Downtown Condo Market – Opinions

[surveyor]

[quote=4plexowner]edit: just re-read your post – you are suggesting that the banks will foreclose on the construction loans and will let 11,000 condos sit vacant until the market recovers?[/quote]

Never underestimate the stupidity of banks!

I imagine what will happen is that they will hold on to the condos as long as they can, hoping the market will come back. Then they will probably declare bankruptcy or fail and close up shop. During the prevailing auction, someone will buy the condos for pennies and then will have to spend money re-habbing it for sale or for rent.

In this scenario, it sounds like the condos won’t hit the general population until a few years.

If the banks were smart, they would dump them on the market and just take the hit, but so far, all the banks with huge numbers of properties have not followed that particular line of thinking.

[zzz]

I would highly recommend anyone wanting to buy downtown as their primary residence rent first and determine if its the right lifestyle. There are also so many different dynamics within downtown. South of Broadway the neighborhoods are: Marina, Gaslamp, Ballpark and East Village. Columbia, Little Italy, Cortez Hill are a different dynamic. Each pocket offers something different, so you really have to get a feel for the various parts of downtown before buying.

The older marina district between G and Harbor – in my opinion have the nicest buildings – Renaissance, Pinnacle, Cityfront Terrace, Meridian, Horizons, City Walk, and Harbor Club although I think that is technically Gaslamp. Its perhaps easier to get in and out of that area as well with the proximity to Harbor Drive, PCH, and getting to the 5. If you have the budget, this is where I’d highly recommend you focus your search.

There are very few condo buildings in the Gaslamp itself compared to the other areas. Its also quite loud given many of the buildings are surrounded by restaurants and bars.

I believe the Ballpark district has a lot of potential, but is still defining itself as a neighborhood with restaurants, bars, amenities coming in within walking distance. A few years ago that area was just as shady as the East Village, but its getting better. Although there are still a number of “cheap” run down motels with questionable characters and sanity.

Beyond those areas, I’d have to say the buildings going up on the “periphery” where are isolated and less desirable. One of pros I would assume of being in urban living is being able to walk to amenities without feeling unsafe. Such buildings as Smart Corner, Palermo, Union Square, and the one on 11th right before the 163 are examples of questionable safety given the people lurking there.

The things to consider downtown – traffic traffic traffic. There are huge conferences at the Convention Center, Padres season, weekend bar & club scene, day trippers coming of the cruise ships, business travelers, etc.

There is a lack of grocery stores unless you want to shop at ghetto Ralph’s or Albertsons which is very nice inside but has lots of homeless people peeing on the sidewalk – and even if you point that out to a cop, they don’t stop the behavior. And yes of course the homeless.

Many of the restaurants do cater to tourism so there are far fewer good ones suprisingly given the density of restaurants.

The trolley and train noise. If you live anywhere close to either, the odds are you are going to hear the trains honking very loudly at all hours including 3am if you leave your windows open.

Within a specific building, how many are “young” renters that party and can be disrespectful towards other tenants or trash the building? How many foreclosures and defaults? I would also strongly question the quality of the construction of buildings that were “thrown” up during the run up. There are a few buildings I know of that have construction defect issues. Is the parking for the building mixed use? Meaning for owners and public in nature? I don’t know too many buildings as such but I believe there are a few.

Trojan – I think if you’re looking at the retirement option and proximity to a flight out of town, you might want to consider Point Loma, Mission Hills/Hillcrest, Bankers Hill ( east of the flight path). I think it will also have an older crowd that won’t be partying so much! Should you want to hit a ballgame or night out, a very convenient cab ride downtown.

[zzz]

I would highly recommend anyone wanting to buy downtown as their primary residence rent first and determine if its the right lifestyle. There are also so many different dynamics within downtown. South of Broadway the neighborhoods are: Marina, Gaslamp, Ballpark and East Village. Columbia, Little Italy, Cortez Hill are a different dynamic. Each pocket offers something different, so you really have to get a feel for the various parts of downtown before buying.

The older marina district between G and Harbor – in my opinion have the nicest buildings – Renaissance, Pinnacle, Cityfront Terrace, Meridian, Horizons, City Walk, and Harbor Club although I think that is technically Gaslamp. Its perhaps easier to get in and out of that area as well with the proximity to Harbor Drive, PCH, and getting to the 5. If you have the budget, this is where I’d highly recommend you focus your search.

There are very few condo buildings in the Gaslamp itself compared to the other areas. Its also quite loud given many of the buildings are surrounded by restaurants and bars.

