California Dreamin'

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I was sick a couple of weeks ago (mild cold / fever). I needed some mindless distraction to help pass the time until I got better. Fortunately, I had already checked out season 1 of Two and a Half Men from the library - perfect! :) The real-life story of Charlie Sheen (Charlie Harper in the series) is an excellent example of my argument that no amount of money can compensate for unskillful living.

I was idly wondering how much Charlie Harper’s beachfront Malibu house would sell for these days. I found a 1400 sq ft (2 BD / 2 BA) 1950’s beachfront house (looks kinda like a double-wide trailer) that sold for $8M in 2017. The lot is tiny and backs right up to the Pacific Coast Highway. It does have huge floor-to-ceiling windows facing the ocean. I’m having trouble getting my mind around this: why does someone buy a place like this? Is it really quality of life or is it mostly ostentation?

There might be some Californians familiar with Malibu and vicinity who can give me a hand … :confused:
 
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Because they can?
 
My best friend lives in Carmel. His house is in the $8MM range but it's quite large, 4 bd/2bths. For him it's 110% quality of life. As you say: "huge floor-to-ceiling windows facing the ocean" sort of says it all.

Sleeps late, walks the beach with his dog, watches the sunset with a glass of wine, etc etc. I don't think his heartbeat ever went above 85 in his life.

He can't even spell ostentation; in fact he often fibs when strangers ask where he lives.

As my mom always says: "If you're not good to yourself, who else will be?"
 
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Yeah, why would anyone want to live on the beach with great views and 350 days of sunshine per year. That would be horrible :rolleyes:
 
In Malibu, don't forget to watch out for landslides and wild fires.
 
One thing I learned after spending almost 6 decades in a winter climate is that there a lot more important things in life than nice weather.

But, we do like to get away so we do that every winter but it might only cost 2% of $8 million in the next 25 years.
 
Was/is Paradise Cove, where Jim Rockford's trailer was located, the cheaper side of Malibu?
 
I still remember the story of a California man who went out to buy some ice cream, came back and found his home buried in mud along with his wife and 3 daughters. It made me shudder when I first heard the story.

Looked on the Web, and found that it was in 2005, in a small unincorporated neighborhood called La Conchita that is along the coastal Hwy 101 and 50 miles northwest of Malibu.

Millionaires' homes in Malibu are not safe from mudslide and wild fires either.

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Malibu has some incredible houses but there are a number of beaches I would rather live on in Southern California. Pretty much anywhere from Manhattan Beach to the Mexican border to name a few.
 
GrayHare said:
Was/is Paradise Cove, where Jim Rockford's trailer was located, the cheaper side of Malibu?
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No, not cheaper. Less expensive.

I just looked. Single-wide mobile home for $750K. Double-wide for up to $2.2M. :nonono:
 
I love visiting CA for the scenery but its too expensive/dangerous to live there for me.
 
California is beautiful but If I had the money to buy a 8 million dollar home California would be the last place I would look.

Mike
 
I suspect that the OP is more horrified by the price/sq ft than the actual price itself.

IME places like these are more of a second home for the demographic that can pay for such luxuries. "Let's throw a party at the beach house this weekend" sort of thing. The parents of a guy I worked with lived on Malibu Beach; Jack Nicholson owned the house next door.
 
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We have already more than enough threads bashing CA for its weather and...everything....

Can we at least for this one just gaze at pretty "real estate porn"?

The HBO series, Big Little Lies, had me searching for beach front AirBNB's in Monterey, but to stay in a place like the homes on that show, well, even Robbie would balk at the dough that would blow.
 
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marko said:
I suspect that the OP is more horrified by the price/sq ft than the actual price itself.

IME places like these are more of a second home for the demographic that can pay for such luxuries. "Let's throw a party at the beach house this weekend" sort of thing. The parents of a guy I worked with lived on Malibu Beach; Jack Nicholson owned the house next door.
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My BIL lived next door to Billy Joel in the Hampton's. That's another place I wouldn't move to.

Mike
 
Aerides said:
We have already more than enough threads bashing CA for its weather and...everything....

Can we at least for this one just gaze at pretty "real estate porn"?

The HBO series, Big Little Lies, had me searching for beach front AirBNB's in Monterey, but to stay in a place like the homes on that show, well, even Robbie would balk at the dough that would blow.
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Hear, hear. Well said. Otherwise, should every post detailing a specific state default first to the horrors of it's specific natural disasters rather than what the post is actually about? It detracts from the topic at hand, and I find it disingenuous. Natural disasters . . . every state has them.

Moving on, prices of real estate, one can presume, are set by the buying public. If someone is willing to pay, than reason would indicate that it's not overpriced, even if we ourselves can't afford it. Lifestyle is hard to quantify, but I suspect you know it when you see it. A condo in Manhatten, a ski-in/ski out cabin in Colorado, a beach front home in Hawaii- how can one really quantify their lifestyle value? Not sure, but I'd definitely like to give any or all of them a shot!

