Lord Lionheart

I rest my case m'lud
It may have sounded to some that I was boasting when I say my last job was $100K, but I honestly didn't feel well off at all, our cars are paid for, no debt and I live in an apt. Just trying to give an honest view of living in CA......... it's not all beach and palm trees.
Now post a pic of your tats instead of blabbering on about them, we need visuals on BE !............ not to mention piss taking opportunities.

Eskimo

still too scabby ! next week mate

Lord Lionheart

Yes but what about the tattoos?

Guelder Rose

Very,very,very valid point, the cost of property here is a bloody joke![/QUOTE]

When I first came here the cost of property was relatively cheap, but over the last three years it has soared and you would now pay the same kind of prices here as you would in the UK. Only difference I see is that the property you buy in the UK will still be around in 50 years time, whereas I'm not so sure about that with the property here. I am constantly amazed at the properties being thrown together here in a matter of days and sold for hundreds of thousands ... they might be big by comparison to the property in the UK, but they sure don't seem to be built to last. If I had the choice, my money would be spent on a three bed house in the UK rather than a six bed shed here! With some things in life, size is not all that matters!

Elvira

The OP is married to a USC, so a GC should be doable...

There are lots of jobs in universities besides the acedemic ones - administrators, janitors, counsellors etc etc. Plus there's a lot of spin-off in terms of employment because local businesses live off the universities.

scrubbedexpat099

When I first came here the cost of property was relatively cheap, but over the last three years it has soared and you would now pay the same kind of prices here as you would in the UK. Only difference I see is that the property you buy in the UK will still be around in 50 years time, whereas I'm not so sure about that with the property here. I am constantly amazed at the properties being thrown together here in a matter of days and sold for hundreds of thousands ... they might be big by comparison to the property in the UK, but they sure don't seem to be built to last. If I had the choice, my money would be spent on a three bed house in the UK rather than a six bed shed here! With some things in life, size is not all that matters![/QUOTE]

I am not so sure, certainly my first concern when we were buying.

Now I can only speak for what I have found out in Colorado, each area has its own regulations or lack of them.

Timber Frame if you know what you are doing there is no particular issue and they seem to.

Water penetration was looking back my main concern, but then not much rain.

Inspections standards much better than I have seen in the UK.

Code's much stronger.

Most houses where we are are built with a lot of concrete underneath onto solid rock - older houses I have had in UK have had relatively little foundations often into clay.

Our siding has a 40 year? guarantee, so I am assuming somewhat longer in reality, brick would have been nice but the area cost would have been enormous. And as just a facade not sure if it is beneficial.

Thermally it seems very good.

I did go around with the Home Inspector, we also pre did a home inspection on the house we sold, both very educational and something I would recommend.

Minuses just for good measure:

Brick I have mentioned

Roof Tiles - but then again wind is the big issue.

Waste pipes - why so small? No wonder you need a grinder.

Electricity - well that goes with the country, nice to have outlets in the bathrooms though.

Heating systems, instantaneous gas and underfloor zoned heating please, the main system heats the who house which seems wasteful. But it is freezing outside today and no heating on, sunshine is a big plus. We have two gas fires, and use those most.

It seems the secret to a good house is a good framing crew. I have heard some horror stories from the volume builders but to be fair probably less than about the UK equivalent.

Sally

Back to earthquakes, do my fellow Californians have disaster supplies and plans, or do you not worry about it? A lovely but Cassandra-like Iranian girl nearby was telling me about the '94 quake and how they were "shitting in the street for a week" and that "nobody will help you - no-one". she is not easily fazed having lived through all sorts in Iran and larking about during the big fires we had here, asking me why I was shaking!

Sally

PS Agree the constuction of houses seems alarming as well, but as we have just ploughed all our money into one I have to believe it will keep standing for a while.

kevntrace

Fair enough. I wasn't using the legal definition in my original message, just trying to explain in plain English.

scrubbedexpat099

Insurance and plan english, well that is a problem.

Just in case I did not get the point across. If Earthquake is the first (proximate) cause of the damage, then a fire resulting from say electrical cables being broken or gas lines breached, would be all put down to earthquake.

Consequentiall losses are something else.

Sally

Would such fires be covered under the household policy?

Eskimo

Three bottles of Bombay Sapphire, a firearm, a tank of gas and some porn .. oh no wait thats what I take to work everyday

scrubbedexpat099

In the UK, yes.

In the US, dpends on what you have bought.

Due to the exposure of catastopic natural events in the US and the wide geographical spread.

For example, where we live up on a hill, flood coverage is included, we looked at houses near the river and flood was an extra. Trying to remember how much it was, a few hundred.

The original town, well think large village, was washed away 100 years ago or so, the houses built on in the last 30 years on its site pay a flood surcharge, fair enough.

In New Orleans Flood was optional and many did not buy it, seems a no brainer considering the inevitability in the low lying areas. Some I saw were trying to say it was Storm Damage. In that example it could quite possibly be a bit of Storm, but mainly Flood.

For most of California, Earthquake seems a must buy. There has of course been Earthquake damage in the UK.

Sally

The concensus here seemed not to bother as it didn't cover much. Oh, well, perhaps I just need Eskimo's disaster pack.

scrubbedexpat099

Well it covers Earhquake.

If you feel the risk where you live is nominal compared to the premium, fair enough.

You can not insure every risk, just pick and choose those ones that you are exposed to and would hurt and can be covered at an acceptable cost.

I just can not imagine being exposed to Flood damage where we are, I know we have earth tremours, but not earthquakes, for us Fire is the main one, and if you live up in the Mountains a bigger issue, both in mitigation and insurance cost.

I cleared all the brush wood for a 100 yards and the nearest forest outcrop is a few hundred more, I think we would be OK, but not enough not to have cover.