I believe the Ballpark district has a lot of potential, but is still defining itself as a neighborhood with restaurants, bars, amenities coming in within walking distance. A few years ago that area was just as shady as the East Village, but its getting better. Although there are still a number of “cheap” run down motels with questionable characters and sanity.

Beyond those areas, I’d have to say the buildings going up on the “periphery” where are isolated and less desirable. One of pros I would assume of being in urban living is being able to walk to amenities without feeling unsafe. Such buildings as Smart Corner, Palermo, Union Square, and the one on 11th right before the 163 are examples of questionable safety given the people lurking there.

The things to consider downtown – traffic traffic traffic. There are huge conferences at the Convention Center, Padres season, weekend bar & club scene, day trippers coming of the cruise ships, business travelers, etc.

There is a lack of grocery stores unless you want to shop at ghetto Ralph’s or Albertsons which is very nice inside but has lots of homeless people peeing on the sidewalk – and even if you point that out to a cop, they don’t stop the behavior. And yes of course the homeless.

Many of the restaurants do cater to tourism so there are far fewer good ones suprisingly given the density of restaurants.

The trolley and train noise. If you live anywhere close to either, the odds are you are going to hear the trains honking very loudly at all hours including 3am if you leave your windows open.

Within a specific building, how many are “young” renters that party and can be disrespectful towards other tenants or trash the building? How many foreclosures and defaults? I would also strongly question the quality of the construction of buildings that were “thrown” up during the run up. There are a few buildings I know of that have construction defect issues. Is the parking for the building mixed use? Meaning for owners and public in nature? I don’t know too many buildings as such but I believe there are a few.

Trojan – I think if you’re looking at the retirement option and proximity to a flight out of town, you might want to consider Point Loma, Mission Hills/Hillcrest, Bankers Hill ( east of the flight path). I think it will also have an older crowd that won’t be partying so much! Should you want to hit a ballgame or night out, a very convenient cab ride downtown.

[zzz]

I would highly recommend anyone wanting to buy downtown as their primary residence rent first and determine if its the right lifestyle. There are also so many different dynamics within downtown. South of Broadway the neighborhoods are: Marina, Gaslamp, Ballpark and East Village. Columbia, Little Italy, Cortez Hill are a different dynamic. Each pocket offers something different, so you really have to get a feel for the various parts of downtown before buying.

The older marina district between G and Harbor – in my opinion have the nicest buildings – Renaissance, Pinnacle, Cityfront Terrace, Meridian, Horizons, City Walk, and Harbor Club although I think that is technically Gaslamp. Its perhaps easier to get in and out of that area as well with the proximity to Harbor Drive, PCH, and getting to the 5. If you have the budget, this is where I’d highly recommend you focus your search.

There are very few condo buildings in the Gaslamp itself compared to the other areas. Its also quite loud given many of the buildings are surrounded by restaurants and bars.

I believe the Ballpark district has a lot of potential, but is still defining itself as a neighborhood with restaurants, bars, amenities coming in within walking distance. A few years ago that area was just as shady as the East Village, but its getting better. Although there are still a number of “cheap” run down motels with questionable characters and sanity.

Beyond those areas, I’d have to say the buildings going up on the “periphery” where are isolated and less desirable. One of pros I would assume of being in urban living is being able to walk to amenities without feeling unsafe. Such buildings as Smart Corner, Palermo, Union Square, and the one on 11th right before the 163 are examples of questionable safety given the people lurking there.

The things to consider downtown – traffic traffic traffic. There are huge conferences at the Convention Center, Padres season, weekend bar & club scene, day trippers coming of the cruise ships, business travelers, etc.

There is a lack of grocery stores unless you want to shop at ghetto Ralph’s or Albertsons which is very nice inside but has lots of homeless people peeing on the sidewalk – and even if you point that out to a cop, they don’t stop the behavior. And yes of course the homeless.

Many of the restaurants do cater to tourism so there are far fewer good ones suprisingly given the density of restaurants.

The trolley and train noise. If you live anywhere close to either, the odds are you are going to hear the trains honking very loudly at all hours including 3am if you leave your windows open.

Within a specific building, how many are “young” renters that party and can be disrespectful towards other tenants or trash the building? How many foreclosures and defaults? I would also strongly question the quality of the construction of buildings that were “thrown” up during the run up. There are a few buildings I know of that have construction defect issues. Is the parking for the building mixed use? Meaning for owners and public in nature? I don’t know too many buildings as such but I believe there are a few.

