Thinking about moving to Ramona California (San Diego, Julian: 2009, homes, high school)

[rxt1949]

Originally Posted by GPEG

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I are relocating to San Diego from Miami, we are pretty sick of miami in many ways.

Anyhow, we got a realtor and are currently looking at listings. Our biggest concern is a home with land and it seems that the nicest homes with plenty of land are in Ramona. Are there any other areas in San Diego that is more centric to all the shopping and entertainment that offers homes with large lots? We're a mid-aged couple looking to start a family soon. Any suggestions on homes around nice areas not higher than the $500's?

Thanks in advance!

Hi GPEG,

Lizardlips assessment about Poway seems right on. If we were younger and raising a family (sounds like you folks are planning to do so), Poway area would be our first choice. Saw some older homes in San Bernardo (sp) which is adjacent to Poway, in the mid to high $500K range. We having second thoughts about Ramona because of the high temperatures in the summer months, but agree with your assessment that you get more for your $ with respect to home and land in the Ramona area in general. Best of luck in your search.

rxt1949

[rxt1949]

Originally Posted by CardiffBaseball

I am curious why anyone wants to move here and buy right now. NY Times just had a great article about anyone who decided to rent over the last two years was quite was (that is chose not to buy over this two year period). That said if you think you are going to buy, and you speak with builders, go in there realizing you have all the power and don't let them bully you about selling out of this phase or that. There are concessions to be had, if you have the guts to walk away. Read Piggington.com

Dear CardiffBaseball,

Seems I am seeing alot of empty homes that have been sitting on MLS listings for an extended period. Not saying the San Diego RE bubble is going to burst, but I suspect somebody is getting short on cash flow in paying for two mortgages. If the Bank owns it, they losing money sitting on it. I hope those Banks like the builders would deal versus go down with the ship. Seen some small downward movement in list prices (i.e., original list prices reduced), and I suspect if sales sag in April, it may be a soft buyers market come June. Can't speak to new homes. We didn't consider it because of $ and other than new, didn't seem to get alot for your money. Thanks for your insights.

rxt1949

[CardiffBaseball]

Just keep in mind that the builders have more room to negotiate. If someone bought in the last two years they are likely a little underwater once cost to sell comes in to play. I don't know that prices are down a flat 10% everywhere, but they are likely needing to be at 2005 prices if they need to unload.

I saw a post on Ocrenter's blog about a 4S Ranch development that is down 16% from 10 months ago. Del Sur shows a 12% drop in just 4 months.

I am having trouble with the icons on this message board loading in firefox but if you'd like to see the figures, the website (you can cut and paste) is http://bubbletracking.blogspot.com. For lively San Diego discussion check piggington.com

[BIOLYNX]

Originally Posted by rxt1949

Dear BIOLYNX (Catryna).

I realized I forgot to mention an important aspect for your consideration in that Colorado has many tax advantages for retirees versus California. Apart from a flat rate for personal income tax versus the 6 tier system in California, the general sales tax is much lower. Plus, Colorado allows a $20,000 exemption for social security and qualified retirement income. At age 65 it increases to $24,000. California only exempts social security and Railroad Retirement benefits. So if you have a company or federal pension annuity, in addition to social security, in Colorado up to $20,000 or $24,000 depending on your age, will be exempt from any state tax. Also the RE tax will be much lower than what you are paying in California (example: we paid $505,000 for our CO home back in 2004, and our RE taxes are around $2,500).

If it wasn't for our kids, the higher taxes and real estate prices in California would not make it high on our list for a place to retire. What we do for love, but we are not complaining because you can't take with you when you pass on.

