Robertson Ranch

[bushman1]

Hello,

We are interested in your thoughts on Robertson Ranch by Toll Brothers in Carlsbad. We are interested in a single level new or newer home. Of course the closer to the beach, the better. We are over 55 and active.

We have read tha recently Toll Brothers stock was downgraded. We are concerned about the size of the development in general.

We appreciate your opinions and any ideas for areas that would fit our needs.

Bushman.

[spdrun]

What is your price range?

Why not just buy an older (1960s/70s) home in C’bad or O’side in an area that’s not infested by HOAs and Mello-Roos? Not as if schools are likely to be an issue.

[bushman1]

Thank you for your reply. We are looking on the low to mid 700’s. We have looked at a few of the older homes this past spring in the 600’s that all seemed to need a lot of work. Maybe by raising our purchase price we can have better options.

Thanks spdrun!

[bearishgurl]

As a homeowner in the 55-64 yo bracket who is considering selling or renting out my residence and relocating to another CA County, I wouldn’t sign up for HOA dues or MR anywhere. Of course, some of the counties I am considering don’t have any MR because they (wisely) issued moratoriums on subdivision permits decades ago.

IMHO, a buyer in yours (and my) age bracket has absolutely no need to pay a $100K to $300K “premium” for new or newer construction in areas where you will be competing (as a buyer) with prospective buyers with school-age children. In SD County, that appears to be what the “premium” is to buy into a “perceived” good school attendance area.

1/12 your MR plus HOA dues can EASILY add up to more than the the monthly “ad valoream” portion of your property tax and will prove to be a “life sentence” for you … even in the absence of a mortgage. These hundreds of dollars per month (even $1000+) would be far better spent on travel (if you do so) or even rehabbing a smallish older home in a far more valuable area much closer to the beach, IMO.

“Robertson Ranch” appears to be about seven miles from the beach. You must know that it isn’t anywhere near the beach:

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrTcddA45tWCv4AWQknnIlQ;_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTY4NwRfcgMyBGZyA3locy1tb3ppbGxhLTAwMgRncHJpZAMuS2RLQ0FYdlFsMjlZUzFLZFNILmdBBG5fcnNsdAMwBG5fc3VnZwM0BG9yaWdpbgNzZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDBHFzdHJsAzI4BHF1ZXJ5A1JvYmVydHNvbiBSYW5jaCBDYXJsc2JhZCBtYXAEdF9zdG1wAzE0NTMwNTY4ODY-?p=Robertson+Ranch+Carlsbad+map&fr2=sb-top-search&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002

Have you inquired as to how much a fire (homeowner’s) policy will cost annually in the vicinity of Robertson Ranch? It appears to be sandwiched amongst at least two notorious repeat high-fire-danger areas. And where do you currently reside, bushman? This info will help the Piggs help you.

[spdrun]

$1000/mo is close to $200k of buying power at current rates. Jussayin’.

[Hobie]

I remember that plot when it was a commercial palm grower or was it tomatoes. Excellant location. Just far enough inland past the coastal fog. $700k appears the low end of the development. Good as the higher $ properties will keep values up. Hoa will probably be high however. But, 700 for new in cbad is good.

Not sure why you care about stock price unless you are thinking of solvency of the builder.

El Camino Real is a busy road. Not sure if that will be a noise problem. Lot’s of shopping nearby.

Watch paying for the view as there is that proposed 85/15 ( Nordstrom mall )project next to the Hwy 5. Power plant was supposed to demolish the smokestack at some point but I don’t know any more details.

Interesting the state allows new developments that require water when the rest of us have to cut back to give them the supply. Grr. ( personal bias not limited to this project 😉 )

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Hobie]I remember that plot when it was a commercial palm grower or was it tomatoes. Excellant location. Just far enough inland past the coastal fog. $700k appears the low end of the development. Good as the higher $ properties will keep values up. Hoa will probably be high however. But, 700 for new in cbad is good.

Not sure why you care about stock price unless you are thinking of solvency of the builder.

El Camino Real is a busy road. Not sure if that will be a noise problem. Lot’s of shopping nearby.

Watch paying for the view as there is that proposed 85/15 ( Nordstrom mall )project next to the Hwy 5. Power plant was supposed to demolish the smokestack at some point but I don’t know any more details.

Interesting the state allows new developments that require water when the rest of us have to cut back to give them the supply. Grr. ( personal bias not limited to this project 😉 )[/quote]

Hobie, after I posted, I looked around on realtor.com and only found one *new* listing in RR that meets the OP’s criteria:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Canelli_Toll-Brothers-at-Robertson-Ranch-The-Vistas_2483-Wellspring-St_Carlsbad_CA_92010_P414010707622

The asking price is $809,995 and no lot size is provided in the listing.

