[quote=Jazzman][quote=bearishgurl]
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I have a question for you Jazzman … Was LJ proper where you were looking for a SFR to buy before you got frustrated with the local market there and left SD? And if so, and you had been successful making an acceptable deal there, would it have been the first property you owned in a CA coastal county?[/quote]
I chose La Jolla because prices are at the stickier end of the spectrum. If you do the same analysis on many other places, coastal or otherwise, the price differential over the same period is an eye opener. Homes are over-priced. It’s a lot to pay for what you get, doesn’t matter what, so no justification in my view. I’m not swayed by arguments of affordability, or location.
To your question, we looked at La Jolla, Del Sur, Encinitas, Laguna Beach, Pasadena, Marin County, but decided the best of all places was Santa Barbara. We could afford a home in most of these places, but that wasn’t the issue here. I believe there is an innate sense of value for money (sadly being eroded by easy money). Many homes lacked aesthetic appeal, build quality, with tons of deferred maintenance. In a nutshell, pretty disappointing.
My experience with real estate is not confined to the last few years, nor just in the US, so my perspective is going to differ somewhat from yours.
Now I have a question for you? What is your interest in real estate?[/quote]
Jazzman, since those areas you mentioned are somewhat far apart, I take it you were looking for a CA retirement home? After all that searching, it REALLY sounds here like you wanted to retire in CA. Did you actually physically visit all those places and look at property/place offers?
Every single destination you listed here (except Del Sur) are well-established desirable CA communities and all are coastal except Del Sur and Pasadena (which is VERY desirable in its own right due to architecture and mature tree-lined streets in select areas). Aside from a stratospheric MR encumbrance, I don’t know much about Del Sur but know that homes within it probably wouldn’t have had deferred maintenance, due to being relatively new.
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I take it from your posts that you could afford to purchase in all of these places but were unhappy with the size, location and/or condition of particular homes that were in your price range and/or that you were outbid when placing offers on properties of interest.
Had you thought of buying a fixer and fixing it up? After all, if you are retired or semi-retired, it stands to reason that you would have the time for DIY, no?
What happened with your favorite destination, Santa Barbara? If the houses you could buy were too small there, why didn’t you look in Solvang, Ojai or Santa Maria? Those towns are more fire-prone but very well-located (for traveling throughout the state) places to retire.
For someone who went thru all this house-shopping up and down this glorious state and could afford the prices, I don’t understand why you couldn’t have made a deal. If I REALLY wanted to retire in CA and found a property I REALLY liked (listed or not), I would have hammered it out on a napkin on the owner’s picnic table, asked them to sign it over a bottle of 2-buck chuck and came back to consummate it properly before giving up on Cali. But that’s just me.
I’ve been a CA RE licensee for three decades (Salesperson). My license is current but it has not been hung with a broker for about nine years. In addition, I am a licensed notary and paralegal (specialization: business lit) and possess all the requisite education for a CA RE Broker’s license but do not have the four years consecutive experience as a salesperson as required by DRE to qualify to take the Broker’s exam. Since I worked FT at a “day job” all during the time I was a “practicing” RE Salesperson (PT), I mainly had friends, co-workers, referrals and myself for principals and clients. I have owned several properties in SD County, both rental and personal residence, ALL in metro San Diego (south of I-8) and south county. A current homeowner, have been a SD County resident for over 35 years, a longtime daily runner in the dtn SD area and so am intimately familiar with several SD communities.
My lengthy primary work experience in the legal field includes criminal law, administrative law (tribunals), employment, labor law, collective bargaining, business formation and dissolution (SOS processing), RE Agency & other RE litigation and land use (All CA).
I’m from Alameda County but have many relatives in those “flyover states” whom I try to visit at least once a year.
