Let's pause to remember a particularly stupid aspect of the real estate bubble: Bidding wars for desolate West Texas acreage.There are thousands of other new owners all over sparsely populated West Texas. Nearly all the sales are for raw, undeveloped land, bought over the Internet or at seminars in distant cities.Say what you will about the hellish southern California deserts, at least they are somewhat close to LA and Las Vegas. By that I mean you can get in a car and drive 3 hours and be in a major city. The tracts that flipped in West Texas 4 years ago aren't close to anything.
Most of the buyers are from California, Florida, New York and other places where the cost of homes has been surging. People on the coasts, who have to spend a fortune for somewhere to live, are spending more for somewhere they can't.
I see that John Beck is still trying to unload property there.
"Elevation is well over 4000 feet which makes for great climates..."Great climates?
18 comments:
I guess they ran out of land in California Valley. Where the water in the creek crystalizes before your eyes.
Just curious, Lou, but have you ever watched the movie "True Stories"?
Tom
Youbetcha! That was the David Byrne movie. I think that was the first time I saw John Goodman.
I remember seeing "True Stories" at a theater in, of all places, Garland, Texas.
It was a surprisingly middle class suburban crowd, considering it was Byrne. Some of them got upset and insulted and walked out.
Funny thing is, I still remember one of the quotes: "This here's a field. Ain't much you can do with a field but put houses on it..." At the time, I thought it very apropos for the Dallas suburbs.
From looking at the pictures out there, like Van Horn and all, it looks pretty nice to me....nothing like the picture you posted that looks like Mars. I like those 5,000to 8,000 foot elevations and dry air and no crowds, compared to the 40 feet height here in Houston with all the humidity and millions of people.
Anon, you missed the disclaimer:
"The photos provided are of the area and NOT of the actual parcel."
I was a real Talking Heads fan in my youth hence the True Stories reference. I saw it before I ever visited the States and kind of assumed that it described all of America, not just Texas!
As for quotes from the movie, the one I can't forget is when Byrne describes a building on the outskirts of some Texas town: "It's a multipurpose shape - a box".
Still haven't visited Texas, but plan to do so one day!
Tom
Tom, you live in paradise. The real thing. Not sure why you'd want to come here except to change airplanes. :-)
Sowhere's Tom live, then? Inquiring minds want to know! And better than Texas? C'mon! :-)
Lou: "The photos provided are of the area and NOT of the actual parcel."Indeed! I read an article once about land sales in Hudspeth County where they mentioned that. They also mentioned that there was a huge sewage sludge drying facility nearby, and (despite the lush scenery) people were getting pink eye from the dust coming off that place. Nice.
A bit off topic, but it looks like the giant eyesore of a condo tower on Clear Lake recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (and one day prior to a planned foreclosure sale):
http://blogs.chron.com/bayarea/archives/2009/05/owner_of_high_r.html
"Anon, you missed the disclaimer"
Granted...but I've also been to Big Bend and lots of small towns in west Texas, especially the mountains of the El Paso area, and it still looks far better than anything around Houston, except for maybe Kingwood and the Woodlands. Half the newbies I know in Houston have never even been out of Huuston and always bitch about how ugly Texas is, much less have ever even been outside Harris county to Austin or even knowing that Big Bend is in Texas.
Lou Minatti said...
"Tom, you live in paradise"
I was based in Hawaii and if you're rich you're in "paradise", otherwise you live in the same kind of skanky run down thug infested gang slums that Houston has. Change planes in deed. Why don't you take one out?
"The photos provided are of the area and NOT of the actual parcel."
Too bad the Allen Brothers didn't have that when they were portraying the Houston swamps with mountains in the background to east coast buyers in the early 1800's. Nothing different. Carpetbaggers are older than hookers, almost.
I like to rag on Texas, but it is home so I am entitled to do so. It may be my hellhole, but it is an inexpensive hellhole with lots of opportunity. It's also nice here in the winter and if I want to go someplace exciting airfares are cheap.
Lou - I consider myself an American now (it's just not official yet) and really want to know the mainland as much as I can - I think Texas is a pretty big part of the US! It's also just experiencing different cultures as well as the occasional dose of "island fever".
NoVa Sideliner - Big Island of Hawaii. Not sure I'd call it paradise, but the scenery and climate is pretty nice. It has its social problems as does everywhere else.
Anon 11:11am - don't know where you were based in Hawaii but I'll have a stab and say it was Oahu. I understand what you're saying but it's not the same on every island. You have to be fairly rich in Honolulu but not on the Big Island for instance.
Tom
Hey Tom! Big Island, eh? Sounds good!
A friend of mine got transferred to Hawaii last year, stuck on Oahu (Waialua), and even though he makes OK money, he's not living like he wants -- though he is living like he expected. He's been to a couple of the other islands, and he rates them much higher than Oahu.
One thing he said is that he'd never move to Oahu with family. Funny thing is, one of my Hawaiian friends says the same (says he's never going back, actually, except for a rare visit).
Nova - I wouldn't want to live on Oahu either - too crowded and far too expensive - I like the quiet life on the Big Island! Oahu has it's nice spots, but apart from Waikiki, Honolulu is just like any other US city as far as I'm concerned - and a hell of a lot more expensive!
The problem with the other islands is that although they are more like the real Hawaii, and generally cheaper, there are few good-paying jobs so the standard of living isn't necessarily any better.
Tom
Apologies for the apostrophe abuse, Lou. It's = its. Duh...
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