Thanks for that nice piece of info. I definitely appreciate knowing that!!!
BIOLYNX (Catryna)

[ramonawoman]

To RXT1949 - I am a San Diego native and have lived here in Ramona for several years. This is a truly marvelous place! The people are friendly, the homes are large and you will definitely get more land here than in other areas in San Diego. As for the member who called this the "drug capital of San Diego..." what a CROCK! Ramona currently has the LOWEST CRIME RATE in ALL of San Diego County. 99.9% of our schools are California award-winning, blue ribbon schools. We don't want to be over-populated like our neighbors down the hill in Rancho Bernardo, Carmel Mountain Ranch, Sabre Springs, Poway, or Scripps Ranch (to name a few). As we are at a higher elevation, we experience somewhat colder weather in the winter and somewhat warmer weather in the summer. I live on the west end of Ramona (8 mins. from Poway). At night, I can see the stars, hear crickets chirping, and enjoy cool night breezes. The housing prices are far better here than in other San Diego areas. I know. I have been in real estate for over 15 years and own a real estate office here in Ramona. We have NO Mello Roos taxes (like you will discover in 4S Ranch and other areas of San Diego). Very few places here have home owners associations who try to tell homeowners what they can and can't do with their own property. Meth labs? I'm sure there are some here, and in every other area in San Diego as well. But it is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS to make the statement that Ramona is a drug capital! Drugs are FAR MORE prevalent in Mira Mesa, San Ysidro (cose to the Mexican border), Logan Heights, and Southeast San Diego than here in Ramona. I will be more than happy to send you links to ALL the local information in the San Diego area regarding schools, neighborhoods, weather, traffic conditions, etc. [moderator edit - realtor advertising]

[rxt1949]

Originally Posted by ramonawoman

To RXT1949 - I am a San Diego native and have lived here in Ramona for several years. This is a truly marvelous place! The people are friendly, the homes are large and you will definitely get more land here than in other areas in San Diego. As for the member who called this the "drug capital of San Diego..." what a CROCK! Ramona currently has the LOWEST CRIME RATE in ALL of San Diego County. 99.9% of our schools are California award-winning, blue ribbon schools. We don't want to be over-populated like our neighbors down the hill in Rancho Bernardo, Carmel Mountain Ranch, Sabre Springs, Poway, or Scripps Ranch (to name a few). As we are at a higher elevation, we experience somewhat colder weather in the winter and somewhat warmer weather in the summer. I live on the west end of Ramona (8 mins. from Poway). At night, I can see the stars, hear crickets chirping, and enjoy cool night breezes. The housing prices are far better here than in other San Diego areas. I know. I have been in real estate for over 15 years and own a real estate office here in Ramona. We have NO Mello Roos taxes (like you will discover in 4S Ranch and other areas of San Diego). Very few places here have home owners associations who try to tell homeowners what they can and can't do with their own property. Meth labs? I'm sure there are some here, and in every other area in San Diego as well. But it is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS to make the statement that Ramona is a drug capital! Drugs are FAR MORE prevalent in Mira Mesa, San Ysidro (cose to the Mexican border), Logan Heights, and Southeast San Diego than here in Ramona. I will be more than happy to send you links to ALL the local information in the San Diego area regarding schools, neighborhoods, weather, traffic conditions, etc. [moderator edit - realtor advertising]

Thanks Ramonawoman for your insights. West Ramona is a nice area. My wife and I were in San Diego last week and toured the Ramona area both East and West sides. We really liked west Ramona (Mt. Woodson area) but currently did not find any homes in our price range at this time. Our CO home just went on the market, and so other than scouting were not in a position to make any offers. That said, we liked Ramona in general, but we did have some serious concerns about either us or our kids driving over the hill on Hwy 67 at night because of critters, rocks and tailgaters pushing you down the hill. Not much margin for error or place to go if things go south.

[kensintown]

I have lived in the East County for years and love Ramona, but I would never , ever live there because all the highways in and out are some of the most deadly and dangerous in all of so-cal !....They're crosses all up the highway 67 where entire families have been killed.....Just not worth it . Research the fatalities.... Try Poway !

[norwester]

My mother has just moved from Ramona to be near me in the Pacific Northwest. She misses it, but it can't be helped. If you go to a website that I created for the sale of her mobile home in Ramona Terrace Estates, there's quite a lot of information about the area. I've been more than familiar with Ramona, since my brother's family's been there since 1980 when there was only a boulevard stop (flashing red light) at one intersection! Little cow town...but it's really nice now, and if you have a place with lots of trees, you'd be surprised at how much cooler it can seem. It's a dry heat - there is no such thing as humidity there. I generally melt at 80, but had to move her on a day of 105, and -strangely- it was no big deal because it was so dry!
Good luck - hope you check out my site, it should give you quite a bit of information!

