LA to SD - please share your thoughts/experience (San Diego: for sale, 2015)

[whynot1986]

Wife and I, late 50s, are getting set to retire and want to relocate from LA to SD, where we have been aiming for several years. Just the 2 of us.

We will have a home to sell in LA and were wondering about those who have made a similar move. Specifically, is it better to rent a place first, then put the old home on the market (our experience selling the last 4 homes has been that we found it onerous to live there and show for sale at the same time, but this time things may be different as we will not be working). Is there a halfway option we haven't realized yet?

I mentioned rent as we are not quite settled on an area in SD yet. While we can afford up to about $1.2M cash, we are obviously not tied to a location and are realizing this actually makes the choice harder. We have visited SD at least a dozen times over the past decade, some trips as short as 3 days, some as long as 14. We are reasonably familiar with the layout and think we’d like La Jolla or Del Mar (who wouldn’t?) but as we are also playing with the idea of snagging an ocean view/front we may shift focus to a lower-cost area like Carlsbad but as we have friends in Clairmont, Mira Mesa and Mission Valley this may be a non-starter. So the idea is to rent for a while (maybe a long while!) while scouting the area as we will have plenty of time during any given week.

Despite the figure mentioned above, we would be ok with spending less (and for a stunning value, a bit more). This also makes the search harder. I know, poor us.

We don’t need much space. 2BR/2BA/1K s.f. is table stakes, after that whatever. Don’t want a huge place but concerned about buying too low owing to surroundings etc. So far we have never owned a condo but are open to it. We may want to factor the aging in place thing though.

Ideas? We are also considering renting for a longish term, which may even stretch to perpetuity. But am worried as our only experience as renters has been either very long ago or, more recently, for a very brief period (2 mos, while we were looking for our current residence, which we found in one week, the rest was closing lag).

[LaJollaEast]

You might like the area we live in. We are not in the village of La Jolla, but close to UCSD. We really like it here since we have shops, restaurants, grocery stores, and movie theatres within walking distance and in two years we will have the trolley we can walk to. We will be able to take the trolley shopping at the UTC mall, go to downtown, Little Italy or Old Town and the line from here actually runs all the way to the border.

We are in a townhome (2 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths) and the last one that sold in our complex went for $860K. My husband and I walk to La Jolla Shores often and it is only about 30 minutes for us. We are centrally located with easy access to the 5 freeway since I work in Mission Valley and my H works in Poway.

[T. Damon]

What sort of lifestyle are you looking for? Quiet and sleepy, beach adjacent area? Village vibe and close to the beach? Cosmopolitan and fabulous, beach close? Quiet suburbs, 1/2 hour to the beach? Hip and urban core community, walking distance to nearly everything, close to downtown and some beach areas? Downtown condo in the heart of everything?

Lots of vastly different choices available, for different budgets in the city and outlying areas.

[whynot1986]

As I indicated, perhaps obliquely, we would like to be near the beach, and maybe even right on it, but the prices get a bit crazy of course. It is more that we don't want inland heat. Also, having done the kiddie suburban thing, that doesn't appeal too much; want a more mature crowd... like us or even a bit older. This too points to the beach areas.

Walkability is important, which is probably a given near the beach areas for the most part. As a reference point, we love the vibe at Bird Rock or Del Mar beach. Reasonable drive from where our friends live (see OP), so downtown is probably out, and perhaps Carlsbad/north for the same reason.

For rental, where would you suggest about $3.5K be best spent?

[Kid Ashbury]

Originally Posted by whynot1986

As I indicated, perhaps obliquely, we would like to be near the beach, and maybe even right on it, but the prices get a bit crazy of course. It is more that we don't want inland heat. Also, having done the kiddie suburban thing, that doesn't appeal too much; want a more mature crowd... like us or even a bit older. This too points to the beach areas.

Walkability is important, which is probably a given near the beach areas for the most part. As a reference point, we love the vibe at Bird Rock or Del Mar beach. Reasonable drive from where our friends live (see OP), so downtown is probably out, and perhaps Carlsbad/north for the same reason.

For rental, where would you suggest about $3.5K be best spent?

I live in the Muirlands neighborhood just above Bird Rock, and I love Bird Rock's neighborhood vibes too. You can definitely rent a 2br condo in Bird Rock along La Jolla Blvd. in that price range, although houses might be a bit trickier. Also, since you mentioned "beach" several times it should be mentioned that there is no actual beach in Bird Rock; at least none with sand. The closest traditional beach would be Tourmaline in North PB.

