House hunting in Palm Springs

[+ purplekow]

I will be in Palm Springs next week, looking at houses and trying to finalize a move there.  If anyone is a resident of Palm Spring or visiting Palm Springs next week, give me a buzz.  Perhaps we can have a meal or if you are a resident, perhaps you can advise me about properties.  I look forward to seeing some of you there as a visitor this time and resident in April.  

[TonyDown]

May I ask the OP if any concern moving to PS with the record high temperatures, eg as high as 124F this summer?

Even the overnight temperatures can remain hot.

How does everyone manage living there in the summer heat?

I used to think about owning a place in PS but lately I am less certain.

[rvwnsd]

5 hours ago, TonyDown said:

May I ask the OP if any concern moving to PS with the record high temperatures, eg as high as 124F this summer?

Even the overnight temperatures can remain hot.

How does everyone manage living there in the summer heat?

I used to think about owning a place in PS but lately I am less certain.

124 degrees is an anomaly. Palm Springs' weather is similar to that in Phoenix, where the typical high in summer tops out at 110 - 115 degrees. This is how I describe the Phoenix heat in Summer:

• Under 100 degrees: beautiful weather. We all have our car windows open.
• 100 - 110 degrees: tolerable.
• Above 110 degrees is pretty miserable, and you want to stay indoors during the day.

As @Vin Marco said, you get accustomed to the heat. You also get accustomed to the nice weather all winter. It makes up for the summer heat. As we say "you don't have to shovel sunshine!"

 

[CuriousByNature]

I would take the 115F I experienced when visiting Palm Springs over the 90F with high humidity I suffered through in Chicago.

[+ purplekow]

I certainly considered my heat tolerance in making a plan to move.  I think I could better stand a season of high heat than a season of cold and snowy.  With global climate change, one needs to consider consequences, such as Florida and NC getting blasted with two hurricanes.  Pick your poison and enjoy the wine.  Also, at my age, we are no longer considering decades of heat, just a month or so a year for a few, or perhaps several years.  And there is no reason to stay in the heat, a nice Alaskan holiday in July with a hot man might be all the cooling and heating I need. 

[+ purplekow]

22 hours ago, Vin Marco said:

And I'm happy to help you when it's time to move across the country.  🫂 Road trip Doc! 

I might decide to move just to enjoy that trip.  Just you me and the three bitches.  Of course there will be music in the car and a diner or two on the way.    

Edited October 12, 2024 by purplekow

[+ purplekow]

July in Sicily may be too hot, September or May of 2025 if you are not already booked solid between now and then. 

Edited October 12, 2024 by purplekow

[+ purplekow]

1 hour ago, Vin Marco said:

Don't be silly 🙂 I've been there in the summer. Yes it's hot but it's not Palm Springs hot and I think we would manage just fine 😜

 

This was the favorite Lou Monte in my house.  I particularly like What did Washington say when he crossed the Delaware but Pepino is a classic.  

[TonyDown]

4 hours ago, purplekow said:

I might decide to move just to enjoy that trip.  Just you me and the three bitches.  Of course there will be music in the car and a diner or two on the way.    

Dogs?  

I had so many great hikes with my boy , visiting PS.  The Araby Trail.   Out at Joshua Tree.

Are there specific areas you are focusing to live?

I know guys that live from one end to the other of the desert cities.  

 

[+ purplekow]

Just now, TonyDown said:

Dogs?  

I had so many great hikes with my boy , visiting PS.  The Araby Trail.   Out at Joshua Tree.

Are there specific areas you are focusing to live?

I know guys that live from one end to the other of the desert cities.  

 

Three dogs.   Not an option must love dogs.   I have been looking in Palm Desert. Cathedral City Palm Springs. Do not want to get too far out of PS

[rvwnsd]

15 hours ago, CuriousByNature said:

I would take the 115F I experienced when visiting Palm Springs over the 90F with high humidity I suffered through in Chicago.

This is what I tell my family back in Chicago, where I grew up and lived until I was in my mid-thirties.

6 hours ago, purplekow said:

I certainly considered my heat tolerance in making a plan to move.  I think I could better stand a season of high heat than a season of cold and snowy...

As I always say, you won't spontaneously combust in Phoenix (or Palm Springs), but you WILL get frostbite at some point in Chicago.

 

[Luv2play]

Well, looking at this year PS experienced 73 days of temperatures above 110F and 3 periods of temps at those levels continuously in June (22 days) July (17 days) and Aug/Sept ( 15 days). That’s over two thirds of the summer when it was dangerous to be outside for any extended period of time.

In our winter last year we had only a handful of days when it was really cold (-20c). And it was the warmest winter on record. And unless a blizzard was occurring, of which we had none that I recall, it was not dangerous to go outside for a long walk. You just had to dress warmly for it including wearing warm boots. 

[Atyla]

I have a friend selling a property there. 2 bd place in a condo-resort with very nice amenities. 8+ pools with different temperatures, hot tubs, tennis court, gardens. Somewhat affordable selling price, but maintenance is in the $1200's/month. But it's more of a family oriented resort-condo. Feel free do DM me.

[TonyDown]

8 hours ago, Luv2play said:

Well, looking at this year PS experienced 73 days of temperatures above 110F and 3 periods of temps at those levels continuously in June (22 days) July (17 days) and Aug/Sept ( 15 days). That’s over two thirds of the summer when it was dangerous to be outside for any extended period of time.

