Moving to Crestline, California (San Bernardino, Tracy: rentals, income, live)

[Ulysses61]

I live in Lake Arrowhead and I agree with the above poster. I'm retiring elsewhere because of the extreme fire danger. Once again this year, the El Nino never materialized. I have been evacuated for a week at a time due to devastating fires: in 2003 and again in 2007. That is not fun.


Crestline is better than anyplace down the hill, but it has its share of druggies and meth heads, especially in VOE.

[donnish]

Hi there,

I am thinking about renting a small place near VOE Elementary.

I'd be much obliged for your thoughts.

Is this one of those "trouble spots"?

Donna

[lae60]

If you are real close to the school it is pretty much ok. There are laws about registered sex offenders and for the most part they can not live near the school. I'd live in the area around the school no problem Lots of nice friend love there.

By the VOE town area there are a lot of the druggies that hang out near the market area. They are more inclined to take your stuff if its left unsecured in your home when they need money for their habit. DO NOT rent from the owner of the grocery store unless you are desperate. Lots of issues with the places he rents.

[griffigirl]

We moved to Crestline 2 years ago from San Diego. We thought it was best for commute and living expenses. I wish someone had told me what they don't tell you. Even property managed rentals make the renter pay EVERYTHING. I mean everything! Water, gas, electric, trash and sewer. Sadly we have a "holding tank" that needs to be dumped every 3 months but management company said only 2-3 times a year at $200 a pop. Thought with all the other savings was doable. WRONG. 4 times a year and $225 every time. Plus you are responsible for the entire lot that your rental is on. i have talked to other rental agencies and they said yes they all do this. It is in the fine print!! First time we hired someone and it cost $200 for landscaping. City came by about 6 weeks later and said we had 2 inches of growth and if we did not cut we would be fined. This lot is 13,000 sq feet and surrounded by uneven slope. Prop manager is like "y'all better take care of it, or you pay the fine." Husbands job pays for vehicle maintenace...still he has to have oil changed every 3 months and has 120,000 service on a 2 1/2 year old truck. Not only that...We live in DART CANYON and his truck was broken in to LAST night. smashed out his window and stole all of his work clothes, toiletries, and more. We decided a few weeks ago that we were done and moving back down and started looking to buy. Lease does not end until NOV and they have let us know they will SUE for sure if we leave early. Other agencies told me the same. Thankfully we are not stuck with a house we bought and can bail. Good luck.

[lae60]

Originally Posted by griffigirl

We moved to Crestline 2 years ago from San Diego. We thought it was best for commute and living expenses. I wish someone had told me what they don't tell you. Even property managed rentals make the renter pay EVERYTHING. I mean everything! Water, gas, electric, trash and sewer. Sadly we have a "holding tank" that needs to be dumped every 3 months but management company said only 2-3 times a year at $200 a pop. Thought with all the other savings was doable. WRONG. 4 times a year and $225 every time. Plus you are responsible for the entire lot that your rental is on. i have talked to other rental agencies and they said yes they all do this. It is in the fine print!! First time we hired someone and it cost $200 for landscaping. City came by about 6 weeks later and said we had 2 inches of growth and if we did not cut we would be fined. This lot is 13,000 sq feet and surrounded by uneven slope. Prop manager is like "y'all better take care of it, or you pay the fine." Husbands job pays for vehicle maintenace...still he has to have oil changed every 3 months and has 120,000 service on a 2 1/2 year old truck. Not only that...We live in DART CANYON and his truck was broken in to LAST night. smashed out his window and stole all of his work clothes, toiletries, and more. We decided a few weeks ago that we were done and moving back down and started looking to buy. Lease does not end until NOV and they have let us know they will SUE for sure if we leave early. Other agencies told me the same. Thankfully we are not stuck with a house we bought and can bail. Good luck.

If you have a holding tank, you should not have a sewer bill. The homes either have septic with a holding tank or just a holding tank or sewer.

