California Officially Becomes First in Nation Mandating Solar Power for New Homes
8th December 2018
California already has a problem with insufficient new homes being built to satisfy demand, and high housing prices exacerbating population outflow and homelessness. This will just make that situation worse. But I guess they don’t care.
December 8th, 2018 at 08:07
The all powerful Google tells us that “Today, an average California home costs $440,000, about two–and–a–half times the average national home price ($180,000).” So tacking another $10k on top is just a 2.3% increase. Sofa cushion change.
So running the math, let’s say you can get subsidized loan with just 5% down on that now $450,000 house you’ll need to lay your hands on a cool $22,500 and then get a 30 year fixed mortgage on the balance of $427,500 at the market rate of 4.89% you’ll have a monthly nut of $2,266 before property tax and insurance… so maybe $3,100? Annual $37,200.
Applying the 28% of your gross income to housing rule… your annual income should be $132,857.
At the promised land wage of $15 an hour… and a 40 hour work week (no vacations)… you’ll earn $31,200 per year gross. So… you’ll need 4.25 wage earners in that house contributing all they have for that average house.
Or you can live on the sidewalk by the Moscone Center in SF and enjoy the view. And to be fair, California was toast long before this $10k housing bump so does it really matter? It’s just sofa cushion change after all.
December 8th, 2018 at 23:04
In the 90’s I worked on a military base closure in CA. The base was built during WWII. By CA law, the buildings on the base had to be evaluated for potential use to house the homeless. (Mind you, this is in the high desert and the number of homeless in the area is essentially zero.) After careful study by folks from the state it was determined that none of the buildings – including the military housing for officers, enlisted men, and families – met the minimum standards for housing the homeless.
I’m serious.
So the homeless – if they exist – can’t be housed because of building standards, and those who would like to buy houses can’t because the prices are too high, and if you do have a house you can’t afford the insurance because the state won’t prevent massive fires from burning you out.
Madness.