Just stumbled across a breakdown of California's cheapest places to live and holy shit, there's some fascinating stuff in here that I want to discuss with y'all.
So apparently the #1 cheapest place is Fresno with a median home price of $382K and cost of living that's 30.8% cheaper than the state average. But here's what blew my mind:
Chico (ranked 4) supposedly has 33% job growth and home prices 40% below the state median. Like, is Chico really booming that hard? I always thought of it as just a college town.
Stockton claims their tech sector is growing 32% in 2025. Stockton... as a tech hub? That seems absolutely wild to me. Anyone actually in tech there who can confirm this?

What really got me thinking - are these Central Valley cities actually hidden gems, or are we just so desensitized to California prices that $400K feels cheap now?

Source: Here

I’m selling my 90’s home and it’s a no mello roos no HOA home in a master planned community.

Many buyers are touring my home, but none, i mean 0, buyer has asked me or my listing agent questions about mello roos. they will mention new homes are offering points buy down, but 0 buyers have paid attention to the mello roos the new developments have.

tax rate, mello roos, and HOA are my 1st group of things to check when i made house purchases. i’m surprised how little buyers do their own research.

The current new builds usually have PERPETUAL mello roos, and more crazy than perpetual mello roos, it has an annual escalator EQUAL TO CONSTRUCTION LABOR COST INCREASE, which has a least 4% maximum 12% per year.

older mello roos in the 2000’s era are paid off in like 30 years with 0 escalators, which aren’t too bad .

1st time buyers don’t even understand what this perpertual every year 9% increase mean. They fu;; do not know and don’t want to hear about it and get attracted to the granite countertops and neutral paint colors..

they will get killed by the tax soon in a few years. i feel sad that how developers are using this type of tricks to avoid disclosing the tax burden the buyers are gonna have.

pay attention, buyers.. do your own research. a CA seller’s vent.

California born and raised here, I'm 36 years old. Bought a house in my early 30s.

I've been thinking, between prop 13 and prop 19, if you truly plan on living in cali forever, the smartest plan is to buy young and lock yourself in to a lower property tax starting point. California real estate appreciates 5% every year while prop tax is capped at 2%. Generally speaking california will keep up with wages, over the next 10 years wages will go up. So if you bought young and were tight on finances, just wait it out. Prop 19 age cutoff of 55 sorta hurts. Now that I've bought, it doesn't make sense to sell until I'm 55 so I can keep that low property tax rate.

It's unconventional advice, buy when you aren't completely comfortable, but if you think long-term, it does make sense. Just dont buy way above your means.

Somebody tagged me on this video and I thought it would be helpful to pass it on to people who have California real estate. It has something to do with HOA groups and how obnoxiously strict they are, and too expensive, as well as all of the FINES that they attempt to make money through, so anyway start listening to this at the 4th minute, to hear about the relief from this new law involving HOA regulations and fees.

The guy says that there's a rule I think he called it AB130, and he explains a story about a woman who tried to fix her doorway and she got fined for doing it differently, or not getting approval, and it was even inside her home not even exterior, and how the HOA tried to fine her hundreds of dollars every day and now there's a rule in California where they can no longer do that because, in my opinion, after hearing how these things go, it sounds like the HOA has become the mafia.

SO NOW, according to California law they can only fine you $100 for the initial problem, after having a warning, and giving you a chance to deal with it so that you won't have daily compounding fees from HOAs that are just out to rip off people.

https://youtu.be/hNZxFzgbq3w?is=2m_jnCnOSF19KgOj

Hi everyone!

Looking for some insights from folks who actively invest in CA.

I’ve been researching different asset types and wanted to get real-world opinions on what’s actually performing well in today’s market. If you were starting fresh (or doubling down) in California, which of these would you consider the best investment right now?

• Single-family homes

• Small multifamily (2–4 units)

• Condos/townhomes

• Mobile or manufactured homes (either in parks or on owned land)

• Raw land

• ADUs / rental expansions

• Something else?

California’s pricing, zoning, rent control rules, and interest rates make this a unique landscape, so I’d love to hear what strategies you feel still make sense in 2025.

I will appreciate any advice or perspectives!

I live in Nevada and own a duplex in California. My property manager just told me that because I’m an out-of-state owner, California requires 7% withholding on the rental income once California-source payments exceed $1,500/year.