For the holding tank, it depends on your usage on how often it needs to be pumped. The rental agency can not determine your water usage. So if you take short showers, do not run water when brushing your teeth, hand wash dishes with full sinks to wash and rinse in, again no running water, and do not have laundry at the home, you will pump less often than others.

My parents had a home in Dart Canyon for decades. They pumped it ONCE, EVER, then I had it pumped again so that it could be inspected before we rebuilt it after a fire. But our water usage was VERY limited.

Thieves will take anything they can see in your vehicle...anywhere...druggies. Make sure you report it, the police often get the stuff back.

Weed abatement has requirements, not the whole lot for large lots, but so many feet around buildings and from the street. Learn the rules and you will not need to cut as much. But doing the whole lot is better in case of a fire. I generally did it every 3-4 weeks, depending on the growth. Like a lawn down the hill.

[Skrfr]

I raised both my children in Crestline but left because of my job. After retirement I came back. Really wish I hadn’t. Two months after coming back I was attacked by a man at the dog park. I recently received a report from victims advocate that reports crime rate has substantially increased in the last 12 months. Drunken brawls heroine and speed people wander the downtown area and around lake Gregory. It’s so sad

[lae60]

I retired last May and moved from Crestline. Originally I had hoped to retire there.

But decided not to mainly because of the fire risk, but also because of the way the County manages things and the poorly preforming schools.

The County now controls the fire department.

The County has contracted out the operation and maintenance of the lake with a for profit company. So it cost something like $7 a DAY just to go fishing, $20 EACH time one launched THEIR OWN kayak, and even more to go swimming, etc. It just was not affordable to the local people who lived there and historically popped into the lake area for a few hours after work to walk, swim, fish, or feed the ducks with their family. Only of out of towners who came up for a party weekend could afford the rates.

And law enforcement is more concerned about traffic ticketing than other more important criminal activities (but things that does not bring the ticket $ into the county coffers).

Also the school district has major buying issues and does not provide a decent education either, with scores dropping and more and more kids being homeschooled.

I do miss the 'old Crestline" I visited as a child, but not what it has become or is becoming. My family had homes in Crestline since my grandparents in the 1940's, but now only one aunt still has a home there.

[griffigirl]

No, we don't have a sewer bill and holding tank. My point is that they make you pay for everything up here, where as every other place we have ever rented only had to pay gas and electric. This is a brand new holding tank, it has been checked out by Bennett who dumps for lots of us up here. Our neighbor across the way who lives alone has hers pumped every 4-5 months. my husband travels a ton for work and since it is fairly cold no one is showering every day. even old timers up here will say "pumped??" and they think we mean septic tank which yes, it only needs to be pumped every decade or something. I just looked up holding tank online and it said many have to be pumped every 6-8 weeks. Bennett says he sees this often in bigger households. I am fully aware it depends on water usage...again my point is they will tell you whatever they need to do get you in. we cannot ever use our upstairs shower because it goes into the holding tank and then makes our dump time go from every 3 months to 2 months. We don't even use much water! we have the lowest bill possible with lowest usage. MOVING by November 1 and won't be back. Never take someone's word for it because you will be the one stuck with it. I distinctly recall "chuckling" when they mentioned landscaping as there was none and i said that. No mention that we were require to "manage" 13,000 sq ft for the owner's.

[Arthur&Tracy Ortega]

Hi everyone . My family of 3 planning move to somewhere near the lake in San Bernardino.. we don’t know which area is best and safety to raise our son. Please help. A safety area close to market and restaurant. Thank you.

[lae60]

Originally Posted by Arthur&Tracy Ortega

Hi everyone . My family of 3 planning move to somewhere near the lake in San Bernardino.. we don’t know which area is best and safety to raise our son. Please help. A safety area close to market and restaurant. Thank you.

Too hard to respond to your post, Crestline is NOT in San Bernardino, but in the mountains above SB. And there are numerous lakes, which one? Silverwood? Gregory? Green Valley? Arrowhead? Big Bear?


You may want to do a search by the name of where your are looking on this webpage as there are lots of posts comparing the areas, some very recent.