empty homes in San Marcos (San Diego, Orange: for sale, real estate, rentals)

[gruberslp]

My family and I will be relocating to the San Diego area in a few months. We are actively searching for real estate and are pretty pleased to see a lot of really nice homes in our price range. However, it seems like most of the homes we like in San Marcos are empty. They look like the families are long gone. Many of them look like they are in developments and I'm reluctant to move into an empty (or half empty) development. We'll be visiting soon to look at real estate in person, but before we get there I'd love some feedback on this from any of you familiar with the area. Did something happen in that area in particular to cause people to flee? Homes in other areas seem to be furnished and "lived in." Thanks so much in advance.

[loveautumn]

can you be more specific about the area in San Marcos you are looking into...SM covers a pretty large area.

[sdhkshdcny09]

Originally Posted by gruberslp

My family and I will be relocating to the San Diego area in a few months. We are actively searching for real estate and are pretty pleased to see a lot of really nice homes in our price range. However, it seems like most of the homes we like in San Marcos are empty. They look like the families are long gone. Many of them look like they are in developments and I'm reluctant to move into an empty (or half empty) development. We'll be visiting soon to look at real estate in person, but before we get there I'd love some feedback on this from any of you familiar with the area. Did something happen in that area in particular to cause people to flee? Homes in other areas seem to be furnished and "lived in." Thanks so much in advance.

It really depends on the area you are referring to. Perhaps the homeowners retired and want to downsize while home prices are still high. A significant portion of San Marcos residents moved to the area between 1990 and 2010, and many of their kids have grown up.

[gruberslp]

Sorry to not be more specific about the area of San Marcos. I've heard from other sources that maybe so many homes are empty in that general area because of the military families that come and go frequently. That's sounds like a logical explanation.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Many areas are just recovering from the recession. The banks just sat on empty houses cause they wouldn't sell.

[Pedro2000]

SD is an interesting place because there are a lot of homes, in various areas, that go up for sale and get bought. But nobody ever moves or a month later it winds up with "for rent/lease" signs. And this happens in million dollar homes along the coast as well as places like San Marcos.

I don't know why it is, but there were streets in Del Mar where more than half the homes went up for sale, were sold, and nobody ever moved in and then they wound up going back up for sale or being rented out. I don't see a lot of "families" moving into many of these areas because it's hard to have any community when 50 percent of your neighbors wind up moving anyway or your neighbors are just empty houses that get bought/sold without anybody ever moving into them. It has been an odd couple of years though.

[gruberslp]

Thanks so much for the replies sdhkshdcny09, 1AngryTaxPayer, & Pedro2000. We'll be in the area shortly and are looking forward to house hunting in person instead of on-line. I'm sure I'll have a ton more questions after our visit!

[Bakeneko]

Originally Posted by Pedro2000

SD is an interesting place because there are a lot of homes, in various areas, that go up for sale and get bought. But nobody ever moves or a month later it winds up with "for rent/lease" signs. And this happens in million dollar homes along the coast as well as places like San Marcos.

I don't know why it is, but there were streets in Del Mar where more than half the homes went up for sale, were sold, and nobody ever moved in and then they wound up going back up for sale or being rented out. I don't see a lot of "families" moving into many of these areas because it's hard to have any community when 50 percent of your neighbors wind up moving anyway or your neighbors are just empty houses that get bought/sold without anybody ever moving into them. It has been an odd couple of years though.

Interesting post. I have rental property myself, we've ended up living in our rentals for a while.

My husband is retired military and we have a preschooler. When we retired - we looked forward to living in a community and not having to meet new neighbors, new coworkers, and new friends all the time.

However, it's kinda as you say - I'm shocked at the number of homes around me that are rentals, at least half I'd say - maybe more.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Bakeneko

Interesting post. I have rental property myself, we've ended up living in our rentals for a while.

My husband is retired military and we have a preschooler. When we retired - we looked forward to living in a community and not having to meet new neighbors, new coworkers, and new friends all the time.

However, it's kinda as you say - I'm shocked at the number of homes around me that are rentals, at least half I'd say - maybe more.

The market has shifted from home ownership/community to investment properties waiting for prices to go up.

[GNA27]

Yes, I was going to say that the likely culprit here is a combination of bank-owned properties and especially real estate investors. Although I've only been in Southern California for about four years, my understanding is that real estate investors and wealthy individuals bought up many properties in this region during the recession.

Many high-valued beach properties are now owned by foreign nationals, particularly in places like Newport Beach in Orange County. They're now empty much of the time but used as vacation homes on occasion. I would expect that similar purchases have been made in the beach communities around San Diego.

When it comes to inland communities, a lot of investors have gobbled up homes as rental properties or has holding investments. Considering what has happened to home prices since a bounce-back from the recession in our area of Orange County, buying a home a few years ago and holding it without any revenue would still prove to be a hugely profitable investment with current selling prices. Prices roared back with a vengeance over the past three years, and even original homeowners are probably packing up and selling in order to turn a huge profit and move elsewhere now that their kids have grown up.