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Old 02-22-2008, 11:10 AM
 
1 posts, read 4,049 times
Reputation: 10

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I just moved here about 6 months ago from the East Coast and work for a company in Mira Mesa. I'm 30 and I'm looking to buy my first place. I'd like to try and stay within the 300-330K range. I was thinking about either the CV/Del Mar Highlands area or UTC. Also there were some places off Manchester and 5 that were affordable. I'm not sure where the best place to be is for someone my age who is professional.....any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
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Old 02-22-2008, 12:34 PM
 
Location: San Diego > Denver
264 posts, read 1,388,164 times
Reputation: 89
Any of those places would be a good bet to buy. Personally, I'd avoid the UTC area. Very high density, lots of traffic, and I think you'd get a better return value someday if you went for Del Mar Heights or the places off Manchester.
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Old 02-22-2008, 12:37 PM
 
9,523 posts, read 30,388,618 times
Reputation: 6435
Any of those places are fine, but I agree that Del Mar / Encinitas will be your best bet. UTC would be good but only if the building and condo is very upscale.
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Old 02-22-2008, 12:39 PM
 
Location: San Diego
95 posts, read 408,258 times
Reputation: 139
JD, I'm in the same boat. I'm looking in the same price range and most of the areas you are looking in as well, including downtown. I decided to rent a place for a year. I really don't like the market right now. I suspect that your $300K condo now will be worth $275K in the next 18 to 24 months. I've been in San Diego for a year and a half now, and the condos that I would see posted for $350K are now in the $300K to $315K. I've seen even worse in some downtown developments. Keep in mind that condos suffer wilder price swings than single family homes.

My honest opinion is that if you've been in SD for six months, do yourself a favor and rent for one year. The market is headed further south, don't let others fool you otherwise. Don't purchase a condo now and be left holding the bag for someone else.
This will also give you time to discover different areas of the city before you commit to a purchase.

A good friend of mine who works in the lending industry advised me that there are a large number of "Alt-A" loans which are technically not classified as sub-prime, but still feature same pay options, and are set to reset in 2009. He worked for American Home Mortgage, which was the biggest provider of these loans before they went belly up and advised there are thousands of these loans in SD County set to detinate in the next year.

Just my two cents.

AJ
AJ
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Old 02-22-2008, 08:36 PM
 
112 posts, read 681,784 times
Reputation: 62
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajnsd View Post
JD, I'm in the same boat. I'm looking in the same price range and most of the areas you are looking in as well, including downtown. I decided to rent a place for a year. I really don't like the market right now. I suspect that your $300K condo now will be worth $275K in the next 18 to 24 months. I've been in San Diego for a year and a half now, and the condos that I would see posted for $350K are now in the $300K to $315K. I've seen even worse in some downtown developments. Keep in mind that condos suffer wilder price swings than single family homes.

My honest opinion is that if you've been in SD for six months, do yourself a favor and rent for one year. The market is headed further south, don't let others fool you otherwise. Don't purchase a condo now and be left holding the bag for someone else.
This will also give you time to discover different areas of the city before you commit to a purchase.

A good friend of mine who works in the lending industry advised me that there are a large number of "Alt-A" loans which are technically not classified as sub-prime, but still feature same pay options, and are set to reset in 2009. He worked for American Home Mortgage, which was the biggest provider of these loans before they went belly up and advised there are thousands of these loans in SD County set to detinate in the next year.

Just my two cents.

AJ
AJ
Very good piece of advice for the potential condo buyer.
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Old 02-24-2008, 03:38 PM
 
Location: San Diego
5,319 posts, read 8,960,511 times
Reputation: 3396
How will the current actions proposed by Congress to minimize foreclosures affect these Alt-A loans?

Do you think the condo prices will still continue to drop even after the government's plans are put into effect?

Also, here is a good article on the Alt-A situation:

Subprime mortgage problems may spread to 'Alt-A' loans - MarketWatch
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Old 02-25-2008, 01:24 PM
 
2,238 posts, read 8,995,208 times
Reputation: 954
Quote:
Originally Posted by RD5050 View Post
How will the current actions proposed by Congress to minimize foreclosures affect these Alt-A loans?
Anything done by Congress will just postpone the pain and probably make it worse by giving irresponsible homeowners even more time to ring up more debt.
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