nybuyer, do you have your heart set on new construction? Would you consider construction +/- 20 years old up to five miles inland (coastal/semi-coastal zone) which has been gutted and remodeled and is “like new.” By limiting yourself to “new” and “near-new” construction, you are, much more often than not, limiting yourself to properties encumbered by HOAs and Mello-Roos and situated in inferior areas to the more well-established areas. The first Community Facilities Districts (CFD’s) in SD County were formed 24 years ago. Since then, as more and more as time went by, it became “mandatory” for developers to assist in the formation of or join into an existing CFD when they sought to subdivide raw land for development within the county. This was/is generally the case unless the land was/is “infill,” that is, it has already been developed all around it or is replacing previous demolished residential or commercial construction at the site. In these instances, the public services for the development were already in place.
The area where you grew up (South Bay area of LA County) is very well-established, where, in general, the rights of its SFR property owners remain intact. When you purchase an HOA encumbered property, you lose part of those rights and must adhere to CC&R’s, another layer of government/bureaucracy.
SD County has MANY well-maintained public golf courses where you could regularly play for a FRACTION of what it would cost you than if the course belonged to your HOA.
You are correct in that MR in general is not tax-deductible and in the areas encumbered by exhorbitant MR ($3500+ annually), signing up for it is akin to taking out a large second mortgage (sans the mortgage-interest deduction)!
