Many of us here are very familiar with central San Diego and there is a TON of inventory where you are looking. First off myself, and pretty much everyone here would recommend you wait to purchase because you will most likely see those Hillcrest, North Park, Normal Heights condos depreciate over the next couple of years.
If you are going to buy then I am hoping you will be keeping that property for several years, so you can essentially ride out the storm. Okay if it is a condo you are buying then make sure you count all of the recurring fees, mortgage payment, hoa, property tax, (supplemental insurance if you choose to purchase this) are the most common ones. Be diligent when reviewing the HOA docs. See how many increases they have had over the past few years including special assessments. Factor in the age of the building, the roof etc… Then anticipate an hoa hike based on those factors. Most likely throw in an a special assessment if you feel that is needed. Assume about 1.2% of the purchase price of the condo for property taxes based on that central location. Depending on your financing the property taxes will be impounded along with your mortgage payment (which I do not recommend) but you may have no choice. So if you by a condo at 400k then annual prop tax is estimated to be about 4200. You can deduct your property tax and mortgage interest for tax purposes but that doesn’t get realized until April of 2008.
Other facets of home ownership that you need to consider, your HOA may or may not cover water/sewer/trash collection. Most do cover it but some do not.
