San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

Lived in Lucera top floor before 805 connection, pretty nice except that fireplace takes up huge part of small LR. Plus is that bedrooms are bigger. Make sure you get 2BR, never 1BR. Even with 2BR, only had 1 car garage, still true?

Why do you say to never get a 1BR in Lucera?

Also, what was your experience with the HOA fees there? How much does it go up every year? The HOA fee at The Venetian is currently about $155 while the HOA fee at Lucera is currently about $360!

Don't know much about the 1 beds in Lucera but are familiar with the 2 bedroom models. I like Lucera because of the proximity to the canyon but I did not continue to follow up on the plans for trolley stop right below Lucera. Also noise could be an issue. Anyways I don't have strong feelings for either of them other then another chunk down and they could get closer to penciling out as a rental.

I would advise to wait if you could but if not try to drive a hard bargain.

No one has any thoughts or experience with The Venetian?

How safe is underground parking there? What I like most about Lucera is that they have detached garages.

Also, equalizer, the 2 bedroom condos in Lucera only come with 1 garage spot. I believe it's set up so that each unit has 1 garage spot regardless of the number of bedrooms in each unit.

If you like to see an endless stream of 20 year old chinese girls walking through your complex, hanging out on sidewalks, waiting at the bus stop, go with Venetian.

If you're happily married, pick Lucera.

Where are these places?

I would do some good research before buying at lucera. They did a half ass job converting the apartments to condos.
My brother in law bought a 2 bedroom unit by the club house/gym and within a year found a lot of mold in his bedroom walls. It took 6 months for them to determine it was unsafe and after a full year they finally moved him out to work on the units. They didnt give him a time line but I think he will be out for a long time.
They found mold in a few other units so there be careful!

I own/currently live in a 1br Lucera.

I prefer Lucera; Venetian feels more like a large apartment complex. Lucera backs up to the canyon, is more secluded, and has more of a 'park feel' to it.

Previous poster was pretty accurate, Lucera if you are married Venetian if you are young and single.

Nobel Community park literally right across the street, library, gym, dog park, etc.

Get a unit without a fireplace, big space hog. I never hear the train, but imagine if you were right at the canyon you might. 2 car garage, you get 1 space. Plenty of community parking, never a problem.

Complex is gated, while that probably doesn't offer any real security it's a nice plus for renting the unit out. Lots of little snowflakes out there need to be in a gated community, parents like that.

HOA is painful, increased from $2xx to $3xx mainly because of an incompetent board. Wasted money on security guards, etc without looking at the financial books. The cash reserves are increasing now, which is encouraging.

I'm not sure how much 1br are in Venetian. I believe there is a foreclosure or two in Lucera for around $190,000. I believe the 1br rents around ~$1,300 possibly more so you can play with the math.

NEITHER YOU IDIOT!

Sorry but it sounds like you need some tough love. You DON'T buy 1-bedroom condos ever, paricularly in a real esate downturn. These are the worst investments you could ever make and everybody knows it. Second, DON'T buy a apartment conversion. If you want to live in an apartment then rent one. Finally, you have to be a complete idiot to buy any real estate as our economy is on the verge of total collapse. Get your head out of your *ss

Not much I can say that hasn't already been said. Most of the comments made by others are pretty accurate. Couple things about the parking that I would add:

1. Lucera you get to share a 2-car garage with your neighbor. Personally I don't think I'd trust my neighbor enough to leave anything of value in there. Plus the garages are pretty small so if they have a big car have fun parking in there.

2. Venetian you get 2 parking spaces - one is covered and the other is not. Spaces tend to vary in size from unit to unit but for the most part they are really tiny, so prepare to get a lot of door dings if you live there. Also it seems that the parking lots are far from the units.

As far as inside the units I would say its more or less a tossup. But I would take Lucera over Venetian due to the layout and location.