Thanks to Carol Putman for this copy of a real estate flyer for “The Crossings In Walnut Country,” dated 6-10-74.
Homes were sold for as low as $51,000.
The neighborhood, located in Concord, is along Ygnacio Valley Rd. in between Ayers and Cowell.
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That wasn’t a bad price, I remember the average price for a home was 74 grand in San Francisco in the mid seventies. That was before the City became too expensive to live in.
When we bought our first house in 1975 we looked at The Crossings, but thought it was a little too far out, so we bought near Oak Grove and Treat. We were looking again 1 1/2 years later and fell in love with Clayton, bought our house in Clayton and have been here ever since. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.
Isn’t Clayton farther out?
Yes, Clayton is farther out, but we decided it was such a great place to live that it was worth it. After 43 years in Clayton, we still do. I figure I have driven something like 150,000 – 200,000 miles on YVR though.
Unfortunately, it attracted a bunch of chicken littles – “the sky is falling” types, who eventually voted to tear down the beloved smokestack. An iconic tourist destination.
They should have grown and pair and not been such ninny nannies. Long live The Stack. You could see it for miles around.
Hey there LemonRidge Larry. You probably don’t have a clue as to why it eventually had to go. Smartest decision the crossings board and residents ever made.
Agreed. It was dangerous. The sky was literally falling down on people.
Just a couple of years out of high school it might as well been a million dollars. Couldn’t afford it then and still can’t afford them now.
I only found one home for sale on Zillow that I believe is part of that development and the asking price is $915k. And yet, the schools rate poor to middling. We all know why. Only in the Bay Area and LA do people pay close to $1 million for a home and have to send their kids to private school for a decent education. Almost everywhere in the US a million-dollar home buys you an excellent school district as well. Reason #1,012,132 why I’m getting out of here when I retire.
That’s just incorrect, Northgate High School is the school all the kids go to and is very well funded by the Walnut Creek parents. In the last decade they’ve built a new theatre, football field, and aquatics center. You can leave California, but do it for the right, well researched reason instead of feelings.
Our children graduated from Northgate.
We don’t know anyone who has not become a contributing member of society from their classes.
Do your research before you spout off nasty rumors about California schools.
Agree with CA
You don’t know what you’re talking about Anonymous. Our son went to Highlands elementary in Concord for elementary (a distinguished school winner), then to Foothill in Walnut Creek (also a very well performing school), and finished up at Northgate. Northgate is a great high school with an incredible award winning (and nationally acclaimed) music program. The schools are why we purchased in the Crossings 15 years ago. Best decision we’ve made!
Northgate, Northgate. The consensus is in and I agree. It’s the curriculum baby. Unfortunately it is also the parental guidance. If you want your kids to succeed, you must steer them properly. I have straddled the line of cultural revolution. Seen it first hand. The do what you feel crowd lost. Training and diligence matter. Technical school for those who cannot fit in with academics. Work is a noble endeavor.
$51,000 in 1974 would be $283,871 today based on inflation. Pretty nice return on investment.
idiots everywhere,
That is only about 3% annual return on investment over 46 years.
As I said, I found one home that I believe is part of that development on Zillow. Check yourself. That home feeds into Mountain View ES, El Dorado MS and Concord HS. I wasn’t sure if this was part of Cowell or Turtle Creek. But, if you go just one block south, those homes feed into Highlands ES, Foothill MS and Northgate HS. The California Hiking and Riding Trail appears to be the cutoff. If you live north of it (even by a few feet), you go to El Dorado MS and Concord HS. If you live south of it, you go to Foothill MS and Northgate HS. The estimated home prices of the two developments are similar. The point still stands that few states in the US have areas with homes that demand $900k but offer schools with a middling rating. My MIL has her home on the market in Mountain View for just under $2 million and her local ES and MS both have a 6 rating.
Bad Nombre, the return, after inflation (assuming current value is $950,000) would be $666,129 so over 46 years that is a 6% real return (ie inflation adjusted) on the initial cost. Assuming you paid cash for the house.
50 to $60,000 seems unbelievable nowadays for a nice home. People seem to easily pay that for their new cars or trucks now.
