As someone who made the move from OC to SD 6-7 years ago, I do agree you get a lot more house for the money here in SD.

IT here may not be as strong as you think. You got Qualcomm but that’s pretty much it. Sony, HP, Nokia are located in the I-15/56 area, but they have all been struggling and folks I know that work there are not a happy bunch. What is strong is defense, also along that area and Poway. We have a bunch of companies involved in drones development, they are doing great. Biotech companies along the I-5/la jolla area are doing well.

In regard to housing stock, the new housing are concentrated in Otay Ranch, East Lake, 56 corridor, and San Marcos/Carlsbad. Every region of SD is unique in its own way. Since you are from OC, let me know which OC city you like the best, I’ll do my best to give you the SD equivalent.

[quote=livinincali]Schools in this area are below average. Tons of ESL students that close to the border which will tend to bring the numbers down. Based on your lack of knowledge about San Diego I’d recommend renting somewhere at least a year to get a feel for where you might want to be. Most of the IT work is around sorrento valley and rancho bernardo so you’d probably be better off with something a little closer to those job centers, 92126 or 92071 will have stuff in your price range with a shorter commute and better schools.[/quote]

livinincali, not only are you misinformed, you’re jumping the gun a little, don’t you think? kev isn’t even married yet and doesn’t have any kids. In any case, it will likely be at least six years before he has to think about schools.

kev, I think you would do well to look at the API scores of South County schools.

http://api.cde.ca.gov/Acnt2013/2012Base_DstApi.aspx?cYear=&allcds=3768023&cChoice=2012ApiD

http://api.cde.ca.gov/Acnt2013/2012Base_DstApi.aspx?cYear=&allcds=3768411&cChoice=2012ApiD

Unlike other county districts, South County teachers don’t cater to one race or nationality of student at the expense of the others. Thus, ALL of the students show better performance. Many of the South County school scores rival and exceed the scores of Mira Mesa and Santee schools. “ESL students” are present in EVERY county school and they aren’t all “border crossers” or even Mexican. You will likely overpay for a dump in MM because of its current “hot market” status. It isn’t necessarily families who are currently flocking there. It’s a lot of singles as well who want to be close to tech centers without having to use the freeway. MM has doubled in population in the last ten years and is EXTREMELY congested now and still growing! A couple of large multifamily projects are in the pipeline and/or being constructed there NOW. MM makes Fullerton and Brea look like towns straight out of the Stepford Wives.

Yes, you can get more for your money in South County because it is further from North City job centers. But all things being equal, that is the only drawback. Beginning with Chula Vista, it is 9-22 miles to downtown SD, which can be reached by surface street and Eastlake in Chula Vista also has a pretty large commercial/industrial complex housing a few companies. Mello Roos is prevalent in 91913 (partial) 91914 (most) and 91915 (entirely made up of CFDs).

Your link is just east of Ocean View Hills and that entire area lies within 3 CFD’s. It is also downwind from the county dump and situated RIGHT OVER Cricket Ampitheatre and the water park. If you don’t mind listening to concerts for free 🙂 and people cheering and filing in and out below you thru lengthy traffic jams lasting into the middle of the night 2x per week or more, it would be perfect for you as it’s like living over a stadium. Between its two listings, Fannie has lowered its price by $154,900 and omitted the comment section. This is a red flag because they are not that ignorant when it comes to pricing and neither is their broker. Ask yourself why this happened. This is the elem school district serving this listing:

http://api.cde.ca.gov/Acnt2013/2012Base_DstApi.aspx?cYear=&allcds=1263032&cChoice=2012ApiD

Chula Vista would be far preferable to Otay Mesa, IMO.

Santee is much more peaceful than MM and you might find something there in your price range. However, it can be very, very hot and several of its neighborhoods suffer from high power lines. As a plus, it has good schools and is located on SR-52, which will get you to North City tech centers in 10-15 mins (for reals, folks) :=]

kev, let me know if you have any other questions about South County RE.

ocrenter, I’m sure you noticed that kev is in the $400K range. I don’t think that leaves him a lot of choice in SD County today’s market. He’s probably looking at a condo in most areas you mentioned and likely not one 1800 sf. In addition, he doesn’t know where he’ll be working so it isn’t easy except to say that the cities he mentioned are all probably good. The only one I haven’t been in is the City of Orange and I think Yorba Linda is the prettiest.

The reason he probably hasn’t found anything in the OC that he likes is because he his criteria is 1800 sf and $400K. Most of the housing stock in his price range is undoubtedly older and isn’t 1800 sf.

And as you mentioned, I’m not sure he could get a better job here than what he already has and the pay here could be quite a bit less, leaving him in the same (or worse) position, qualification-wise.

[quote=ocrenter]http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-130030902-13073_Papago_Dr_Poway_CA_92064

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-130030658-8730_Bennington_St_San_Diego_CA_92126

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-130012366-11456_Cesped_Dr_San_Diego_CA_92124

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-130028736-3203_Neosho_Pl_San_Diego_CA_92117

PQ and UTC are out of his range. But everything else is within his criteria.[/quote]

OC, they’re all too expensive. Your lowest-priced listing is $449K. If he could afford to make an acceptable offer on these properties, he may as well keep looking in the OC. I don’t see him successfully making deals on any of these.

And, Yikes, that one in Tierrasanta is butt-ugly :=0

ocrenter mentioned San Marcos. We purchased a SFR in the San Elijo Hills community of San Marcos (close to the Carlsbad border) in late 2011 and absolutely love it. Here’s a townhome down the hill from us in your parameters (albeit a bit smaller sf):

http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Marcos/1677-Avery-Rd-92078/home/7495675

I work in UTC and find the 20 mile commute manageable. If you’re going downtown, might be a bit of a stretch. Nice proximity to the beach and all the shopping you’ll need in San Marcos, Encinitas and Carlsbad Outlets.

Overall, we love the area.

[quote=bearishgurl]
livinincali, not only are you misinformed, you’re jumping the gun a little, don’t you think? kev isn’t even married yet and doesn’t have any kids. In any case, it will likely be at least six years before he has to think about schools.
[/quote]

Um.

[quote=kev374] How are the schools there?[/quote]