Altaire by DR Horton in San Elijo Hills

[evolusd]

Hey all,

After some searching in the Carlsbad area at existing homes built in the 70’s & 80’s, we’ve realized that anything we buy is going to need some work/deferred maintenance sooner rather than later. This stuff has to come from cash reserves after you buy and cannot be financed with 30 year money. This has led us to consider new construction in San Elijo Hills. Yea – it’s farther out and will add 10-15 mins to my commute to UTC.

We checked out Altaire by DR Horton this weekend and found a home for about $50k more than what we were looking at for 70’s or 80’s built resale and it’s bigger, newer, with a large yard (lot is 8,400-sf). No mello roos and $85/mo HOA. Seller offered some pretty serious incentives that we could NEVER have gotten from a traditional seller.

Have any of you toured these properties? Thoughs?

[briansd1]

Not familiar with Carlsbad and SEH. But the situation you describe pretty much describes why people like to buy new construction. So you’re trading bigger, newer with better interior amenities for a 15 min extra commute.

[permabear]

I know several different people that live in San Elijo. As a general comment, they are positive on the area and neighborhood feel.

BUT – they have also said the foreclosure situation has had a drastic impact up there. Lots of foreclosures, vacant houses, people walking away, etc.

You may want to look around for an REO if you haven’t already. Buying situation aside, though, people like the area.

Good luck in your purchase.

[montana]

I haven’t toured Altaire, but I have driven through a few times. I really like this neighborhood on the north side of SEH road. As you mentioned, there are a number of lots that are a pretty good size, and a number of them will have some pretty nice views as well.

We live on the other side of SEH road with a nice view and we love it, especially the access to all of the trails in SEH. It was an easy decision to extend my commute and be either 15 minutes from the 5 or the 15 to move here.

[evolusd]

[quote=permabear]I know several different people that live in San Elijo. As a general comment, they are positive on the area and neighborhood feel.

BUT – they have also said the foreclosure situation has had a drastic impact up there. Lots of foreclosures, vacant houses, people walking away, etc.

You may want to look around for an REO if you haven’t already. Buying situation aside, though, people like the area.

Good luck in your purchase.[/quote]

I’ve been waiting for the foreclosure tsunami to crush prices for years – just not convinced anymore and am basically throwing in the towel. I’ve checked out some short sale and REO listings, but most of the previous developments have lower prices offset by mello-roos and smaller lots.

I did a RealtyTrac free trial and there are 65-70 ‘foreclosures’ which includes NOD, NOT and bank-owned and 30-35 active equity listings.

As the project is approximately 75% builtout with about 2,500 total homes, this equates to <3% of the homes in some form of distress. While likely a higher % than older neighborhoods, that doesn't seem that high to me.

Am I missing something? Of course, there could be more in the future and that % could go up.

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone!

[montana]

Just on my street only, which was built out in 2006, only 1/3 of the original homeowners remain. Both my neighbor and I pick up what we believe were incredible deals on short sales when looking at the price per square foot. After factoring in the present value of future mello roos payments, we still purchased well below the then current (and now) market value of the homes that sold without taking into account the present value of future mello roos payments.

I think there are still a number of people that will walk away, I just think that the majority have already done so in SEH.

[lpjohnso]

My husband and I love SEH. We don’t live there, we live close in Carlsbad, but our oldest goes to the preschool there and we have long debated if we should buy there. We finally decided not to because of the mello-roos and HOAs. Add those on to the payment and it becomes unaffordable for us. We toured Altaire and thought the houses and the views were great. We were not looking seriously because we can’t afford them, but we had no idea there were no mello-roos and such low HOAs. That’s amazing and if we could afford the neighborhood I am sure we would seriously consider buying.

We love new construction. However, due to budget we are actually in escrow on a short sale in Discovery Hills and we will have lots of work to do. Also, FYI my husband works at Scripps in La Jolla so he knows all about the commute. He says he has some co-workers who live in SEH too and they all say it’s not so bad.

Best of luck to you!

[ice9]

montana – how extensive are the trails you can access from SEH? Just looking for a rough idea… a few miles, 10, 20, more?

[LAAFTERHOURS]

The nice thing about terreza and altaire is the no MR pitch and it seems there are some nice views (for altaire models). With that comes higher prices of homes. I would bet that a majority of the people in CA with MR deduct it (illegally) since its not enforced so keep that in mind when you are selling yourself on the no MR. Even though you dont pay the MR, your ca real estate taxes will be higher.

I also live on the other side of SEH rd in a neighborhood off questhaven.

Some advantages of living on the other side of SEH off questhaven: Having a park within walking distance and access to the trails that take you to the schools. Great views of the ocean from most if not all streets. Disadvantages: Higher MR and long walk to the towncenter. The park I mentioned is nice but the playground equipment is for babies and they should have built out something for toddlers/ young children. There is a ton of space there, its too bad they havent changed it up.