Of course, there may be one-story homes in other subdivisions/phases which are not listed on the MLS. I haven’t checked but maybe the amount of monthly MR is listed in the same listing in the sdlookup aggregator. I don’t know if the MR in this/these CFD(s) will be for 30 years or 40 years but that is a l-o-o-o-ong time for someone over 55 to commit to.

It wasn’t the state which allowed this/these CFD’s to be formed, Hobie. It was the City of Carlsbad who likely annexed this land to itself at some point (from the county) and approved the CFD formation and subsequent subdivisions.

The OP seems to have an aversion to doing any rehab or repair work upon COE but at the price he/she would be paying for HOA/MR in an area such as RR, he could hire a general contractor to totally remodel an older home before move in much cheaper and be done with it! (At least if he/she plans on living beyond the age of 70 or so, lol.) The market will take care of the rest with a better-located home than those in RR.

btw, Toll Bros is claiming that RR is only 3 miles from the ocean. Ha ha! I haven’t mapped it on mapquest but it looks like 5.5 to 7 miles away to me. I was originally looking at all the comm’l sprawl to the SE of RR (7-12 miles away from the beach?) and not the star on the map when I originally posted that it was 7 miles away.

[spdrun]

If I were the OP, I’d look at one of the following and spend a few hundred k doing a full reno. Though I wonder what’s wrong /w the first house since it’s been 6 months on market…

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-150047324-310_S_Tremont_St_Oceanside_CA_92054

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-160001331-1229_Chambord_Ct_Oceanside_CA_92054

Both are within urinary distance of the ocean.

[bearishgurl]

Since the OP stated he/she was looking at ~$600K homes last spring and determined that they needed too much work to place an offer on, I decided to look around at current existing one-story SFR inventory in C-bad and came across this flipper ~six blocks from the beach:

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-160000368-3950_Hibiscus_Carlsbad_CA_92008

Purchased on 8/31/15 for $641K, it has the exact same floating floor, even down to its color (called “wood tile” in the listing) in the main living areas that I saw at Lowes at closing last night for 99 cents per sf! They had 36 boxes left … enough to do a much bigger house than this. The bdrms in this listing either still have the old carpet (cleaned) in them or the flippers “sprung” for new carpet (cheap, of course). They apparently put a roof on, sod in the front yard and possibly resealed the pool. They replaced the appls and possibly the A/C (or just had it repaired) and installed bullet lighting (currently on clearance at HD – endcap at the center of the electrical aisles). They also possibly repaired/replaced the pool pump and/or filter. The glass tile they used in the kitchen and glass mosaic tile they used in the bathroom is ALSO on clearance at Lowes (12×24′ sheets in boxes) piled in pallets in the middle of the store 8′ high! They didn’t even put 67-cent covers (I just bought some last night, lol) on the outlets in the kitchen before taking the listing photos. They just left the wires hanging!

I’m putting this “plain jane,” lipstick-on-a-pig beach listing out there just to illustrate that there IS money to be made by buying the “ugly” fixer which this OP may have very well “passed up” back in Spring 2015 due to the amount of work it needed. Even if the “profit” is only a paper gain (due to lifetime residency after rehab) a buyer in this OP’s demographic would be better off buying a fixer, imho. These flippers only “worked” rehabbing this listing for four months (Sept, Oct, Nov and Dec) and may have even finished before the holidays. It was listed approx 1/3/16.

OP, you can’t do this by buying new construction. All you will do (at your age) is sign yourself up to a lifetime (however long that may turn out to be) of indentured servitude if you buy into the vast majority of new construction subdivisions in CA.

These flippers are asking $914,900 and its been on the market for 2 weeks. Not sure they’ll get that, due to it being slightly more than spitting distance from the train tracks, but they may very well get into the high 800’s. I predict these flippers will recover between $210K and $260K in profit after costs of improvement and costs of sale are factored in!

[bushman1]

Thank you all for the valuable information. Here is the info that we have on Robertson Ranch.
We were looking at a one story, $744k, 1578 sq ft
Mello Roos $1522 per year
HOA $266 month
Property Tax 1.071%

We currently live in San Marcos (about 6 miles from the beach) and own our 2 story 1590 sq ft condo. We pay Mello Roos and HOA about $1000 less per year less than we would in RR.

Your listings are appreciated. Not something our realtor even showed us…our eyes are open. Any feedback is very much appreciated.

Bushman

[spdrun]

What the motorcycling flip are you getting for $266/mo HOA in a detached home?

