Homes around $300k? (San Diego, Chula Vista, Oceanside: short sale, real estate market, apartment)

[LagunaMom]

Are there any safe communities in the San Diego area (i.e. cool air) in which you can buy a 2 bd. 1.5+ ba. home for $300k or less? 55+ areas are OK.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

If you mean directly on the coast, no. Maybe a condo.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Perhaps. But it may be poor> uninhabitable and require extensive repairs for a SFH with some caveats (maybe near apartment buildings, behind a supermarket or very busy street)

The only 55+ areas near the coast would be in Oceanside or maybe Carlsbad (Oceana and couple of others). Its been over a year since I looked and back then you could get a dumpy attached house for slightly below 300k. I am certain those have gone up.

[Mbrwr]

Is Chula Vista a bad part of San Diego? There are a lot of houses there in that price range and they don't look bad at all.

[Think4Yourself]

Originally Posted by LagunaMom

Are there any safe communities in the San Diego area (i.e. cool air) in which you can buy a 2 bd. 1.5+ ba. home for $300k or less? 55+ areas are OK.

I found several in the lake Murry area (near La Mesa) up to 4 bedrooms, 3 baths for $300k.

[kathygrl]

Just checked the MLS for all of Carlsbad and Oceanside in the under $300k range, with a minimum 2 bed (excluded manufactured and mobile homes)...there are currently 44 properties actively on the market and of those, 6 are single family detached homes-all short sale deals, 9 are twinhomes in senior communities and the remaining are condos (some very nice in both the La costa area and some in Oceanside).....the key is, as many have mentioned, is jumping on them the day (sometimes within the hour) that they come on the market....it's just that quick. So yes, they can be found but you have to be ready to move on them.

[LagunaMom]

It was a Plan B to what may be a sticky situation, which I pray never occurs.
Plan A gives us more cash.
We did bid on a nice house over the weekend but didn't get it. We offered $20k more than asking. They may have taken more, but I thought ours was a fair offer.

[echo42]

I guess on a forum we are allowed to be critical of one's plan and pick it apart.

Lagunamom, I have been reading your different threads , and not really a big fan of how you are going about this. My following comments are not meant to insult but merely a cautionary note.

There seems to be a sense of urgency in seeking out this investment, almost a panic. Changes in realtors..changes in property managers, "sticky situations", plan A, plan B, buying in an area you are not familiar with. There seems to be a lot of hands in the cookie jar and that will cut into your GRI and capital gains. I have said before, it really is a venture that you should be steering the boat as opposed to letting agents and managers call the shots. Let alone complete strangers on a forum board.

I am not a money guy. Not by a long shot. I am a simple civil servant and couldn't tell you the first thing about high finance. But I have amassed a lifetime of savings and equity in different "average guy" ventures and look at this real estate market with some skepticism. It is crazeeee right now! Just like 2001-05.

I don't think it is the time to buy rental property. Now with that being said, who the hell am I to tell you not to invest in property. Nobody here on this forum knows where the market is headed, and if they tell you otherwise, I have a great piece of property to sell you out by the Salton Sea. But one thing we know, it is headed somewhere...up, down, or sideways. My note of caution, my advice, is to take a breather. Now is not the time to be offering 20k over list for a rental property.

One last thing about realtors....very fickle bunch, almost arrogant when times are hopping and prosperous. it is hard to get their attention when they have multiple clients and offers pending. When the market does a 180, they will be kissing your backside to show you property on a sunday afternoon.

[tonyinsd]

Originally Posted by echo42

Now is not the time to be offering 20k over list for a rental property.

One last thing about realtors....very fickle bunch, almost arrogant when times are hopping and prosperous. it is hard to get their attention when they have multiple clients and offers pending. When the market does a 180, they will be kissing your backside to show you property on a sunday afternoon.

It depends on what you can get in rent for it.

If the rent you can get for the property even when you offer $20K over the asking price is more than your mortgage payment and HOA fees, then it's a good price to offer.

If the rent you can get for the property at $20K LESS than the asking price is less than the mortgage and HOA fees, then it's not a good price.

