Thoughts on 54th and Trojan in Colina Del Sol? (El Cajon: apartment, rent)

[dhe]

Hello; first post, just found these forums, planning on sticking around.

I'm considering purchasing an apartment that is very close to the corner of 54th and Trojan in the Colina Del Sol neighborhood; a block south of El Cajon Blvd. on 54th.

I've read the posts that advise on living West or East of the 54th. What are your thoughts on living ON 54th? It seems to be a fairly low-end area, which is why it's cheap. I suppose I'm most concerned with what the resale value might be in 3 years.

Any thoughts?

[hotornot]

Hi and welcome to city-data

I don't really know for sure but I thought I once read on the SD Craigslist (Rants and Raves section) that 54th or 55th and EC Blvd. was a little nasty. I'm only 60% sure of this. Maybe someone with more knowledge than me will confirm or refute this.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by dhe

Hello; first post, just found these forums, planning on sticking around.

I'm considering purchasing an apartment that is very close to the corner of 54th and Trojan in the Colina Del Sol neighborhood; a block south of El Cajon Blvd. on 54th.

I've read the posts that advise on living West or East of the 54th. What are your thoughts on living ON 54th? It seems to be a fairly low-end area, which is why it's cheap. I suppose I'm most concerned with what the resale value might be in 3 years.

Any thoughts?

I wouldn't live on 54th. East of 54th is where you want to be, not west of 54th. A block south of El Cajon, across from Horace Mann? I don't see any big improvements in that area, although there is the big KB homes development over there. 54th is noisy and dirty. There are a lot of kids going to Crawford and Mann every day and lots of tagging (it's covered up often same-day). My wife works at Mann, I have family on 56th street over there, not sure if that is the spot to buy just yet.

Go east towards Rolando, or north of El Cajon Blvd if you can, those neighborhoods are seeing a lot more investment than the neighborhoods in and around City Heights. Go up east up Trojan, up to the top of the hill, that is Overlook Heights, and that is where you consider buying. You can get an SFH for 350k there.

For condos the College Way / Trojan / Vale area of El Cerrito is a good place to look, more towards College and El Cajon Boulevard. There are some conversion buildings selling one and two BR's for very low prices that are actually nice. There is a building called Carriage house which just north of El Cajon off 54th that is a great old building that has been redone. College Way just south of ECB also has several blocks of redone condos which are secure and walkable to Vons and school. For investment purposes your proximity to SDSU is going to be a key factor - there is a massive housing shortage around SDSU.

I live in the area and know it well, so hit me up with specifics. You want to be extra careful if you buy on the east side. There are some hoods that are up-and-coming and some neighborhoods that will never get any better. The commercial investment is starting to come, SDSU is only going to grow bigger and bigger and there is no vacant land south of the 8 for them to expand. Del Cerro will never allow development on Adobe Falls and they have the money to win that fight. So while it might take another 10 years to be realized, major commercial and residential development is coming to Montezuma Mesa.

[kettlepot]

Pay VERY CLOSE ATTENTION to what Sassberto has just said. He knows the area very well. Sampaquita can fill in any details Sassberto has missed.

I very much agree that proximity to SDSU is key. In 3 years if you didn't want to sell, you could always rent it out. But only if it is closer to SDSU. Preferably north of ECB between Collwood and where Montezuma connects with ECB over near 70th street.

[dhe]

Thanks very much for the responses.