San Luis Obispo real estate / neighborhoods (Laguna, Country Club: rent, condo, homes)

[Jillziepooh]

My husband and I recently returned from a scouting mission to SLO, and have hopes to retire there in approx. 10 years. (As the job market in SLO is tight, we plan to finish our careers in our current location.)

The Johnson area and Country Club areas resonated with us. The Johnson area was appealing for its variety of architecture and proximity to Tank Farm road, which we thought would be good for access to bike riding. The Country Club area was appealing for its golf community and for the beautiful terrain.

In order for us to re-locate, we are planning to purchase a condo and rent it out over the next 10 years. When we're ready to retire, we would sell our current primary residence as well as the condo in order to afford a property in the Johnson or CC neighborhoods.

Would love some feedback about pros/cons on those specific neighborhoods. Is there airplane noise in the CC area? What are the best attributes of the Johnson area of town? And lastly, any suggestions on what areas would be the best for investing when it comes to purchasing a condo?

Thanks for your feedback! Cheers.

[Shawn_Estrada]

Yes there is airplane noise in the country club area. Planes land all throughout the day and into the evening. The Country Club area always, well to me, seems "out there" in terms of needing a car for just about everything, but hey if you like that then go for it.

The Johnson area is okay. I live in the Downtown, so I prefer the ability to walk and bike in my neighborhood. The Johnson neighborhood tends to be a little bit more affordable than say Downtown / Upper Monterrey / Foothill / Cal Poly area. My biggest beefs with the neighborhood is that it is a food dessert in terms of both restaurants and accessibility to the nearest grocery store. Climate is pretty on-par with every other neighborhood except for Laguna Lake.

As for an investment in a condo. Anything near Cal Poly or the downtown will bring in the best investment for the money. A 2 bedroom condo near poly or the downtown may fetch anywhere between $1,600 to $2,000 a month, depending on location. Prepare yourself for student renters, which means more than likely they will tear it apart in terms of carpet and cleanliness. The further away you are from campus, the less in rent you will fetch. Say you purchased a 2 bedroom condo in Laguna Lake or off of Broad Street going towards the Airport, you will probably begin to fetch around $650 to $800 per bedroom. Good luck.

[Jillziepooh]

Thanks for the insight Shawn.

I also liked the downtown area as well for its accessibility to restaurants, bars, and shopping. The older homes there are charming. In general, we liked all of the neighborhoods in SLO. The windy conditions in the Laguna Lakes neighborhood have been noted

Do you have particular bike rides/routes that you like? We typically ride about 50 miles per week. Tank Farm Road looks nice, but seems narrow. We joked that would be a good route in the middle of the day on weekday because there likely would be fewer people driving to go wine tasting. Los Osos Valley Road seems conducive for bike riding with its wide shoulder and seemed popular even though the conditions seemed windy. We didn't have a chance to check out the bike trail but it looked nice.

Thanks.