I thought I’d comment to this thread as there is so very little information on Santaluz out there. We’ve spent the past 2 days looking at houses out there and I have to say I’ve been really impressed with the area! Frankly, I’m surprised there isn’t more out there on the internet about this development.
It’s a gorgeous gorgeous development and the houses are really beautiful and of quality construction. We looked at several houses and are seriously interested in making an offer on some of the properties we’ve seen.
Today we toured the facilities with Kelly, the Membership Director of the Santaluz Club and it’s a really high end. All of the homes we toured, the owners ALL had young kids. Most of them are selling as they are upgrading to larger homes and what impressed us is almost all of them loved Santaluz and looking for upgrade properties as well. One owner was looking in Rancho Santa Fe (which we also toured).
Many of the homes we saw, they had the original owners from 2004 so they were original owners. Those houses the owners took really good care of them and they were pristine. Another that we saw in Santa Monica was nice but it was an investment “flip” and it wasn’t nearly as well cared after as the properties in Santaluz (within the gates).
Some of the homes we saw had up to $250,000 in upgrades in them. It seems like the houses with original owners will still make some money as long as they didn’t pull equity out. But not so much. Obviously the owners here are more affluent. One house we saw, the owners actually bought another house in Santaluz and already closed on it. They had a sale fall through the cracks at the 11th hour so now they own 2 houses in Santaluz!
My feeling is that it’s a really great area, great schools, beautiful development and the entire thing feels high end.
Am I saying that property prices won’t fall more here? No. Certainly not. In fact, I think property prices could fall here another year or 2. But I think if you’re buying truly for long-term (10+ years) you can’t go wrong here if you’re buying to live in, have young kids and need to have good school district, etc. The views and scenery are really beautiful and picturesque.
After our last showing, we drove to La Jolla Shores beach and I was really surprised it only took 23 minutes. I read some posts online of people that said they can make it to the beaches in only 15 minutes and I thought it had to be an exaggeration but I timed it. Fortunately we didn’t have much traffic at all and weren’t going against traffic.
One thing I’ll say is it didn’t seem like the “Clubhouse and Spa Membership” package were worth it. It was $20,000 plus monthly dues of $405 per month. The Hacienda Club was $12,500 plus monthly dues of $205 per month. The Spa package allows you to go to the spa but they still charge you to use it and the prices aren’t cheap. (for example, a deep tissue massage is 50/80 minutes = $105/$125). They have a restaurant as well but I doubt that we’d eat much there and for the $200 a month difference it doesn’t seem like good value for the money.
But I’d definitely get a Hacienda Club membership to use their pool, gym, tennis courts which all were really high end.
The entire place is high end and classy. I tried to tip the valet car drivers at the Spa as they parked my car and they told me they have a “no cash policy” on their facility. Just super classy.
I’m not a golfer but for those that golf it looked really great. The golf membership was $43,000 with monthly dues of $1,100 per month.
They said the Golf Membership includes green fees, lockers, bag storage, range access, handicap fee, Spa and Clubhouse privileges and Hacienda privileges.
Definitely this place is really great and quality of life seems very high here if you have kids or even empty nesters.
Before I toured it I did a ton of due diligence and the only negative I could see was the high HOA and Mello Roos. After touring the area and facilities extensively, I’d say that is about right.
I toured 4S Ranch just to see why it’s so much cheaper and I have to say the area is like night and day. It’s like comparing apples to bananas. 4S Ranch felt extremely cheap to me. The quality of construction looked horrible and definitely inferior.
One positive was there was lots of families but it doesn’t look like a high end area at all. It just looks like cheap homes which I’m sure appeals to some people.
We’re looking at homes this week in Carmel Valley but I’m not sure after seeing Santaluz they will stand up. And I know some of you on the board push places like La Jolla and that area which no doubt are really high end but you can’t get too much for the same money. Even with $1.2 million in Santaluz you can get a pretty great property where as in La Jolla it’s almost impossible to get any sizable property 4/5 bedrooms, all renovated, etc.
One thing that really appeals to us is newer construction vs. older homes. So Santaluz was ideal for us.
I just thought I’d give my 2 cents on this for those interested in Santaluz like I was as there is so little information on the area.
