Well, I think the realtors are feeling the squeeze. Many have very few if any sales this year. And that means their income is down pretty dramatically compared to 2005, 2004 and 2003.

I only lived in SD from June 2004-Oct 2006. Before I moved I heard all the great things about the weather. You may remember the meteorologists saying June 2004-July 2005 was the third wettest ‘rain year’ (measured June-July) on record. I moved to Orlando. Before I left I was told winter was the best time out here due to the weather. It’s 65 degrees and raining right now. So to all those enjoying SD now that I’ve left, you’re welcome.

CB,
Having both grown up on the other side of the country my wife and I definitely relate. It took at least 5 years until we really felt a part of things out here. There are so many people coming and going that it’s hard to find your way into a stable base of long term friendships like you left behind. Once you do, it’s great out here. We made lots of friends for many years but something was always missing. One thing that really helped us get grounded was getting involved in our place of worship not on a religious level but on a social level. It has made a huge difference in our lives finding people to share all the life cycle events with.

Best of luck to you.

SDR

sdr, perhaps we haven’t tried hard enough, these things don’t just happen. We are casual members of a local church, and due to seemingly endless sunday baseball, have hard a time getting there regularly enough to meet people. Also I don’t think this is some vibe we give off, I just think people are genuinely more busy. She is also freaking out about the class sizes at Oak Crest. (San Dieguito Jr. High)

The tough part is my job is pretty good, great 401k matching, vacation, etc.

A good chunk of it though is living in such a crappy house compared to what we had in the midwest. Part of the reason the rent is cheap is because the landlords do absolutely nothing to keep the place up. Fence in disrepair. We have tried a few things, but mostly cosmetic, I am not spending serious money to make the place look better.

Today I received word that our neighbors are thinking about moving, and if they do would like us as tenants. Their home is literally twice as nice, and when she heard what we paid, she said so you’d come here for a couple hundred more? Wife was all over that. It would certainly make waiting out the market more palatable.

CB
Hopefully a nicer living situation will help. The best rental properties go word of mouth and you just have to get lucky sometimes. One of my neighbors is getting relocated and keeping their house until they come back some time in the future (probably 10 years or so). I have until the end of next Summer to “pick my new neighbors” as tenants. The house is original owner occupied and thus has never been rented out. It will be a real plum for whomever gets it.

As for the church, do they have social events outside of Sunday services. Ours has a program that puts families with similar aged children into small social circles. We get together at least once a month if not more. Sometimes it’s a park or legoland with the kids, sometimes it’s a poker night for the guys or a Girl’s Night Out, A Sunday Brunch, celebrating the birth of a child or whatever. It has been wonderful for our family to have a different kind of connection than we share with the large circle of friends/neighbors that we have built otherwise.

I forgot to answer your question, but the place we attend does have outside activities, is local in Encinitas, but we just haven’t plugged in enough. I hear the Jr. High and higher youth groups are really good. They have been surprisingly un-pushy though.