SDUSD is not as good as PUSD. That’s a known fact. However, that area of Mira Mesa, kids will be going to Scripps High School, so that does soften the blow. In the portion of Mira Mesa, there are a lot of small development. I wouldn’t buy the detach condo ones, but the larger SFR w/ a yard on the west side of Black Mt. Rd. is pretty decent to me. Personally, everywhere will be susceptible to huge price decline. Mira Mesa has been decline the most so far, so I’m not sure if it’s more susceptible to future steep decline compare to others.
I grew up in Mira Mesa and went to Mira Mesa High School. End up going to UCSD and now work in Sorrento Valley. So, I don’t think it’s that bad. MMHS and Scripps HS are actually one of the top HS in SDUSD. So it’s not so bad. We constantly have budget issue since we tend to get better test scores, so they don’t think we need as much money.
Anyways, the reason I say MM and PQ are good starter area because they were & will be quite reasonably priced. However, a 2000sq-ft house in the mid 300k at this interest rate is a little hard to believe. I worked out the numbers and w/ a $350k loan, your monthly payment would be $1987/month. If you take tax write off into consideration, you’re looking at more like $1600/month. If you use 20% down, your monthly payment would be $1600/month. $1300/month if you take tax write off into consideration. That’s substantially cheaper than renting a similar place. I use 5.5% interest for my calculation. Considering renting a 2 bedroom apartment range from $1200-1500/month, I’d highly doubt it’ll get that cheap unless interest rise substantially. Then all bets are off. If we see 12-15% interest again, we can might as well be in the $100k range.
It’s really up to you price range. If you’re looking in MM, that means you can’t afford better areas like CV, RB, Scripps, etc. For the price range MM is in, MM is my top choice and I am looking in MM. I prefer west & north end of MM though. South east MM is quite ghetto. If you can afford those more expensive area, then I would suggest you buy in those areas since they are better than MM.
