[quote=earlyretirement]Sure…good question…. mainly school district and the style and look of the houses. We really love the look of many modern homes in Santaluz. Prices are MUCH lower in 4S and it’s still a great school district but the area doesn’t seem as high end and I’ve heard there is potential for it to get a bit run down in a few years…..
You’re right that we don’t yet live in the area….just vacation there every year in La Jolla.
Definitely I’m up for suggestions…what other zip codes would you suggest for modern homes that are mostly build after 2002 that are in the Poway or San Dieguito school district? The best options to me seemed like 92130 and 92127 but definitely I’m open to suggestions.[/quote]
earlyretirement, have you thought along the lines of a custom home on a large lot in Poway 92064? Many recently-built custom homes were built in areas outside of community facilities districts (no Mello Roos bonds). These custom lots were subdivided from acreage that may have sat empty for many years under one or two owners and was never commercially developed – thus no bonds to help with streets/sidewalks and the like were sought by a developer to assist it with area buildout. Private owners installed their own long driveways or roads from their homes to the street. I have no doubt that several of these owners spent more $$ than they can now get for their property but are now forced to sell due to their mortgage(s) resetting (pd I/O) or coming due (30 due in 5 or 7) and are unable to refinance.
Even if you pay cash for a property in 92127, you will be indebted to a CFD for =>25-40 years and have little to no land to show for this. This zip code has among the highest (if not THE highest) MR obligations in the entire county.
Also, “school district” and “individual school performance” is a “perception” from family to family. The home life of children and rearing style of their parents is far more important to a student’s accomplishment than the “API scores” of a particular school (which fluctuate from year to year).
In 92127, you will be paying a LOT in “fees” every month (including HOA and MR), wherever you go and will not be getting much, if any, land for that. I am unfamiliar with that area myself but looked at it from a Google “aerial view” a couple of days ago and it looks very dry, brown and nondescript, like all these homes were crammed together on a lunar surface. I’ve lived in this county for almost 36 years and that area didn’t look like those residing in it had a “San Diego lifestyle” to me.
Also, why do you feel your home here has to be built in 2002 or later? Do you realize that many homes older than that have been completely remodeled since 2002, some all the way down to the studs?
Pigg lifeizfunhuh is a local attorney who has lived in urban SD near the coast for many years. He recently purchased an eye-poppingly INCREDIBLE spread for his family for $770K just outside of beautiful Alpine, CA (91901), which is situated in the Grossmont Union High School District. A new high school is slated for Alpine by 2014, I believe.
I have been out there visiting a few times over the years and this area is full of huge boulders, little streams and pine trees. There is often a nice breeze and you can SMELL the pines out there. There is no fwy or road noise, no jet noise and no military/police helicopter noise. Just the sound of frogs chirping, acc to lifeizfun.
Also, if you visit LJ when you come here, are you aware that the schools are very good there? Are you aware that you very well may be able to purchase a 2300 to 2800 sf 50+ yo home in your price range on a fairly large lot there which may need updating and landscaping clearing, etc??
earlyretirement, you appear to have many choices in life and presumably the ability to make the deal of a lifetime in these “opportunistic times” we’re currently in which will not last forever. I think you would be SHOCKED at what you could buy in SD County in your price range and even $200K-$300K LESS with NO MR if you just expand your search a bit and come here and drive around looking property in various (unencumbered) CUSTOM areas, NOT tracts.
