Affordable Suburbs around SD? (San Diego, Anaheim: real estate, renting, condos)

[pjpalmieri]

My girlfriend and I are researching LA and SD for our next home and had a few questions on where to focus:

- Health care job market in LA vs SD, which would have more opportunity?
- Suburb within hour driving of SD or LA
- late 20's couple who loves out doors, hiking, mountain views
- 350k budget, 2-3 br home does NOT need to be large, wed prefer smaller in better location
- No plan for children so schools do not matter but would prefer safe

If anyone could give some suggestions on where to focus that would be much appreciated!

- Paul P

[moved]

Line up a job first, then think about moving.

[pjpalmieri]

Originally Posted by moved

Line up a job first, then think about moving.

I have opportunities in both cities, I am trying to get a better feel and specific areas if possible.

[ShelbyGirl1]

Obviously, the further out of the city you are, you get bigger bang for your buck. But the commutes in are horrendous. Where would you both be working?

[moved]

It's hard to say. There's a difference between a job opportunity and an actual offer.

[pjpalmieri]

Originally Posted by ShelbyGirl1

Obviously, the further out of the city you are, you get bigger bang for your buck. But the commutes in are horrendous. Where would you both be working?

Most likely central LA or North SD. I am very away opportunities are different then offers, I'm just trying to get a feel and some starting places as a head start of potentially where to look. Like I mentioned $350k budget, 2-3br home, no children, hour commute at most, love outdoors hikinging etc, late 20's couple. Thanks ShelbyGirl!

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by pjpalmieri

Most likely central LA or North SD. I am very away opportunities are different then offers, I'm just trying to get a feel and some starting places as a head start of potentially where to look. Like I mentioned $350k budget, 2-3br home, no children, hour commute at most, love outdoors hikinging etc, late 20's couple. Thanks ShelbyGirl!

Just curious, why immediately buy a home in a place that you presumably dont know anything about yet?

[pjpalmieri]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

Just curious, why immediately buy a home in a place that you presumably dont know anything about yet?

Your probably right with renting first and thats most likely what I'll do to get a feel. Ultimatly I will be buying but renting and getting hands on time is probably smartest.

[AZ2SD]

With your budget I’d you may strike “gold” by focusing your search in the North county communities of San Marcos, Escondido, Vista and Oceanside...BTW these are all cities within San Diego county. San Marcos probably would be the best option in my opinion based on your budget, proximity to commute to San Diego proper, a lot of hiking trails, lots of medical facilities in between the cities I've mentioned, 15 mins to the state beach and about 45 mins to the airport.

Now some personal perspective...my family and I moved to SD almost 2 years ago...in my case I was relocating within the same company so I didn't have to worry about finding a job. We visited SD about 8 times within a year, sometimes staying up to 4 days and driving around the county to get a feel of the neighborhoods. In addition to the visits, I also frequented this forum and even without posting a single thread, everything we knew was validated as I read countless posts about the cost of living, school districts, property prices, commute times and what to expect of the general lifestyle living in San Diego.

We had budget restrictions (just like most people), so we knew we couldn't afford to buy in some of the areas we had dreamed of i.e Carmel Valley, Del Mar, 4S Ranch, La Jolla etc. Our real estate agent took us to see a lot of the neighborhoods, but we couldn't afford the homes as we were looking for a SFH with 4bdr/3+bath and most of them were starting in the 6-700K range, so we moved on.

After seeing about 80 homes and our agent giving us great advice on each neighborhood we checked out, we decided to buy in San Marcos, stay put and build equity into the home and one day when financially feasible, move to the Carmel valley area. We have 2 little ones, so stability for us was important and we wanted to avoid having to move multiple times especially just as the kids were settling in and making friends at school and in the neighborhood. I had that happen to me growing up, my parents moved a lot within and outside cities and I just hated it. Since you're not planning on having kids, you don't have to worry about school districts and/or multiple moves. With your budget of 350K, you should be able to find a nice SFH in a good area. If you're interested in condos, you can get a brand new one starting at around 380K (base price with vanilla options), but this would be over your stipulated budget.

