GET REAL About San Diego Rental and Real Estate Prices (Hawthorne: to buy, construction)

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by mandasand

We really want to buy a house in Serra Mesa (92123) but inventory is very low and what's on the market is not what we would want to buy. We have VA financing so I'm pretty confident that we will never find a property that will accept an offer with a VA loan. We need to move in August from our current rental and hope we can stay in Serra Mesa and lease again for 1-2 years. Once my husband is done with law school, we should be able to qualify for more and put us in a better position to buy again.

Interesting career choice given the huge glut of lawyers. In any case, I hope he is clerking now and has good prospects. I hope he has a pedigree. My experience with San Diego is that pay there is abysmal and jobs are very hard to come by for most.

[mandasand]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

Interesting career choice given the huge glut of lawyers. In any case, I hope he is clerking now and has good prospects. I hope he has a pedigree. My experience with San Diego is that pay there is abysmal and jobs are very hard to come by for most.

My husband is interning and focusing on veterans advocacy. He was in the military for 21 years, law enforcement and investigations. He was deployed 15 times in his 21 years in the military; gulf war veteran, Iraqi war veteran. I am confident he will do fine. He has the freedom to do whatever he wants after he retired from the military, he will always have passive income. I have a solid career myself so he is able to do what he is passionate about. Between the GI Bill and the scholarships he received $175k to use towards his J.D. He's fortunate (and deserving) to be able to go to school and come out debt free.

Is that "pedigree" enough?

I forget every time I post something about him being in law school I get these idiotic responses. We qualify for a house right now, but I would feel more comfortable to wait until he is done with school.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by mandasand

My husband is interning and focusing on veterans advocacy. He was in the military for 21 years, law enforcement and investigations. He was deployed 15 times in his 21 years in the military; gulf war veteran, Iraqi war veteran. I am confident he will do fine. He has the freedom to do whatever he wants after he retired from the military, he will always have passive income. I have a solid career myself so he is able to do what he is passionate about. Between the GI Bill and the scholarships he received $175k to use towards his J.D. He's fortunate (and deserving) to be able to go to school and come out debt free.

Is that "pedigree" enough?

I forget every time I post something about him being in law school I get these idiotic responses. We qualify for a house right now, but I would feel more comfortable to wait until he is done with school.

You are free to discount my statements and call them idiotic, but be aware that I have practiced in San Diego and know practitioners there now. Of course, he will have to pass the bar. Let's assume he does. There are so many lawyers clamoring for a job in San Diego that employers can be and are very choosy. I think I know a little bit on this topic. I don't think you realize how many graduates are unable to find a job in SD. It is a dire situation.

[someguy10]

Originally Posted by mandasand

We really want to buy a house in Serra Mesa (92123) but inventory is very low and what's on the market is not what we would want to buy. We have VA financing so I'm pretty confident that we will never find a property that will accept an offer with a VA loan. We need to move in August from our current rental and hope we can stay in Serra Mesa and lease again for 1-2 years. Once my husband is done with law school, we should be able to qualify for more and put us in a better position to buy again.

Originally Posted by mandasand

My husband is interning and focusing on veterans advocacy. He was in the military for 21 years, law enforcement and investigations. He was deployed 15 times in his 21 years in the military; gulf war veteran, Iraqi war veteran. I am confident he will do fine. He has the freedom to do whatever he wants after he retired from the military, he will always have passive income. I have a solid career myself so he is able to do what he is passionate about. Between the GI Bill and the scholarships he received $175k to use towards his J.D. He's fortunate (and deserving) to be able to go to school and come out debt free.

Is that "pedigree" enough?

I forget every time I post something about him being in law school I get these idiotic responses. We qualify for a house right now, but I would feel more comfortable to wait until he is done with school.

What is the primary impediment to your current situation? You mentioned low suitable inventory in the area you like, your use of the VA loan program, and income limitations. Are you hoping that in 1-2 years you'll be able to qualify for somewhere more expensive than SM?

The legal market is very tight everywhere and has been for several years. He's not looking for partner track at a big name firm so that will help once he graduates and passes the bar.

