GET REAL About San Diego Rental and Real Estate Prices (Poway: HOA, credit)

[Cardiff Kook]

Originally Posted by Larry Siegel

I would not have thought you could buy anything bigger than a 2 bedroom condo in Encinitas for under $500K.

When I made that post' you couldn't. But when you factor in the hoa fees it might as well cost over 500k for anything bigger than 2 bedrooms

[Pedro2000]

Originally Posted by Cardiff Kook

When I made that post' you couldn't. But when you factor in the hoa fees it might as well cost over 500k for anything bigger than 2 bedrooms

Many people never realize HOA fees kind of run rampant in places like SD. There are tons of condos and townhomes and communities that you would never think had an HOA, but they do or they have some Melo Roos. And when HOA fees can easily run over $500 per month in many areas, even for 2 bedroom places, that's almost like paying another mortgage if you factor in HOA + Property taxes + insurance and such.

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by Pedro2000

Many people never realize HOA fees kind of run rampant in places like SD.

And it's not just SD. It's state law that HOA fees can go up by 20%. EVERY year! Maybe not likely, but possible under law.

How Often Can They Raise Condo Association Fees? | Home Guides | SF Gate
Assessment Limitation

[valsan]

I just moved here, I came from Dallas-TX, 4900 sq home, and now I live in a UTC townhome smaller than my closet in Texas, I am paying $3500.00 a month. Schools are great, walk distance to school, shopping etc. BUT I DID MY RESEARCH and was ready to pay the price to duo to my long wish-list. GREAT POST. I loved it. I AM A LOT HAPPIER HERE THOU. Dallas sucks.

[jr6035]

Originally Posted by valsan

I just moved here, I came from Dallas-TX, 4900 sq home, and now I live in a UTC townhome smaller than my closet in Texas, I am paying $3500.00 a month. Schools are great, walk distance to school, shopping etc. BUT I DID MY RESEARCH and was ready to pay the price to duo to my long wish-list. GREAT POST. I loved it. I AM A LOT HAPPIER HERE THOU. Dallas sucks.

I also moved from Plano. Had a 2400 sqft,4 bdrm home with a 30,000 gallon pool. Out here that would break me. So I rent for 1400 a month, in LA. But lookin to move to SD. Looking for a condo or GASP, a trailer park. But since there are no hurricanes or tornadoes, it might be safer. Also, there are 55+ communities that have those. But I'm treading lightly

[Pedro2000]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

This type of thing is very common in other countries. I lived in South America for 9 years and I owned a few companies. The ironic thing is almost all of my employees earned a fraction of what my USA employees earn yet they all were able to pay for properties with cash.

Down there, they live at home with their parents for many years. Often into their mid 30's. They save up so that they can buy a property of their own. And in some countries there are no mortgages so you have to pay cash.

I know that's far from the case in the USA. Especially San Diego. Many times when my out of town friends come in town and they stay with me, they ask me what the heck everyone does in my neighborhood that they can afford these types of homes. Surprisingly lots of homes in the area are just rentals.

I've noticed many homes, condos, and townhomes pretty much becoming investment properties and not much more. Where I live there are open houses every week and now and again I'll go have a look and it's rare to ever see families at these open houses. And the places close enough to me, they seem to get bought up in a week or two. Soon thereafter it's up for rent. Rarely are any of these places fixed up, no need to I guess. And some of them are just...lets say ridiculous. There was one open house I went to where the kitchen was last updated in like 1960. And i'm not exaggerating. The Oven looked like it came out of some 1960s movie. It wasn't like this place was in bad condition, but it was just old and dated and I'm sure some of that stuff just didn't operate at peak performance.

The one owner I spoke to was telling me there was no point in fixing anything up because they wouldn't get all that much more and most of the people putting offers in were either not from the US or not in the state and didn't even care anyway. And it seems people wind up renting these places with 40 year old kitchens anyway. It's really an interesting market.

There are other areas where it seems airbnb rentals rule the market. I honestly wouldn't want to buy in an area where that is happening more than it's not happening, but how would you really know? And I know in SF and NYC a lot of people are becoming pissed at buying a nice condo or house and soon thereafter have no real neighbors, just new airbnb guests every week.


It makes me wonder what kind of "future" really exists in certain areas as new people keep moving in and out all the time though. Especially in places like SD. It's one thing when people retire or get older and have a house or pass the house down to a kid or grandkid. It's another when nobody really lives there, it's just rented out. Or even worse, it's just rented out on airbnb to a new group or person every week.

[musyq101]

couldn't agree more

[helluvaengineer]

Here's a link that may be useful for those looking to move to San Diego. It may be a repost though from another thread.

The Best Places to Live in San Diego

I've found it to be useful and the rental prices are pretty accurate from what I've seen on craigslist and padmapper.com. I'll be spending my first month after the move in Encinitas to see if I like it or not, but unfortunately it's a bit farther away from the airport than I'd like.

Question for the locals: Is "Cardiff by the Sea" actually part of Encinitas or is it separate?

[bloom]

Originally Posted by helluvaengineer

Is "Cardiff by the Sea" actually part of Encinitas or is it separate?

a neigbhorhood subpart not separate

[Cardiff Kook]

Its part of encinitas but has its own zip code...it doesn't extend nearly as far inland as other parts of encintas either