Moving back to San Diego- this time with kids, need advice (Los Angeles: short sales, real estate)

[maria667]

My husband and I met, married & lived in San Diego for 6 years. We lived in Ocean Beach in our 20's and loved it. We are thinking of relocating back out there from the east coast but this time it will be different.

We are in our 30's with 3 kids now. Our priorities have obviously changed. We have been approved for 290k, which doesn't get your very far in SD. Hopefully we can get into a short sale. Can anyone tell me about Vista, San Marcos, etc. How are the school? Is it worth looking into Escondido? How would you rank the areas in North County, keeping in mind home budget, safe neighborhood & a good school system?

[janineg]

Well, for Vista Unified I'd see about looking in the areas of these schools: Empresa, Alamosa Park, and Lake. Casita Center magnet is great, and scored 881 API last year, but can be difficult to get into. The good middle schools are Vista Magnet Middle, Madison, and Roosevelt. San Marcos Unified is overall better than Vista, so look into that, too.
Janine

[janineg]

Oh, here's the VUSD boundary map for elementary schools: http://www.vusd.k12.ca.us/Department...Boundaries.pdf
And middle schools:
http://www.vusd.k12.ca.us/Department...Boundaries.pdf

[sdhkshdcny09]

Originally Posted by maria667

My husband and I met, married & lived in San Diego for 6 years. We lived in Ocean Beach in our 20's and loved it. We are thinking of relocating back out there from the east coast but this time it will be different.

We are in our 30's with 3 kids now. Our priorities have obviously changed. We have been approved for 290k, which doesn't get your very far in SD. Hopefully we can get into a short sale. Can anyone tell me about Vista, San Marcos, etc. How are the school? Is it worth looking into Escondido? How would you rank the areas in North County, keeping in mind home budget, safe neighborhood & a good school system?

ESCO: Escondido can be relatively inexpensive because it is further inland. There are plenty of nice neighborhoods in the hills, but stay out of the central city for relocation. I like southern Escondido the most because it is rural, yet there are plenty of amenities including North County Faire shopping, recreation, and better schools. It's also better maintained, for the most part. Schools in Escondido (on average) are the lowest performing in North County, even some of the worst in SD County.

VISTA: I grew up in the Shadowridge area, which is a great place to live. Houses are more affordable than neighboring San Marcos or Carlsbad, but the stock is also much older. Vista Unified has some very high performing schools, especially its magnet/charters. If you are able to get a transfer to better schools, then Vista (south or northeast) is a beautiful place to live. Best weather in San Diego County IMHO. There are some good deals to be found, especially homes with larger lots (not in shadowridge though). There are also parts of south vista/shadowridge that are served by San Marcos schools, which is where my house was. Same with Escondido- pockets served by nearby SM schools (also happen to be significantly better than the Esco alternative)

San Marcos is the nicest of the three because infrastructure is newer and the city is better maintained. The homes are newer, so they are more expensive than Vista, but there are plenty of deals in eastern and western san marcos. The northern (twin oaks/ santa fe hills) and southern (discovery/san elijo) are the more expensive areas, but they have the best recreation, schools, maintenance, etc. Eastern San Marcos arguably is one of the best deals in all of SD County. Crime is low, schools are very high performing, shopping is close, and home prices are decent.

If you stick with San Marcos, you'll probably have less to worry about. Crime is one of the lowest in the county, schools are some of the best, and prices are on par with less expensive/desirable places like Escondido or Vista. Just looking at test scores, 8 out of 11 San Marcos Unified elementary schools perform better than the highest performing elementary school in Vista (Empresa). The highest performing high school in north county, other than poway, is San Marcos High. Mission Hills (which serves eastern/northern) SM is also highly ranked. You also have to consider the fact that Vista Unified's student population is declining, so they are constantly having to cut back. SM Unified is the complete opposite- there hasn't been a decline in the last 20 years and last year SMUSD added 800 new students.

Best areas for your money are those within the Knob Hill, Paloma, Twin Oaks, Richland, and Joli Ann Leichtag service areas.


Welcome back! Feel free to ask for more specifics

[sdhkshdcny09]

Originally Posted by janineg

Oh, here's the VUSD boundary map for elementary schools: http://www.vusd.k12.ca.us/Department...Boundaries.pdf
And middle schools:
http://www.vusd.k12.ca.us/Department...Boundaries.pdf

Janine brings up a good point. The quality of education in north county (at least at the elementary level) is dependent on an individual school, not the average of the district. There are pockets of wealth/education and pockets of poverty. Don't move to San Marcos for good schools, only to have your children at San Marcos Elementary, where few people speak fluent English.

[MountainTime13]

Hi
San Marcos can be a bear to get around and is crowded. Have you considered Tierrasanta? Convenient to everything and the elementary schools are nice.

Originally Posted by maria667

My husband and I met, married & lived in San Diego for 6 years. We lived in Ocean Beach in our 20's and loved it. We are thinking of relocating back out there from the east coast but this time it will be different.

