Move from Bay Area to San Diego - worth it? (San Jose: apartment, how much)

[sprez33]

Originally Posted by drums

Thank you for your perspective! I am very keen on keeping a short commute and would consider renting or buying a condo to keep commute times short. Looks like Carmel Valley and surrounding areas would fit the bill. Thanks again to all who responded.

We live in Carmel Valley and I'd highly recommend it if you can afford, but likely looking at a 2ba/2ba condo if you want to buy. Great place to raise kids. The further east you go the lower the housing costs. There are a lot of new apartments being built in Carmel Valley, most catering to families. Can likely get a lot of info online.

BTW, loving my Carmel Valley to Science Park Road commute. Del Mar Heights Road down to Camino Del Mar, along the ocean to the Torrey Pines grade and up to the Mesa. No freeways and a beautiful ocean view twice a day. The other day I was in slow traffic during my evening commute and happened to witness the biggest 'green flash' I've ever seen at sunset.

[drums]

Originally Posted by sprez33

We live in Carmel Valley and I'd highly recommend it if you can afford, but likely looking at a 2ba/2ba condo if you want to buy. Great place to raise kids. The further east you go the lower the housing costs. There are a lot of new apartments being built in Carmel Valley, most catering to families. Can likely get a lot of info online.

BTW, loving my Carmel Valley to Science Park Road commute. Del Mar Heights Road down to Camino Del Mar, along the ocean to the Torrey Pines grade and up to the Mesa. No freeways and a beautiful ocean view twice a day. The other day I was in slow traffic during my evening commute and happened to witness the biggest 'green flash' I've ever seen at sunset.

That sounds great! How much time does it typically take you in traffic?

[someguy10]

Originally Posted by sprez33

We live in Carmel Valley and I'd highly recommend it if you can afford, but likely looking at a 2ba/2ba condo if you want to buy. Great place to raise kids. The further east you go the lower the housing costs. There are a lot of new apartments being built in Carmel Valley, most catering to families. Can likely get a lot of info online.

BTW, loving my Carmel Valley to Science Park Road commute. Del Mar Heights Road down to Camino Del Mar, along the ocean to the Torrey Pines grade and up to the Mesa. No freeways and a beautiful ocean view twice a day. The other day I was in slow traffic during my evening commute and happened to witness the biggest 'green flash' I've ever seen at sunset.

Probably looking at closer to $600K+ for a 2BR/2BA in CV. And keep in mind condo fees which could easily be 200-500/mo.

[sprez33]

Originally Posted by drums

That sounds great! How much time does it typically take you in traffic?

15 minutes in the AM and about 20 in the evening. We live just past Torrey Pines High School.

[LaJollaEast]

If you are willing to go up to $600K you can find a 2 bedroom 2 bath condo in the La Jolla area (92037 zip) just west of the 5 freeway near UCSD. There is a park nearby and your children would be able to attend La Jolla schools. The commute would be less than 10 minutes from La Jolla Village Drive to Torrey Pines Road to the office. It just depends on what you want. Condos and townhomes in the area are not large, but you can walk to shops, restaurants and parks.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by sprez33

We live in Carmel Valley and I'd highly recommend it if you can afford, but likely looking at a 2ba/2ba condo if you want to buy. Great place to raise kids. The further east you go the lower the housing costs. There are a lot of new apartments being built in Carmel Valley, most catering to families. Can likely get a lot of info online.

BTW, loving my Carmel Valley to Science Park Road commute. Del Mar Heights Road down to Camino Del Mar, along the ocean to the Torrey Pines grade and up to the Mesa. No freeways and a beautiful ocean view twice a day. The other day I was in slow traffic during my evening commute and happened to witness the biggest 'green flash' I've ever seen at sunset.

Carmel Valley is a great choice, but the original poster mentioned a budget of $500K for a three bedroom single family home. That isn't going to fly in Carmel Valley.

[stablegenius]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

Carmel Valley is a great choice, but the original poster mentioned a budget of $500K for a three bedroom single family home. That isn't going to fly in Carmel Valley.

OP should probably look out in El Cajon...

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by garek007

OP should probably look out in El Cajon...

I'd probably look at Tierrasanta, Mira Mesa, and University City, all previously mentioned, before El Cajon if I was going to be working in Sorrento Valley. Rancho Penasquitos, Claremont Mesa and Kearny Mesa might also be options. However, for all of these areas, the OP will probably need to think more along the lines of $500K to $600K in terms of a budget, and that might not get them into a SFH.

I'd also probably look at Santee before El Cajon. There are still nice single family homes available in Santee in the $500K - $550K range (and even a little less), and the schools are good. The 52 is not ideal traffic wise, of course.

If the poster's husband is OK with a longer commute, other lower cost areas with good to excellent schools worth considering might include: Rancho Penasquitos, Poway, Chula Vista (especially east of the 805), La Mesa, Rancho San Diego, San Marcos and Allied Gardens.

Home prices in all of these areas will vary, as will commute times to Sorrento Valley, but these areas will still be considerably less expensive than the Bay area, and they should find at least some options in the $500-600K range in most of these. And, these areas will have even lower prices if they are OK with a townhome/condo. (No one has mentioned Mission Valley, but that might be an option if you are OK with a townhome/condo).

As mentioned earlier, it all depends on their priorities. The best advice for the poster is to probably do some research on a site like Zillow.com or Trulia.com about rents and home prices, and then come on down for a visit to see what the different areas that are close to their price range are like.

[RosieSD]

To the original poster, here are some links that you might find helpful in your home search, including one to a discussion here that gives a good overview of many different parts of the County, from the perspective of posters who actually live in those areas:

//www.city-data.com/forum/san-d...out-where.html

How San Diego's Neighborhoods Stack Up

San Diego County Public School Statistics Map

San Diego County Neighborhoods - San Diego Magazine

[RosieSD]

Out of curiosity, I did a quick search of current listings on Zillow to see what would be available in terms of homes in the $500K to $600K range close to Sorrento Valley. I included both single family homes and condos. I did not include foreclosures and auctions.

Mira Mesa looks like the best option in that price range within 20 minutes of Sorrento Valley.

A little longer commute, but there are also options (listed in rough order of drive time to work) in North Clairemont Mesa, Kearny Mesa, Tierrasanta, Poway, Santee, Rancho Bernardo, Allied Gardens, La Mesa, San Marcos and Carlsbad. It's mainly townhomes in that price range in Poway and Carlsbad.

There is nothing in that price range currently listed in Carmel Valley, La Jolla, University City, Encinitas, Del Mar, etc. I didn't see anything in Rancho Penasquitos either, although some of the Mira Mesa listings were actually pretty close to RP so may be considered RP by some.

I also did a quick search for rentals using $3500 or under, and I do see some good options in La Jolla and Carmel Valley (as well as even better options in the other areas I mentioned as having homes currently listed in the 500-600 price range).

So, renting in those areas would be an option. I just wouldn't set my hopes on being able to actually buy in those areas for anywhere close to $500K, especially if you'd prefer a SFH.

Again, I would suggest that the OP go to a site like Zillow or Trulia and enter their budgets for both rentals and home purchase. Use the search term "San Diego County" and see which areas homes in your price range turn up. You can then use the school map to get an idea of the schools that area assigned, and use Google maps to get a sense of commute times.

Then, come back here and ask if anyone has first hand knowledge of the areas that seem to have homes you like in your price range.

But, nothing will substitute for a trip down to actually look at those areas in person to see how they compare to what you might be able to afford in the other states your husband is considering.