Why does San Deigo have cheaper houses? (San Diego, Chula Vista: neighborhoods, quality of life)

[kettlepot]

Originally Posted by LunatiqueRob

When we looked at San Diego houses on Zillow, we were surprised that there were actually quite a bit of houses in our price range. I've lived briefly in San Diego for about a month ten years ago, and it's a nice city, so I'm perplexed as to why there are many affordable houses? What's the catch? Some of the houses seem decent too, and don't seem to be in bad neighborhoods.

Part of what makes San Diego cheaper are our lower wage rates. Wages are lower in San Diego because of the weather. People are willing work here for less money just for the privilege of living here. Also, our economy is less diversified, which reduces demand for labor, and we are close to the border which provides a ready supply of low-skilled, low-wage labor that pulls all of the wage scales downward.

Lower wages means less ability for people to pay top dollar for homes compared to the Bay Area and LA. But when compared to inland California we are still expensive.

[Mugsy]

I am adding a local website for you to look at aside from Zillow that has homes for sale in San Diego County, by city:

http://http://www.sdlookup.com/ (broken link)

Enjoy!

[sdurbanite]

Zillow is the worst when it comes to researching average home prices by area. I think Dataquick is a better source.

DQNews - California Home Sale Price Medians by County and City

[tickyul]

For the most part, just like everwhere else, you get what you pay for.

Cheapoes in San Diego are almost always in the worst parts of San Diego....ScarENCANTO, Lincoln Park, Valencia Park, Mountain View....Neighborhoods that are pretty dirty and have a lot of creepy folks hanging about.

[LunatiqueRob]

Thanks for the helpful tips and links!

So generally speaking, it is possible to find houses under $250K in safe neighborhoods (lower crime rate)? That is our number 1 priority, and after safety, comes overall greenery/landscaping of the neighborhood. The wife loves trees and plants, so usually, the bad neighborhoods are overrun with weeds, dry grass, and have no actual landscaping/visual design to speaks off, and have chain-linked fences that are real eye-sores.

If $250K is not enough to find a house in the safer/nicer neighborhoods, then we might have to give up on the San Diego country area and consider maybe Fairfield and Sacramento. (Bay Area is where I grew up but it's too expensive, and LA area's air pollution is terrible, and it's still somewhat expensive.)

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by LunatiqueRob

Thanks for the helpful tips and links!

So generally speaking, it is possible to find houses under $250K in safe neighborhoods (lower crime rate)? That is our number 1 priority, and after safety, comes overall greenery/landscaping of the neighborhood. The wife loves trees and plants, so usually, the bad neighborhoods are overrun with weeds, dry grass, and have no actual landscaping/visual design to speaks off, and have chain-linked fences that are real eye-sores.

If $250K is not enough to find a house in the safer/nicer neighborhoods, then we might have to give up on the San Diego country area and consider maybe Fairfield and Sacramento. (Bay Area is where I grew up but it's too expensive, and LA area's air pollution is terrible, and it's still somewhat expensive.)

Sure, its happening in a lot of the older cities and neighborhoods. Just dont expect a lot without doing some work yourself. I have seen websites even for some of these neighborhoods that are really getting into the community gardening.

In the city I live in, there are quite a few folks that I have met that grow their vegetables, fruits and raise chickens. Its not for everyone, but for that type of homeowner, it seems to be a trend being used a selling point.

My neighbors down the street moved in recently from Vietnam. They took a distressed property and re-fenced it with PVC and have a massive vegetable garden in their backyard.

Just keep in mind in some of these older more affordable neighborhoods, there tend to be better parts/streets than others for varying reasons. Safety is generally not a concern in the residential parts.

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by AsakSD

Do be careful of judging based on Google maps. I've noticed that the lighting can have a very profound impact on how a neighborhood looks. If the image happened to be taken on a gloomy day, it can really reduce your perceptions of that neighborhood compared to if it was taken on a sunny day. So, be aware of that when using Google street view to scope out an area.

Great advice. I've noticed that too. Google maps can be very handy to see if a home is next to an apartment building or other less-desirable structure that the MLS pictues to not capture.

[earlyretirement]

Funny but this is one of the first posts I've seen where someone is amazed how cheap housing is here in San Diego. LOL.

Most times people are complaining about how expensive it is here compared to the vast majority of cities around the USA. Yeah, there are a few cities with more expensive real estate but San Diego real estate in premium areas is much more expensive than most cities around the country.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

Funny but this is one of the first posts I've seen where someone is amazed how cheap housing is here in San Diego. LOL.

Most times people are complaining about how expensive it is here compared to the vast majority of cities around the USA. Yeah, there are a few cities with more expensive real estate but San Diego real estate in premium areas is much more expensive than most cities around the country.

earlyretirement, you make a great point about housing prices. The premium real estate here is on the pricier side, but I dont know of any comparable areas that would even come close beyond similar HOA amenities outside of SD.

This is why I find it very black and white here with real estate in regards to valuations. 1 million+ here can buy someone in a gorgeous community like Santaluz or all the way out east a top a hill in Valley Center on an acre.

The grey area and disparity in valuations between older neighborhoods adjacent to one another baffles me. With the exception of some SD city neighborhoods, they are nearly identical to one another in design and quality yet can range in the hundreds of thousands in prices.
In other words buyers in these "grey areas" will not buy somewhere that is somewhat run down and a good value to growth with (first time home buyers), but rather pay the premium for a similar property not even a mile away that is nearly identical and have nearly identical attributes (school, safety etc) with any due diligence on their part.

I am not saying this is particularly unique to SD, because I have seen it my whole life in NYC and other large cities with gentrification shifts. But when I hear "oh SD is SO expensive" its all relative to its own local market.

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

earlyretirement, you make a great point about housing prices. The premium real estate here is on the pricier side, but I dont know of any comparable areas that would even come close beyond similar HOA amenities outside of SD.

This is why I find it very black and white here with real estate in regards to valuations. 1 million+ here can buy someone in a gorgeous community like Santaluz or all the way out east a top a hill in Valley Center on an acre.

The grey area and disparity in valuations between older neighborhoods adjacent to one another baffles me. With the exception of some SD city neighborhoods, they are nearly identical to one another in design and quality yet can range in the hundreds of thousands in prices.
In other words buyers in these "grey areas" will not buy somewhere that is somewhat run down and a good value to growth with (first time home buyers), but rather pay the premium for a similar property not even a mile away that is nearly identical and have nearly identical attributes (school, safety etc) with any due diligence on their part.

I am not saying this is particularly unique to SD, because I have seen it my whole life in NYC and other large cities with gentrification shifts. But when I hear "oh SD is SO expensive" its all relative to its own local market.

Shmoov,

I totally agree with you (as usual) on the points that you made.

Still, I got a chuckle when I saw the post on "how cheap San Diego real estate" was.

I agree with you that what we have here in San Diego is amazing. I've traveled quite a bit around not only the USA but the world and what we have here in San Diego is pretty hard to find. That's why I think that in premium areas of San Diego....over the long haul it will always be relatively expensive compared to other areas.

But I think it's totally worth it. San Diego is an amazing city and in my opinion worth the premium compared to other areas.

There is a reason why housing is cheap in places like Dallas compared to San Diego.