Trojan – I think if you’re looking at the retirement option and proximity to a flight out of town, you might want to consider Point Loma, Mission Hills/Hillcrest, Bankers Hill ( east of the flight path). I think it will also have an older crowd that won’t be partying so much! Should you want to hit a ballgame or night out, a very convenient cab ride downtown.

[zzz]

I would highly recommend anyone wanting to buy downtown as their primary residence rent first and determine if its the right lifestyle. There are also so many different dynamics within downtown. South of Broadway the neighborhoods are: Marina, Gaslamp, Ballpark and East Village. Columbia, Little Italy, Cortez Hill are a different dynamic. Each pocket offers something different, so you really have to get a feel for the various parts of downtown before buying.

The older marina district between G and Harbor – in my opinion have the nicest buildings – Renaissance, Pinnacle, Cityfront Terrace, Meridian, Horizons, City Walk, and Harbor Club although I think that is technically Gaslamp. Its perhaps easier to get in and out of that area as well with the proximity to Harbor Drive, PCH, and getting to the 5. If you have the budget, this is where I’d highly recommend you focus your search.

There are very few condo buildings in the Gaslamp itself compared to the other areas. Its also quite loud given many of the buildings are surrounded by restaurants and bars.

I believe the Ballpark district has a lot of potential, but is still defining itself as a neighborhood with restaurants, bars, amenities coming in within walking distance. A few years ago that area was just as shady as the East Village, but its getting better. Although there are still a number of “cheap” run down motels with questionable characters and sanity.

Beyond those areas, I’d have to say the buildings going up on the “periphery” where are isolated and less desirable. One of pros I would assume of being in urban living is being able to walk to amenities without feeling unsafe. Such buildings as Smart Corner, Palermo, Union Square, and the one on 11th right before the 163 are examples of questionable safety given the people lurking there.

The things to consider downtown – traffic traffic traffic. There are huge conferences at the Convention Center, Padres season, weekend bar & club scene, day trippers coming of the cruise ships, business travelers, etc.

There is a lack of grocery stores unless you want to shop at ghetto Ralph’s or Albertsons which is very nice inside but has lots of homeless people peeing on the sidewalk – and even if you point that out to a cop, they don’t stop the behavior. And yes of course the homeless.

Many of the restaurants do cater to tourism so there are far fewer good ones suprisingly given the density of restaurants.

The trolley and train noise. If you live anywhere close to either, the odds are you are going to hear the trains honking very loudly at all hours including 3am if you leave your windows open.

Within a specific building, how many are “young” renters that party and can be disrespectful towards other tenants or trash the building? How many foreclosures and defaults? I would also strongly question the quality of the construction of buildings that were “thrown” up during the run up. There are a few buildings I know of that have construction defect issues. Is the parking for the building mixed use? Meaning for owners and public in nature? I don’t know too many buildings as such but I believe there are a few.

Trojan – I think if you’re looking at the retirement option and proximity to a flight out of town, you might want to consider Point Loma, Mission Hills/Hillcrest, Bankers Hill ( east of the flight path). I think it will also have an older crowd that won’t be partying so much! Should you want to hit a ballgame or night out, a very convenient cab ride downtown.

[zzz]

I would highly recommend anyone wanting to buy downtown as their primary residence rent first and determine if its the right lifestyle. There are also so many different dynamics within downtown. South of Broadway the neighborhoods are: Marina, Gaslamp, Ballpark and East Village. Columbia, Little Italy, Cortez Hill are a different dynamic. Each pocket offers something different, so you really have to get a feel for the various parts of downtown before buying.

The older marina district between G and Harbor – in my opinion have the nicest buildings – Renaissance, Pinnacle, Cityfront Terrace, Meridian, Horizons, City Walk, and Harbor Club although I think that is technically Gaslamp. Its perhaps easier to get in and out of that area as well with the proximity to Harbor Drive, PCH, and getting to the 5. If you have the budget, this is where I’d highly recommend you focus your search.

There are very few condo buildings in the Gaslamp itself compared to the other areas. Its also quite loud given many of the buildings are surrounded by restaurants and bars.

I believe the Ballpark district has a lot of potential, but is still defining itself as a neighborhood with restaurants, bars, amenities coming in within walking distance. A few years ago that area was just as shady as the East Village, but its getting better. Although there are still a number of “cheap” run down motels with questionable characters and sanity.

Beyond those areas, I’d have to say the buildings going up on the “periphery” where are isolated and less desirable. One of pros I would assume of being in urban living is being able to walk to amenities without feeling unsafe. Such buildings as Smart Corner, Palermo, Union Square, and the one on 11th right before the 163 are examples of questionable safety given the people lurking there.

