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We're a family of 5 looking into a possible relocation to San Diego, coming from NJ.
Our home budget would be around 800K. We would need three bedrooms.
I'm trying to get a feel for towns and real estate prices. What are some nice towns/areas that I could look into?
I know this post is vague. Basically if anyone can help me come up with towns to put into real estate searches other than "San Diego" that would be so helpful!
With a family of 5, I'd assume that great school district is going to be one of the most important things to you? We have 2 little ones and I know for us that was a major factor in where we bought.
Carmel Valley has excellent schools (92130). We looked at several houses there and there were some nice homes there. I'd think with your budget of $800,000 if you only need 3 bedrooms you'll find things. We were looking at 5 bedrooms and most of the prices were around $1 million or more but with a smaller place I'd think you can find something. The biggest problem with Carmel Valley we had was the houses all sit on top of one another so privacy is a concern.
We ended up buying in 92127 which has GREAT schools (Poway School District). There are lots of houses in/near 4S Ranch that are within your range. Maybe you can try something in Verrazzano near Santaluz. I'm not sure if they have any homes in $800k range but it's a GORGEOUS area.
I'd think 92127, 92128, 92130 are all good options with kids. But probably you should see where you might work. I agree with moved to have a job lined up before you move out with 3 kids. The job market here is not good and with 3 kids...you don't want to get yourself in a bad situation.
What kind of city are you looking for?
- ultra wealthy or more middle class? suburbs or small town? tract homes or character? beach or mountains?
if you want a "town" feeling then go with Encinitas, Solana Beach, Leucadia, and Del Mar, which are all beach communities. Carmel Valley is nice, i suppose. Personally, I think it is the most overpriced area of the entire county. Smaller homes on tiny lots that cost a small fortune. Homes are identical and the area is absolutely boring with very little to do. You are paying a premium for the schools which are no better than schools in more reasonably priced neighborhoods like Carmel Mountain and Poway. But, if you are into communities like YouTube - ‪Weeds Intro - **ORIGINAL SONG**‬‏
go for it.
If you don't wish to spend all of that 800K only on a 3 bedroom, look at Santee, Mira Mesa, Chula Vista, and San Marcos, where you can get a 5-6 br 3500 sqft new (less than 5 years) home for 750K in a nice community.
Thanks all! So helpful. Yes, we have a job lined up. The decision is whether to take it or not. It's up towards La Jolla. I would never move without having a job, not with kids anyway
Public schools aren't such a big issue, as we will probably use Catholic schools (anyone know any great Catholic elementary schools?)
I'd rather be closer to the beach than mountains. I'd also take a smaller, older home over a bigger, newer one, if the location/town is better.
Also, if anyone who has moved from the East Coast (NY/NJ/CT) has anything to share regarding how SD is different, for better or worse, that would be very much appreciated! We have visited a few times, but visiting is obviously different than living somewhere.
Thanks all! So helpful. Yes, we have a job lined up. The decision is whether to take it or not. It's up towards La Jolla. I would never move without having a job, not with kids anyway
Public schools aren't such a big issue, as we will probably use Catholic schools (anyone know any great Catholic elementary schools?)
I'd rather be closer to the beach than mountains. I'd also take a smaller, older home over a bigger, newer one, if the location/town is better.
Thanks for all of these recs!
Sounds more and more like Encinitas to me, if you're willing to have a 25-minute commute into La Jolla for work. St John's the Evangelist in Encinitas and St James in Solana Beach both have elementary schools, as does St Patricks in Carlsbad.
I am from NY/NJ, actually my wife is from the Red Bank area
I was reading you posts and couple of things I wanted to mention.
As far as schools are concerned, its a totally different animal out here. While there are Catholic Schools, its nowhere near what it is out there. NOTHING. Lets just say the Italian/Irish American generational influence of going to Catholic School is just not even in the vocabulary here.
I grew up going to both Private and Public between NY and NJ and while there are Private schools here, the norm is to buy a house in the best school district possible (which statistically is Poway Unified). The only decent school that I have heard out here that is private is Francis Parker. Just look them up on google.
But again the norm here is to go to public school but in the best possible district you can get for the money. For 800k you can get something decent for sure in Poway. Or in Carmel Valley, your kids would be going to literally a brand new school. Be aware that there are these special assesments made on property in these areas called Mello-Roos. Basically they are bonds that were put in place that typically last about 15 years on average and its an upfront cost to pay for the infrastrucuture in the newer communities (roads, schools etc). These fees can cost a pretty penny too some over $400/mo and they stick with the property until the bond has been paid based on said expiration. So IMHO these fees are indirectly similar to paying for a private school.
