Aerial views of Santa Rosa CA

[rcjordan]

https://www.nbcnews.com/slideshow/above-california-wine-town-ashy-wasteland-n809971

[Rumbas]

WOW!
Lots of tress and greens still there? Wondering why the fire didn't burn them down?

[Mackin USA]

SO SAD

Ruth Ann has a friend who barely made it out before her house began to burn.

[Mackin USA]

Then there is the "Canyon Fire" in Anaheim

[littleman]

I'm 70 miles away; it has smelled of ash and the smoke filtered sun light is giving everything an orange hue.

[Travoli]

Wow that is incredible.

[littleman]

Yeah, most of the schools have made the kids stay indoors the last couple of days.

Today:
https://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.local_city&cityid=317

[DrCool]

I don't remember seeing whole neighborhoods destroyed by fire like that any time recently. That looks more like a tornado leveled the place.

My brother-in-law lives in Anaheim and sent some pics very similar to the ones Mackin posted. Crazy.

[littleman]

Areal view from a drone following a mail truck, music isn't needed.

[ergophobe]

WOW!
Lots of tress and greens still there? Wondering why the fire didn't burn them down?

That really surprised me too - that shot where every house is destroyed, and the trees right around them look fine. I'd really like to get a fire expert to explain that.

We got a call yesterday from our insurance company telling us they were cancelling our policy (well, technically, refusing to renew when it comes up on Dec 9). There are some houses in our neighborhood currently listing for stupid amounts of money. If they sell, I think a ton of houses will go on the market, possibly including ours!

[littleman]

I assume be stupid amounts you mean stupid high?

If you sell, where are you thinking about moving to?

[rcjordan]

Distressed Investors Are Already Buying Houston Homes for 40 Cents on the Dollar

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-12/investors-head-to-houston-to-buy-from-panicked-homeowners

[Rupert]

Two quotes: 

"The whole thing makes me feel like there's a bunch of vultures sitting on my back fence," Matlock says. "They're waiting for the dead body to fall over."

and

He's pitching private equity firms and pension funds on the potential profit in buying flooded homes, repairing them, and renting them back to homeowners.

So Matlocks right... when does society pitch in and help.

[littleman]

They survived six hours in a pool as a wildfire burned their neighborhood to the ground

[ergophobe]

I assume be stupid amounts you mean stupid high?

Yes. We seen some sales of older homes at significant premiums over what it would take to build a brand new home that would be a fair bit nicer. There has been a lot of Chinese money pouring in. Some of it is flat out stupid. One Chinese investor bought the lot next to a friend. The problem is that the friend's driveway is in the public roadway and has a 30 year-old easement so his driveway is legally fixed and makes access to the other lot extremely costly (like the driveway will probably be $200,000). The investor bought the land in the winter. In the spring, our friend saw two people standing on his driveway and went out to see what was up.

The  realtor said "When did this driveway go in?"
"Uh, 32 years ago."

I don't know if the realtor got sued, but a for sale sign went up within a couple of days. You might think that's one stupid investor... but that lot has been sold to two different Chinese investors in the last 18 months.

If you sell, where are you thinking about moving to?

We probably won't. I'm emotionally invested in my community and, basically, willing to lose some money if we get wiped out. If we go 10 more years before being destroyed, that would be great. If we get destroyed next year, I'll wish we had sold.

Don't you love California?