CRAZY! We're going Texas TO SoCal... Five member family

[Slytrix]

10 % is doable

Mello Roos is an additional tax indicated by CFD on a property tax bill. Some are for 20-25 years but most are for 30 years. This is something to verify yourself by going online to the San Diego county assessors office.

[kettlepot]

Mello-Roos is a special tax/bond payment found in newer areas which pays for the construction of neighborhood infrastructure, roads, schools, parks, fire station, library. It's how infrastructure for new subdivisions is financed so that:
1) people who live elsewhere in the County/City aren't subsidizing the newbies, and
2) so the full freight of these costs isn't added into the initial sales price unduly raising your property taxes, or complicating your financing.

Older houses don't have Mello-Roos, either because it's been paid off or they were built prior to Mello-Roos (mid-1980s).

So, I'd like to speak to the Rent/Buy decision. Typically, I'm a pretty big supporter of buying versus renting. However, your situation makes this a harder decision. We are now in year 7 of a real estate cycle in which prices have roughly doubled since the market bottom. In all likelihood, appreciation over the next 5 years will be much weaker than the past 5 years. However, if you think there is a reasonable chance that you will not move in 5 years, you may rue the day you didn't buy now.

I can't help you with the downpayment question. I used a VA loan.

[RosieSD]

My advice: find a good mortgage broker here in San Diego. But, 10% and even 5% mortgages are not unheard of here if you have excellent credit. Of course, you have to weigh how that affects your monthly costs.

You may also want to read up on Prop 13, which is how base property taxes are computed throughout the state of California.

Here is a good reference on Prop 13: https://www.californiataxdata.com/pdf/Prop13.pdf

For Mello Roos, you can find a complete list of all of the Mello Roos districts in the County as well as additional information about Mello Roos on the San Diego County Tax Assessor website here: https://arcc.sdcounty.ca.gov/Pages/M...formation.aspx

[anita house]

Hi... you are lucky to tap into this resource--- so many helpful people that have some great information!

The market in San Diego is pretty competitive and homes that are desirable rarely last for very long (depending what the market is doing). Sellers typically look for 20% down (to avoid PMI) which equates to a strong offer and the greater the chance that your offer will be accepted over others-- yes, multiple offers on on property are very common.

..glad you were cautioned about CraigsList as well--- info on there can be scary (hahaha) and sometimes even Zillow can be outdated. Sounds like you are headed in the right direction, though!

[someguy10]

First -- and obviously -- you must get a bank to lend you the amount you need. You're probably aware of all that since it's fairly similar elsewhere. I think they may be a little more cautious in CA given that loss of down payment is the only thing that might stop underwater owners from simply walking away, particularly when the market drops. And CA is more volatile than most.

One thing you may find very different is that CA uses standardized forms for residential real estate processes and these are extremely buyer/consumer friendly. Effectively, a buyer can make an offer, have it accepted by the seller, and walk on a whim. There are simply so many contingencies and outs for the buyer that there's always a way.

The standardized purchase offer form in CA tells the seller what each buyer's financing details are, including down payment. Most good properties at good prices will have multiple interested buyers. Sellers will use down payment size as a proxy for the buyer's financial strength and therefore risk of a deal falling through due to buyer financing, lower appraisal or other issues (like, holy $*&, are we really gonna pay $800K for THIS house?).

So must you have 20% down? Probably not. However, you'll be a stronger buyer in a competitive market if you do. There will be plenty of competing buyers with 20%, 50% or 100% cash down. Some will be willing to waive some or all of those buyer-friendly contingencies as well.

On a subjective note, I think having a mortgage loan of more than 3x income is unwise and puts you at unnecessary risk. On a related note, how would you feel if you bought now for $850K and in five years the CA market had dipped 10% or so, soyour house was then worth $765K? If you waited several more years or so, it'd probably bounce back, but would you feel trapped in the meantime? I like to use the NYT calculator and play with the rate of appreciation. For example, try all your usual inputs but setting that to 0%. That's not impossible on your five-year timeframe starting from now. Try -2% -- that's roughly a 10% dip over five years -- also not impossible starting from now.

Originally Posted by jav1107ecu

Wow - more information in 12 hours than I've picked up since we started poking around almost six weeks ago. Thanks for all the great information. Thanks for the Craigslist warnings and thanks even more for those of you that took the time to look at it and give me Craigslist links. I really don't work with Craigslist much because it's so full of scammers and bs. Unbelievable support here, really.

The NYT calculator basically screams 'buy' with my metrics, even at five years.

The bonus is up to $45k. $30k is an easily achievable target, which puts me a bit over $200k gross. This is a management bonus, not a sales bonus - sales is one of many metrics that make it up. The role is regional ops director for an engineering services company in the biopharma space. The competition is eating our lunch in SoCal and we don't have a manager there, so they're sending me. The upside potential is huge - big, big market.

One thing I just can't get a straight answer on is the down payment percentage lenders are comfortable with out there - in general. I read somewhere that up north in San Jose averages over 20%. Here in DFW metro, I can do 10-15% conventional all day on a $400k home with an 800 FICO. If I'm looking at an $800-900k home in SoCal, the difference between 10 and 20 percent is $80-90k. Any thoughts on that?

Also, what is Mellos Roos?

[DKM]

Try looking in the places with really good high schools that aren't coastal and thus too expensive. Del Norte, scripps Ranch, Rancho Bernardo and Westview. If i was you, I'd only be looking there. Westview area would be your best bet. But i'm the type who thinks schools are the most important thing, because the rest is kind of the same anyway.

[etjaipleure]

No advice, per se, but we chose to move to San Bernardino county a couple years ago from DFW area and just moved back a couple months ago and are already looking at moving back, to the San Diego area. (Trouble with husband finding a job/being a split family=no bueno) The rent is more expensive there, but I could also be making triple there what I make here and if I had to choose a similar cost of living, I would choose Cali every time.


So, the gas prices are high but honestly, the gas prices aren't super cheap here. Although, not over $3 like San Diego area. And there are high state taxes but I always got a good refund on those. The groceries are a bit more costly, and the rent is, of course, higher but look where you are? There is nowhere in Texas that compares to San Diego (personal opinion).


I knew Texas wasn't for the me the minute I left my 80 degree Cali weather in flip flops and a t shirt and hit my North Texas home with ice and 6 degree temps. I wanted to turn the uhaul around right then.


So no advice, but good luck and I hope you love it as much as we did/do!