[quote=bearishgurl]Judging from your post (below) and the fact that you likely live in a *newer* development in “exurban” Temecula, IIRC, I posted the above because I was certain you did not understand what you would be getting for the $400K in (circa 1940’s) Bay Park for the same $$. I HAVE been in these homes which were almost exclusively purchased new by dust-bowl refugees packing up and moving their families to SD to work at local defense contractors during WWII. Most of them sold for about $5000 to $6500 brand new.
The reality is that these two types of SFR’s, albeit 23 miles apart (Bay Park and Lanai in Granite Hills) are nearly the same except for square footage, size of garages and size of lots. Of course, the Bay Park homes in this price range are too small to have a see-thru FP but they both were orig built in the same style and materials on the inside :=) The Granite Hills property, value wise, wins hands down.[/quote]
I have a couple friends who bought in Bay Park (one of them a badly done flip), and I like both of their houses and the area, which is why I mentioned it. It’s even on my list, albeit lower down than Carlsbad. I know exactly what you get there, and in my mind, a smaller place means less layout to screw up and more fun to fix up. The east county house is too overwhelming, too much ugly, too much work to make livable and maintain, too far for the price, and it would never be “cute” the way the little coastal places can be. I think I just emasculated myself a little…
Regardless, if you put the two lots/houses down right next to each other, of course the east county one is a better value. Add the location to the equation, and the house and lot suddenly become a lot more equal. Try putting a $400k house from a southern state next to the east county house – while the $400k Georgia house is a lot nicer than the east county house, it’s an even more pointless exercise. I wouldn’t live in Georgia either.
[quote]The reality is that you, like most current owners and potential buyers, will purchase only *newer* construction. This comes as no surprise, considering where you currently reside and there is nothing wrong with this.[/quote]
Not completely true. I’m fine with old, as long as it’s small, but not for the larger “forever” house. That will be less than 10 years old. I take good care of my possessions, and as with a new car, I like knowing where they’ve been.
