San diego area. RSF, Encinitas, carlsbad and...... (Highland, Winters: low income, big house)

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by echo42

Oh wait, one thing. You mentioned paying for better weather.....

San Diego is made up of several different micro-climates. In my opinion, and yes it is just my opinion, the beach communities don't have the better climates in San Diego. I believe the best climates in San Diego are 5-10 miles inland. The coast and beach areas are great, but get socked in with the marine layer, fog and coastal eddys. They also suffer from May gray and June gloom longer than the rest of San Diego.

To get down in the weeds on this, if weather is a concern, try Santa Luz, the east end of RSF, and Crosby. They will have the better weather by a significant margin.

Echo42's weather report is accurate but his preferences are not universally shared. I LOVE the cool coastal weather...some other people do too (that's why Del Mar Colony beach houses range from $5 million up...*way* up). If you want sunshine you can take a 10 minute drive east. Spend some time in the SD area before choosing a community.

Del Mar would be my recommendation for a high income earner. It's both fancy and funky, and is more neighborly than RSF where everybody's house is at the end of a long driveway.

[procapital]

C'mon, those Costco hotdogs are very tempting! LOL

Ok, some serious financial questions:

What are the HOA's, I know there is that weird Mello Roos tax, $1,000 per month on top of the real estate taxes of 1%.

What about the clubs memberships cost? I don't find them on the websites.

Even that we will be renting for 6-12 months before we buy ($5,000-8000 rent), we are also looking at 5 bed, 3 car garage, pool homes up to 3 million. If we find the right deal, we may just buy.

We are setting a budget in advance...

Thanks for your help!

George

[procapital]

I have been reading a lot about the area, and it seems that Santaluz has the advantage, specially when talking weather and community with kids, we still will be visiting all the other places.

My wife is excited that there is an exercise facility and great outdoors. She is a fitness competitor and a trainer in the fitness world.

And for me, outdoors is so important, I love to do some jogging and walking.

Also, we know that Santaluz is very safe, but what about the surrounding areas?

George

[procapital]

Thanks Larry, I will be checking Del Mar in November,

George

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by Larry Siegel

Echo42's weather report is accurate but his preferences are not universally shared. I LOVE the cool coastal weather...some other people do too (that's why Del Mar Colony beach houses range from $5 million up...*way* up). If you want sunshine you can take a 10 minute drive east. Spend some time in the SD area before choosing a community.

Del Mar would be my recommendation for a high income earner. It's both fancy and funky, and is more neighborly than RSF where everybody's house is at the end of a long driveway.

Oh no doubt some people prefer the coastal weather. Again, there aren't any right or wrong answers. Much of this is totally subjective. There is high demand in Del Mar as well. For me, we would have loved to have found something in Del Mar but the biggest problems were there wasn't a house big enough that would have worked for us. (We needed 5 bedrooms). And also even if you found such a house odds are you would have to do a TON of renovations as the style in some of them are less than desirable. Plus, you'd have to have many millions of dollars as Larry alluded to.

But I agree with him that I'd prefer Del Mar vs. Rancho Santa Fe unless maybe you were in a gated community where you could meet some people. But my friends over in some of those places like Fairbanks Ranch still said in his neighborhood people mostly keep to themselves.

Originally Posted by procapital

C'mon, those Costco hotdogs are very tempting! LOL

Ok, some serious financial questions:

What are the HOA's, I know there is that weird Mello Roos tax, $1,000 per month on top of the real estate taxes of 1%.

What about the clubs memberships cost? I don't find them on the websites.

Even that we will be renting for 6-12 months before we buy ($5,000-8000 rent), we are also looking at 5 bed, 3 car garage, pool homes up to 3 million. If we find the right deal, we may just buy.

We are setting a budget in advance...

Thanks for your help!

George

George,

Just take your time and explore all of the area. You will quickly see what does and doesn't work. The HOA's in Santaluz have actually gone down 2 years in a row! They are well managed. They are $420 a month and it includes them maintaining the gorgeous landscaping (it's meticulous!) over 3,800 acres. It includes high speed Internet with Time Warner (I get 25 MB download speeds), it includes digital cable and weekly garbage pick up. So really I find it to be a great value.

People forget to back out the costs of garbage pick up, High speed internet and cable. So once you back out those things it's really not much at all, IMHO.

Oh and it includes 24/7 gated security and roving security patrols. Security is VERY good here. But then again this entire area is VERY low crime but Santaluz is one of the safest communities in all of California. The HOA here is VERY good about keeping track of ALL incidences of crime and then publishing it in the newsletters each year. Also, they are very transparent as well. I've purchased hundreds of properties in my lifetime and looked at thousands upon thousands of HOA statements and I am impressed with how they run things here and how transparent things are.

Yep, there are Mello Roos here. The costs just depend on the property. It probably ranges from about $5,000 per year to $30,000 a year for some mega mansions up here. But I'd say most are going to be between $6,000 to $10,000 per year. But you can pre-pay that obligation off if you want. See other thread here for details: http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-d...oos-early.html

There are 3 basic levels. You have Hacienda, Spa and Golf memberships. Each of them has an initial buy in as it's an Equity owned club (the members own the club). I think the Hacienda is $15,000 buy in and $215/month. The Spa I believe is about $20,000 buy in and $415/month dues. The Golf I think is up to $50,000 to buy in and about $1,250 per month dues.

