Fab house and crap commute, or ok house and fab commute? (Chula Vista: car insurance, new home)

[ranzchic]

Yeah, the one year renting idea is a great idea, actually.

One, you will get a better feeling on your preferences and a better feel of the metro region.

Two, you will insulate yourself from potential loss of significant amounts of money as the market has yet to bottom out.

And yeah, the traffic on the 5 is really terrible, and you will always be with the worst of it both ways.

[solt530]

I don't know where you're moving from, but the driving and gas prices here are awful. Your husband is looking at about 3 hours of commuting round trip every day. Gas is around $3.80/gallon right now, down from $4.60, but I doubt it will stay this low. As soon as the election is over, gas prices will magically skyrocket again, due to some unforseen "disaster". I don't know what kind of car your husband drives, but it could get costly. I drive a Honda Accord and it costs me $60 to fill up usually. So if your husband has to fill up at that price 3 times a week, that's $180/week on gas, so that's about $720/month in gas. So $720/month on gas, and 3 hours of commuting each day are not worth living anywhere in my opinion.

[esmith143]

You can get nice homes in Eastlake at a reasonable cost. Many Navy families choose this area. Nice amenities, nice new homes, good schools.

Second that. I know exactly what community you're talking about. You're looking at mid 300's for a 3/2 house without land; high 200's - low 300's if you opt for a slightly preowned one. (BTW it's amazing, K.Hov went out into the middle of nowhere and chose to build houses on 4000-5000 square foot lots. What is it with San Diegans and their desire to huddle together?)

Here's a sample 4-bedroom, 2075 s.f. bank-owned house in Eastlake, asking 329k:

2278 Sweet Pea, Chula Vista, CA 91915 | $329,900 | Windingwalk Real Estate | 080059355

I'd be somewhat less worried about long-term resale values of Eastlake as opposed to Fallbrook. Eastlake is within a 30 minute commute from half of San Diego metro, Fallbrook is in the boondocks.

[TomSD]

Keep in mind with most of the Eastlake homes though that you will be paying mello roos and HOA which can come out to like 500 a month on top of everything else.

[esmith143]

Originally Posted by TomSD

Keep in mind with most of the Eastlake homes though that you will be paying mello roos and HOA which can come out to like 500 a month on top of everything else.

This is correct, but your commute will be shorter by 30 miles, so you will be saving a couple hundred dollars a month just on gasoline. Houses in Fallbrook have HOA fees too, though much smaller.

[Moose Whisperer]

OK, my bad.

When I first saw the title of this thread, I went off, assuming that no one in their right mind would want ever to commute from Fallbrook to SD. I admit it's been a while since I've been down in the North County area (I live in Oceanside for many years) so I looked up that K. Hovnanian “Lake Rancho Viejo” development on Google.

OMG!!! That’s not Fallbrook – that really is the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!

When I hear Fallbrook, I think of Bonsall and the area north of 76 on S. Mission Road. This place was all scrub brush and tumbleweeds when I lived there! I never imagined that anyone would EVER build houses way out there!

Now, the only thing this really changes about what’s being said is in regards to the commute. I assume that you wouldn’t be driving 76 to 5 south and instead will be taking 15 to something like the 163 and then 8 across into SD. I’ll admit, I never commuted on those particular routes, so I don’t know what rush hour traffic is like there, but I would suspect 163 and 8 (and all of that area) are just as backed up. So, while you may have the benefit of the 90+ mph "free for all" that is I-15, what ever time saved there will be lost simply due to the increased overall distance of that route.

This kind of reminds me of when I was a kid growing up in the LA area. Back then Palmdale & Lancaster were considered the boonies – the high desert that people would only rarely even venture to. Now it’s just another suburb of LA and people make that trek every day! CRAZY!

[Euseys]

Thanks all for your valuable feedback!

And, what we need to emphasize, the "crap house with good commute" is NOT a crap house. There are plenty of beautiful, wonderful 3 bedroom houses in Chula Vista, near the Medical center. And, now we have a realtor looking at recent forclosures too...So, although we put our eggs into the Fallbrook basket we're starting to see it might not be such a good idea. THANK YOU, sincerely, for the info and feedback.

[kcda]

My HOA in Eastlake is only $72 a month and it includes: 3 beautiful pools with jacuzzi, kids pools, showers, private electronic gates, barbeque facilities, tennis courts (lighted at night) and the HOA covers tennis lessons for the kids, beautiful private parks with play equipment, nice landscaping everywhere and private security that patrol the pools, parks and neighborhoods at night. It think that's a bargain compared to people that have condos downtown and pay $600 a month. If you live in the Trails or the Woods you get a gym too!

[breeze823]

I'd definately pick great commute over the house. You will eventually hate all that time on the road and miss alot of things at home, like the kids sports, school events etc...my husband has had some killer commutes and he has hated them for that reason. It's nice to have him close to home, we can meet for lunch, he can hurry home to watch the kids football game, etc....all things he missed while commuting, and was never able to enjoy that "fab house"

[1AngryTaxPayer]

All the guys I work with were giving me carp about buying in Bay Park when they were buying new in Vista and N County. Now, years later they are all scrambling to get back down here

That commute is a monster and about every couple of weeks there is an accident that makes it double what it normally is. How many 3 hour one way trips could you mentally take? I'd be postal after one.

Example, we leave on Friday after work to head for a cabin in Iddywild (sp) the traffic is so bad we never get over 20 mph all the way out to Ramona exits. Yes it is that bad.

Check out Serra Mesa and those areas too!