Actually, when push comes to shove, I really don’t care either, flyer. If the time comes where I wish to sell my residence, it will be worth what its worth at the time of listing it. The same applies when I turn around and purchase a (hopefully forever) home in another county.
I just feel that ALL first time and second time buyers with halfway decent credit and even a moderate income CAN buy a home in SD County. Many who can don’t because they don’t like what’s on offer that they can actually afford to buy. Or they don’t want to alter their lifestyles in any way, shape or form to own (i.e. buy 7+ year old vehicles and used household items and appliances, etc in order to be able to afford a home here). Yes, even “professionals,” lol ….
It’s been that way as long as I can remember …. and I have a l-o-o-ong memory :=0 … but the phenomenon is far more pronounced today in that, in general, Gen Y is way too picky for what their budget will allow, they will not do any rehab or remodel work (unless they can afford to have it professionally done while they live elsewhere) and/or don’t want to downgrade their lifestyle to afford a home that they would be happy with for years to come.
My own kids are this way. They all live in high-cost areas in CA and the one(s) working FT have been making GREAT money for years. I don’t think they are shunning homes which need work but they certainly don’t want to downgrade their lifestyles (traveling internationally, owning authentic designer stuff, etc) to do what it takes to get a downpayment saved up.
I don’t know if rockingtime is a homeowner, but I’ve heard his/her argument before many times here … that something’s got to give … home prices are unsustainable in SD County, blah, blah. SD is a coastal county and thus will always command high prices, especially, as flyer stated, within 15 miles of the coast. Areas in SD County west of I-5 demand extraordinarily high prices in relation to their direct counterparts east of I-5 (ex: Imperial Beach vs Otay Mesa). This will never change. If you don’t like what’s on offer in SD, there’s always TX … as another poster mentioned.
btw, last fall when I was in that area, I went to a Walmart to get something for my bug bites, which were itching and driving me crazy. Upon recommendation of a cousin, I bought this stuff called “Chiggerex” which is a fantastic smelling (menthol, sweet pepper, not sure) white cream of 10% benzocaine. It comes in a small plastic jar and works great! (I doubt Walmart sells it around here.) In recent months, I’ve been using it on my dog on her hot spots and it cleared them all up! TX has got it all going on, folks. BIG purple sunsets as far as the eye can see and lots of room to build, build, build (worker commutes increasing to 90-120 minutes one way in recent years). Break out that sticky spray repellant and go hiking at midnight wearing almost nothing! The lure of fancy speedboats beckon! You can go waterskiing 8-9 months a year there in water that feels like bathwater, but alas, is highly polluted, mostly from nearby fracking operations leaching pollutants into the tributaries of lakes. You won’t find this out until a couple of days later, however when you are in great pain with a double ear infection and have to go to urgent care to be treated (a lengthy experience which was NOT a good one)! Of course, the voters don’t believe in big gubment in them thar parts. So be my guest! Go get yourself one of those half-block long solid brick ranches with a 3-car garage on one end, a 2400 sf metal storage outbuilding and large barn and corral on five acres for $275K to $500K, depending on location. It’s there for the pickings … all over the place. As you load your u-haul in your tiny SD driveway to head east, feel free to pm me for some good motor lodge recommendations to stay in on the way there. I’ve stayed in just about every one of them a time or 3 on Route 66 as well as on I-10.
However, if you decide to later sell your home in TX with with goal of coming back to a coastal CA county to buy a residence … any residence, uhhh, just an FYI, that’s probably not going to happen.