I remember those model homes they could be seen from Cowell Road as you drove up to Ygnacio. But believe it or not those were fairly high prices back in 1974. Your average home in Concord only sold for about 30 to 40k at the time.
I’ll take 10! 🙂 Lol.
Bought first house 4 bedroom 2 bath not quite six years later than the ad date, for $64,000. An look at housing prices today.
Anyone that bought a house back then and still owns it is rich.
Only if they sell.
My ex husband and I bought a house in Marinwood, Marin County in 1976, for $73.000 when we moved to a bigger house in Foster City we kept it as a rental. When we got divorced in 1984 I signed it over to my ex, I got half of the equity in my divorce settlement, forgot how much it was.
My ex husband sold it a few years ago for $788.000. I didn’t really know when I got divorced how much real estate in California goes up in value, if I had known I would never had signed it over.
Those who bought a house for those low prices and now its worth a huge amount may be in for a bit of a surprise with Biden’s new tax plans if he becomes president. Nothing is decided yet but at least one dog-fight seems to be in the case of inheritance, keeping the original price as the basis. So if the house went up 900K, then your kids might be taxed on that amount. We don’t know yet if the rate would be income tax rates, or higher or lower and if there is some exemption like for 400K. Biden even after 50 years in public service still has no details on what he plans, but the appearance of 900K income will make you look like the hated rich to him, Kamala, and AOC so good luck and I’m sure if you voted for him you took that into consideration.
Recall ….before the Oaf takes the Oath
This is where I grew up! I have friends who are the original owners of the Monterey II model. I’ve seen their old home movies of the neighborhood, where it was only one of a couple of houses built on their cul-de-sac at the time. They’re still living in the pat home (second generation).
I sure miss the smokestack! 🙁
@anonymous about “the schools rate poor to middling” At the time Ygnacio Valley High School was the best school in the area. If you were the parent of an honors caliber headed to a major university kid then you did what you could to have your child attend YVHS. YVHS’ popularity resulted in the construction of the nearby Northgate High School in 1974 and the resulting transfer of many students. I’ve been puzzled about how and why YVHS fell into being the school for junior felons.
While this housing development was in the CVHS attendance area it was usually an easy transfer to get someone into YVHS and later Northgate when it opened. CVHS was not too bad but was a better academic fit for kids destined for the state college system.
@DodgerDog – you do not become rich if you sell because you are then faced with needing to buy a new place to live. Some people cash out by moving to a less desirable area. While that’s good for the first ten to 15 years people start aging to the point where access to medical facilities and single story homes that are easy to navigate become an important consideration.
WC Resident – YVHS went downhill when the demographics changed. The demographics of students — a lot of them don’t take education seriously. I have two friends that teach at YV, and one of them has her purse stolen (a few times) been threatened, etc. YV went from being a good school to the worst in the area. Same with Oak Grove Intermediate. This shouldn’t be a surprise to you. We all know how Concord has changed.
You only have to look as far as Monument Blvd.
I moved here in 1980 and remember when YVHS had a great reputation. CVHS too. The change in demographics in the Four Corners area destroyed YVHS. Valley View MS and College Park HS in Pleasant Hill are now under pressure as well. It’s just a matter of time before Concord, Pleasant Hill and Martinez are like LA. It was a nice run.
@WC Resident.. I attended YVHS in 73 when enrollment was over 1200 students and many classes were conducted in portable classrooms. We lived in a new 74k house on Filbert Drive where across the 2 lane Oak Grove Road there were farms. Northgate HS was under construction but not finished until a year later. It wasn’t that YV was “popular”, real estate in the area was booming as the opening of BART and the widening of YV Road over Lime Ridge was bring more families to our new bedroom communities.
The Crossings,Limeridge, and later Crystal Ranch all cut deals with MDUSD to feed into Northgate in order to make these housing developments more attractive. Both older schools CVHS & YVHS are closer to these developments, but it forced the school district to re-draw the school boundaries in a process not unlike redlining.
We bought our Crossings home in 1984 (Cabernet model) for $144,000. Raised our kids in this great community. We are staying put. Love our neighbors. We plan to age-in-place in our single-story castle.
Adjusted for median incomes in California, those houses should cost $300,000 now.