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Old 04-14-2013, 04:12 PM
 
31 posts, read 59,948 times
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Specifically single family residences. Is there a way to research this info for the county? I have had a few suggestions of areas, but I would love to find full data. I understand that the percentage of first time homebuyers is low, in part due to low inventory competing w/cash offers and investors, plus stagnant wages, unemployment, and some stricter lending even considering lower rates. So if more desirable areas are cost prohibitive, where are the first-time homebuyers in this range purchasing? I am assuming that less desirable neighborhoods will soon become more desirable due to affordability, further increasing desirability? Thanks for weighing in everyone!
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Old 04-14-2013, 05:39 PM
 
31 posts, read 59,948 times
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I just created a SurveyMonkey survey to get info about First Time Homebuyers in SD. If you know of anyone who recently became a first time homebuyer in SD please share this link with them. Thank you so much!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/777YJVR
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Old 04-14-2013, 08:42 PM
 
109 posts, read 163,889 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TangerineTea View Post
Specifically single family residences. Is there a way to research this info for the county? I have had a few suggestions of areas, but I would love to find full data. I understand that the percentage of first time homebuyers is low, in part due to low inventory competing w/cash offers and investors, plus stagnant wages, unemployment, and some stricter lending even considering lower rates. So if more desirable areas are cost prohibitive, where are the first-time homebuyers in this range purchasing? I am assuming that less desirable neighborhoods will soon become more desirable due to affordability, further increasing desirability? Thanks for weighing in everyone!

They are buying out of state or they are learning the how to knife fight.
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Old 04-15-2013, 09:13 AM
 
Location: 92037
4,630 posts, read 10,276,114 times
Reputation: 1955
I dont think you will find hard data related to this because its simply not a pre-requisite for any kind of mortgage application or 'fill in the checkbox' sheet for buying property anywhere.

However, there are measurements in generalities that fit 'profiles'. You can then just pull from that data and narrow it down to fewer areas in the County. But really, there are not many places in the county that offer SFH's in the price range you are talking about. If there are, there is likely something about them that people have to be ok with (meaning its not ideal: commute, schools, distance to beach etc). So it can go really from Otay Ranch up to Oceanside and places in between.

Here is an index, but again its more about ranges. Housing Affordability Index - First-Time Buyer

Out of curiosity. what makes this type of information relevant to you?

Personally, I have said several times on other hreads, we bought over 2 years ago and many of the newer neighbors or folks we have met though others have bought their first home here recently. Age ranges are mid 20s to mid 30s, professions range from teacher to business owner to a Doctor. Some with kids others not. Kind of an eclectic population here which we like.
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Old 04-15-2013, 12:22 PM
 
31 posts, read 59,948 times
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Shmoov_groovzsd thank you so much for the link! We have been house hunting for 10 months, though we have only put in 2 offers. The first time we offered 11k over list price in West Escondido and got beat out by 20k. The second time we offered 20k above list price in Bay Ho and got beat out by 70K. We just saw a house yesterday that was 289k in Lake Hodges and there were already two all cash offers that were above list price so we didn't even bother. We are pre-approved conventional so we thought it would be a bit easier. We like old houses with lots of character and my husband is pretty handy so a reasonable fixer is ok. We are not too picky and don't need a perfect house. The main thing we were looking for was a short commute and of course price besides aesthetics. We were looking in North County, but in a week or so we will know for certain if my husband will be taking a better job in La Jolla, so that will change our easy commute house hunt radius.
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Old 04-15-2013, 01:42 PM
 
Location: 92037
4,630 posts, read 10,276,114 times
Reputation: 1955
Quote:
Originally Posted by TangerineTea View Post
Shmoov_groovzsd thank you so much for the link! We have been house hunting for 10 months, though we have only put in 2 offers. The first time we offered 11k over list price in West Escondido and got beat out by 20k. The second time we offered 20k above list price in Bay Ho and got beat out by 70K. We just saw a house yesterday that was 289k in Lake Hodges and there were already two all cash offers that were above list price so we didn't even bother. We are pre-approved conventional so we thought it would be a bit easier. We like old houses with lots of character and my husband is pretty handy so a reasonable fixer is ok. We are not too picky and don't need a perfect house. The main thing we were looking for was a short commute and of course price besides aesthetics. We were looking in North County, but in a week or so we will know for certain if my husband will be taking a better job in La Jolla, so that will change our easy commute house hunt radius.
OK that makes perfect sense