Comparisons?...just know that you are coming to a place that is new. So there are communities and neighborhoods that are only 5 years old in some cases. Middle class/blue collar parts of SD are generally undesirable. Its a bit more black and white here in regards to economic and social status. Lets just say that there will be significant changes in the years to come as credit remains tight and salaries dont increase. There was a lot of emotional ties to real estate here because it got so high, that even now, there are some that think in a couple of years it will bubble up again "back to normal". I hope for their sakes they are right! lol
Areas that were somewhat desolate became hot real estate property during the boom years.
Areas like Carmel Valley, which can be VERY nice for families was built in a very short time span. Actually I had taken my SUV out there when it was more back country and dirt before they paved it all. So in that sense vs out in NJ, just expect to see lots of new and that means master planned gated communities etc as far as the eye can see. Its stereotypical Southern California suburbs at its best. These newer communities dont have much property either, so expect for a 2k+ sqft house, maybe an average of an 8k lot. The good news is that many of these new places have great facilities for kids and adults. Like spas, pools, gyms. Some require separate membership costs others might not. Only the older neighborhoods really have homes with decent property sizes and Poway does have this in certain sections.
Older neighborhoods and cities generally have a tendency to not be valued as highly over the newer areas. There is definitely a snobbish view of certain zip codes and neighborhoods, crossing the line of pride IMHO. The coastal communities are gold just about everywhere as some have mentioned like Encinitas, Del Mar, La Jolla, Coronado. We also tend to refer to freeways as markers. So when you hear "west of the 5, South of the 8, North of the 56" these all refer generally to regions in the county that give a better idea of where you live or are looking to move.
WE dont have towns here. Its cities, neighborhoods and zip codes. The tax structure for property is radically different. Basically you pay the state via the county. As opposed to NJ, where there are city, county and state taxes. The taxes here are also a fraction of what they are in NJ. I said this on another post but for example to live in Monmouth County and own a 400k home, taxes are ~20k/yr. Here its just 1.1-1.5% of the sold price (there are many people recently that had their taxes reassessed though). So the example of 400k, would be paying ~$4300/yr plus any minor fees that voters passed in the city you pay your taxes in which might tack on another couple hundred if that.
One last thing is, generally you really do want to live as close to your job as possible within reason of your personal tastes. Driving is a way of life here. The freeways system here can be incredibly efficient as opposed to the Turnpike and Parkway. Its just so different and you can get to most places in SD within 20 minutes traffic withstanding of course. I am not certain where in Jersey you are from, but if you are from North Jersey, its NOTHING like it. Basically traffic here starts around the same time as anywhere else, but then roads are pretty clear for the weekends and off times.
One last thing. The weather here is phenomenal. It will require you to rethink how you spend you leisure time. Whereas out east in the bad weather, you need to plan around that with malls and indoor things. Here, for the most part, there is nothing to stop you from bike riding or just spending time in your backyard gardening or just chilling out. Tons of kids activities too.
Last edited by shmoov_groovzsd; 06-15-2011 at 08:38 AM..
I am from NY/NJ, actually my wife is from the Red Bank area
I was reading you posts and couple of things I wanted to mention.
As far as schools are concerned, its a totally different animal out here. While there are Catholic Schools, its nowhere near what it is out there. NOTHING. Lets just say the Italian/Irish American generational influence of going to Catholic School is just not even in the vocabulary here.
I grew up going to both Private and Public between NY and NJ and while there are Private schools here, the norm is to buy a house in the best school district possible (which statistically is Poway Unified). The only decent school that I have heard out here that is private is Francis Parker. Just look them up on google.
So when you say "it is nowhere near what is it out there" do you mean that there aren't that many Catholic schools, or that they aren't that good? We definitely want to use Catholic schools, so that is certainly something to think about. That might even be a dealbreaker for us.
Quote:
But again the norm here is to go to public school but in the best possible district you can get for the money. For 800k you can get something decent for sure in Poway. Or in Carmel Valley, your kids would be going to literally a brand new school. Be aware that there are these special assesments made on property in these areas called Mello-Roos. Basically they are bonds that were put in place that typically last about 15 years on average and its an upfront cost to pay for the infrastrucuture in the newer communities (roads, schools etc). These fees can cost a pretty penny too some over $400/mo and they stick with the property until the bond has been paid based on said expiration. So IMHO these fees are indirectly similar to paying for a private school.
