California’s New Motto? Get In While the Getting’s Good

Psst, hey buddy.

Yeah, you, the guy in Ohio. The guy in the parka, freezing his buns off at your kid’s high school football game.

Have I got a deal for you.

You’ve heard of California, right? Your friends used to tell you about it, what a hot-shot place it was?

They told you to come out here, but you said it was too pricey.

All right, listen to what I’m telling you and listen good.

Get out here.

Right now.

Don’t wait to watch the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day and then pack up. Just do it. If you’ve got a family, all the better. Bring them too.

At some point in your life you probably thought of moving to California, but you bought all the bad stuff about it. Thought it was too expensive. Or too kooky. Or it was too smoggy. Or traffic was too congested.

Quit your whining and take a look at the new California.

Listen up.

You may have heard that the state’s economy is slumping, but that’s precisely the point. Consider California as you would the stock market--get in while the getting’s good. Why move out here after the recovery comes?

Last month’s figures from the California Assn. of Realtors showed that the median resale home price statewide dropped to--are you ready for this?--$196,500. Orange County continues to be a fantastic housing bargain: The median resale price dropped to $232,470. Just a year ago, it was pushing $240,000. Who knows whether it could possibly get any lower.

Do we have condos, you ask? Do we have condos. Ha, we’re practically giving them away.

Median condo price statewide? How does $140,770 sound to you? A few years ago, it took that much money just to qualify for a loan. Now you can own the whole joint for that price. It just so happens that the figure is 4% lower than a year ago, if you get my drift.

Can’t pay cash for those homes? Need to finance them? How does a 30-year fixed interest rate still hanging around 8% grab you? We could probably find you something lower, if you know what I mean. What’re you waiting for, 3% and the G.I. Bill?

You move into a new home out here, you’ll probably want some furniture in it, right? Now is the perfect time to buy. Drive down any street in Orange County, and you’ll see a furniture store out of business. That translates to giant savings for you, especially in wicker.

What’s that? You need a job too? You say you’ve heard that the state’s leading industry is now Saturday morning garage sales?

That’s true, but it’s all changing. In Orange County, a report out of Cal State Fullerton said county employers probably will add about 12,000 people next year and most of them won’t involve jobs that require a knowledge of how to fold towels. Wouldn’t you like to be one of them? They’ll add even more in 1994, but by then, those house prices will be rising again.

Friends, that’s the whole idea--make your move now before everybody else gets here.

Maybe you’ve heard that the air stinks out here. And I’m not talking about just the quality--I mean the actual air, itself.

Fuhgeddaboutit.

That’s the old days. The agency in charge of the air that we breathe just put out some information saying the air is cleaner than it’s been in 20 years. By the time your grandchildren are grown (to be on the safe side, make that by the time your grandchildren’s grandchildren are grown), they’ll be able to see all the way out to the horizon line.

They try to tell you that traffic is bad, but don’t fall for that. Here in Orange County, where we take our traffic very seriously, we’re planning for your every driving need. We’re widening old freeways and building new tollways. We’ve got highways and byways out the keister. We got some where we don’t even need them, just waiting for you to come on out and drive on them.

I hope you sense my enthusiasm. A lot of people came out here when things were going great. Shoot, anybody can do that. It’s the mark of genius to be ahead of the curve.

Just keep saying it to yourself . . . California. California. You thought you’d never be able to afford it, but now you can.

What are you waiting for?