He called it a “7% franchise tax” and said this is standard for out-of-state owners.

Is this actually a California requirement? Is the 7% a tax I ultimately pay, or is it withholding that gets credited toward my California taxes when I file?

Just trying to understand if this is legitimate before I proceed.

Anyone looked into California City as a potential option to buy land/homes before large appreciation? Prices in Lancaster and Palmdale have gotten pricey and those at Edwards AFB have limited options. I’ve heard Cal city has improved slightly with crime and amenities in recent years but obviously it’s still pretty desolate.

Not selling anything — no course, no paywall, no email wall to read it. Just a hobby project I want a sanity check on.

I got into California tax-deed sales and got annoyed that every county "list" is a giant PDF where the good parcels and the junk look identical. So I started pulling the lists, cross-checking each parcel against the county's *own* assessor/GIS records, and cutting them down with rules you can actually read.

Stuff that surprised me:

- San Bernardino's July sale: of ~1,193 priced non-timeshare parcels, about **858 (~72%) open at or above the county's entire assessed value.** The "minimum bid" often isn't a discount at all.

- The most extreme lot: county values it at **$241**, opening bid **$88,341** (366×). Almost always a data/assessment quirk — never a bargain.

- Riverside: 946 parcels on the list, ~175 I'd actually spend diligence hours on.

Everything's free and the sources are shown so you can check my work: lot-brief.com/sales/ (sortable/downloadable), and there's a write-up of how I read a sale in the research section.

I'm genuinely just trying to figure out if this is useful to anyone but me. If you do this for real — what would make it worth using? What am I getting wrong? Roast it.

Obligatory: this is desk research, not advice — assessed value ≠ market value, verify title/access/everything before you bid.

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*858 (~72%) open at or above the county's entire assessed value.** The "minimum bid" often isn't a discount at all.

- The most extreme lot: county values it at **$241**, opening bid **$88,341** (366×). Almost always a data/assessment quirk — never a bargain.

- Riverside: 946 parcels on the list, ~175 I'd actually spend diligence hours on.

Everything's free and the sources are shown so you can check my work: lot-brief.com/sales/ (sortable/downloadable), and there's a write-up of how I read a sale in the research section. I'm genuinely just trying to figure out if this is useful to anyone but me. If you do this for real — what would make it worth using? What am I getting wrong? Roast it.

Obligatory: this is desk research, not advice — assessed value ≠ market value, verify title/access/everything before you bid.

I’m in escrow for a place in the Hollywood Hills. Gorgeous views, but part of me keeps worrying about hillside erosion or landslides. Are inspections enough to cover hillside issues, or should I bring in a specialist?

I inherited a rental house in LA from my dad a couple of years ago and have been managing it myself since then. Between repairs, property taxes, and the insurance increase this year, I am barely breaking even and sometimes losing money every month. I need to sell, but my tenant still has four months left on the lease.

I know California has strong tenant protection laws, and I can not just make someone leave because I want to sell. At the same time, I can not keep losing money on the property every month. Can I sell the house while the tenant is still living there, or do I need to wait until the lease ends? If selling now is possible, is a cash buyer the most realistic option, or do conventional buyers also purchase tenant-occupied properties?

I’m part of the team behind a real estate CRM platform.

We had a solid product and decent traffic (\~16k/month), but we were competing with:

- Large real estate publishers

- Industry organizations

- Major CRM platforms like HubSpot and Salesforce

We were ranking - but not dominating.

So we made a decision: instead of doing occasional outreach in-house, we tested working with a specialized link-building partner and committed to a long-term campaign (24 months).

Where we ended up:

- 16.2k to 40.5k monthly organic traffic (+149%)

- 9.8k to 23.7k ranking keywords

- DR 60 to 71

- \~494 backlinks built over the period

What actually worked wasn’t more links. It was structure.

What we focused on:

1. Protecting branded search

In real estate, trust matters. We made sure if someone searched our brand + reviews, pricing, or CRM, we controlled page one.

Branded anchors made up \~16% of the profile.

2. Real agent-focused content

Instead of generic CRM content, we leaned into topics agents actually use:

- Real estate scripts

- Drip campaigns

- Buyer questionnaires

- Circle prospecting

These pages naturally attracted links because they were practical.

3. High-intent money terms

We prioritized keywords like:

- CRM for real estate

- Real estate CRM with IDX

- Real estate dialer

Those are extremely competitive. But stacking authority consistently over 24 months worked.

