In 1998, I was checking out a house on Maude Street for possible purchase for my week-long stay in Riverside. I had another home where I went for a weekend stay with my former wife in San Diego. A daily commute between San Diego and Riverside was out of the question as I didn’t want to spend three hours round trip during the work week. I was a middle school teacher at CSDR from 1994 to 2001. In the meantime, I was renting a room from my brother in Riverside.
I saw a for sale sign on the yard at 3230 Maude Street, within a stone's throw from the CSDR grounds. The house was empty. I took a look through the windows and saw the big backyard. Built in 1952, the 1,000-square-foot home had three bedrooms and one bathroom that could work out for me as a single occupant. Unfortunately, I was put off by the strange floor plan of the house and no garage. The asking price at the time was $78,000, which was within my budget. Still, I walked away from the house after all.
Twenty-six years later, in 2024, I pulled over at the same Maude Street house I had checked out for today’s market value. I checked on my iPhone for quick retrieval. My jaws dropped to my lap. The current real estate estimate for the house is $515,000! My trusty calculator quickly indicated the house had appreciated $437,000 in 26 years since 1998. The new house sale price for historical interest was around $7,000 in 1952.
From 1952 to the present, house prices have appreciated steadily from $7,000 to $515,000, yielding a healthy return on investment. Riverside real estate is still a good place to park your money for housing and financial reasons. However, it requires time and patience for long-term growth. I have my primary house in Riverside, which I call home sweet home, 15 minutes from CSDR.
Kevin Struxness, ‘76, MA
Editor, CSDR Old Times
30 September 2024
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