Family of 5 from From Northern VA to San Diego-- (Chula Vista: real estate market, mortgages)

[danandlova]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are thinking relocate to San Diego within the next 6 months. My husband and I are in the mid-30's, have 2 kids, one 5 year-old boy and 2 year-old girl. We are expecting our 3rd child. I'm a Stay-At-Home Mom.

We currently live in Manassas, we bought a new house on Dec 2012. My husband is a Product Manager at an IT firm.

We're thinking to relocate to the San Diego area, and so far, have heard good things about Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Carmel Valley and Carlsbad.

I'm going to give a bit more of what we're looking for:

- Price: maximum of $450,000
- Safe
- Preferably Single Family Homes, but also open to multi-families and townhouses.
- Very good schools ( this is where I'm worried because of school bonds that Poway Unified Schools got into,
what would happen to homeowners' down the road, what are the effects that we could expect?
-Kid- Family friendly: lots of fun things to do for the kids that are close by; or even walkable to get candies, ice-cream shop, parks etc...but still can have a quiet good night sleep. I want my kids to be able to enjoy life at the best outside anytime of the day. That's one of the main reasons we want to relocate, we don't like the weather here.
- Close proximity to hospitals and pediatricians.

- I think my biggest worry is the risk of mortgages going really up because of the school bonds.

Any information would be greatly greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Lova.

[mandasand]

Check out SD Lookup for homes in the particular areas you mentioned. I think $450k may not be doable in your preferred areas, but I am not well versed on the market here yet.
SDLookup.com San Diego's Premier Real Estate Marketplace > Home

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Generally speaking, when new threads like this come, some of us regular posters will ask the location of the office will be. SD is very spread out and when we refer to "San Diego" many times, its not just the city proper its the whole county. The good news is that much of SD is not fragmented. So getting to live in a nicer area isnt too hard to come by especially where the white collar job centers are in tech and such.

Those areas you mentioned certainly have homes there for that price, but that is definitely on the lower end of the price scale and likely below 2k sq ft for a SFH.

Safety in San Diego County (on the whole) is never really an issue.

You should add Rancho Penasquitos to the mix and stay in within a 10 mile radius of the 15/56 freeway corridor. This is generally where you might hit all the points you are looking for.

[lrmsd]

With your budget (low for the areas you've mentioned so far), you could also look at Eastlake and parts of San Marcos. Also, check school district boundaries, because part of Escondido [near Elfin Forest,, I think] qualifies for schools in Rancho Santa Fe. I think some of SM attends Carlsbad schools, too. [ie, some of San Marcos and much of Escondido will be in the not great to terrible schools wise; there are exceptions]. And San Elijo Hills in San Marcos is good.

Rancho Santa Fe and San Elijo are part of san dieguito middle/high school district, which includes carmel valley, del mar and carlsbad [it's a big district!]. something to keep in mind for future school options.

Eastlake has been well regarded by many on this forum; search the threads. There are walking trails and good schools. Plenty of outdoor options and very family friendly. It's south, though, so commute may increase, depending on where the job is...Real estate is lower than Poway and CV, etc., though.

Hospitals and pediatricians: You really would be hard pressed to find anywhere in SD's major population area, WITHOUT one or more of this within 10 miles, in my experience.

[earlyretirement]

Unfortunately $450,000 doesn't buy much house at all in areas as you described.

Also, your "mortgage" wouldn't go up due to the bonds. Yes, your total monthly liability could but for most people it is most likely going to be under $1,800 a year assuming you have a larger property. I wouldn't worry too much about that part of it.

The problem I'd worry about is finding a large enough home in good school districts for anywhere near your budget in PUSD. Definitely you can explore some other areas as lrmsd mentioned. San Marcos may be a great option. I have a friend there and they really enjoy it. Although even there $450k doesn't buy as much as it did just a year ago.

[danandlova]

Thank you all for the information. I think the most important things to us are safety, good schools and a family oriented community. It doesn't have to be in the areas I mentioned above; though it would be nice to get into one of them. I will look into San Marcos, east lake, rancho Santa Fe and San Elijo hills...

[moved]

So what happened to your Massachusetts move?

[danandlova]

My husband got a low offer and we didn't get the job.

[sdhkshdcny09]

Originally Posted by danandlova

I will look into San Marcos, east lake, rancho Santa Fe and San Elijo hills...

Rancho Santa Fe is the wealthiest area in San Diego County and one of the wealthiest places in the world. You aren't going to find a livable, family home for under $1 million.

The specific area the person mentioned was Elfin Forest, which is partly served by RSF school district, but no where near RSF schools.

90% of San Elijo is out of your price range for a single family home.


Check:

Chula Vista:
- Eastlake
- Otay Ranch

San Marcos
- Discovery Hills (and surrounding areas)
- Lake San Marcos (and surrounding areas)
- areas east of CSUSM
- Richland area/ East Twin Oaks valley

Vista
- Shadowridge

Oceanside
- Ivey Ranch

Santee
- near lakes

These places offer the best bang for your buck w/ decent to good schools and safe neighborhoods.

[sdhkshdcny09]

Originally Posted by lrmsd

I think some of SM attends Carlsbad schools, too. [ie, some of San Marcos and much of Escondido will be in the not great to terrible schools wise; there are exceptions].

Rancho Santa Fe and San Elijo are part of san dieguito middle/high school district, which includes carmel valley, del mar and carlsbad [it's a big district!]. something to keep in mind for future school options.

Carlsbad Unified only serves Carlsbad residents, with the exception of a small strip north of Calavera Hills. It's the other way around. San Dieguito and San Marcos districts serve Carlsbad students. If you live in San Marcos, your neighborhood school is guaranteed to be in San Marcos Unified.

Unless you referred to "carlsbad schools" as literally a "a school in carlsbad", which is true. However, a SMUSD school in Carlsbad is not going to be much different from one in, say, San Elijo. Especially considering that half the students at both Carlsbad schools are actually San Marcos residents

San Elijo is within the City of San Marcos and only attends SM Unified schools. The central parts of nearby Elfin Forest are served by RSF schools.