I am not going to say it will be easy and the road will require lots of patience. Especially if you are looking at distressed properties that are listed well below market values. We have found on the coast and some of the urban core neighborhoods, is that there is a mixed bag of teaser listing prices and value more in line with the actual condition of the property which tends to be quite poor in relation to comps or even the house across the street.
There is that old saying to buy the worst house in the best neighborhood, but really, some of the houses were so poor there was no going back.

Honestly, we were going to go straight with a rehab loan to find a 'fixer' in a nice neighborhood. Even two years ago we were getting smoked by investors offering all cash. The 'tear downs' were simply too much money to fix and it was SO frustrating.
After months of trying to find that diamond in the rough we just gave up. After seeing so many houses, we realized that even if we did contract out to rehab a property, we were in way over our heads for as idealistic as we were.
The reality was, we never owned a home and now, for as handy as I am around the house, in hindsight there is NO way we could have bought a house with all the renovations done on our current house. Not even close. From the updated plumbing, to cabinets to fixtures and tons of other things we would have had to sink a TON of money into.

Its a tough market for sure and its really good that your SO is handy. But as you appear to be seeing so far, many properties are teetering past the point of no return, or if they dont cost a lot of money to fix are getting snapped up by investors to flip and rent, just rent and not fix or simply sell depending on the rental rates vs sale returns.

Yes prices are definitely going up in these starter neighborhoods slowly but surely. But for how long remains to be seen. I dont know many zip codes that are not seeing at least some increase. My advice is to stretch your search wider than you may have it and dont be afraid to go in to some of these areas expecting to be surprised. You might find there are some houses in areas you might not have even thought existed lol.

Good luck!
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Old 04-15-2013, 03:24 PM
 
31 posts, read 59,948 times
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Thanks! I'll need it! I am not sure how to edit, but the second house list price was 389k not 289k. I think you are spot on about the TRUE cost of repairs, etc. My brother is "bleeding money" as he calls it on a fixer in Dana Point and I know my husband is pretty realistic about the time and money that he is able or willing to commit.
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Old 04-15-2013, 06:53 PM
 
Location: Santaluz - San Diego, CA
4,498 posts, read 9,385,109 times
Reputation: 2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by TangerineTea View Post
We are not too picky and don't need a perfect house.
I think that is the most important part of this entire thread. This market is pretty crazy. My wife and I tried to buy an investment property in Carmel Valley the past year and even put in an offer. Some properties were selling in just a few days and we're not talking about cheap properties. Some 2 bedrooms went for $450,000!

I think you can't be too picky in this market and you probably aren't going to find the "perfect house" either.

I wouldn't force anything if it doesn't make sense. Rather than "chase" this market we opted to stay on the sidelines in San Diego real estate and purchased yet another investment property OUTSIDE of San Diego.

I know in your situation it's different as you are buying to live. But I still wouldn't force something that isn't meant to be. That's a pretty difficult price range you are looking in. LOTS of cash buyers out there. I don't even want to think about how frustrating it would be for us if we didn't buy back in 2011.

Good luck.
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Old 04-15-2013, 08:44 PM
 
Location: 92037
4,630 posts, read 10,276,114 times
Reputation: 1955
Yup. earlyretirement really summarized the theme pretty well.

This is a common theme especially amongst the entry level price ranges. Keeping your options open will take a lot of the pressure off, especially if you were looking in just a few zip codes where its a shark tank (desirable).
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Old 04-15-2013, 09:36 PM
 
Location: Santaluz - San Diego, CA
4,498 posts, read 9,385,109 times
Reputation: 2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by Angelfan760 View Post
They are buying out of state or they are learning the how to knife fight.
I missed this post first time around and just saw it. So spot on target and true!

This type of market is causing people to do some questionable things. For example I've heard from some friends they are cashing out retirement savings or 401ks to be able to compete with cash buyers.

No thanks.
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