Honestly it's a bargain George because we looked into other country clubs before moving to San Diego and the other ones around here aren't cheap. Here are some examples from my notes.

The Bridges Country Club: Golf: $125,000 buy in with $2,150 monthly dues / Social Club was $25,000 buy in and you don't get any equity in the club. $1075 monthly dues for the social club.


La Costa Resort: Golf: $20,000 buy in and $760 per month dues. / Sports Club: $5,500 buy in and $300 monthly dues.


Fairbanks Ranch Country Club: Golf: $18,000 buy in and $1200 monthly dues. / Social Club: $2,750 buy in and $400 monthly dues.

Del Mar Country Club: Golf: $160,000 buy in with $1650 month dues / Tennis/Social Club was $15,000 buy in with $670 monthly dues.

The Crosby Country Club: Golf: $45,000 buy in with $975 monthly dues / Sports: $20,000 buy in with $325 monthly dues / Social Club: $8,500 buy in with $150 monthly dues.

The Farms Country Club: Golf: $30,000 buy in with $1,375 monthly dues. I don't think they have a Social club.

[procapital]

Thanks earlyretirement , you have been a great help!! I owe you and your family a big dinner! The mello roos thing is an interesting animal, yet, I see your point about schools, our private school for our twins is about $14,000 per year.

Also, when I add our local HOA to the other services, it comes a little higher than the HOA in Santaluz that without doubt is more complete.

Real estate is less expensive here, I would say that in comparable communities, probably about 20-30% less, but we are looking for better climate and also more diversity, something that here is really missing.

Income taxes are higher in California but by doing some good tax and estate planning, you can lower the impact.

You came from Texas from no income tax to the opposite, I am sure you adapted.

I am glad you mention the clubs, I was looking at The Bridges..I think that may disqualify it...

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by procapital

Thanks earlyretirement , you have been a great help!! I owe you and your family a big dinner! The mello roos thing is an interesting animal, yet, I see your point about schools, our private school for our twins is about $14,000 per year.

Also, when I add our local HOA to the other services, it comes a little higher than the HOA in Santaluz that without doubt is more complete.

Real estate is less expensive here, I would say that in comparable communities, probably about 20-30% less, but we are looking for better climate and also more diversity, something that here is really missing.

Income taxes are higher in California but by doing some good tax and estate planning, you can lower the impact.

You came from Texas from no income tax to the opposite, I am sure you adapted.

I am glad you mention the clubs, I was looking at The Bridges..I think that may disqualify it...

Nope. You don't owe me anything. I would just expect you to "pay it forward" with information if you ended up moving to San Diego. That's what these boards is all about. To share the power of the Internet and information.

Like I said, I don't have any skin in the game and it doesn't matter to me where you end up buying. As mentioned, ALL of these areas are really great. I just know that the lifestyle here is just about unbeatable from a raising kids standpoint.

People like to complain about HOA fees anywhere. I complain about it all the time and I own properties and find them a rip off. Quite honestly, this is the first time in my life when I felt the HOA fees were worth what I was paying for. Actually I find it a bargain for everything you get here.

No doubt real estate is not cheap here. But then again, I think at the $1 to $2 million level it's the sweet spot and a GREAT value here for the lifestyle and weather you get. Plus with property taxes being capped with Proposition 13 and also the lower property tax % compared to other areas, it could be actually looked at as a value play to me.

Case in point, go to an area like Highland Park in Dallas which is also an affluent area. You will spend more there vs. a place like Santaluz for the most part. And there, the property tax rates are something like 2.7% per year! What you are paying in premium areas like that is the lifestyle, safety, EXCELLENT school system and living amongst your peers/socio-economic group.

I can't sugarcoat the high state income taxes here. Especially if you're coming from a lower/no income tax state. I wish I could say you will get used to it or that it will get easier. LOL. But then I'd just be lying.... It's brutal. But it's something you just have to make peace with and evaluate if it's worth it to you or not... I do by a long-shot.

[procapital]

Our income tax in Utah is 5%, I notice that in California is around 6.9%, it is 1.9% more. If the lifestyle is worthwhile, and I believe it is, that extra 1.9% is worth paying.

I am familiar with Texas, we were looking at Westlake in between Dallas and Ft. Worth. The average price is very similar to SantaLuz, but with real estate taxes higher by about 50%!

Also, it seems utilities are higher, mostly because the brutal summers. Even winters could be cold in the 30's.

[AZ2SD]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

(Can't beat that $1.50 for a 1/4 lb. all beef hot dog with unlimited refill drinks).

As I've mentioned before, i really applaud ER's efforts as well as all the other posters in sharing their insights...providing useful information to help those who come to seek relocation advise. Very cool!

Then I saw the quote above buried in the thread and I just couldn't pass it up. I just love Costco, infact I was there today at the Carmel Mountain shopping center for a quick lunch and I ordered the $1.50 Polish with unlimited drink Cant beat that price!

[echo42]

I don't care where you're from or what you do, you can't go wrong with the Costco hotdog and soda for lunch.