As for realtors, you need to find the right one. And you need to be willing to fire them. When I bought my place in DC, I fired three of them. I did the same thing this time.

If you tell them what you want and what you're willing to pay and they try to steer you towards something else that isn't what you want, then it's time to tell them you'll work with someone else.

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by echo42

I guess on a forum we are allowed to be critical of one's plan and pick it apart.

Lagunamom, I have been reading your different threads , and not really a big fan of how you are going about this. My following comments are not meant to insult but merely a cautionary note.

There seems to be a sense of urgency in seeking out this investment, almost a panic. Changes in realtors..changes in property managers, "sticky situations", plan A, plan B, buying in an area you are not familiar with. There seems to be a lot of hands in the cookie jar and that will cut into your GRI and capital gains. I have said before, it really is a venture that you should be steering the boat as opposed to letting agents and managers call the shots. Let alone complete strangers on a forum board.

I am not a money guy. Not by a long shot. I am a simple civil servant and couldn't tell you the first thing about high finance. But I have amassed a lifetime of savings and equity in different "average guy" ventures and look at this real estate market with some skepticism. It is crazeeee right now! Just like 2001-05.

I don't think it is the time to buy rental property. Now with that being said, who the hell am I to tell you not to invest in property. Nobody here on this forum knows where the market is headed, and if they tell you otherwise, I have a great piece of property to sell you out by the Salton Sea. But one thing we know, it is headed somewhere...up, down, or sideways. My note of caution, my advice, is to take a breather. Now is not the time to be offering 20k over list for a rental property.

One last thing about realtors....very fickle bunch, almost arrogant when times are hopping and prosperous. it is hard to get their attention when they have multiple clients and offers pending. When the market does a 180, they will be kissing your backside to show you property on a sunday afternoon.

I agree with this post and I AM a "money guy". I'd also consider myself a "real estate" guy as well having bought and owning a fairly good sized portfolio of real estate (mostly rental properties) in different countries.

Some things I've noticed no matter which country you go to, especially the USA.... the vast majority of the realtors just aren't good (ok..actually terrible). Most are lazy and just not good. No offense to any realtors on the board (and maybe you might be different). But trust me having dealt with hundreds of real estate purchases. Most realtors aren't good.

In today's market and with all the information readily available YOU have to be willing to do much of the legwork, research, "pounding the pavement", and due diligence. You can't really count on a realtor with your hard earned money.

Personally I would NOT rush into anything. Especially a rental property. Take time to look at the NET ROI that will be generated. It always sounds like you have a maximum $ amount and you want to buy ASAP or 'forcing' a purchase. It doesn't sound like you know the area too well.

$300,000 is a lot to invest in a rental property in areas that you don't know well. I'm all for doing due diligence but your posts come across as kind of all over the place and like you are rushed.

Things have risen very quickly. This rebound has caught almost everyone by surprise. Even real estate bulls are surprised how quickly this is going up and the lack of inventory. But don't rush this. I agree this isn't the time to force a purchase on an investment property for $20k over asking price in most cases.

What kind of ROI are you looking at on the property you offered $20k over asking price? Or is ROI important to you?

I think it's MUCH different when you are buying a property to live in that will be a "HOME" to live in for the foreseeable future vs. an investment property. So really take a good look at things. I DO agree if you're buying a principle/primary residence that you will live in for the long-haul, now with interest rates so low it can and does make sense for many people. But buying an investment property is much different.

I prefer to buy investment properties when there is "blood in the streets". Things move in cycles and always will. I NEVER feel pressured to buy investment properties. There will ALWAYS be opportunities out there and better to buy when everyone else and their brother doesn't want to buy and there is low inventory.

Things now are MUCH different vs. the last bubble as I've mentioned before. Much of the last bubble was purchased with "no documentation" loans and funny money. People were using their houses as virtual ATM machines. That isn't happening this go around.

HOWEVER, this time around I am seeing people cashing out 401ks and I've even heard some people using credit card cash advance checks to help finance purchases. So really be careful and understand what is going on right now. There is also a LOT of institutional money and funds investing right now so the typical mom and pop is competing against these people and the typical mom and pop can't match the "fire power" of these types of people that will drive the market up.