OT: Analysis of San Luis Obispo

[bibsoconner]

Very much of a long shot, but does anyone know of any analysis websites like this one but centered on the San Luis Obispo (SLO) area? A “Rich Toscano” but for SLO? Failing that, opinions pulled out of you know where are perfectly acceptable! It is off-topic after all.

I have some extra money to play with and one idea that occurred to me was a place in SLO. My son is going to university there and it occurred to me I could save on dorm/rent by placing him in a small house/condo. Of course, that is not the only reason. My wife and I love the area and think it would be great to retire to (10 years give or take).

Where the analysis comes in is: What are the cap rates? Have prices come down? Are prices likely to go up (expected student enrollment going forward, student housing being built?). Best neighborhoods within SLO area (best for renting to students?).
I suppose a perfectly reasonable alternative idea is a house in a neighboring city and tell the kid to drive to university. Might cut down on student renters which could be good or bad.
Thanks!

[Pbranding]

https://www.movoto.com/san-luis-obispo-ca/market-trends/

[sdrealtor]

FWIW SLO is a very conservative part of the state. Depending upon your political slant that’s good or bad

[svelte]

Pretty much anything that is not coastal is very conservative in California.

[sdrealtor]

Agreed but strange nonetheless for a large university town in CA

[svelte]

2020 Numbers

California Inland College Town Counties
SLO County…..37% Dem 34% Rep
Fresno County..39% Dem 32% Rep….(Fresno State)
Butte County…35% Dem 35% Rep….(Chico State)
Riverside Co…39% Dem 32% Rep….(UC Riverside)

Want to see some really conservative counties?
Kern County….34% D 36% R….spread 2%
Tulare Co……33% D 38% R….spread 5%
Inyo Co…….33% D 39% R….spread 6%
Madera Co……32% D 39% R….spread 7%
Del Norte Co…29% D 39% R….spread 10%
Colusa Co……31% D 41% R….spread 10%
Siskiyou Co….30% D 40% R….spread 10%
Sutter Co……30% D 40% R….spread 10%
El Dorado Co…30% D 41% R….spread 11%
Placer Co……30% D 41% R….spread 11%
Yuba Co……..28% D 39% R….spread 11%
Sierra Co……28% D 42% R….spread 14%
Plumas Co……29% D 44% R….spread 15%
Tuolumne Co….29% D 44% R….spread 15%
Glenn County…28% D 44% R….spread 16%
Mariposa Co….28% D 45% R….spread 17%
Amador Co……28% D 46% R….spread 18%
Shasta Co……23% D 41% R….spread 18%
Calaveras Co…27% D 46% R….spread 19%
Tehama Co……28% D 47% R….spread 19%
Modoc County…21% D 54% R….spread 33%
Lassen County..18% D 54% R….spread 36%

I’ve lived in a few of those counties for a number of years – they are conservative!

Many of the counties on this list are north-northeast of Sacramento. If you drive in that area you’ll see plenty of “State of Jefferson” signs…they want to break off from California and form their own state! A whole different world than the California coast I can tell you. I have friends and family there so I visit often.

Note that the only inland college town county that starts to lean red is Butte, which is north-northeast of Sacramento.

https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ror/15day-gen-2020/county.pdf

[sdrealtor]

There’s one problem with this hypothesis. SLO is 10 miles from the coast and is really more coastal then inland in location. . It is basically San Marcos equivalent. It’s the same distance as SDSU to Ocean Beach

[bibsoconner]

Thanks all!

I’ll keep my eye/ears open. I probably need to put boots on the ground and start scoping out neighborhoods and get a feel for local conditions so I’m ready to pounce on the day that Rich (or his SLO equivalent) says “this is the bottom” 🙂

I’m fairly liberal but have generally found you can find a like minded group of people in most places so I’m not particularly worried what the average is as long as there is some spread in beliefs. I’ve met very conservative folks from San Francisco and Boston that I enjoy teasing with “Hey, aren’t you suppose to be a far left liberal?”. Heck, in my own Ocean Beach, which folks including myself describe as full of “drugged out hippie children”, we have a not insignificant conservative minority.
Thank you all.

[sdrealtor]

Hit the Firestone restaurant there on the main drag when you visit. Good food and fun.

[svelte]

[quote=sdrealtor]There’s one problem with this hypothesis. SLO is 10 miles from the coast and is really more coastal then inland in location. . It is basically San Marcos equivalent. It’s the same distance as SDSU to Ocean Beach[/quote]

Which may explain why SLO is not all that conservative judging by the Dem vs Rep registration. There are much more conservative areas of the state.

And coastal = Dem inland = Rep is an overgeneralization but pretty accurate if you subtract out inland big cities which also tend Dem.

[sdrealtor]

Weird it posted twice

[sdrealtor]

Unconfirmed but I’d guess the students balance out the general politics of the area. Absolutely agree there are far more conservative areas of CA. Just wanted to point out that someone going there to retire would want to know many long time residents lean pretty far right for what is a coastal area

[sdduuuude]

[quote=bibsoconner]I’m fairly liberal but have generally found you can find a like minded group of people in most places … [/quote]

Strange. I thought liberals were into diversity … huh.

Anyway, I have a daughter at SLO. We wondered the same thing when she started there but that was 2020 so it didn’t make sense since so few kids were on campus. Still, I wish we had done it. Finding housing is very tough, very competitive and we are paying 4BR rates for a 2BR place that has cheap partitions thrown up in the bedrooms. Plus appreciation since 2020 would be significant. I’d say go for it and look for a 4 BR place so you can get a group of 4 to each have their own bedroom.

SLO is definitely more conservative than much of California but I have seen evidence of both there. The numbers showing a fairly even split make sense.

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