of fine dining, hot clubs, great shopping and intimate coffee shops and galleries. It sits right across the street from Cherokee Park, a 600 acre urban park and is just minutes from downtown and the expressways to take you to the burbs. I live in this zip code and can attest that this part of town is simply amazing.


BEAUTIFUL LOUISVILLE HOME FOR SAME PRICE

Now I know that there are people who will say "yeah, it's nice, but you have to live in Kentucky to enjoy it." To that I say you don't know what you're missing. With the exception of the 360 days of sunshine and gridlock traffic, we have all the amenities of any big and exciting city. We've got great eats, wonderful shopping, a thriving arts scene, a great sporting community and a lot of qualities that people say they are looking for. Oh yeah, once people come here, they tend to stay for the rest of their lives. Give me this anyday over that piece of shit ugly ass house in bland and ugly Irvine.