La Boheme North Park (DR Horton) Public Auction

[Arraya]

Drunkle,

You are most likely correct. She is my sister’s freshman roomate from college and we are all from the east coast(philly, NJ area). We all moved out here 03-04. Honestly, I am not sure why she moved into such a small place and my statements are just speculations on her reasoning.

I remember us having discussions about SD RE back in 04. We came to a goup consensous that it was crazy and we were not going to buy into it, w/o any knowledge of “bubbles”, fundamentals etc…. A few months later she went behind the groups back and was in escrow. The rest is history.

[patientlywaiting]

A bedroom cannot be called a bedroom if it doesn’t have
1) a closet,
2) walls and a door to enclose the space,
3) a window.

I think the minimum is 10 x 10.

[bzribee]

I have lived in North Park since 1984 and love the area, primarily because it is so convenient to many parts of San Diego. I also love its “walkability” although I’ve never felt particularly safe here at night. I started to get the daily police report after some friends refused to come visit at nighttime. I was surprised at the amount of crime–it hasn’t affected me directly, but is all over this neighborhood.
I also drove by La Boheme and saw the signage and folks looking over the property. I was accepted for a condo under the affordable housing program (it was 795 sq ft and faced the probation offices) but decided against it because of the HOA’s. My price would’ve been $161,000 and my HOA’s were $384. At the time, my rent was $600/month. I couldn’t see paying 2/3 rent for the HOA’s.
I didn’t think about the need for concrete floors, but I spent a lot of time there and the noise was better than what I hear nightly in my old but cheap apt. a few blocks off 30th. I would consider buying a condo at La Boheme if it was $139,000 BUT I still think the HOA’s are completely out of line. If they were under $200, I’d march over and buy–even with all the issues of North Park, I love it here and it would be nice to live in a better place. But HOA’s can go up 5%/year and it sounds like mortgage plus rent within just a few years.

[Anonymous]

Well this particular loft space has a perfect alcove space relatively unusable for much else, and a guest bath fits in there nicely while still making the loft bedroom a little larger than the existing bedroom, which itself is as big as any in the pricier downtown condos I’ve seen. There are also good locations to add additional closet space without eating up more bedroom space. So the result will be two nicely sized bedrooms , one big master bath, and a smaller but still full guest bath. The loft bedroom has three walls and is open on one side overlooking the living room area thanks to the 18-ft. vaulted ceilings. The loft bedroom also has a sliding glass door opening onto a large private roof deck. Pretty sweet set-up if you ask me. And any realtor who actually sells homes can tell you that 2 bathrooms always carry a premium over one bathroom. As for parking, if you want another parking space, those can be purchased from existing tenants who are looking to sell theirs. Anyway, I’ll post here when he gets his remodeled condo reappraised and we’ll see how much it improves his appraisal.

[Anonymous]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I would just respond to the poster suggesting a similar unit could be found on Illinois St. for cheaper. Does a unit there have unobstructed views of the lights of Tijuana, the eastern mountains and the Sea World fireworks? Remember folks there are other amenities that help cushion home value declines; the killer views from top-floor units at La Boheme is certainly one of them.

[Anonymous]

The gorgeous New Orleans-looking restaurant Urban Solace just opened its doors a stone’s throw from La Boheme. Read some of the reviews and witness one example of why North Park is going UP, not DOWN, and why those buying and living there can hope for a brighter investment future after the current turmoil subsides:

http://www.northparkscene.com/blog/?p=107

[Ricechex]

Speaking of working girls….

Has anyone/Drunkle/bzribee seen more of them lately? They were here pretty bad in the late 80s-90’s but seem to have been driven out about 9 years ago. I was just commenting to my neighbor that in the last 3 weeks I have seen quite a few in various locations in North Park.

Is this a red flag that North Park is “de-gentrifying” again, simply a fluke, or has increased police attention in a neighboring hood forced the hookers to find a new business locale?

Sheesh. Back in the late 80’s/early 90’s I was an apartment manager for a small complex on Alabama Street. The prostitute traffic was horrible. They would take their johns to the empty carports during the days and leave such fabulous party favors such as used condoms. We also had outside storage cabinets that were constantly getting burglarized. I had the biggest, bestest, locks ever installed and guess what….they lasted 6 months, until every lock was gone. Once we found a homeless man had taken residence in the storage unit. Don’t miss those days.

