lennar homes in carmel valley

[sdresident]

Looking seriously to buy a new construction SFR, by lennar in CV. It is right next to 56. Can hear freeway noise, but not inside the home(if windows are closed) PPSF is 320. Need to make a decision soon. Is this a good buy ? Thanks.

[barnaby33]

Sure, go for it.
Josh

[earlyretirement]

I’d recommend going several times of day including rush hour and also the weekends.

We looked at a few homes in Collins Ranch in Carmel Valley which is not as close to I-56 and surprisingly we could hear traffic noise from cars even on the weekend when there wasn’t much traffic. The sound from the cars tend a tendency to echo. I’m not sure if it was just that day we went or if it’s always like that.

But for us personally, no way I was going to spend over $1 million on a house and have to worry about keeping my windows shut due to noise from the highway.

I guess it’s just different for different people so you have to determine how much it bothers you. Some people it’s not a big deal but others it’s a no go.

Just keep in mind the weather is so great in San Diego that you’ll have your windows open for much of the year so it just comes down to a personal tolerance level for yourself on the noise.

Which development is this in? Is this the new stuff they are building next to Pacific Highlands Ranch?

For reference, here is the house we visited:

http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Diego/14098-Collins-Ranch-Pl-92130/home/6483283

[bearishgurl]

I hear you, ER. I wouldn’t spend $400K on a home with freeway noise. I can’t stand it and have to have my “quiet enjoyment.”

I won’t live in a hood full or teens or partying college students (with speakers in their car trunks and thrush mufflers), for the same reason.

I don’t even like seeing toys constantly left all over the sidewalks. I would prefer to live with my own “brethren” or senior citizens.

[bearishgurl]

sdresident, aren’t there any available resales in Carmel Valley for you to place offers on which are better-located than the new construction tract you are considering?

The only land left in SD County to build on today is likely the most undesirable, IMHO. Otherwise, it stands to reason that it would have already been developed.

[sdresident]

Thanks ER.
It is not pacific highland ranch, but close to it. Here is the link. There are only 10 homes in the community.
http://www.lennar.com/New-Homes/California/San-Diego/San-Diego/Sandy-Lane#t_h&s_1

[enron_by_the_sea]

If it is important to you, I would double check which schools are assigned to this community. My vague recollection is that some new houses in this area fall under poway unified ( I.e. not CV schools)

[sdresident]

Double checked. Yes school district is important to us.
It is san dieguito school district. Yes CV schools. Following are assigned schools.
Sycamore Ridge School
Torrey Pines High
Carmel Valley Middle

[earlyretirement]

[quote=bearishgurl]I hear you, ER. I wouldn’t spend $400K on a home with freeway noise. I can’t stand it and have to have my “quiet enjoyment.”

I won’t live in a hood full or teens or partying college students (with speakers in their car trunks and thrush mufflers), for the same reason.

I don’t even like seeing toys constantly left all over the sidewalks. I would prefer to live with my own “brethren” or senior citizens.[/quote]

Yep. I’m the same way. Different strokes for different folks. I know many people that don’t mind noise. No way I could put up with the sort of noise that goes on downtown in some areas as well.

For example, I have some friends that lived in the Gas Lamp District and they loved being down in that area EXCEPT for the loud noise. That would get old VERY quickly for me. Even without kids.

[quote=sdresident]Thanks ER.
It is not pacific highland ranch, but close to it. Here is the link. There are only 10 homes in the community.
http://www.lennar.com/New-Homes/California/San-Diego/San-Diego/Sandy-Lane#t_h&s_1%5B/quote%5D

Yeah, I know that area. Convenience-wise that area is VERY nice and I really enjoy it. You avoid the marine layering of nearby Del Mar and you get LOTS of sunny weather yet you avoid the hot temperatures once you go a few more miles inland. It’s GREAT! You also have easy access to I-56, I-5 and not far from I-15 which makes things easy as well.

