1. You will be working in La Jolla
2. You want a kid friendly community
3. You want good schools
4. You don’t want to move out of the school district
5. You want a decent commute
6. You don’t want to spend more than $550k
Folks here say rent first.
To me that says Carmel Valley.
1. Based on the STAR testing reports website, API scores, and bestschools.net, Carmel Valley schools have the best scores in SD County, better than even my planned home of RSF, and about as good as the best school districts up here in the Bay Area. That is not to say other SD districts are not great. Just that CV seems to get the top nod on that score. I did all that research down to the school when I first started looking for homes in North County this year. My school aged kids are currently in a fantastic school district (no not San Jose), so that was important to me.
2. Ok, when I lived there, my commute was under 10 min b/c I went to work early. But worse case is probably 20 min in traffic for you I would bet. Just mapquest from either extreme of CV to your work to get an estimate and then do that for the other locals folks mentioned.
3. If you agree with folks here to rent first, you can rent in CV, get a feel for the area, get your kids in great schools, and watch the market continue to plunge until you can get a nice detached house in CV in your price range or until your income lets you afford more house. Either way, seems to me you can’t loose.
Note that I have no vested interest in CV. Although I once lived there and loved it and will be working there, I am not going to live there this time and my kids will end up in RSF schools, although probably Torry Pines for high school. I am also not suggesting that any of the other locals people suggested are not good options. I just saw what you were asking for and CV seems to me to be ideal for what you want.