Thanks for this. I saw that on some listings "No Mello Roos" and wasn't sure what it was, but figured it was a tax of some sort.
Quote:
Comparisons?...just know that you are coming to a place that is new. So there are communities and neighborhoods that are only 5 years old in some cases. Middle class/blue collar parts of SD are generally undesirable. Its a bit more black and white here in regards to economic and social status. Lets just say that there will be significant changes in the years to come as credit remains tight and salaries dont increase. There was a lot of emotional ties to real estate here because it got so high, that even now, there are some that think in a couple of years it will bubble up again "back to normal". I hope for their sakes they are right! lol
Areas that were somewhat desolate became hot real estate property during the boom years.
Areas like Carmel Valley, which can be VERY nice for families was built in a very short time span. Actually I had taken my SUV out there when it was more back country and dirt before they paved it all. So in that sense vs out in NJ, just expect to see lots of new and that means master planned gated communities etc as far as the eye can see. Its stereotypical Southern California suburbs at its best. These newer communities dont have much property either, so expect for a 2k+ sqft house, maybe an average of an 8k lot. The good news is that many of these new places have great facilities for kids and adults. Like spas, pools, gyms. Some require separate membership costs others might not. Only the older neighborhoods really have homes with decent property sizes and Poway does have this in certain sections.
Older neighborhoods and cities generally have a tendency to not be valued as highly over the newer areas. There is definitely a snobbish view of certain zip codes and neighborhoods, crossing the line of pride IMHO. The coastal communities are gold just about everywhere as some have mentioned like Encinitas, Del Mar, La Jolla, Coronado. We also tend to refer to freeways as markers. So when you hear "west of the 5, South of the 8, North of the 56" these all refer generally to regions in the county that give a better idea of where you live or are looking to move.
These coastal communities look lovely (Encinitas, Del Mar, La Jolla, Coronado). Would they be within our price range (around 800K) or are we too low? I'm not sure the newer, planned developments as you described them above sound appealing (and I definitely don't want that Mello Roos tax). I was hoping that if we used Catholic schools we would have more leeway in terms of where we lived and not having to be tied to school districts. But it sounds like the Catholic schools are not really a strong option, unlike NJ?
Quote:
WE dont have towns here. Its cities, neighborhoods and zip codes. The tax structure for property is radically different. Basically you pay the state via the county. As opposed to NJ, where there are city, county and state taxes. The taxes here are also a fraction of what they are in NJ. I said this on another post but for example to live in Monmouth County and own a 400k home, taxes are ~20k/yr. Here its just 1.1-1.5% of the sold price (there are many people recently that had their taxes reassessed though). So the example of 400k, would be paying ~$4300/yr plus any minor fees that voters passed in the city you pay your taxes in which might tack on another couple hundred if that.
We're paying about $20,000 right now in property tax to the town and country on a 800K home, on top of state income tax of 6%. And sales tax. So it sounds like we might even come out ahead on taxes.
Quote:
One last thing is, generally you really do want to live as close to your job as possible within reason of your personal tastes. Driving is a way of life here. The freeways system here can be incredibly efficient as opposed to the Turnpike and Parkway. Its just so different and you can get to most places in SD within 20 minutes traffic withstanding of course. I am not certain where in Jersey you are from, but if you are from North Jersey, its NOTHING like it. Basically traffic here starts around the same time as anywhere else, but then roads are pretty clear for the weekends and off times.
We are in North Jersey, yes. In the NY suburbs. The job in SD would be around 56 and 5, so I guess we could live north of there and the commute wouldn't be too bad, as long as we didn't live too far north? It's actually not in La Jolla, someone just rec'd La Jolla to us as a possible place to live.
Quote:
One last thing. The weather here is phenomenal. It will require you to rethink how you spend you leisure time. Whereas out east in the bad weather, you need to plan around that with malls and indoor things. Here, for the most part, there is nothing to stop you from bike riding or just spending time in your backyard gardening or just chilling out. Tons of kids activities too.
Well, this part sounds good! I actually don't mind the weather so much here in NJ, other than the two months of bad winter we get (Jan and Feb). But obviously, the weather and landscape in San Diego is a big draw for us.
Thank you so much for such an informative post!
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