Biggest lesson:

SEO in real estate SaaS is slow, but compounding.

The link-building partner helped with consistency and outreach scale - but the real leverage came from:

- Strong content

- Clear keyword targeting

- Long-term commitment

Are you seeing more leads from organic search lately, or still mostly referrals and social?

Happy to share more specifics if helpful.

Working in a competitive California market where it feels like there are hundreds of agents chasing the same listings. Trying to figure out which marketing investments actually move the needle versus which ones are just vanity spending.

Specifically wondering about professional headshots and overall visual branding. When sellers are interviewing 3-4 agents, do they actually notice and care about polished professional photos across your website, social media, and marketing materials? Or are they primarily focused on your sales history, marketing strategy, and commission structure ?​

My current headshot is about three years old and doesn't quite match how I look now. Photographer quotes are running $500-600 which isn't outrageous but it's also not nothing. I'm trying to decide if updating it would actually help me win more listings or if that budget would be better spent on Facebook ads, direct mail, or other marketing that might have more measurable ROI.​

I've heard some agents mention using AI-generated headshots as a more cost-effective option that lets them update photos more frequently. Someone in my office actually showed me their results from Looktara and honestly I couldn't tell they weren't from a real photo shoot. Curious if that's becoming accepted in California real estate or if it still seems unprofessional to sellers who are choosing between agents.​

For agents in competitive CA markets: what's actually mattered for winning listings in your experience? Have you tracked whether professional photos make a difference, or is it mostly about numbers and marketing strategy?

Hey everybody just wanting some advice. I was looking to buy in the high desert but I’m very unsure due to how high property prices are and I’m very indecisive and of course inexperienced with this field. It’s just myself and MAYBE my girlfriend but unsure for now. I’m 30 years old, finally got my dream job as a firefighter and I really gotta move out of moms house Hahahaha I found a house for rent at $2,650 3 bedrooms/2 bathrooms and renter responsible for all utilities. What do you all think?

So I finally got my dream job as a firefighter within the LA area and want to move closer to work but when it comes to moving and buying a house I’m very clueless on what to do. Many houses in the Glendale/Pasadena/L.A./Monterey Park and so on are very very high prices to buy so I was thinking about renting cause it seems like it’s much cheaper than buying at the moment! I’m very new to all this. What do you wall suggest? Should I pull the trigger and buy a house or wait and see if housing cost drop and rent for now? Also it’ll just be myself and my girlfriend making this move. No kids yet!

I keep seeing people say “just run the numbers” but that only gets you so far in California.

Maybe selling would free up equity, make the next move easier or get you out of a house that no longer fits. But then there’s the low rate, property taxes, kids’ schools, family nearby, commute and the reality of buying back into the same market.

For people who seriously considered selling but stayed, what made you stay? And for people who sold even though they liked the house, what finally pushed you to do it?

Between E&O insurance, MLS fees, marketing costs, and split structures every recurring expense gets scrutinized.

Headshot photography keeps coming up as one I keep paying without really questioning. $500 per year adds up to serious money over a career.

Started hearing AI headshot tool mentioned in agent circles recently. Genuinely not sure where I land on this California clients are sophisticated and I don't want anything that looks remotely off on my profiles or marketing materials.

Has anyone tested AI headshots in the California market specifically? Did quality hold up in client-facing contexts or did anyone notice?

Hi everyone! I'm following up on the California tax-deed project I posted about a while back:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CaliforniaRealEstate/comments/1v07lx1/i_read_all_1614_parcels_in_san_bernardinos_tax/

What it does, briefly: every California tax-defaulted sale I can get a list for, published in full and free. Each parcel is matched to the county assessor's own record, so you see the opening bid next to what the county says the land is worth. Sort it, filter it, download the whole thing as a CSV. No signup, no paywall, sources named on every page.

What's been added since last time:

- 10 sales, 2,877 parcels. Los Angeles (1,252, the biggest California list this year), Kern (1,011), Fresno, Butte, Placer, El Dorado, Mariposa, Santa Cruz, San Bernardino, Riverside.

- Post-auction results. When a sale closes I go back and record what actually sold and for how much, so a pre-sale read can be checked against what really happened instead of quietly filed away.

