nybuyer a couple of questions… Have you been living here in San Diego long? Also what sort of commute are you looking at? What part of town do you work in? Are schools important or not? Are you a beach person or does something like that not really matter?
I guess what I am getting at is if you had your whim at ANY location in San Diego where would it be? If you could take your ideal home and plop it on any lot in the county what would be best for you? I think that is an important consideration given what you have stated.
Based on the two regions you spoke of, to me it is a no brainer, I would rather be in Scripps then Oceanside. Yet that is only my choice and it is also driven by my need to be in a somewhat central location in the county and my engineering offices in Sorrento Valley. As for Scripps itself my taste is not for the Preserve or Stonebridge. Personally I feel that those areas are still in for a pretty heavy ride down. If I have my choice I would go for old Scripps south of Pomerado but that is just me. As a side note I think Oceanside is also going to continue to get hit pretty hard.
As for the fire hazard card that is a true fact that cannot be denied. Yet if you are going to scratch off homes because of fire hazards then ALOT of areas will drop off your list.
Again this is just my personal taste and it has no bearing on what may work for you. If I had more money I would gravitate towards the coast rather then live in Scripps. Noting against Scripps cuz I like it here but if I could get a 2500 sf home on 10k sf lot in say Carmel Valley with no MR then I would. Not much of that out there though except I do like the area off of Del Mar Heights and pricing there is just starting to come down to that level and there are no MR there. I also would like Cardiff west of 5 but pricing there is not at 1M yet for most of the stock… Again, I could go on forever reeling off places I would rather be if I had a million but if you can answer some of the above questions I may be able to throw you some ideas.
Of course, if you could rent for another year or two that would be most optimal.