The things to consider downtown – traffic traffic traffic. There are huge conferences at the Convention Center, Padres season, weekend bar & club scene, day trippers coming of the cruise ships, business travelers, etc.

There is a lack of grocery stores unless you want to shop at ghetto Ralph’s or Albertsons which is very nice inside but has lots of homeless people peeing on the sidewalk – and even if you point that out to a cop, they don’t stop the behavior. And yes of course the homeless.

Many of the restaurants do cater to tourism so there are far fewer good ones suprisingly given the density of restaurants.

The trolley and train noise. If you live anywhere close to either, the odds are you are going to hear the trains honking very loudly at all hours including 3am if you leave your windows open.

Within a specific building, how many are “young” renters that party and can be disrespectful towards other tenants or trash the building? How many foreclosures and defaults? I would also strongly question the quality of the construction of buildings that were “thrown” up during the run up. There are a few buildings I know of that have construction defect issues. Is the parking for the building mixed use? Meaning for owners and public in nature? I don’t know too many buildings as such but I believe there are a few.

Trojan – I think if you’re looking at the retirement option and proximity to a flight out of town, you might want to consider Point Loma, Mission Hills/Hillcrest, Bankers Hill ( east of the flight path). I think it will also have an older crowd that won’t be partying so much! Should you want to hit a ballgame or night out, a very convenient cab ride downtown.

[LAAFTERHOURS]

Aqua Vista unit 1plus1 for 199K on sdlookup.com

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-080049084-425_Beech_211_San_Diego_Ca_92101

[LAAFTERHOURS]

Aqua Vista unit 1plus1 for 199K on sdlookup.com

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-080049084-425_Beech_211_San_Diego_Ca_92101

[LAAFTERHOURS]

Aqua Vista unit 1plus1 for 199K on sdlookup.com

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-080049084-425_Beech_211_San_Diego_Ca_92101

[LAAFTERHOURS]

Aqua Vista unit 1plus1 for 199K on sdlookup.com

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-080049084-425_Beech_211_San_Diego_Ca_92101

[LAAFTERHOURS]

Aqua Vista unit 1plus1 for 199K on sdlookup.com

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-080049084-425_Beech_211_San_Diego_Ca_92101

[urbanrealtor]

I don’t have a lot to add about lifestyle especially after golfgal’s excellent post. I will focus on numbers here.

I suspect that you will find that there are some phenomenal deals right now. Especially if you can limit your monthly outlays by buying something with a lower HOA. Much of the driving force behind the rise in HOA’s is the delinquency rate among the owners in the building. This has a self-limiting effect. See below:

I am aware of one group of investors who stopped paying on about 22 units in Acqua Vista (425 WBeech), La Vita (300 W. Beech), and 350 West Ash (you can probably figure out the address for that project). One agent listed all of them in the space of a week. This group was trying to sell as they went default. I submitted several offers for buyers. When I called the agent to get status on the offers he informed me that he had canceled the listings because the sellers had stopped returning his calls. Now all of those units are likely going to go bank-owned. They will resell for dramatically less than the previous owner paid. That sucks for people trying to sell but is good for the other owners. The hoa dues will likely be easy to pay for the new buyers and they will be less likely to default after purchase.
We are finding the bottom in some places right now. In Acqua Vista the 2-bedroom bank-owned places under 300K are leaving the market right now in droves. Often they are going to contract with 10 offers and a bidding war. I have just counseled clients through their 8th rejected offer in that building. This bottom boom (insert beavis-style joke here) is facilitated by the fact that this building is in a giant default meltdown. It may go lower in that particular building but I doubt it will get a lot lower. Almost every place closing escrow has cash or high down offers. Additionally as those units re-sell, while its unlikely that HOA dues will come down, they will likely not go up for years once they stabilize.
Another complex to keep an eye on is Piazza Palermo (1501 front). Comparatively lower dues and similar (or better) amenities. Fewer defaults but better deals.

[urbanrealtor]

I don’t have a lot to add about lifestyle especially after golfgal’s excellent post. I will focus on numbers here.