- Live redemption tracking. Parcels paid off before the auction drop off the tables. Fresno has lost 53% of its list since June, so the list you read early is not the list you bid on.

Three things out of the data I didn't expect:

- At Butte's August auction, 13 of the 28 parcels that sold went at exactly the opening bid. Far less competition than I assumed was out there.

- The parcels the assessor carries at almost nothing are the ones bidders fight hardest over. One valued at $4 sold for $31,236.

- In every county I've measured, the parcels redeemed before the sale are the valuable ones. What reaches the auction is mostly what nobody thought worth rescuing.

Coming up: Los Angeles October 17-20, Placer October 21, El Dorado November 6, Santa Clara once they publish.

lot-brief.com/sales/

Happy to answer your questions and get your feedback!

We are 4 days from closing and my lender is asking me to come up with 4800 to pay off credit card debt. My credit hasd been the same and has actually improved as I have been paying down my debt but the debt has existed since the beginning. When I had the lender pull my credit, I told him to let me know if now was a good time or should I wait and do more work and he said no your credit is okay. We can get you a loan and we started looking for a house. I've checked in with them constantly to be told "everything is good, we should close next week" and paid for everything needed, inspection, appraisal, earnest, and a home buyers class all for us to get here and this happens. Devastated is an understatement. I cant come up with this money in days, I've asked all I knew and this situation has ended one of my friendships. My question is, should I have been informed of this from the beginning. I'm trying to hold out hope, but being realistic about it. Should I contact an attorney, because I feel like I should have been told this in the beginning. ESPECIALLY when I asked from the gate if it was possible. Now we are loosing everything.

Hi there. I am sitting on about $200,000 worth of hard-earned cash that's been saved up. I am being pushed around by a relative to invest in real-estate, and I live in Los Angeles, CA. In reality, the only areas that I could hypothetically afford for a nice home is the Antelope Valley (Palmdale, Lancaster etc) or other desert cities like Victorville, Palm Springs and its neighboring cities, pretty much north or east of Los Angeles. Yeah there are some homes in South LA within the price range of $400-450k but they're pretty hideous to be honest.

Here's my dilemma. And really I appreciate any and all advice and help on this. I've asked around on different Reddit forums and posts but now I need to explain myself. I'm a novice at investing in real estate, investing period. I have gone through the home buying process on many occasions and failed attempts at buying a home in the AV area (not my fault, rather the sellers). So I know a thing or two within that realm. Other than that, I really am not sure whether investing in the aforementioned areas is really worth it at this time.

I'm in my mid-20s. I'm a full-time student in grad school and have a full-time job. Not remote, 9-5 job. Don't really have a lot of time on my hands nor the energy. What I really want to do with these funds is just ride it out over weeks, months, perhaps even years time permitted and enjoy the fruits. Restore my classic cars that I love and cherish. Keep the funds for emergencies, personal circumstances, maybe go on a few vacations. Nothing crazy or lavish, just ride it out slow and steady. Sure I'd love to invest $200k as a down-payment for a home in Lancaster, but a lot of things and people have given me the idea of no.

From what I've seen both in-person and on different forums, the AV gets a lot of bad rap for many different reasons. The homes don't appreciate as much, very low and slow. If I were to invest, I would never live there, or any property I'd invest in. The reason being that I am not going to live there (for example Lancaster, CA) and suffer a miserable depressing long commute every single day, even on the weekends on my days off just to drive to LA to see friends and have fun or whatever. Same sentiment applies to other desert areas within the same price range. Would not do that at all. Also, driving up to these areas on my only days off, which are the weekends, pushes me back from a lot of personal stuff just to see open houses or viewing appointments and doing home inspections... I really can't do it anymore.

The goal would be to just rent out the single-family home to a family or something. Then I would have to worry about covering my own rent in LA and the mortgage of said home. Do people there have good steady incomes to cover their rent? Would I break even? And when I mean AV, I only mean West Lancaster or the westside hills of Palmdale or something, Quartz Hill for example. Not the east side. Wouldn't I be better off investing somewhere else, somewhere better? This sentiment speaks the same to me for other desert cities elsewhere that's within this $400-$450k price range of a home.

And I know nothing about being a landlord or renting out a property or anything. There will be maintenance and emergencies, but I absolutely won't have the time to mitigate the issues and drive all the way up there when something happens. Sure I can hand the property over to a property management group but they take a cut and I don't think it's worth doing that just for one home, perhaps if I had multiple then it would be worth it.

