Congrats on the growing family! Certainly clarifies some things. When rents begin to match mortgages for something larger with a yard, then it begins to make sense to me. Especially if its at least a 10-year residence. As has been and will be echoed here, pay for shelter, don’t invest. With cheap money, it can make a whole lot of sense.
La Mesa, in particular. Prices are very good, neighborhoods are quiet, tucked just outside the city proper, lots of families moving in as the original population ages. We wrung our hands over moving to La Mesa (coming from the coast), but we really like it. I’m surprised how much I like it. It helps that we found the type of house we liked (original mcm), but La Mesa has really grown on us.
Keep in mind that the yard, while a godsend for children (we have two little ones), will beg for money, time, and worry. At least in my case. I think about the yard *all* the time. There’s much I’d like to do, but it will be slow because of time and money.