Anyway…sorry to be tangential here folks….

Newbie–really I doubt a second bathroom is gonna do much in light of the current housing market and the excess of condos in North Park. It would be helpful should he rent the place, a large family would move in. Large families really need the extra bathroom. I suspect that large families are not your preferred neighbors however…

[drunkle]

the hoors have always been there, if not on the main strip then off on the sides during busts. i do think there was a short time during which the cops were actively curbing the traffic, but i think they’re done with that now.

it does seem that the girls are being obnoxiously obvious about being open for business these days. one girl in particular, hot pants girl in high heels waving to the traffic like she’s a re sign flipper person.

speaking of which, there seems to have been a rapture for sign flippers…

[patientlywaiting]

Hey, a girl’s got to earn a living! We need a red-light district in San Diego. It would add some spice to the city and bring in the tourists. The city should designate a commercial nightclub area for that and issue working permits to the girls so they can work independently without the pimps.

Maybe the non-gentrified warehouse part of East Village? I’d be willing to invest in such a district.

[drunkle]

we already have it. it’s called tijuana…

[HereWeGo]

drunkle – Now, now, I hear the lights of tijuana are most impressive.

[Ex-SD]

This ran in the online version of the L.A. Times this morning………….9/29/07. Anyone on this forum going to the auction with their $5k check to register as a bidder?

latimes.com LA Land BLOG

San Diego condo auction closed to press

We had a coach in high school who often followed up his criticisms by saying, “The truth hurts, doesn’t it?” Yes, sometimes the truth does hurt. But there are ways to avoid the hurt, aren’t there? As D.R. Horton is doing today in San Diego, you can keep the press out of your condo auction.

News item from the Union-Tribune: “D.R. Horton, the nation’s largest builder, is limiting attendance at its planned auction Saturday of condominiums at two local developments, according to the firm it hired to run the event. Late Friday afternoon, Real Estate Disposition Corp. (REDC) said that only registered bidders with $5,000 in cash or cashier’s check would be permitted to attend.

More: “’We are going to be closing the auction to the press tomorrow,’ said Michael Schack, senior vice president of REDC. ‘We are only allowing registered bidders in. We are not allowing cameras, photography, press, media. It is not our choice.'”

Our take: If we ran a large homebuilding company, and had overbuilt to the extent we had to resort to auctions, we’d probably close the auctions to the press too. How does coverage of the auction help D.R. Horton? They don’t want potential buyers in Des Moines and San Antonio holding out for the “San Diego Discount.”

But if we ran a blog about housing — and oddly enough we do — we would report every scrap of information we could get about the auction, so we again ask for your tips and feedback today.

[Anonymous]

La Boheme is actually doing pretty well given that the first move-ins were around the end of 2006 – as of the date of today’s auction the building is/was 84% sold out – that’s actual closed escrows, not ‘deals in the works’. I live here – got a great rate on a 30 year note at 5.875% with no lender fees or points because this is a moderate income area – no I didn’t qualify for the mod income units, I have a market rate unit with special financing that was better than DR Horton could provide with their bogus $20k in closing credits to use their lender blah blah blah.

La boheme is unique in it’s location – there are 4 gay/bars clubs surrounding the block or within 1 block – lots of restaurants – many of my friends come to me to hang cause we can pound a few at my place and then bar hop – then ‘run’ to Florences to grab a pizza at 2am before they close (or Marie’s across the street open 24 hours 4 days a week).

If you’re kid-less, gay, and love to drink – this is a fantastic place to live! When I open my balcony doors on Wednesdays and can hear/feel the ‘BOOM BOOM BOOM’ from bachhus house latino noche (gay latin night club)- I know I made the best decision FOR ME.

By the way – I estimate 30-40% of the residents here are gay.

[chewie83]

Is there any word on how the auction went?

[Anonymous]

so right on. some have told me La Boheme is kinda like Uptown condos in Hillcrest were like when they first came on line. And look what happened to those values over the years. We’re sitting in a good place and a wise purchase here. So many have told me that, even those who are pessimistic about the current market conditions.

[Author]

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