North County San Diego

[lucmom]

Hi,
We have a toddler and currently live in the Mission Hills area of San Diego. Although we love the diversity, location, and actual house we live in, we are not thrilled with the local public schools, but do not want to go the private school route.

We have been looking in North County, but are somewhat discouraged at our lack of success on finding a great combination of well laid out home, at least somewhat diverse (cultural or socio-economic) neighborhood, family friendly neighborhood, and good schools. We’ve been looking at some La Costa developments, Encinitas Ranch, Del Sur, and other related areas.

We’re looking for a 4+ bedroom house, 3000+ sq ft.

Does anyone have suggestions on neighborhoods?

Thanks —

[JWM in SD]

YOu mean to buy????? Sure hope not..

[JWM in SD]

YOu mean to buy????? Sure hope not..

[lucmom]

Yes, we are planning to buy. Why the shock?

[lucmom]

Yes, we are planning to buy. Why the shock?

[temeculaguy]

Now those are some terms I would have never have put together “culturally and economically diverse” and “La Costa and Encinitas.”

I am afraid there is no easy way to break the news to you, socio economic diversity = crappy schools. You may find some cultural diversity in the better school districts but that diversity won’t come in the form of a large amount of spanish speakers aka english language learners. Poway, Carlsbad, Encinitas, La Costa, La Jolla, Rancho Bernardo and Scripps have some of the best schools in the county but I doubt you’ll find anyone use the word “diverse” when describing them. You will find all the races represented but upper and upper middle class neighborhoods for the most part have upper and upper middle class people. If you have to pick, pick the best school and just don’t teach your kid to be a racist or an elitist, perhaps mandate charity work as a family while they grow up.

Please read some of the other threads before you buy now or rent in one of those communities first, I feel like I have been transported back in time and I am watching someone buy a ticket on the titanic.

[temeculaguy]

Now those are some terms I would have never have put together “culturally and economically diverse” and “La Costa and Encinitas.”

I am afraid there is no easy way to break the news to you, socio economic diversity = crappy schools. You may find some cultural diversity in the better school districts but that diversity won’t come in the form of a large amount of spanish speakers aka english language learners. Poway, Carlsbad, Encinitas, La Costa, La Jolla, Rancho Bernardo and Scripps have some of the best schools in the county but I doubt you’ll find anyone use the word “diverse” when describing them. You will find all the races represented but upper and upper middle class neighborhoods for the most part have upper and upper middle class people. If you have to pick, pick the best school and just don’t teach your kid to be a racist or an elitist, perhaps mandate charity work as a family while they grow up.

Please read some of the other threads before you buy now or rent in one of those communities first, I feel like I have been transported back in time and I am watching someone buy a ticket on the titanic.

[JJGittes]

Stick to the encinitas union/san deguito school district, which is basically southeast carlsbad and encinitas (ie 92024 and 92009). Carlsbad school dist. is ok too, but I still like the deguito district better. El camino creek elem, OLP elem, and Mission estancia are all particularly good elem schools. Digueno middle is good, and LCC High/San Deguito academy are also very very good. The realtor websites all pull from the mls so they all have about the same info. many of them have a map feature to zero in on the areas around the schools I mentioned. Watch out in la costa, much of it is in the san marcos school district.

Also be sure to check out Craigslist real estate section for fsbo’s etc.

Buying now doesn’t shock me (probably a near lone voice here), as long as you are doing a lateral move from primary res to primary res, and aren’t planning on flipping. Timing the market with your HOME has never interested me.

[JJGittes]

Stick to the encinitas union/san deguito school district, which is basically southeast carlsbad and encinitas (ie 92024 and 92009). Carlsbad school dist. is ok too, but I still like the deguito district better. El camino creek elem, OLP elem, and Mission estancia are all particularly good elem schools. Digueno middle is good, and LCC High/San Deguito academy are also very very good. The realtor websites all pull from the mls so they all have about the same info. many of them have a map feature to zero in on the areas around the schools I mentioned. Watch out in la costa, much of it is in the san marcos school district.

Also be sure to check out Craigslist real estate section for fsbo’s etc.

Buying now doesn’t shock me (probably a near lone voice here), as long as you are doing a lateral move from primary res to primary res, and aren’t planning on flipping. Timing the market with your HOME has never interested me.

