San Diego Housing Market News and Analysis

There are some nice places in Oceanside as well. It is a community that has several different types of regions to it. Fire Mountain is a well established area with many homeowners that have been there for a long time.

Otherwise I would go with the other spots you mentioned. I assume you have been looking on Craigslist. We currently rent in Scripps.

SD Realtor

My advice:

If finances permit, stay away from Oceanside. South Carlsbad/Encinitas is a great area to live as it is close to the beaches, the lagoon, the interstate, very safe, great schools, and for someone who works from home, lots of places to eat out, shop etc. The area near El Camino Real and Leucadia Blvd. for example has a Borders in an upscale shopping center called The Forum, an REI, another center with a B&Nobles and other stores. Lots of places to go if you want to get out for 20 minutes while working and jog, get lunch etc.

I am not a native SoCal, but from what I've heard Oceanside has taken great strides to clean up it's image. In my opinion it has become one of those sleeper picks of North County Coastal. Like SD Realtor said, there are some nice areas, but it still is a military town with a connotation for higher crime and lower-rated schools than its neighbors.

We rent in north Carlsbad near the Oceanside city limits. The location is very convenient, with close freeway access and many stores nearby.

I know someone who bought in the Rancho del Oro area about ten years ago and has raised his family there ever since.

If you are renting and work from home, you could probably find some good deals in Oceanside, as compared to other areas further south that might charge a higher rent premium.

I would do a search for nearby stores, schools, and the like to get a feel for where they are in relation to your target location. Even though you work from home, like I do, you still need to go to stores to pick things up. Reasonably quick freeway access was a big one for us.

One other downfall to being close to Camp Pendleton is hearing the various maneuvers taking place on base. For the past few weeks we have heard what appears to be bombs going off all day long. I talked to a friend who lives around the Poinsettia Av area of Carlsbad and he said he could hear it all the way down there. From our place it sounded like a loud central heater turning on. I don't want to know how it sounds closer to the base. These sounds have not occurred in the past few days or so, however.

Best of luck in your search. I fell in love with North County Coastal from the first day I visited it almost 10 years ago.

greekfire,

Some of those sounds are M777 howitzers with a 30km range. Where else in the world can you live near a lagoon like Bataquitos, a Four Seasons Resort, and also have the luxury of being within firing range of Marine Corps artillery! Should the Chinese decide to invade South Carlsbad tonight, we'd have artillery rounds landing on them in minutes. Sleep well tonight knowing that an 18 year old Marine is the only thing standing between that round hitting the practice range or your house:)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M777_howitzer

We can hear the bombs in Temecula too.!

On Oceanside:

Rancho Del Oro is very nice, I agree, and there are other very nice areas of Oceanside. Then there are areas that still have a very seedy element. Pull up the county sex offender web site and look at downtown Oceanside, you'll be shocked. Black, white and Mexican gangs are what you really need to worrry about in Oceanside.

Thanks a lot for the info everyone. I truly appreciate it.

One more question for you all.

How is the rental market doing down there? Does anyone know are houses renting quickly? Do we have room to negotiate? Thanks again for any info you all might have.

I am well aware of the over-all conditions of the real estate market today thanks to blogs like this one. We are happy to rent as we wait for an opportunity to buy.

I would say that it is strong. I saw one home go up for rent 3 weeks ago in Encinitas and it is now rented. Others seem to come and go quick as well. But, I also know of 4-5 I have seen online for 1-2+ months that are still not rented.

Enorah, sorry to jump on your forum.

Does anyone know the commute time from North County (Carmel Valley & Carlsbad) to 163/Balboa Ave?

Is there a good town or neighborhood to rent that is close to 163/Balboa Ave? Thanks in advance for the comments and suggestions.

The 78 should serve as the "go no further" point. I live in S. Carlsbad but my baby goes to day care in N Oceanside/Vista.

I hate everything about having to cross the 78. It is a traffic nightmare because of that damn stoplight to merge onto I-5 south. Another thing I have noticed about Oceanside, the infrastructure was clearly an afterthought when they planned the city. Power lines crossing over major thoroughfares, the lanes aren't lined up properly, and crossing train tracks.

"End of line."

Agreed, Oceanside gets busy because of the Marine Corps base. 25,000+ people all trying to get in there at 6:30 to 7:30 every day. Even better to live near or south of the 56 and I5 junction if you are commuting south. But S.Carlsbad/Encinitas are still a reasonable drive, especially if you are flexible on departure times. Whatever you do, DO NOT plan to commute down the 15. EG: I'd rather put a bullet in my head than commute from San Marcos on the 78 to 15 south, or from Temecula via 15 south. Even at 5:30 am the 15 = gridlock.

dejams, try renting a condo/townhouse at SD Spectrum while you investigate the market. These are brand new units right near your work.

Also try the neighborhood behind Fry's Electronics off of the 15 (Aero Dr). Those are also new developments (less than 10 years). You can go to Balboa/163 pretty easily using surface streets.

I recommend renting a newer home since they tend to be better built with less maintenance issues.

If school district is not that important, live near where you work. At the low you can buy an older house and put $100k into it to refurbish it -- better than paying Mello Roos and HOA.

Gas is back to $3 now. If it goes to $4 this summer, it'll put a real damper on the market, in my view.

I live in Leucadia west of the 101 and we love it. My husband and I rent an old little beach house (with gold shag carpet in some areas) but we really love the character of downtown encinitas. If you are going to be home a lot I think its worth a little extra in price. I personally am not a huge fan of Oceanside, but love cardiff, encinitas, leucadia and south carlsbad. You can live in a nicer home further from the beach or an older home closer.

good luck!

Another question for the locals

Typically do you experience a big influx of people at the end of spring/beginning of summer? We are debating when to move - June or September. Any opinions?

I live in Normal Heights, and it broke my heart when my company was moved from near 163/Balboa to Sorrento Valley... what a nightmare commute on the 805. I always loved cutting off the 805 in the morning onto the 163, just as the nasty backups were starting...