Do you want a large yard so your kids can play in it among themselves or would your rather have access to communal playgrounds that you can escort your children to?
Frankly, I hate commutes. Commutes are evil and suck the life out of life. The general rule of thumb I use is the commute time is 2-3x the commute distance. That San Marcos property, comes at a price of 2-3 hours/day you lose with your family. Every working day you live there.
The next thing to think about is future energy prices. Over the next five years, unless America sinks into a dystopian recession, I suspect you will see dramatically higher energy prices in California.
I’ll go on limb, by election time in 2016, California will have seen $8/gal gasoline. And your electric rates will be 50% higher.
