I own in Sky Ranch, and we love it!!! Everyone I talk to in this community is extremely happy with Sky Ranch.
I think a few of you need to talk to the people who actually live here!
Lennar has done an excellent job with these homes and the community! It’s just awesome up hear. At first we were hesitant too. Asking questions about living out East (We came from RB), access to schooling, pools, restaurants, shopping, etc. After all our research, we chose to buy, and have been extremely happy! You can’t go wrong buying from Lennar in Sky Ranch.
Santee has a whole new restaurant/shop area with the Santee Trolley Square Town Center (Olive Garden, Chilis, Target, Barnes & Noble, Bed, Bath, & Beyond, etc.) Also, the YMCA has a great kids pool, so no need for a rec. center / pool in Sky Ranch. The Y is great for the kids, and they love the kid slide/play pool area. The Y also has many programs for kids. Also, there is a new Community/Rec Park Center near the YMCA that has numerous soccer fields, baseball fields, outdoor hockey arenas, etc. There is a BestBuy in town that is great for the Dads, and Santee has a fun drive-in that the kids love too.
For schools, most of the people that I have talked to in Sky Ranch send their kids to private schools, yet some go to public schools or homeschool. There are numerous Catholic and Christian schools around SkyRanch, that are all very good and are minutes away from SkyRanch.
For major home/grocery shopping, Santee has a great Costco, new Vons, and new Henry’s.
Also, you should see what they are doing with the I52! It’s going to be finished at the end of this year, and it will extend the 52 to the 67. One can now get to Sorrento Valley in approximatley 20 minutes or less. It takes us now only 25 minutes to get to Sorrento Valley, and that’s without the 52 being completed. The beach is just 25 minutes too, straight to La Jolla. This is a massive construction project. You’ll also notice that they just started cleaning up the intersection between Graves and Prospect, and they are redesigning the intersection. They will repave and place in street lights. This will look much better than it has in the past.
It’s very quiet up here, almost serene. Some of the homes that are facing West towards the airport have a little more noise, but everyone says it’s no big deal because you live so high up on the mountain.
Noise from the airport is minimal. Yes, you have planes that do fly over, but we have kids and they actually enjoy seeing the planes. This is a small local airport, so the planes are small Piper planes most of the time. Once in a while there is a corporate jet, but nothing to shake the ground or shatter the windows as people may be afraid of. Gillespie will also hold airshows once in a while, which is a great treat to watch because the planes fly over the mountain. You can also see them do their tricks and acrobatic work, like you were right in the clouds with them. Our kids love this when the airshow is going. The windows in the homes are double paned windows, so when closed, you don’t hear a peep. Even when they are open, it’s still serene! After moving in, we were very suprised how quiet it is up here.
Furthermore, this time of the year, Winter/Spring, the clouds/fog moves in through the valley below (Santee / El Cajon), and it’s like you are living above the clouds. You see Sky Ranch coming up above the clouds! Beautiful!!!
If your home faces the East you will see great sunrises, and if your home faces the West you will see great sunsets. Most homes have a great view around all sides, depending on where your windows are facing.
I just went over to the Lennar office, and they just released a new Crestview phase with prices starting at $499k up to around the mid $500K. These are about 2400sf to 3200sf. Eaglepoint, at the top of the mountain, has homes around $800k. These are around 4000sf. They have new phases in the NorthStar condos, as you come up the hill, starting around $300k with garages with 1300sf to 1900sf. StoneRidge is sold out for now.
Our tax rate is 1.1%, there is no mello-roos, and the HOA is subsidized at $342 until complete buildout. It may go up after complete buildout, which will still take another 3 years at the current build rate. The HOA is looking at trying to reduce these costs once buildout is completed.
Lennar’s customer service has been great too, after we bought. They warranty the house, and they will fix anything that pops up.
So, if you are looking at buying up here, I would highly consider it! It’s a great place to live, and all the owners up here feel it’s a special place. Our little gem in the Sky.