Time to move! (Grass Valley?)

Bay Arean

Well-known member
Grass Valley/area is awesome. Start looking into homeowners insurance now- its virtually impossible to buy (there) and you'll likely wind up with the state run fire insurance program. You could call a broker or two up there for the full scoop- but your escrow won't close without coverage.

Edit- lots of folks beat me to it

Gosh is there any land left in and around Grass Valley anymore? It just really seems filled up. Because the lots are bigger, you cant say dense but the traffic sure is dense. I hate the heat up thar in the summer. There are large areas of very hot zones on rusty red soil that just ain't that attractive. I love to visit Nevada City but it's probably out of reach. Tons of Bay Area peeps up there.

I wouldn't live in Cloverdale if you paid me. You see, I did live in Cloverdale in the 70s. Nothing but bad memories. There were Satanists up at the Preston place, Florida hippies in those days. But, its way better since freeway bypass I would imagine. Everyone I knew from there moved away, that's how great it was. Some very troubled young people up there when I was around. It's almost like a little piece of Lake County but prettier. I'd rather live with the hippies in Forestville or something than that noise. Healdsburg got ruined by the wealthy. It was a sleepy Mexican town when I was little, with the bigger farm and ranch owners on the outskirts. The Aven theater only showed movies in Spanish! :afm199:afm199:afm199 If you don't commute, Hopland might be interesting, I dunno. Still too damn hot. A person might be able to get something in Geyserville? Freeway noise but it's kind of cool location wise.

Back south, they took the feedstore in Alexander Valley and made it into a high price sandwich shop. We used to buy hay, and get sodas from the cooler. Now, the Alexander Valley is like the frickin south of France. Anything within two hours of SFO is pretty much out of reach price-wise to retire to...Pretty sad.

Probably the only hope of it ever being affordable is that all of it is in danger of getting incinerated every year or we lose our Tech Hub thing.

I am laughing of course. Do what you want...
 
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yodaisgod

KHAAAAAN!
Gosh is there any land left in and around Grass Valley anymore? It just really seems filled up. Because the lots are bigger, you cant say dense but the traffic sure is dense. I hate the heat up thar in the summer.

I wouldn't live in Cloverdale if you paid me. You see, I did live in Cloverdale. Nothing but bad memories. But, its way better since freeway bypass I would imagine. Everyone I knew from there moved away, that's how great it was.Some very troubled young people up there when I was around. It's almost like a little piece of Lake County but prettier. I'd rather live with the hippies in Forestville or something than that noise. Healdsburg got ruined by the wealthy. It was a sleepy Mexican town when I was little, with the bigger farm and ranch owners on the outskirts.:afm199:afm199:afm199

They took the feedstore in Alexander Valley and made it into a high price sandwich shop. We used to buy hay, and get sodas from the cooler. Now, the Alexander Valley is like the frickin south of France. Anything within two hours of SFO is pretty much out of reach price-wise to retire to...Pretty sad. Probably the only hope of it ever being affordable is that all of it is in danger of getting incinerated every year.

Did you used to play jacks by the soda fountain?

Tell us about the war........any of them.
 

Bay Arean

Well-known member
Did you used to play jacks by the soda fountain?

Tell us about the war........any of them.

I lived at Vacation Village, worked in a lumber mill (also at the winery at Asti) and had milkshakes at the FlyHigh. Swum nekkid at the hippie hole north of town (forgot the name). Gaj will get it.

When we ranched at the Geysers, both Charles Manson AND Leonard Lake came to hang out at the hot springs. Right about the time that hippies turned mean and dangerous. When we lived at the Geysers, Cloverdale was "town." Hence the memories.

:afm199:afm199

If you want old stories, ask my dad. He's 90! I come from a long line of long lines. And I aint as old as Ernie so there. Just havin fun.
 
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Map8

I want nothing
Staff member
Gosh is there any land left in and around Grass Valley anymore? It just really seems filled up. Because the lots are bigger, you cant say dense but the traffic sure is dense. I hate the heat up thar in the summer. There are large areas of very hot zones on rusty red soil that just ain't that attractive. I love to visit Nevada City but it's probably out of reach. Tons of Bay Area peeps up there.