[SD Realtor]

Lucmom I will repeat what I always say to people in your boat. Regarding the decision to buy… if it is based simply on economics, you will get a better deal, perhaps much better…Now I also know and understand that there are many decisions that go into wanting to purchase a home. My wife and I used to live not far from Mission Hills, Talmadge to be exact and our major decision to move was due to the school districts, or lack there of in that area. We liked the neighborhood but were not overly thrilled about raising our kids there. We have two toddlers now. Anyways we are on our third rental in the past 2.5 years and it is getting old…

With that said what you are looking for is out there. However I am not sure of the cultural diversity you will find in La Costa or Encinitas Ranch. Don’t get me wrong, I think these are fantastic neighborhoods. Del Sur will most likely be more culturally diverse then the other two. I would agree with the assessments of the school district in these areas. You may find Carmel Valley also presents a bit more diversity (Asian and Indian) in addition to white families. Scripps Ranch may also present an alternative but that is San Diego Unified schools. University City as well. There is also possibly 4S Ranch. Note that University City will have older housing stock. Scripps has a mix of older and newer homes. Carmel Valley has mostly newer stock but the west part of Carmel Valley has some stock built in the 80’s as well. Really it all depends on your budget. My advice is to continue to be super selective. The main problem is that many sellers right now are simply not realistic about the price of their homes right now… Also in many of the areas you are looking in, the depreciation cycle has not hit to hard yet, so again, many sellers are in denial. If you have patience you will be able to gain the upper hand. However it may take longer then most of us wish. If you do end up purchasing a home in the next few months or even a year, just do not over extend yourself, realize that there will be some more depreciation, and enjoy your home and schools for the next many years to come.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Lucmom I will repeat what I always say to people in your boat. Regarding the decision to buy… if it is based simply on economics, you will get a better deal, perhaps much better…Now I also know and understand that there are many decisions that go into wanting to purchase a home. My wife and I used to live not far from Mission Hills, Talmadge to be exact and our major decision to move was due to the school districts, or lack there of in that area. We liked the neighborhood but were not overly thrilled about raising our kids there. We have two toddlers now. Anyways we are on our third rental in the past 2.5 years and it is getting old…

With that said what you are looking for is out there. However I am not sure of the cultural diversity you will find in La Costa or Encinitas Ranch. Don’t get me wrong, I think these are fantastic neighborhoods. Del Sur will most likely be more culturally diverse then the other two. I would agree with the assessments of the school district in these areas. You may find Carmel Valley also presents a bit more diversity (Asian and Indian) in addition to white families. Scripps Ranch may also present an alternative but that is San Diego Unified schools. University City as well. There is also possibly 4S Ranch. Note that University City will have older housing stock. Scripps has a mix of older and newer homes. Carmel Valley has mostly newer stock but the west part of Carmel Valley has some stock built in the 80’s as well. Really it all depends on your budget. My advice is to continue to be super selective. The main problem is that many sellers right now are simply not realistic about the price of their homes right now… Also in many of the areas you are looking in, the depreciation cycle has not hit to hard yet, so again, many sellers are in denial. If you have patience you will be able to gain the upper hand. However it may take longer then most of us wish. If you do end up purchasing a home in the next few months or even a year, just do not over extend yourself, realize that there will be some more depreciation, and enjoy your home and schools for the next many years to come.

SD Realtor

[buyorhold]

I know that many here will not agree with me… but we are also looking to purchase a new home, in 4S to be exact, for reasons very similar to yours. We fully know that prices will probably drop more…but we really do not want to stay in our tiny condo any longer. We want a decent backyard for our child to play in, decent school districts, nice parks…etc. And I know many here will tell me I’m crazy… but I really do believe that if I plan to stay in that house for a decade or two, we should be ok…

I do agree that it is a buyer’s market out there, make sure you do plenty of looking around and negotiate like crazy.

Best of luck to you!

[buyorhold]

I know that many here will not agree with me… but we are also looking to purchase a new home, in 4S to be exact, for reasons very similar to yours. We fully know that prices will probably drop more…but we really do not want to stay in our tiny condo any longer. We want a decent backyard for our child to play in, decent school districts, nice parks…etc. And I know many here will tell me I’m crazy… but I really do believe that if I plan to stay in that house for a decade or two, we should be ok…

I do agree that it is a buyer’s market out there, make sure you do plenty of looking around and negotiate like crazy.

Best of luck to you!

[CardiffBaseball]

I have been watching the market in Cardiff, and so far you seem to get more house for the money than you did last year, though listings are all over the place. No way am I considering buying around here, I just extended my lease.

Mission Hills I thought wouldn’t be a bad place to go once my kids are out of school. Technically I could move since my kids are going to enroll in private school soon however I don’t want them to be a long way from school, or else I’d trade houses with you.

I literally went the opposite way of diversity, and looked at areas that matched my demographic when moving out to SD. However, you don’t escape all child rearing problems up here. Namely I think you have to more vigilant about watching for signs of drug use, because many of the shiftless kids with wealthy parents are into the drug scene.

[CardiffBaseball]

I have been watching the market in Cardiff, and so far you seem to get more house for the money than you did last year, though listings are all over the place. No way am I considering buying around here, I just extended my lease.

Mission Hills I thought wouldn’t be a bad place to go once my kids are out of school. Technically I could move since my kids are going to enroll in private school soon however I don’t want them to be a long way from school, or else I’d trade houses with you.

I literally went the opposite way of diversity, and looked at areas that matched my demographic when moving out to SD. However, you don’t escape all child rearing problems up here. Namely I think you have to more vigilant about watching for signs of drug use, because many of the shiftless kids with wealthy parents are into the drug scene.

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