Cristalight my wife bought land and built her own home out in Ramona before I met her. She actually enjoyed it very much but she was on site EVERY day even though she had a GC (general contactor). The process was lengthy and it was not easy at all. Dealing with the myriad of codes and regulations was maddening.
However, the home she built was by far superior to any she could have bought resale, or that was built by a developer. She was able to build what she wanted, based on here needs.
If you are thinking of doing this you really really need to find people who have done it before and talk to them. Get thier experiences and ask them what they thought of the general contractor, architect, and other contractors they used and get some referrals. Start interviewing these people to get a read on what it will really take. I think it will be eye-opening for you…
To be quite honest with you I would recommend buying resale home. Try to see if you can get your husband to hold out at least until the middle/end of the summer. Then once that time comes try to delay him another few months. Maybe that will work? There are some VERY nice places in Del Cerro. It is a pretty diverse area. Lostcat probably has it pegged in his earlier description.
Yeah, I am not sold that Kensington is a better hood than Del Cerro. There isn’t much in Kensignton to brag about. The houses are a little older, but the schools suck and it’s right next to the Ghetto. There are always Ghetto birds flying above. My friend that lives in kensington says that every night they wake up to helicopters above. It’s worse than the train they lived next to when they rented downtown. Plus all the Neighbors with kids above 4 are moving out because the schools are horrible. Also, there are a lot of gay people that live in the area and he said that they tend to keep to themselves more than families do. He used to visit me and my wife in Del Cerro and now tells me he wished he would have bought in Del Cerro. So it’s all preference.
Part of the confusion regarding how “nice” Del Cerro is within this thread might be related to the fact that this property is in Allied Gardens. Del Cerro is everything south of Navajo. There’s also “Princess” Del Cerro in between the two, but that’s still not as nice.
Allied Gardens still feeds pretty good schools (Patrick Henry HS), but definitely cheaper and smaller than Del Cerro. $700K is definitely a bit out of whack for the area.
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