We were able to purchase a brand-spanking new home (built to order) under 500K in a master plan community, even went through the "fun" exercise of picking our own options, color schemes etc and upgraded some of the options where we could. There's something about brand new homes, if I could swing it, I'll always buy new so I don't have to worry about maintenance costs for quite some time...off course, in life you don't always get what you want, so you have to keep your options open.


Commute
I work in the Black Mountain area near the 56 freeway, and my commute from San Marcos to the office is just under 30 mins most of the time (4 out of 5 working days). On a terribly bad day for commuting it can take up to an hour, but I've gotten used to it and San Diego being such a car-centric place, it's a given that you'll drive a little to get to where you need to be.

We love San Marcos, it has a small town feel, yet we're not too far from most places and can get to anywhere in San Diego between 30mins to 1 hr depending on traffic and destination i.e. SeaWorld, Balboa Park, San Diego Zoo, Airport and even Disneyland in Anaheim. If you get a job with any of the medical facilities in around north county, you probably would be looking at 30mins max, though traffic on the 78 is notorious.

Dinning/Night Life/Entertainment
San Marcos is a bedroom community, there's virtually no night life (some may challenge this assertion), except going to the theater or restaurants. The old California Restaurant Row is packed with all kinds of restaurants, the food though, in my experience is not anything to call my brother in another state to brag about it. San Diego in general is not a city known for having great restaurants.

Hiking Trails
Hiking is not one of my hobbies, but there are plenty of hiking trails within the city, i.e. Palomar mountain, Double Peak mountain, and also the Discovery lake hiking trails. You can also find hiking trails in the San Elijjo area.

Cost of Living
San Diego in general is expensive, salaries and wages here are NOT competitive compared to other high COL cities. To help you make sense of it all, one of the forum members has compiled a COL thread with a treasure trove of useful information: http://www.city-data.com/blogs/blog3...st-living.html

[sdhkshdcny09]

Originally Posted by pjpalmieri

My girlfriend and I are researching LA and SD for our next home and had a few questions on where to focus:

- Health care job market in LA vs SD, which would have more opportunity?
- Suburb within hour driving of SD or LA
- late 20's couple who loves out doors, hiking, mountain views
- 350k budget, 2-3 br home does NOT need to be large, wed prefer smaller in better location
- No plan for children so schools do not matter but would prefer safe

If anyone could give some suggestions on where to focus that would be much appreciated!

- Paul P

1. Not sure about health care in LA, but medicine/healthcare and software engineering are the main industries that have held up (relatively) since the recession. They opened up a new hospital in Escondido, near the border with San Marcos. Kaiser Permanente in San Marcos is also expanding. San Marcos is central North County (east-west wise), so you can look along the I-5 of I-15 corridor for jobs without a brutal commute.

2. All cities and most communities in San Diego County are within 1 hour of SD proper.

3. San Diego is a great place for outdoor activities because the weather allows it year round. San Marcos would be a good base because there are many hiking trails within the city as well as nearby areas. SM is also home to the "largest peak in coastal north county." The views are awesome! San Marcos doesn't have a lot of entertainment, but there is a relatively large young population due to Palomar College and Cal State San Marcos. Although, it is still in the design stages, SM is building its own downtown near the creek and university. SM doesn't have amazing mom-and-pop restaurants, but there are still some really good places to eat.

I think SM has one of the better food and shopping options in north county (although, admittedly, there are many chains)

- In N Out - Kinaly Thai- most authentic pad thai i've had in the US
- Phil's BBQ - Love Boat Sushi (many Japanese restaurants)
- Lost Abbey Brewery - Mr. Taco
- Mama Kat's - Carmela
- Philly Frank's - Manna Korean BBQ (SO GOOD)
- Churchills - Banh Mi Vietnamese Subs (comparable to OC Viet)
- Boudin SF Bakery - Acapulco
- Chic Fil A - Port Brewing
- Guacho Argentine Grill - Panda Garden
- Froyo Love - Tina's Deli
- Sublime Alehouse - Ryan Bros Coffee
- Mass. Mike's Pizzeria - Five Guys
- Elephant Bar - Broken Yolk
- Noodles and Company - L&L Hawaiin BBQ
- Panera

There is actually a pretty decent amount of choice for a bedroom community. I definitely recommend Phil's, Banh Mi, Mama Kat's, Kinaly and Manna.



4. Budget is adequate. Try living in the area first.