In our winter last year we had only a handful of days when it was really cold (-20c). And it was the warmest winter on record. And unless a blizzard was occurring, of which we had none that I recall, it was not dangerous to go outside for a long walk. You just had to dress warmly for it including wearing warm boots. 

Exactly.  I have one friend that finally moved away from PS to get away from the gradually increasing heat and another friend that is threatening to.

I moved to the West Coast from Minnesota so I truly appreciate the weather in So Cal .   Perhaps if I sell my place in OC and settle in PS, I could spend time away during the hottest weeks.

[+ purplekow]

You can run from global warming but you cannot hide.  I do not mind being in the house and plan to have a pool to be able to go out for a short bit even in the hottest of the season.  

[+ azdr0710]

10 hours ago, Atyla said:

I have a friend selling a property there. 2 bd place in a condo-resort with very nice amenities. 8+ pools with different temperatures, hot tubs, tennis court, gardens. Somewhat affordable selling price, but maintenance is in the $1200's/month. But it's more of a family oriented resort-condo. Feel free do DM me.

Timeshare?  That maintenance fee is stunning. 

[Luv2play]

9 hours ago, purplekow said:

You can run from global warming but you cannot hide.  I do not mind being in the house and plan to have a pool to be able to go out for a short bit even in the hottest of the season.  

How does one prevent their pool from becoming a hot tub in PS in the summer?

[Luv2play]

51 minutes ago, azdr0710 said:

Timeshare?  That maintenance fee is stunning. 

8 pools to maintain.

[+ azdr0710]

2 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

How does one prevent their pool from becoming a hot tub in PS in the summer?

Pools do get warm. Many people use aerators run at night to cool the water. 

https://www.poolstoreinc.com/blog/143-4-ways-to-keep-your-pool-cool-during-the-summer#:~:text=Just like with a fountain,one aerator for additional cooling.

[Luv2play]

1 minute ago, azdr0710 said:

Pools do get warm. Many people use aerators run at night to cool the water. 

https://www.poolstoreinc.com/blog/143-4-ways-to-keep-your-pool-cool-during-the-summer#:~:text=Just like with a fountain,one aerator for additional cooling.

If it only drops to 80 or 90 degrees at night how does that work?

[Beancounter]

I plead total ignorance on purchasing real estate in Palm Springs but I had a conversation many years ago with a friend of mine who indicated that while you may purchase a home there you may not be purchasing the land it sits on.  You actually sing a multi-year lease or something like that.  My recollection is that this has something to do with tribal lands.   Someone who is more familiar with this topic hopefully will clarify this.  

[nate_sf]

32 minutes ago, azdr0710 said:

Pools do get warm. Many people use aerators run at night to cool the water. 

https://www.poolstoreinc.com/blog/143-4-ways-to-keep-your-pool-cool-during-the-summer#:~:text=Just like with a fountain,one aerator for additional cooling.

When I was growing up in AZ we never heated the pool. It just got heated naturally as the weather got hotter. And yes, the aerators to cool the water!

[nate_sf]

1 hour ago, azdr0710 said:

Timeshare?  That maintenance fee is stunning. 

Anyone shopping for condos in California nowadays will find this kind of HOA fee not too unusual, particularly for older complexes that are in need of major repairs just as a factor of the age of the buildings. Roofing, repairing degrading balconies and decks, water intrusion, replacing windows, repairing pools, not to mention maintaining the grounds.

Also, the State is now requiring HOAs to carry larger reserves, so these higher fees are meant to build up the reserves rather than requiring people to shell out an assessment when big repairs are needed.

On top of that, insurance costs have increased significantly. I'm told the costs are triple what they were just a few years ago.

$1200 is definitely on the high end, but it's not unusual to find HOA fees in the range of $700-$900 per month on a 1970s or 1980s vintage condo.

But with all that, factor the cost of maintaining a single family home of the same vintage. My husband and I own a house in SF and regularly need to shell out for repairs and maintenance. We just repainted the house this year, replaced the crumbling driveway, and now the sewer lateral needs replacing. $$$

[+ Charlie]

2 hours ago, Beancounter said:

I plead total ignorance on purchasing real estate in Palm Springs but I had a conversation many years ago with a friend of mine who indicated that while you may purchase a home there you may not be purchasing the land it sits on.  You actually sing a multi-year lease or something like that.  My recollection is that this has something to do with tribal lands.   Someone who is more familiar with this topic hopefully will clarify this.  

Much of the land in Palm Springs is owned by the Cahuilla Tribe of Native Americans. We bought our first house there on tribal land, so although we owned the house itself (and could have moved it elsewhere if we had wanted to), we had to lease the land from the tribe and pay a monthly fee for it. Sometimes the tribe agrees to sell the land to the homeowner, but that is usually only when it is a large property with many residences, such as a retirement community or a new development where a deal is struck between the tribe and the developer before anything is built. Many home buyers are uncomfortable with a situation in which they own the house but not the land it sits on, and realtors often try to steer buyers away from homes on tribal land, so those houses are often cheaper to buy than houses on non-leased land. We lived in that situation for 13 years and had no problem with living there or eventually selling the house. [Of course, my spouse's family had owned a house-moving company in Ohio, so he was not daunted by the thought of moving one's house to another property.]

Edited October 13, 2024 by Charlie

[Beancounter]

Thank you for clarifying that for me @Charlie. That’s very interesting and good to know.