[quote=bushman1]Thank you all for the valuable information. Here is the info that we have on Robertson Ranch. We were looking at a one story, $744k, 1578 sq ft
Mello Roos $1522 per year
HOA $266 month
Property Tax 1.071%
We currently live in San Marcos (about 6 miles from the beach) and own our 2 story 1590 sq ft condo. We pay Mello Roos and HOA about $1000 less per year less than we would in RR.
Your listings are appreciated. Not something our realtor even showed us…our eyes are open. Any feedback is very much appreciated.
Bushman[/quote]
bushman, that new RR smallish home you are considering is going to cost you $393 ($127 MR plus $266 HOA dues) for LIFE (+ any hikes to your HOA dues in the future)!
You state you currently pay ~$309 mo in MR and HOA ($1000 yr less than you would pay in RR). Since those fees are for a condo complex, you are presumably getting some services for your HOA dues portion (trash pickup, common area liability insurance and possibly water and sewer if you live in an attached dwelling). That’s not near as bad as having to pay $393 month for basically nothing for a single-family home. You don’t need a community “tot lot” anymore and if you don’t play tennis, you don’t need a community tennis court, etc, either.
Do you have any idea what $393 would buy each and every month at Lowes or Home Depot? If you have good credit, you could go on a 6-12 month “interest-free” payment plan at one of these big box stores and buy $4716 (amt of annual MR + HOA at RR) of flooring (with or without installation) for 12 even $393 payments and after the 12th payment, your payments would be over! That is almost enough to rip out old carpet and do 1000 sf of a 1550-1575 sf home in a really nice brand-name hardwood strip flooring (3 color choices), including installation (w/no stairs) at $5890 ($5.89 sf, incl tax & installation)!!
Maybe your realtor didn’t show you very many resales because you told her/him that you didn’t want to do any work on it after COE or you walked out of the first few (s)he showed you due to minor flaws. The reality is that you could buy a lite “cosmetic fixer” with zero MR and HOA dues and situated closer to the beach than RR and just move room to room every month or two spending +/- $400 month on it until it was exactly the way you wanted it. When you were done remodeling, your payments would end.
Here are some current listings which fit your criteria and aren’t hanging directly over one of the busiest thoroughfares in North County (like the RR SFR listing was that I posted yesterday):
Short sale in La Costa area – east end of the Lagoon:
I feel that the last link on Lee Ct would be a good buy if obtained at or near it's asking price. Nearly ALL of the above listings have ample lots (30-50% larger than the std size lot in SD County). What are the lot sizes in the subdivision you are considering in RR, bushman? Do the homes even have backyards, or just a “breezeway” hanging out over El Camino Real? If you can go up to ~$800K, I saw 2-3 more resale listings up there which I would consider to be “turnkey” or nearly so.
bushman, have you viewed any of the above listings? If so, did you make any offers? If not, why not?
Perhaps Pigg CA renter can chime in here with good input on the above listings (quality of build/local micro-area, etc). IIRC, she purchased a one-story home (w/no MR/HOA dues) in Carlsbad just a few years back (after being a longtime renter there) and completely gutted/remodeled it before moving in. She knows the area well.