[ndindy]

Originally Posted by metoque

This time it's different. Real estate in San Diego never goes down. Chindian billionaires will never stop buying.

Prices seem artificially high now and unsustainable unless incomes increase dramatically. The low end of the market probably doesn't have a lot of room to go down, but the higher ranges seem ripe for a correction.

[chivone]

What are some of the good condo complexes near Pt Loma selling in the 350 to 475K range? I'd like a 2 bdr 2 ba condo or townhouse. I am single woman, no kids, late 30's looking for a safe, walkable neighborhood with restaurants nearby. Is that realistic?

[ahetland]

I didn't read all 24 pages because who has time for that? Considering we are looking to move to the area and our budget is in the $500-600K range, I felt I should read the OP and I had to laugh.

After sitting on Redfin, Zillow and the like for hours upon hours, I'm wondering how out of touch OP thinks most adults are? I'm not expecting a turnkey beachfront property, and I am getting a lot of hits near Vista and Oceanside(as well as Carlsbad) which will be close to where my FI is transferring and the airport which allows me to commute to our offices in the Bay Area and LA easily. Perhaps I'm jaded from living in the Bay Area and from being priced out of even entry level homes here, but I find several livable homes in the San Diego area that have good schools and seem to be in desirable zip codes such as 92078, 92126, and 92011.

[moved]

Originally Posted by chivone

What are some of the good condo complexes near Pt Loma selling in the 350 to 475K range? I'd like a 2 bdr 2 ba condo or townhouse. I am single woman, no kids, late 30's looking for a safe, walkable neighborhood with restaurants nearby. Is that realistic?

For results, start a new thread or bump up your old one.

[someguy10]

Originally Posted by ahetland

I didn't read all 24 pages because who has time for that? Considering we are looking to move to the area and our budget is in the $500-600K range, I felt I should read the OP and I had to laugh.

After sitting on Redfin, Zillow and the like for hours upon hours, I'm wondering how out of touch OP thinks most adults are? I'm not expecting a turnkey beachfront property, and I am getting a lot of hits near Vista and Oceanside(as well as Carlsbad) which will be close to where my FI is transferring and the airport which allows me to commute to our offices in the Bay Area and LA easily. Perhaps I'm jaded from living in the Bay Area and from being priced out of even entry level homes here, but I find several livable homes in the San Diego area that have good schools and seem to be in desirable zip codes such as 92078, 92126, and 92011.

Most are out of touch. Look at the recent post in this thread asking about places in Point Loma in a given price range. Five minutes on Zillow or another similar site would answer that and in a better way than anyone here could. You are coming from one of the few US markets where San Diego is less expensive.

Also, if you are talking about nearby McClellan/Palomar airport, that airport hasn't had any commercial airline service for a year or so. You'll most likely need to fly in and out of SAN, which is in downtown San Diego, 35-40 minutes south with zero traffic and often more like 50 minutes with traffic. Unless you are lucky enough to fly private/charter You will, however, want to be aware of noise zones and flight paths around McClellan if you end up buying in the area.

[ahetland]

Originally Posted by someguy10

Most are out of touch. Look at the recent post in this thread asking about places in Point Loma in a given price range. Five minutes on Zillow or another similar site would answer that and in a better way than anyone here could. You are coming from one of the few US markets where San Diego is less expensive.

Also, if you are talking about nearby McClellan/Palomar airport, that airport hasn't had any commercial airline service for a year or so. You'll most likely need to fly in and out of SAN, which is in downtown San Diego, 35-40 minutes south with zero traffic and often more like 50 minutes with traffic. Unless you are lucky enough to fly private/charter You will, however, want to be aware of noise zones and flight paths around McClellan if you end up buying in the area.

Thank you. I am fortunate in that my company has a contract with Surfair, a charter that has service between there and the Bay Area where our main office is as well as Hawthorne where our other office is. funny you mention flight noise. When we were looking for an apartment in the Bay Area we looked at a place that seemed to be perfect until we realized the noise from SFO while we toured it!

Our move is 100% dependant on FI being able to transfer within his company so we are waiting on final reports there.