Ironically, I don’t recall hearing any noise from I-56 from the Pacific Highlands Ranch houses that we saw. It surprised me because Collins Ranch seems to be further away from I-56 and yet we noticed it so maybe things like wind direction, etc. matter? I’m not sure but just passing along what we noticed.

We actually looked at some houses for sale in Pacific Highlands Ranch and we liked some of the houses we saw there. The ONLY problem with many of the houses there was there was literally NO privacy at all unless you happened to have a corner lot house or a house that didn’t have any neighbors in the backyard. But many of those houses are literally on zero lot lines and you have 5 immediate neighbors that can look into your backyard.

I’m not even one of those people that have to have a huge yard. Quite the contrary. I’ll take a 7,000 to 9,000 sq. feet lot that is well positioned to maximize privacy. That just seemed to be hard to find with many of the houses over in Pacific Highlands Ranch and that general neighborhood.

I’ve purchased Lennar Homes before (not in California) and relatively pleased with them. The quality isn’t anything high end so expect to upgrade things like lighting, plumbing fixtures, etc. But I guess the same can be said for many builders these days.

It’s really tough in that $700’s range. That seems to be the big dividing line in the SD area. I know inventory is really tight now but when we were looking back in 2011, when you could go up to the $1 million range the options really opened up and the quality was much much better. (Yeah, yeah I know that’s common sense but it actually surprised me that people were willing to pay $750’s for some of the stuff that was out there at the time). God love the developers that they are able to get it.

And it seemed like many people might be pushing the envelope a bit to even afford the $700 to $800’s range. (Any unforeseen events like job loss of one of the spouses, medical illness or emergency and some can’t afford it anymore. I know several people in this situation that lost their houses).

Did you check out any of the new stuff going up near Del Sur (Camino del Norte / Rancho Bernardo Road)? I’m not sure on price range in that area but I’d guess it’s going to be in that ballpark. I’ve met a few people that bought over in Del Sur and really enjoy it.

Yeah, I’d rather be over in Carmel Valley area vs. closer to 4S Ranch area but you’ll get more “bang for your buck” over in that area and lower price per sq. foot and you have excellent schools over in the PUSD in that area.

Although one thing to compare would be the Mello Roos taxes. I’m not sure how this new development is priced on Mello Roos taxes. Several we looked at in Carmel Valley didn’t have much of a Mello Roos tax compared to other areas so that’s one thing to compare as well.

Good luck.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=sdresident]Double checked. Yes school district is important to us.
It is san dieguito school district. Yes CV schools. Following are assigned schools.
Sycamore Ridge School
Torrey Pines High
Carmel Valley Middle[/quote]

Yeah, that’s something really important to look at if you have to be in the San Dieguito School District. Just down the road turns into Poway Unified. Both are really great school districts.

[sdresident]

Thanks ER for very good insights.
Yes, this itself is a stretch for us.
Wondering if we might be over paying (high ppsf) for this house. Yes, checked out delsur. It is also priced in the 760s (base price) & high melo roos (300 per month more than lennar home), but ppsf is 250.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=sdresident]Thanks ER for very good insights.
Yes, this itself is a stretch for us.
Wondering if we might be over paying (high ppsf) for this house. Yes, checked out delsur. It is also priced in the 760s (base price) & high melo roos (300 per month more than lennar home), but ppsf is 250.[/quote]

You’re certainly welcome.

Well, just be careful “stretching” more than you can comfortably stretch. As mentioned, I have a few college classmates that moved out to San Diego many years ago and they were all doing great when they could use their homes as virtual ATM machines and the values of their houses kept going up….. but once the recession came they all moved out of the area.

I’d just say have some savings aside AFTER the down payment. It seems like so many people in this market are really stretching to buy and what they can afford under the “perfect scenario” of stable job situation with them and their spouses and no one losing a job, etc.

San Diego is a funky market for being such a big city. It has a small town feel to it. Add in the “sunshine tax” factor of nothing special salaries and poor economy and job market (other than if you’re in Biotech or Engineer that could work at Qualcomm type situation, or other possible C-Suite type jobs) the job market here isn’t that great. In fact, you could argue it’s fairly mediocre for being a large metropolitan area.

