Is santee a good area to buy house? (San Diego, San Carlos: real estate market, to rent)

[diarytoday]

Hi,

I am planning on buying a house in santee on the hillside area with new construction. But I know the real estate market is still dropping and expecting to be even worst in next few months or even next year. I got a good deal for the brand new home 2007 but still concerning about the area and is it WISE to buy a house now or should I wait few more months?

I am currently not living in Santee so I dont know the area much. I need some advice if you live in Santee or if you know about the real estate market. Or maybe should I buy a house now but Santee is not a good area????Thank you very much.

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by diarytoday

Hi,

I am planning on buying a house in santee on the hillside area with new construction. But I know the real estate market is still dropping and expecting to be even worst in next few months or even next year. I got a good deal for the brand new home 2007 but still concerning about the area and is it WISE to buy a house now or should I wait few more months?

I am currently not living in Santee so I dont know the area much. I need some advice if you live in Santee or if you know about the real estate market. Or maybe should I buy a house now but Santee is not a good area????Thank you very much.

Santee is a decent area but I would be concerned about you buying property without knowing the area. Have you seen the house? Have you visited Santee?

Beyond that, Santee is a quiet, sometimes rural, mixture of lower, middle and upper-middle class, mostly white, mostly safe, good but not best schools, a nice area overall. It has grown very fast from it's days of horse property and small ranchos, so infrastructure is pretty minimal as is the case for most small East County cities. Don't expect the same level of sidewalks, crosswalks, street signs, parks, rec & senior centers as you see in the City of SD or the wealthier North County cities.

It has a little bit of a bad reputation as a "white trash" area (nickname Santucky) which includes meth and some white supremacist activity over the years (nickname Klantee). Not sure how relevant any of that really is anymore.

As for the investment potential - while it's appreciated like most of San Diego, it's not something I would expect for some years down the line.

[diarytoday]

Hi,

Thanks for replying my post. I have been to Santee, well to see the house of course. It is up in the mountain a bit, looking down the valley. And of course I heard about Klantee, but again some said it was over 25 years ago, and some says its still going on. Definitely concerns me. I do not want to be killed lol...I dont expect it to be as clean and nice as in La Jolla area but I guess a decent area would be much better..I dont like racism and dont know how is it over there..I see a lot of new construction in Santee and big stores, malls..so I guess its developing still..maybe in few years will be upscale?

[jksouthbay88]

LOL-Black male and still being called "Klantee" from friends,co-workers and random people.

[socketz]

Santee is fine (somewaht rural, middle class, safe), but I would not buy there now. Santee is still somewhat on the fringe and those areas typically get hit pretty hard during downturns like the one we are in.

If you're moving from out of the area, definitely rent first and learn the area.

[yankee.peddler]

My in-laws live in the neighborhood of San Diego (San Carlos) that borders Santee. I've always had a good impression of the town except for the congestion that plagues Mission Gorge Road. The locals can give you better advice on whether to buy or not buy in the current market. Here's my only advice to you. If you decide to relocate to Santee (either to rent or buy), make sure you know about the proposed path of the 52 freeway, which is being extended through Santee to the 67 freeway starting sometime next year. Some of the neighborhoods closest to Mission Gorge Road might be adversely affected by this project.

[roger9552]

Yes highway 52 is being extended to highway 67. That property has been purchased and 52 will aligned north of Prospect Avenue. The original cost of the 4 mile extension was to be 202 Million dollars and it was supposed to have been completed by now. Who knows what it will cost when it is done.

[mizz-scarlett]

I love living in Santee! It offers the small town feel, but shopping, and most everything my family needs! It's a great place tpo raise kids, provided you don't use the public school system here, not so good, however, the district has an excellent homeschool program!
The people are friendly, and we no longer have the "klantee" activity the way we used to. We have many friends here, and it's the friendliest place I've ever lived!

[leighland]

A friend of mine said his realtor said to watch out for homes in Santee because some are on underground springs or caves (makes the house shift, etc..). Anyone know this to be true?

[roger9552]

Originally Posted by leighland

A friend of mine said his realtor said to watch out for homes in Santee because some are on underground springs or caves (makes the house shift, etc..). Anyone know this to be true?

I have never heard of any underground springs or caves causing any houses to shift in Santee. The San Diego river does run through town and condos have been built awfully close to it like in the flood plane. And while we haven't had a really wet winter in awhile some wet winter will lead to flooding.