[jillejohnson]

I am a native Lakesidian. Loved Ramona in the old days (70's-80's). So sad to hear the growth and the lack of infrastructure has dampered the feel of the place. I do miss southern California. Hang in there!

Originally Posted by BIOLYNX

To rxt1949:
Hello. I am a native San Diegan and have lived in Ramona for the past 17 years. I have seen tremendous growth in San Diego over the years, especially, in recent years, in Ramona. It's said that the traffic in San Diego is the worst in Ramona and that is because the three roads leading (down the hill) to Escondido, Poway and Lakeside are still only two lanes. The traffic in the mornings traveling west between 5:30-8:30 and the afternoon/evening traveling east between 3-7PM is a parking lot nightmare. The town still retains some of its small town charm but that is changing very quickly. Ramona does have two grocery stores, a couple of drug stores, many fast food restaurants, many hair and nail places, many antique stores and many preschools and day care facilities. Ramona is one of the few towns that does not have a decent infra-structure. There is a mall (30 minutes away in Escondido) down Hwy 78, in Santee on Mission Gorge(30 minutes away off of Hwy 67 and another mall in El Cajon off of Hwy 8. The El Cajon mall is beyond Santee, another 15 minutes. Ramona has dozens of halfway houses for the mentally slow and ex-substance abusers. Unfortunately, Ramona is regarded as the drug capital of San Diego. (Meth labs) The insidence of teen preganancies if very high here as there is nothing in this town for the teens to do. It is very unfortunate for a town to have such a low regard for it's children.

As for the education system in Ramona and the Estates (San Diego Country Estes) there are six grammer schools, one middle school and one high school. There is an alternate home school/Montessori combination that is K through High School, a Charter school, and two alternative home school High schools.

The weather in Ramona during November through May is very pleasant. There are many days when it's in the 80s and can sometimes climb into the 90s and 100s. In the summer we often have between 100-110+ from anywhere between 3 weeks to 3 months. So that is something to really think about. And, it is not that dry here anymore, it can get quite humid. Last summer was a record breaker worldwide and here in Ramona between the middle of June to the middle of October it was between 100 - 113 daily, averaging 105 with the humidity in the 80s. It didn't cool off at night. No one's AC could keep their homes below 90 degrees and most of the people I know had their utility bills double and triple which meant between $500-$1000a month. But, you still were not comfortable. That was indeed the worst summer ever. The average Ramona summer is not pleasant.

Living in the country has been a blessing for us (not the Estates). My husband and I moved from the coast (Leucadia) and raised our children here from 1990 through 2005. It worked out very well, although we did homeschool them and watched them like a hawk. Our children do not want to raise their own children here, since the changes in the town are not positive ones. For retirees it might be a nice move, although my husband and I are retirees and we plan to move to either Colorado, NM, or Arizona high desert. Our children plan to make the move with us.

I did notice that you mentioned that your children are moving to the 4S area west of Poway. I believe that if you moved to Ramona and wished to visit your children you would take Hwy 67 down to Poway, turn north on Espola, west on Twin Peaks which then becomes Camino del Norte. At that point you would pass under Hwy 15 and continue on for another 2 miles or so to get to the 4S area. At least, that is the way my daughter and I go to do our grocery shopping at the new health food store (Jimbos) out there.

Like others on this BBS I would recommend finding a home in Poway, Rancho Bernardo or Rancho Penasquitos and save yourselves a lot of hassle. If you have horses or any kind of livestock, Poway still has some rural areas where you could have the animals.

If you do decide to move to Ramona. WELCOME!!!
BIOLYNX (Catryna)

[cnkad]

I also grew up in ramona. There are pros and cons about it and all that which everyone already told you. I would also recommend you look in poway or RB first, and try to find something there. Ramona is not bad or anything, but it is a major pain going in and out of it -all the roads in (there are only three) are twisty annoying roads. 67, 78 or wildcat (through the res.). And I am not sure if anyone mentioned this or not but your closest hospital is either palomar in escondido or pomerado in poway. Anyway, good luck!