I wouldn't live in Cloverdale if you paid me. You see, I did live in Cloverdale in the 70s. Nothing but bad memories. There were Satanists up at the Preston place, Florida hippies in those days. But, its way better since freeway bypass I would imagine. Everyone I knew from there moved away, that's how great it was. Some very troubled young people up there when I was around. It's almost like a little piece of Lake County but prettier. I'd rather live with the hippies in Forestville or something than that noise. Healdsburg got ruined by the wealthy. It was a sleepy Mexican town when I was little, with the bigger farm and ranch owners on the outskirts. The Aven theater only showed movies in Spanish! :afm199:afm199:afm199 If you don't commute, Hopland might be interesting, I dunno. Still too damn hot. A person might be able to get something in Geyserville? Freeway noise but it's kind of cool location wise.

Back south, they took the feedstore in Alexander Valley and made it into a high price sandwich shop. We used to buy hay, and get sodas from the cooler. Now, the Alexander Valley is like the frickin south of France. Anything within two hours of SFO is pretty much out of reach price-wise to retire to...Pretty sad.

Probably the only hope of it ever being affordable is that all of it is in danger of getting incinerated every year or we lose our Tech Hub thing.

I am laughing of course. Do what you want...



How many mattresses do you need before you can no longer feel the pea?
 

Bay Arean

Well-known member
How many mattresses do you need before you can no longer feel the pea?

:rofl:rofl

Hey, don't mess with the greatest underappreciated invention of 20th century commodity fetishism: the pillow-top mattress.

But you gotta admit, the foothills get pretty damn hot. If you go up in elevation into the pines, it's just enough better but then you get the snow. I'd rather deal with that than lower down. Like the difference from Sonora up to Twain Harte. It's close but just a leetle cooler.

Torremolinos, Torremolinos.
 
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rodr

Well-known member
... I'd like to stay within a 2 hour drive of my kids in Concord and Walnut Creek...

Be sure to chat with the kids about their future plans. People have an annoying habit of moving from time to time, even when they did not foresee it. We moved overseas with primary consideration for what we can control, and knowing we could come back to visit once or twice a year (of course that was before Covid).
 

ScottRNelson

Mr. Dual Sport Rider
Be sure to chat with the kids about their future plans. People have an annoying habit of moving from time to time, even when they did not foresee it.
Yeah, two of the six places we were considering were near our kids. It didn't take long to figure out that we didn't really want to live near any of them because we didn't like the towns. One has since moved here, and we basically told all of them that if they want to be near grandparents, they would have to do it that way. :cool
 

BillSmith

Mild Hawg
Regarding specifically Grass Valley...

I lived in Union Hill as a kid, just outside of town. Thus I still wander through on a regular basis. In my opinion, Grass Valley has taken quite a shift in political climate. Much more SF Bay Area in look and feel.

Outlying areas, more State Of Jefferson.
 

Ridley

Well-known member
Grass Valley is a nice little town. Not too hot in the summer. Very little snow in the winter because it rains all freakin winter, 53 inches on average. I live fairly close and go there often.
 

budman

General Menace
Staff member
Congrats on retirement and GL with your search.

I got nothing other than good wishes!
 

tuxumino

purrfect
I started thinking about moving out of the BA when I retire a couple of years ago. Thought about Chico or Paradise, then camp fire happened.
Thought about Alturas/Eureka but then covid happened. Still thinking about Klamath falls but no diversity.

the one thing I realized I wanted to be near is some kind of college, at least a CC so I could take classes for fun and not always be around old people. Would also like a town/city with a MC dealership or 2 and maybe close to a track.

BTW I'm now retired but waiting to see how things play out, I own a home outright so expenses are not too high and real estate prices out of the BA have been rising even before the pandemic.
 

wazzuFreddo

WuTang is 4 the children
BTW I'm now retired but waiting to see how things play out, I own a home outright so expenses are not too high and real estate prices out of the BA have been rising even before the pandemic.

Long term, I expect to see downward pressure on prices on outlying areas.

