Thats my problem exactly, with a kid starting middle school and one starting high school, I want them to have a great childhood before they leave to go off on their own. I will pay cash for a house which would probably cost 4M in La Jolla or 2.8 in Carmel Valley, but it’s in a neighborhood and if it declines, it will go from 750K to 550K…. While the 2.8M in Carmel Valley will go to 2M… or lower… The house is basically at about 110$ / sq. ft. with finishes which would be astronomical in So. Cal.
I will probably buy a 2 bedroom condo in San Diego (downtown) in a few years if prices do what I think they will do and get the best of both worlds… When the kids leave in 7 years, I will have the condo to live in, and the home in Wisconsin for family and friends…
I still have other family in the OC so I will be back and forth anyway.
One last thing to mention…
Here in Madison, the upper end is dying. We went into an 800K house which hadn’t been shown in 4 months. A homeless person was sleeping in the laundry room. Scary. This house was for sale at over 1.2M, and is now at 800K… I am going to offer 725K-740K. I couldn’t buy a decent house in Carmel valley for that, and the CV houses which are 1M or 1.1M will be down to that in 2-3 years and I can’t freeze my family.