I suspect that you will find that there are some phenomenal deals right now. Especially if you can limit your monthly outlays by buying something with a lower HOA. Much of the driving force behind the rise in HOA’s is the delinquency rate among the owners in the building. This has a self-limiting effect. See below:

I am aware of one group of investors who stopped paying on about 22 units in Acqua Vista (425 WBeech), La Vita (300 W. Beech), and 350 West Ash (you can probably figure out the address for that project). One agent listed all of them in the space of a week. This group was trying to sell as they went default. I submitted several offers for buyers. When I called the agent to get status on the offers he informed me that he had canceled the listings because the sellers had stopped returning his calls. Now all of those units are likely going to go bank-owned. They will resell for dramatically less than the previous owner paid. That sucks for people trying to sell but is good for the other owners. The hoa dues will likely be easy to pay for the new buyers and they will be less likely to default after purchase.
We are finding the bottom in some places right now. In Acqua Vista the 2-bedroom bank-owned places under 300K are leaving the market right now in droves. Often they are going to contract with 10 offers and a bidding war. I have just counseled clients through their 8th rejected offer in that building. This bottom boom (insert beavis-style joke here) is facilitated by the fact that this building is in a giant default meltdown. It may go lower in that particular building but I doubt it will get a lot lower. Almost every place closing escrow has cash or high down offers. Additionally as those units re-sell, while its unlikely that HOA dues will come down, they will likely not go up for years once they stabilize.
Another complex to keep an eye on is Piazza Palermo (1501 front). Comparatively lower dues and similar (or better) amenities. Fewer defaults but better deals.

[urbanrealtor]

I don’t have a lot to add about lifestyle especially after golfgal’s excellent post. I will focus on numbers here.

I suspect that you will find that there are some phenomenal deals right now. Especially if you can limit your monthly outlays by buying something with a lower HOA. Much of the driving force behind the rise in HOA’s is the delinquency rate among the owners in the building. This has a self-limiting effect. See below:

I am aware of one group of investors who stopped paying on about 22 units in Acqua Vista (425 WBeech), La Vita (300 W. Beech), and 350 West Ash (you can probably figure out the address for that project). One agent listed all of them in the space of a week. This group was trying to sell as they went default. I submitted several offers for buyers. When I called the agent to get status on the offers he informed me that he had canceled the listings because the sellers had stopped returning his calls. Now all of those units are likely going to go bank-owned. They will resell for dramatically less than the previous owner paid. That sucks for people trying to sell but is good for the other owners. The hoa dues will likely be easy to pay for the new buyers and they will be less likely to default after purchase.
We are finding the bottom in some places right now. In Acqua Vista the 2-bedroom bank-owned places under 300K are leaving the market right now in droves. Often they are going to contract with 10 offers and a bidding war. I have just counseled clients through their 8th rejected offer in that building. This bottom boom (insert beavis-style joke here) is facilitated by the fact that this building is in a giant default meltdown. It may go lower in that particular building but I doubt it will get a lot lower. Almost every place closing escrow has cash or high down offers. Additionally as those units re-sell, while its unlikely that HOA dues will come down, they will likely not go up for years once they stabilize.
Another complex to keep an eye on is Piazza Palermo (1501 front). Comparatively lower dues and similar (or better) amenities. Fewer defaults but better deals.

[urbanrealtor]

I don’t have a lot to add about lifestyle especially after golfgal’s excellent post. I will focus on numbers here.

I suspect that you will find that there are some phenomenal deals right now. Especially if you can limit your monthly outlays by buying something with a lower HOA. Much of the driving force behind the rise in HOA’s is the delinquency rate among the owners in the building. This has a self-limiting effect. See below:

I am aware of one group of investors who stopped paying on about 22 units in Acqua Vista (425 WBeech), La Vita (300 W. Beech), and 350 West Ash (you can probably figure out the address for that project). One agent listed all of them in the space of a week. This group was trying to sell as they went default. I submitted several offers for buyers. When I called the agent to get status on the offers he informed me that he had canceled the listings because the sellers had stopped returning his calls. Now all of those units are likely going to go bank-owned. They will resell for dramatically less than the previous owner paid. That sucks for people trying to sell but is good for the other owners. The hoa dues will likely be easy to pay for the new buyers and they will be less likely to default after purchase.
We are finding the bottom in some places right now. In Acqua Vista the 2-bedroom bank-owned places under 300K are leaving the market right now in droves. Often they are going to contract with 10 offers and a bidding war. I have just counseled clients through their 8th rejected offer in that building. This bottom boom (insert beavis-style joke here) is facilitated by the fact that this building is in a giant default meltdown. It may go lower in that particular building but I doubt it will get a lot lower. Almost every place closing escrow has cash or high down offers. Additionally as those units re-sell, while its unlikely that HOA dues will come down, they will likely not go up for years once they stabilize.
Another complex to keep an eye on is Piazza Palermo (1501 front). Comparatively lower dues and similar (or better) amenities. Fewer defaults but better deals.

[Author]

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