[bushman1]

Some of the amenities are 5 parks, pool, recreation center.

[spdrun]

Will you really use those if you’re near the ocean and a public park or three?

[bearishgurl]

[quote=bushman1]Thank you all for the valuable information. Here is the info that we have on Robertson Ranch.
We were looking at a one story, $744k, 1578 sq ft
Mello Roos $1522 per year
HOA $266 month
Property Tax 1.071%

We currently live in San Marcos (about 6 miles from the beach) and own our 2 story 1590 sq ft condo. We pay Mello Roos and HOA about $1000 less per year less than we would in RR.

Your listings are appreciated. Not something our realtor even showed us…our eyes are open. Any feedback is very much appreciated.

Bushman[/quote]

bushman, that new RR smallish home you are considering is going to cost you $393 ($127 MR plus $266 HOA dues) for LIFE (+ any hikes to your HOA dues in the future)!

You state you currently pay ~$309 mo in MR and HOA ($1000 yr less than you would pay in RR). Since those fees are for a condo complex, you are presumably getting some services for your HOA dues portion (trash pickup, common area liability insurance and possibly water and sewer if you live in an attached dwelling). That’s not near as bad as having to pay $393 month for basically nothing for a single-family home. You don’t need a community “tot lot” anymore and if you don’t play tennis, you don’t need a community tennis court, etc, either.

Do you have any idea what $393 would buy each and every month at Lowes or Home Depot? If you have good credit, you could go on a 6-12 month “interest-free” payment plan at one of these big box stores and buy $4716 (amt of annual MR + HOA at RR) of flooring (with or without installation) for 12 even $393 payments and after the 12th payment, your payments would be over! That is almost enough to rip out old carpet and do 1000 sf of a 1550-1575 sf home in a really nice brand-name hardwood strip flooring (3 color choices), including installation (w/no stairs) at $5890 ($5.89 sf, incl tax & installation)!!

http://www.lowes.com/pd_145269-972-E2100YP___?productId=50188925&pl=1&Ntt=bruce+hardwood+flooring

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Bruce-American-Originals-Natural-Oak-5-16-in-Thick-x-2-1-4-in-Wide-x-Random-Length-Solid-Hardwood-Flooring-40-sq-ft-case-SNHD2210/204655209

Maybe your realtor didn’t show you very many resales because you told her/him that you didn’t want to do any work on it after COE or you walked out of the first few (s)he showed you due to minor flaws. The reality is that you could buy a lite “cosmetic fixer” with zero MR and HOA dues and situated closer to the beach than RR and just move room to room every month or two spending +/- $400 month on it until it was exactly the way you wanted it. When you were done remodeling, your payments would end.

Here are some current listings which fit your criteria and aren’t hanging directly over one of the busiest thoroughfares in North County (like the RR SFR listing was that I posted yesterday):

Short sale in La Costa area – east end of the Lagoon:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1742-Catalpa-Rd_Carlsbad_CA_92011_M17634-79201

~2 miles east of I-5:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2724-Waterbury-Way_Carlsbad_CA_92010_M26948-02397

~3.5 miles east of I-5:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2957-Avenida-Valera_Carlsbad_CA_92009_M23563-04470

~4 miles east of I-5:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2711-El-Rastro-Ln_Carlsbad_CA_92009_M21755-90542

~4.5 miles east of I-5:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2653-Vancouver-St_Carlsbad_CA_92010_M16824-63042

~5 miles east of I-5:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/7505-Solano-St_Carlsbad_CA_92009_M29735-03009

~3 miles east of I-5:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/6423-La-Paloma-St_Carlsbad_CA_92009_M21997-87511

short sale <1 mile east of I-5:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2031-Lee-Ct_Carlsbad_CA_92008_M18248-17597

I feel that the last link on Lee Ct would be a good buy if obtained at or near it's asking price. Nearly ALL of the above listings have ample lots (30-50% larger than the std size lot in SD County). What are the lot sizes in the subdivision you are considering in RR, bushman? Do the homes even have backyards, or just a “breezeway” hanging out over El Camino Real? If you can go up to ~$800K, I saw 2-3 more resale listings up there which I would consider to be “turnkey” or nearly so.

bushman, have you viewed any of the above listings? If so, did you make any offers? If not, why not?

Perhaps Pigg CA renter can chime in here with good input on the above listings (quality of build/local micro-area, etc). IIRC, she purchased a one-story home (w/no MR/HOA dues) in Carlsbad just a few years back (after being a longtime renter there) and completely gutted/remodeled it before moving in. She knows the area well.

[bushman1]

Thank you.

[Author]

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