If you just meant near the water in general, there's definitely a lot of options in the area. There is a new building just north at Windansea called "The Collins" that is now pre-leasing 2br units within that range too. Gorgeous area and killer location, plus actual sand beaches with Windansea and Marine St. beach right there.

Just some food for thought. Happy searching!

[cruitr]

Originally Posted by whynot1986

For rental, where would you suggest about $3.5K be best spent?

I'd rent this place. It's in my 'hood. Look at the map. It's very convenient to all the areas you are considering.

https://www.trulia.com/p/ca/san-dieg...17--1063830095

[someguy10]

I like the Bird Rock and North PB area, especially if walkability and proximity to ocean are important. As someone else pointed out, Bird Rock itself has no real beach; North PB gets you real beach and easy access to the PB/OB boardwalk, which I like for walking and running. At your price point for a potential eventual purchase, in Bird Rock, you'll be talking only about condos which basically meet your table stakes. Keep an eye on monthly fees/dues -- that area tends to have $400-$500/mo+ fees which can make the effective price of a property a lot higher.

Two other things worth considering that you may be aware of already. First, you'll get marine layer that close to the water. It's not uncommon to have low grey skies in the mornings where you can drive inland a mile and have bright sun and blue skies. The grey sometimes returns in the afternoon before sunset, too. Second, the very coastal zone (let's call it roughly west of I5) has a higher ratio of tourists and short-term rentals. This is especially true in the high season (summer) and has all the things that come along: traffic, congestion, noise, trash, etc. This is true pretty much up and down the San Diego coastline. If you are thinking of west of I5, I would *definitely* recommend renting first to make sure the tradeoffs are worth it to you.

[whynot1986]

Good info all...

LaJollaEast, can you give me some cross streets near your location? Close to UCSD actually sounds good as one option I may have post-retirement is some teaching gigs.

Kid Ashbury, still looking for "The Collins". Sounds promising - thanks.

Cruitr, had Leathers St area on my radar back in 2015 or so. Home in the link below sold for what now seems like a great price. Good pick, will check it out (your listing will be gone by the time we are ready but others in the area I mean)
https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Diego/...9udW1iZXI9MA==

Someguy10, good callouts. Yes we are aware of the compromises. Gray/Gloom doesn't bother us, we sorta like the variety and already experienced it in LA. Truth to tell, we aren't that much into sun worship anyway, being brown of skin to begin with, and a bit too aware of sun's harmful effects from some family and friends' experiences. But we do love the sea... Beach, can take it or leave it, which is why we like Bird Rock, as it doesn't attract a 'beach' crowd. IMO beach is nice for sun worship (see above) or taking kids or sunset walks. Done the kids thing aplenty during vacations, so only the last one has any appeal to us. We also like biking and use the South Bay beaches in LA a lot for this purpose, but we also understand we may not have much biking in SD (she doesn't want to street bike, afraid of traffic).

I know it sounds like maybe we don't want to be near the water that much after all. And we may actually decide that way, after some introspection and analysis. At the moment it's more of the unfulfilled dream sort of thing... like a dog chasing a car... what's he gonna do with it should he actually catch one?

During some searching, stumbled across this... shocked but not surprised, if that makes sense.
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/us/12surfer.html

[Kid Ashbury]

Originally Posted by whynot1986

Kid Ashbury, still looking for "The Collins". Sounds promising - thanks.
[i]

My buddy is looking for a place near Windansea, and he was going to look into it. I think he found their info on craigslist.

Originally Posted by whynot1986

During some searching, stumbled across this... shocked but not surprised, if that makes sense.
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/us/12surfer.html

This was ages ago and they are definitely playing up the "gang" reputation for dramatic effect in that article. The "gang" were just some delinquent goofballs who would get into the occasional fistfight. Unfortunately, one of the guys they decided to fistfight died because his head hit the curb as he was knocked out. A tragedy for sure, but that's not exactly commonplace here. And the fight had nothing to do with surfing, so as usual the NyTimes is literally making up their own angles for stories.

FWIW I'm from Hawaii (not a local) and I surf Bird Rock, Windansea, North Bird, etc and never get hassled so the localism aspect is played up.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by whynot1986

During some searching, stumbled across this... shocked but not surprised, if that makes sense.
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/us/12surfer.html

Forgot about this story. San Diego does get its share of crimes that make national news, ie, Betty Broadrick, Brenda Spencer (I don't like Monday's), Chelsea King, Coronado Mansion murders, among others.