Right now there has been a large shift away from metro areas due to most white collar jobs being shifted to work from home. Sure, not all of that will come back, but there are still going to be industries/bosses in the future that require work in the office. Not everyone is going to be able to WFH from BFE forever.

Couple that with about 20% of borrowers and renters being behind on their monthly mortgage/rent payments. Unless there is some sort of mass forgiveness at the end of this, we are in for a huge correction. People who are behind on payments now aren't going to magically catch up. :dunno

YMMV though and don't take any actions based on what I think, I'm an electrical engineer, not any sort of real estate guru. :p
 

rtmac

Hondaholic
Thanks all... lots of great info to consider. The wife and I are planning to spend the next few weekends checking the area out... maybe find a short term rental until we find something we want to buy. I expect my current house will sell fast.
 

bluegixxer600

Well-known member
I’m in Penn Valley which is just down the hill about 10 minutes from Grass Valley. Lake Wildwood is in PV and is a nice gated community with decent inventory. My homeowners insurance has been dropped twice, but I still am not on the CA fair plan yet. Hit me up if you have any questions about the area, I’ve lived in Nevada City, Grass Valley and Penn Valley area for over 45 years. It’s changed a lot!
 

DonTom

Well-known member
Regarding specifically Grass Valley...

I lived in Union Hill as a kid, just outside of town. Thus I still wander through on a regular basis. In my opinion, Grass Valley has taken quite a shift in political climate. Much more SF Bay Area in look and feel.

Outlying areas, more State Of Jefferson.
The area I like out there is Willow Valley. I own a house in Auburn (and a couple here in the Reno area) and when I ride from here to Auburn, I often take Hwy 20 to Willow Valley to Grass Valley. I really like Willow Valley because it seems so far out in the middle of nowhere yet it is right next to Grass Valley/NV City.

-Don- Reno, NV
 

DonTom

Well-known member
Hey Barfer's, I'm looking for any insight or advise So far, I'm looking at Grass Valley, Auburn, Placerville, etc... but my only experience with these places are quick pit stops on the way thru to other places. As a lifelong city boy (east bay resident), I worry that there may be things I'm not considering. Any pro's or con's of theses area's that you know of? Any advise on the subject is appreciated. TIA
My Auburn house is right in the middle between Hwy 49 and I-80. The area is called Christian Valley, easy to get to I-80 as well as Hwy 49. Elevation is 1,600 feet, all trees.

You're well within the price range. But there are some a bit cheaper and several a lot more expensive.

Snow is very rare there. Perhaps a day of light snow every year on the average. It's been snowing like crazy here in Reno lately. The once every ten year big storm here right now. A foot of snow outside here. I am on the very top of a hill at 5K feet here in Reno. The snow starts at about five miles up the hill from Auburn right now. Raining in Auburn right now, but it could get a little snow with a storm this size.

If you want to take a look at the area, in Auburn, take Dry Creek Road (Exit 124) from I-80, go up Christian Valley Road and then just stay on it for a few miles to check the area out--and turn on any road. Houses are well spread out in most of the areas, all deep in the trees. Fire insurance can be difficult, if not impossible, if you are going to pay cash. Ask me how I know. If you finance for a few years, then the mortgage company can find the insurance for you. They have tricks the rest of us don't have available.

But if you do try on your own, after you call countless insurance companies and get the same answer right after you give them your Auburn address, which is "sorry, we do not insure that area of Auburn" then try the CA Fair Plan. They specialize in high risk.

Also, expect to be on propane and have a septic tank in such areas. And some expensive utility bills. My water bill there is more than $300.00 if I use NONE at all. But it's billed every 3 months, so it's really just a bit more than a hundred per month. The good news is if you use a lot, the prices does NOT increase all that much. You're mainly paying just to have the service.

But I think it will be a very convenient area for you and a little closer to the Bay Area than Grass Valley.

FWIW, I am from the west Bay Area, just south of SF, all in San Mateo County.

Also, if you're under Prop 13, like I was, you will lose it in that area. No agreement between the counties, so property tax will go sky high, unless yours is already high.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
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