Moving to a new area and buying a fixer is probably a recipe for disaster but you probably already know that. There are no MR or HOA fees in SB. The homes are older but many have already been updated. Updating them involves mostly cosmetics and not major construction projects or additions of second stories. The portion of SB west of the 5 is very narrow so even on the east side you can ride a bike to the beach if you wanted. It cant be much more than 1 mile as the crow flies. The schools are tops in the County and the quality of people will be much more like what you ar eused to back east than in a beach community like PL. Is it any wonder that more professional atheletes retire to NCC after playing in other cities than anywhere else in the Country? Come here and rent for a while. It will be apprarent to even the untrained eye almost immediately.