– Newer houses in newer neighborhoods vs. older houses in estalished neighborhoods.
I have always thought buying an older house in an established neighborhood tend to be better because:
1. For the same price, you get a better neighborhood.
2. The demographic in an established neighborhood is less likely to change dramatically. When you pay a certain amount of money for a house, most of that goes toward paying to be among a certain demographic. Your investment is at risk when the demographic changes dramatically.
3. The downside is the maintenance cost is higher, but I think it’s worth the benefits.
For example, take Santa Luz. I’m pretty sure there will be much foreclosure activities there in the next few years. This means there will be a lot of “turn over” in term of the people who live in Santa Luz. The future demographic of Santa Luz may very well be very different that the current demographic (and it’ll likely change for the worse not better). The same thing can be said for Ivy Gate in 4S.
10 years from now, houses in Santa Luz & Ivy Gate will have lost their “luster”. By then, the older houses in Carmel Valley will be worth more than those in Santa Luz & Ivy Gate.