In other major cities you lose a job and it’s not too tough to find a replacement job where you can earn the same or more. Whereas here in San Diego from what I can see from people I know losing jobs..it takes them a while to find another…or they can’t find a job where they made as much. I even met some people that couldn’t find a job and are commuting to Los Angeles daily/weekly!!

So be honest with yourself to make sure you can comfortably afford the property. I give you BIG kudos for mentioning “this itself is a stretch for us”. Many people in San Diego even when that’s the case won’t admit something like that. Either from pride or more aptly severe DENIAL or many times BOTH.

I guess different people will have different opinions on if it’s worth it to pay the higher price per sq. foot in Carmel Valley vs. Del Sur. It seems like in both areas, there aren’t a shortage of people that will snap up these properties.

Probably the decision for me would come down to how big of a property you need, do you plan on having more kids in the future and need a bigger property (i.e. more bedrooms), where do you work and is the Carmel Valley location much closer to your work, do you already have kids going to school in Carmel Valley and want to keep them in the same school district type of thing?

Wherever you decide to buy…. don’t make the mistake of just planning on what you can afford under the ‘best case’ scenario. People almost always plan on the maximum they can afford on ‘best case’ scenarios. Also, factor in what would happen in a not so best case or even a worst case scenario.

I’ve purchased MANY properties for myself and on behalf of clients of mine and the biggest problem I’ve seen is people that go into a real estate purchase only thinking of the ‘best case’ scenario. Unfortunately in life things happen. So my advice would be to think about that kind of thing as well.

Best of luck to you whatever you decide.

[The-Shoveler]

As far as High Tech software engineering type jobs,
SD is actually not bad especially compared to L.A.
L.A. is a waste land for high tech jobs these days, (most were moved back to San Jose during the tech crash of the early 2000’s).
OC is also not bad compared to L.A. either and is probably about the same commute from SD as it is living in L.A. .
In L.A. Generally you start off working 15 minutes from your work , then after 5-10 years you’re working 40-50 miles away when you next job comes up. (not like San Jose where everything is in one general area).
Everything is far away from everything else in L.A. it seems.

I should say from North SD (Carlsbad etc..) OC is not too bad a commute.
Probably comparable time wise as most L.A. commutes.

[flyer]

Personally, I wouldn’t purchase a home within earshot of 56–but I know many people do–so, as others have said, it all boils down to your tolerance for the inevitable noise situation. Have also heard SR-56 may be widened at some point, only adding to the noise factor.

Also agree with ER with regard to not overextending yourself. I’m a native, and the job market here has always been very different from most any other area. As he said, it seems to be fairly difficult for many people to replace a high-paying job here should it be lost. As an airline pilot, my job has never been dependent upon the state of the San Diego economy, but, from friends, I understand it can be somewhat volatile.

Having lived, and having investment property in areas like CV, etc., I’ve always been amazed at how the majority of the residents in locations like this seem to perpetually stay the same age over a period of many years.

IMO, this points to the fact that there is quite a bit of turnover, and that many residents may not be able to stay and retire in San Diego (should they choose to.) Just an observation.

At any rate, I do wish you the best in your decision, and hope you find a great home for you and your family!

[The-Shoveler]

Just become a Realtor !!
Just kidding sort of.

I know so many co-workers who have over the years became Realtors after losing their High Tech day job.
(the weird thing is most seem to have been able to make it, which I never thought they would be able to).
That’s why I think RE is a lot more than the 5% of the economy they say it is.
More like 20% I think.
Realtors, insurance agents, different construction types, escrow, etc.. this list goes on.

Yea in high tech you can expect to be looking for work every 5 years or so, me I have been lucky and have been in most jobs 10 or so years, but I am an exception I think.

I think that is why I never got the hang up with CV, it’s kind of a one trick pony (smart phones, app’s etc…). North SD seems more flexible as far as commutes IMO (to me north SD is Carlsbad and points north).

[Author]

Posts