Regarding Malibu specifically, which I know well, it's truly a little slice of paradise in spite of the ongoing natural disasters it faces. It's fronted by the Pacific Ocean, with all that that affords, and backed by the vast Santa Monica National Recreation Area, with all that that affords. Yes, people there face a certain amount of ongoing risk by living there, but those are infrequent events compared to the amazing day to day lifestyle opportunities. I'd live there in a heartbeat could I afford it. and clearly lots and lots of people feel the same, hence it's high per square foot cost.
 
To a MidWest boy like me, it would be hard to justify this kind of expenditure in Malibu when there are so many nicer places for that money in less populated areas. In Charlie Harper's case, he had the perfect home, that seemed to be situated near the highest population of loose moraled, young, buxom ladies in the nation, and had the money to truly enjoy his debauchery.
 
OK, I apologize for mentioning the horrific plight of a man who lost his family in the blink of an eye. Obviously, that is not a daily occurrence, else there would not be anybody living along the coast now. The story made such an impression on me that I remember to this day, although I thought it was in Malibu until I looked up the story to know it happened further up the coast.

About the pluses, of course there are reasons why these places are desirable, and that makes them so expensive. But they also come with negatives, and much of that is because of their desirability: people flock there, and drive up the cost, the congestion, pollution, etc... And when even the poor homeless, addicts, and mentally disabled people find it a nice place to stay, it is getting even tougher.

The positives and negatives balance out differently for different people. I would not argue with someone who tilts one way or the other. If everybody agreed, then it would be an even more crowded place, and I don't think Californians would like that.

But California is undeniably a nice place with good weather. I made many road trips there over the years, and will continue to do so. :)


PS. Here in the Southwest, we struggle to grow vegetable and some fruit trees, while our friends and relatives in California just stick them in the ground and they grow. We do envy their climate, that's for sure.
 
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In Monterrey we stay at the Monterrey Bay Inn, right at the end of Cannery Row. On the bay side as opposed to the harbor side. Cost about $300/night and worth it. You can spit in the ocean from the balcony on your room and there is a continuous serenade of sloshing water on the rocks. For entertainment you can just sit on the balcony for hours and watch the otters, fish and birds put on a show.
 
Aerides said:
We have already more than enough threads bashing CA for its weather and...everything....

Can we at least for this one just gaze at pretty "real estate porn"?

The HBO series, Big Little Lies, had me searching for beach front AirBNB's in Monterey, but to stay in a place like the homes on that show, well, even Robbie would balk at the dough that would blow.
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Recognizing the minuses as well as the plusses is WHAT WE DO here - on everything - financial plans, travel plans, electric vehicles, etc. etc.. It's not bashing per se.

I do the same thing with my adopted homeland of Hawaii. I love it here, but it's NOT for everyone. NOT recognizing the downside is the reason that we know VERY FEW folks who have moved here from the mainland and lasted longer than 4 years. We too have fallen into the trap of making friends, only to lose them to the "realities" of Paradise (long distances to grand kids, isolation in general, difficulty in making (close) friends, high costs of almost everything, one-party politics, traffic - especially on Oahu, etc.)

If I were to bash Cali, (I mean REALLY, intentionally bash Cali) I would simply pick a current news story about Cali (without any comment!) from the last week or two and just mention it here. I would probably be banned or at least bring on Porky. So recognizing both the good and not-so-good is not bashing IMHO.

By the way, I love Cali!:flowers:

Now returning you to our current discussion as YMMV.
 
Koolau said:
Recognizing the minuses as well as the plusses is WHAT WE DO here - on everything - financial plans, travel plans, electric vehicles, etc. etc.. It's not bashing per se...
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But what I unintentionally did, by mentioning the horrible mudslide in a coastal town, was not right either. I had to admit.

Imagine if someone asks about moving to Hawaii, and I would bring up the terrifying tsunami that hit Hilo in 1960.

If disasters like the above were daily occurrences, these places would be totally deserted. :LOL:
 
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But in all fairness, the beauty of the state lies in its geological age, it is the youngest area in the North American continent. It is huge in comparison to other states, countries for that matter and is constantly buffeted by the Pacific ocean, heavily influenced by the temperature of the Alaskan northern waters, and is also under the influence of huge tectonic plates. For most of it history because of the favorable climate, beauty, arable and vastness, it has been a magnet to people. And any disruption to any of those things, causes grave problems to all of the above.
 
A couple minor points from someone who's lived in the area for many years:

1. Everyone around here knew La Conchita was dangerous long before the fatal mudslides. I used to stop up there on my way to Santa Barbara as far back as the late '80s and the risk was known back then. There was a long history of smaller slides and creep every rainy season and for that reason property values were already FAR below anywhere else on the coast. Folks that lived there ignored the risk so they could have their affordable slice of coastal heaven - and paid the price.

2. Paradise Cove is affordable only by Malibu standards. My wife and I tidepool around there and eat at the beachside restaurant now and then. A well to do friend of ours bought a 2nd home in the trailer park there. I think it was somewhere around $1.2M 5 years ago - for a doublewide trailer. Pretty location though.


Finally, while Charlie Sheen has certainly made some poor life-shortening choices, some folks might say the life of excess he was able to lead for the last several decades was worth it.
 
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