We are in our 30's with 3 kids now. Our priorities have obviously changed. We have been approved for 290k, which doesn't get your very far in SD. Hopefully we can get into a short sale. Can anyone tell me about Vista, San Marcos, etc. How are the school? Is it worth looking into Escondido? How would you rank the areas in North County, keeping in mind home budget, safe neighborhood & a good school system?

[USDefault]

Originally Posted by maria667

Hopefully we can get into a short sale.

Unlikely. Many fewer short sales available in SD, and for those that are available, the servicers are looking to recoup either full value, or market value. There used to be deals available; today, not so much, and what is available is being scrutinized and bid up.

Respectfully, with a family of five and a housing budget under $300k, it's going to be very tight in San Diego. Very tight. Anything at or below $500k has fierce competition, including many all-cash offers. Even garbage one-and-two bedroom apartments for $200k, suitable only for college students at best, are purchased within days of listing, I see it all the time. To have a fighting chance you definitely will have to be inland, and either well north or south (perhaps Chula Vista). I know you didn't ask about these areas, but anything near downtown or even approaching the coast, especially with good schools, the prices are closer to $700k starting for single-family homes, and even townhomes are pricey -- and that's just starting, you can easily be at $900k+ in, say, Scripps Ranch or Poway, to mention a couple. New developments in these areas, forget about it, the builders are catering to the high end and are now at $1.2 million starting, I took a tour of a few of them a month ago. Just throwing it in to give you an idea of what you may be facing, and how price will limit your location flexibility. (What's really shocking is how much worse it is in Los Angeles and esp. the Bay Area, the prices are absolutely insane.)

I view Southern California as one of the most challenging places for young families due to California's sky-high property prices, highest state taxes in the nation, and very high gasoline, water and energy prices.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

OP, are you looking at single family home or condo/town home?

Generally speaking the market has been on the upswing for at least the past 12 months. I agree with what USDefault says as well.

Is there a reason North County? Commuting time to a job should be taken into consideration as well. Do you know where that might be? Will you both be working?

In general, 290k is tight and I don't think anyone will sugar coat that for you. SoCal and especially SD are inundated with cash heavy buyers and buyers that may have more wiggle room in their pre approval that can move fast on properties. That sub 500k range is fierce and actually has been getting pushed up from the bottom. We live in a sub 500k city in Lemon Grove and it's been rising, not quite to peak prices from several years ago, but definitely over 300k for anything decent. I am fairly certain areas like Vista are experiencing the same push.

Sorry, couldn't tell you anything about schools as we don't have kids, but there are good resources out there including here on city data.

Good luck

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by maria667

My husband and I met, married & lived in San Diego for 6 years. We lived in Ocean Beach in our 20's and loved it. We are thinking of relocating back out there from the east coast but this time it will be different.

We are in our 30's with 3 kids now. Our priorities have obviously changed. We have been approved for 290k, which doesn't get your very far in SD. Hopefully we can get into a short sale. Can anyone tell me about Vista, San Marcos, etc. How are the school? Is it worth looking into Escondido? How would you rank the areas in North County, keeping in mind home budget, safe neighborhood & a good school system?

I know friends also with 3 kids who bought in San Marcos [not a short sale though] not long ago, a cute 3/2 with nice yard on quiet street for 230k. SM has some great schools, some not as good. I'ts worth looking. Also, there's a new Montessori charter school in Vista, that is open to all residents of CA. I think it's k-12 or at least k-8. [Charter schools are also worth considering, no matter where you end up.] Part of SM [san elijo area, I believe] is in the Carlsbad school district. I think this is true for a small part of Escondido, as well [or it may be in the Encinitas district]. Check the school boundary maps when searching for housing, though likely the lower prices houses will not be in these areas. It's worth considering. I may not have the boundary details exactly right: My point is to check the district and neighborhood/zip code boundary maps.

Eastlake has been getting great reviews for both lifestyle and school district. It's worth checking out, IMO. Escondido is really hit or miss with neighborhoods.

Short sales take a long time and are prone to falling through, from the experiences of those I've known who've gone that route/tried to. It's not uncommon for it to take over a year just researching, or to wait months only to have the deal go through. Maybe it's improved in the last year or so....You could consider renting first while you shop; more time on the ground to find a short sale is a good idea. One other area you could check out is Temecula; the schools are good; it's southern Riverside and obviously is not like SD. It's a small city, though, and not that far from SD amenities [45 minutes to Mira Mesa, with no traffic]. If you did not need to commute for work (which would be awful traffic wise, but people do it), Temecula real estate is lower and you could base yourself there to start.

As far as the rest of north county, I would avoid Oceanside, and I don't think you'll find anything in your budget in Vista or Carlsbad. There will not be an abundance of inventory in SM, Esc or Eastlake, either. But you do have a chance of finding something, at least.

[hitman619]

The options are simple.
If you really want to buy,look at the Temecula/Murrieta area(Even that area is slowly getting out of control)
Rent till you Die!
Stay were you at were 290k will buy you something nice