Some advantages of living near town: lowest MR in SEH, walking access to the fields, parks, schools and shops. Disadvantages: oldest homes of SEH, many not updated. Views arent as good as up the hill unless you are in the gated off schoolhouse.

SEH peaked in 2005/2006 and most of the homes have already dropped 40% or more off peak. There are still some foreclosures in the area and people are still short selling. We have had a few on our street that have decided to rent out to families instead of shorting so it seems some are sticking with their investment for now. Prices of regular sales are up, short sales are barely above where we bought in 2009 but the regular sales are moving fast. We had one just set the bar for our neighborhood and it was on the market for just over 1 month. The inside of it wasnt anything to boast about but it had a nice view of the coast.

If I could buy again, I would have bought down near town. Its nice up the hill but I wish I was closer to the dog park and shops in town.

There are some good values that come to market in SEH in the older MR areas so if you have patience, keep an eye out. Good luck with your search.

One more note – I work in carmel valley. commute times are anywhere within the 30-60 minute range. Depends on the day and time. The 15 is 30 mins in the afternoon so at least there are a few options to get home.

[sdrealtor]

FWIW SEH is nowhere near done with distress. i know several people there deeply underwater with good jobs planning to walk or short sale. One in particular has a great job but just cant justify being over $200K upside down with no hope in sight. The new homes selling without MR are putting even more pressure on people like him.

[montana]

[quote=ice9]montana – how extensive are the trails you can access from SEH? Just looking for a rough idea… a few miles, 10, 20, more?[/quote]

Just from SEH, there are 18 miles of walking and hiking trails. One of favorites is running the Ridge Line Trail. A short drive down Elfin Forest Road is the Elfin Forest Recreation Reserve with another 11 miles of trails.

[LAAFTERHOURS]

[quote=sdrealtor]FWIW SEH is nowhere near done with distress. i know several people there deeply underwater with good jobs planning to walk or short sale. One in particular has a great job but just cant justify being over $200K upside down with no hope in sight. The new homes selling without MR are putting even more pressure on people like him.[/quote]

I have witnessed this in some respects. I know people in my neighborhood are in still locked into interest only’s and they cant refi at todays low rates because they are underwater. Most of them arent thinking of walking but thats a tough pill to swallow.

[evolusd]

[quote=montana]Just on my street only, which was built out in 2006, only 1/3 of the original homeowners remain. Both my neighbor and I pick up what we believe were incredible deals on short sales when looking at the price per square foot. After factoring in the present value of future mello roos payments, we still purchased well below the then current (and now) market value of the homes that sold without taking into account the present value of future mello roos payments.

I think there are still a number of people that will walk away, I just think that the majority have already done so in SEH.[/quote]

Montana – I’m curious. Where do you get information on the specifics of the bond to calculate the PV of the payments?

That’s a good way to compare the new homes with no MR to the existing resales that have MR.

[svelte]

[quote=lpjohnso]
…due to budget we are actually in escrow on a short sale in Discovery Hills and we will have lots of work to do.[/quote]

I’m a little confused, LPJ.

On July 25th you posted:

[quote=lpjohnso]
…we are currently under contract in Discovery Hills. The lake, the playgrounds and the walking trails are great. The home prices are fantastic.[/quote]

Then on Sept 14 you posted:

[quote=lpjohnso]
If someone can help me and my family find a single family home in Encinitas or Cardiff for less than $2700 per month, we would really, really appreciate it. We are a clean, responsible family who take outstanding care of wherever we call home. We plan on staying in our next rental for many years…[/quote]

And now on October 19 you say you’re in escrow on a short sale. Care to comment?

[montana]

[quote=evolusd][quote=montana]Just on my street only, which was built out in 2006, only 1/3 of the original homeowners remain. Both my neighbor and I pick up what we believe were incredible deals on short sales when looking at the price per square foot. After factoring in the present value of future mello roos payments, we still purchased well below the then current (and now) market value of the homes that sold without taking into account the present value of future mello roos payments.

I think there are still a number of people that will walk away, I just think that the majority have already done so in SEH.[/quote]

Montana – I’m curious. Where do you get information on the specifics of the bond to calculate the PV of the payments?

That’s a good way to compare the new homes with no MR to the existing resales that have MR.[/quote]

Evolusd –

The specifics of the bonds that were issued for SEH can be found on the City of San Marcos website in the Community Facilities Districts section found here:

http://www.ci.san-marcos.ca.us/index.aspx?page=54

Click on CFD 99-01 to download the PDF that has each improvement area (neighborhood) and specific information for the terms of the bonds, including the maximum amount that could be charged on an annual basis.

To find the current CFD charged for a neighborhood, just check out City of San Diego Treasurer – Tax Collector website and lookup any address or street to look into the current property taxes.

Now that you have the current bond payment and the maximum bond payment and the bond maturity, you can calculate the PV of your payments and be able to compare homes with mello roos and those without mello roos and make a good educated decision.

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