Moving to san diego with family... Need help (Poway, Del Mar: townhouse, neighborhoods)

[ocndvr]

A friend of mine told me that I should use this forum to get some ideas.

We are moving to the San Diego area sometime in Oct-Nov and are not sure where to live? I will be working in the La Jolla area... but wondering where is the best & safest place to raise my family. We have a 9, 3, and 1 year old. Schools are important and we can't forget about sports.

We would like to buy a 4 bedroom 3 bath home. Any ideas? I guess a commute of 20-25 mins would be okay.

Thanks for any help and ideas.

[JFJ]

What is your budget for the purchase of a home? La Jolla would be a great place to raise a family if you can afford it (one of the pricier regions of SD).

[ocndvr]

We have a wide budget of 450k up to 600k. What other area's would be within a 25 min commute and still have good schools, etc.

[futbol]

The commute time would depend on where in La Jolla you work and what time you hit the roads.

We live in Poway and I work in Sorrento Mesa (one of the tech areas near La Jolla). My commute is ~25-45 minutes each way, nominally ~33 mins.

Carmel Valley, 4S Ranch, and Rancho Penasquitos would be a quicker commute to La Jolla. RP and Poway would fit your budget better. All those areas have good schools.

[LadyTighe]

If schools are important you may want to check out GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

That site also has a map feature and a link to find homes.

But I agree with Futbol on the locations. My daughter went to the Del Mar school district (Carmel Valley), which was, at the time, among the top 5% in the nation.

[earlyretirement]

You're going to be limited in the areas you can buy homes with that budget. In other cities around the USA, you can buy quite a bit of house in a great school district with $450,000 to $600,000. But here that budget doesn't buy too much of a 4 bedroom house in a good school district to close to La Jolla.

I'd think probably Poway would be your best bet as homes there are more affordable vs. some of the neighborhoods closer to the ocean. And the PUSD school district is really great for your kids. We have friends that bought a 4 bedroom house in Poway at the upper end of your price range last year and they are happy there. But in Carmel Valley and 4S Ranch it's going to be almost impossible to find a SFH with 4 bedrooms for your price range. Maybe you can find something in Rancho Penasquitos. Our friends just bought a townhouse in RPQ but I thought it was expensive. There isn't much good inventory on the market so that will present another challenge as well.

Also, really figure out where a comfortable price range is to buy a home. Don't overextend or over leverage yourself. I've seen that a lot in San Diego and it usually doesn't end up well.

[ShelbyGirl1]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

You're going to be limited in the areas you can buy homes with that budget. In other cities around the USA, you can buy quite a bit of house in a great school district with $450,000 to $600,000. But here that budget doesn't buy too much of a 4 bedroom house in a good school district to close to La Jolla.

I'd think probably Poway would be your best bet as homes there are more affordable vs. some of the neighborhoods closer to the ocean. And the PUSD school district is really great for your kids. We have friends that bought a 4 bedroom house in Poway at the upper end of your price range last year and they are happy there. But in Carmel Valley and 4S Ranch it's going to be almost impossible to find a SFH with 4 bedrooms for your price range. Maybe you can find something in Rancho Penasquitos. Our friends just bought a townhouse in RPQ but I thought it was expensive. There isn't much good inventory on the market so that will present another challenge as well.

Also, really figure out where a comfortable price range is to buy a home. Don't overextend or over leverage yourself. I've seen that a lot in San Diego and it usually doesn't end up well.

Excellent post with good solid info! ( Wish I could rep. you, but it says I need to spread the love around first)