Then there's me investing in the S&P500 and index funds, but I don't want to dump all my funds or a medium-sized chunk in there not knowing about it and knowing the funds could plummet if the market crashes or something. I could invest in a home in a different state but I also wouldn't have the time to look at the property or do the research on the area.

I made this post long, I apologize but long story short I really don't know if it's worth investing a proposed $200k down-payment on a single-family home in these so-called affordable areas (at the current moment) if the home isn't going to appreciate that great and if I can't make it with whatever the rent might be to cover my own rent living in LA and with my living expenses just to build some equity and long-term wealth for financial freedom.

Should I invest or just enjoy the funds and live life, finish my grad school, then invest when I really have time? I'm afraid the prices of these affordable homes in the desert cities will go up higher (along with the federal interest rate) and by then it'll be too late. And my funds wouldn't grow at all. Thank you for your help, I hope this is the right place to post this question.

california has biggest property tax sale all state of texas

What it does, briefly: every California tax-defaulted sale I can get a list for, published in full and free. Each parcel is matched to the county assessor's own record, so you see the opening bid next to what the county says the land is worth. Sort it, filter it, download the whole thing as a CSV. No signup, no paywall, sources named on every page.

What's been added since last time:

1,732 parcels. california 1,394, the biggest California list this year) all state will be added soon

Post-auction results. When a sale closes I go back and record what actually sold and for how much, so a pre-sale read can be checked against what really happened instead of quietly filed away.

Live redemption tracking. Parcels paid off before the auction drop off the tables. Fresno has lost 53% of its list since June, so the list you read early is not the list you bid on.

The parcels the assessor carries at almost nothing are the ones bidders fight hardest over.

In every county I've measured, the parcels redeemed before the sale are the valuable ones. What reaches the auction is mostly what nobody thought worth rescuing.

Coming up: all state At zonomarket

Happy to answer your questions and get your feedback!

Hi everyone, I'm wanting to buy out my aunts current reverse mortgage. She owns a home in Socal that was appraised at $850k, the loan is nearly maxed out at $425k. The home is a duplex, I'm living in one side renting from her and she's living in the other side. I can pay her rent or the mortgage, but not both. She relies on the rent money as her monthly income. I'd like to be able to buy it out instead of the house going to the bank after her death. This was my grandmother's home and my family has lived here for 50 years. My aunt had to take out the loan to buy my mom out of her share of the property. My parents place will be relinquished to the state after my parents passing due to my father needing long term care help for my mom, so nothing will be left from their property. Is this feasible? I have options of getting a roommate or moving in with my aunt to help pay her monthly bills as well as the mortgage. Anyone have experience with buying out a reverse mortgage with another mortgage?

Hi, my family and I have been living in Orange County for the summer and it’s looking likely that we will come back longer term, from next year.

Whilst I have enjoyed being in Orange County (Irvine to be specific), I’m wondering if there are any recommendations of where else we could move to within the state. For info, we are a family of five from the UK. Our eldest will have started school the next time we come out here and so being near good schools is very important. I would like to be able to walk to shops/cafes, we would be happy to live in the countryside, near the beach, in a town but safety is paramount.

We will be renting and will have a budget of around $10k per month.

Whilst I know the UK and US are very different countries, where I live is a village with playgrounds, green spaces, cafes and shops and a walking distance with friendly people, and I’d be looking for a similar vibe, if we are to move out here on a more permanent basis. Please let me know of any recommendations for area, estate agents, schools etc. thank you.

If leaving California is increasingly the easiest path to homeownership, what does that say about what California has become?

Hi all!

I’m from the east coast, and my grandfather lived in San Diego.

He recently passed. And we are at his apartment wrapping things up.

We had a memorial service with his coworkers and his boss mentioned something about my grandfather taking care of property he owned and what we were doing with it

We never knew he owned property?

Insight: my grandfather is SUPER private. I’m talking PO Box, no cards, paid in cash, we didnt have his address for years. All his stuff is locked with passwords and we dont have access.

The coworker didn’t know where this property was. Is there a way to search to see if this is legit lol?

My mom and I have never dealt with an immediate death in the family. We are trying not to hire an attorney, as everything he owned was paid off, and he had no debt.

He didn’t leave a will or any instructions about his private life. Hard to navigate.