The Lakes at Rancho Santa Fe (San Diego, Corona: sales, foreclosures, HOA)

[Axxlrod]

This seems like a nice place to live. Anybody live here or have any info on this development? What kind of people live there? Any kids? What are the Mello Roos?

[esmith143]

If you find out, make sure to tell us ... I have a feeling that they built it without any concrete ideas about the type of buyer they wanted to attract. To me it looks like insanely expensive tract homes with 1 mil+ stickers, $540/month HOAs, $600-800/month Mello Roos, and no redeeming qualities. Lennar is probably having a lot of trouble selling those.

Note that it's not really Rancho Santa Fe. It's not even like Rancho Santa Fe. It simply happens to be in the vicinity. What's the average lot size? 9000 sf? A true RSF'ian would point and laugh.

More generally I must advise you to avoid buying anything near or above 1 mil mark in San Diego, at least for another year.

[aztoga]

esmith- Why should people avoid purchasing anything around $1 million?

Also, what are Mello Roos? SD realtors throw that term around without realizing that those of us from out of state have no idea what that is!

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by aztoga

esmith- Why should people avoid purchasing anything around $1 million?

Also, what are Mello Roos? SD realtors throw that term around without realizing that those of us from out of state have no idea what that is!

No one can get mortgages for anything over the fannie mae limit (630k-ish in San Diego) so everything over that limit is getting pounded. Homes under 500k are selling like hotcakes while luxury property sales volume is non-existent.

mello roos is essentially a tax on new developments. It is used to pay for roads, schools, etc. It is non-tax deductable.

[Axxlrod]

Lennar has dropped their asking prices down to $899K, and is throwing in a membership to The Crosby Club to boot. I'm in no rush to buy, so I can do more research and wait the market out. I don't think the market has hit bottom yet, so prices will continue to drop. But $540/month for HOA is high. And MR tax have to be figured in as well.

I'll keep looking. Thanks.

[tande1n5]

It's not really Rancho Santa Fe. RSF to realtors/developers has become any of the unincorporated area between the coastal cities' eastern limits and the west side of the inland suburbs. It's mostly pre-bust luxury tract housing, and I'd be looking more to established neighborhoods if I were to be buying a close to 1m house these days, because the upper-end tract house market has really fallen, and you'll be living in a half-finished development for a long time.

[esmith143]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

No one can get mortgages for anything over the fannie mae limit (630k-ish in San Diego) so everything over that limit is getting pounded. Homes under 500k are selling like hotcakes while luxury property sales volume is non-existent.

One other factor aside from the loan limit is that the lower end of the market has corrected quite a bit, because of all the foreclosures, (and by lower end I mean basically 75% of the county) whereas higher-end areas weren't hit by foreclosures so they are in suspended animation - buyers are already gone but sellers are still in denial.

One common measure of market activity is months of inventory (the number of listings divided by the number of closings in the last month). 6 and below is considered healthy. Mira Mesa (mid-range market) is just above 3 months. Encinitas is at 14 months, Coronado is at 17 months, Del Mar is at 23 months.

MR is an additional tax on top of the standard 1-1.1%/year, yes, it's not supposed to be tax deductible, but many people deduct it anyway. MR goes away after 30 years or so.

[rsproule]

As the other posters have pointed out "The Lakes" is not Rancho Santa Fe, it's Rancho Bernardo (zip 92127). However, they may have the same goofy setup as "The Crosby" where you can have pay an extra fee to the HOA to have your mail routed through a post office box in RSF, thus allowing you to put an RSF address on your letters.

I suspect you will have to pay hefty annual fees to maintain the free membership to the Crosby.

My understanding (just what I have heard, could be wrong) of Mello Roos is as follows:

- It's a special tax developers agree to to get their projects approved by local government. It pays for the additional infrastructure (roads, schools, etc) necessary to support the new community.

- It's normally not tax deductible, but may be if the Mello Roos tax is used for ongoing maintenace rather than one time improvements.

- If the Mello Roos tax is for ongoing maintenace, it may never expire.

Any Mello Roos experts care to comment?

[esmith143]

I suspect you will have to pay hefty annual fees to maintain the free membership to the Crosby.

the promotion is for the free Sports Membership:

Sport Membership - $25,000
The Club will offer Sport Members, their spouse, and any of their children under the age of 24 full use to The Club Food and Beverage Services (with the exception of the Golf Lounges), access to the Sports Center as well as 8 tee times per year for a set fee (restriction may apply). Sport Members do not have access to the Golf Locker Rooms. They have access to the practice facility before their round of golf only. Sport Membership monthly dues are $300.00.

methinks 300/month is hefty for 8 tee times a year, but what do I know ... I don't play golf ...

Also there's a catch: the $25,000 is not a fee. It's a fully refundable deposit. If you resign your membership, you'll get your money back as soon as they sell your spot to someone else. (Unless I misunderstand their web site.)

[BennyPhoenix]

$300 is not hefty for a good club if their faciilties and activities are good and you make use of them. it is not much different than similar clubs elsewhere.
How many people can you take to golf?
It can easily cost $130 per person to golf at any decent private course.