SM – Santa Fe Hills

[djc]

Curious – Santa Fe Hills is cheaper than other areas of SM. Some houses are sub $200 sq/ft. Why are these cheaper? Proximity to Vista? Planned development behind?

[svelte]

SM guy here.

Funny, I was just talking with one of my neighbors about this the other day.

My take is that it can be attributed to a combination of four things:

1. Age: SFH is the oldest of the “new” (ie master planned) communities in San Marcos. Well SFH and Discovery Hills both, anyway.

2. Space: SFH is a little more claustrophobic than other SM areas for some reason. The streets are wide enough, but in some places the homes feel closer together.

3. HOA: I think that SFH is the only new community in SFH without an HOA. I know there are a lot of folks on here that hate HOAs, but they do tend to result in better-kept communities…which leads to the fourth reason:

4. Condition: SFH just feels a little more run down that the other new developments. Probably due to the age and lack of HOA, but it definitely does. Walk through there one weekday evening and you’ll notice the garage doors, yards, driveways just aren’t as nice. And you’ll also notice the streets are just lined with cars in the evening!

I don’t think the proximity to Vista plays into it at all.

Don’t get me wrong, we have friends who live there and it’s a fine place to live.

But there is definitely a difference.

[djc]

Thank you for your reply and insight. It did seem a bit tight when I drove through there, but they sure look nice on Redfin!

I know the Smilax area in Vista is rather shady and SFH isn’t too far from there. There’s a new development west of SFH that is rather cheap too, but it is closer to the bad area and has a train track running right next to it.

What areas of SM do you like? SEH is back to ridiculous prices.

[svelte]

My thoughts on San Marcos homes (a street in each subdivision given in parenthesis):

-Bel Esprit (Bel Esprit Cir): Nice homes, fairly quiet, easy freeway access
-Belleza (Camino Hermoso): Tiny lots, odd location
-Buenavista (Rush Drive): Gated
-Campana (Wandering Way): Gated, too close to CSUSM
-Discovery Hills (Poppy Road): Nice central location
-Dove Glen (Red Fox Ln): Nice homes, larger lots, easy access to major roads
-Hampton Hill(Lake Ridge Drive): Well established, not much privacy
-Olive Hill Estates (Settlers Court): Nice homes & lots
-Pinehurst Collection (Turtle Point Way): Nice homes, some are oddly situated
-Rancho Dorado (Island Drive): Great views, nice homes
-Rancho Santalina (Pegasus Way): Weird location, small lots
-Rosemont (Violet Ave): Close to mining operation (but it’s scheduled to close I think)
-Sage Canyon Ranch (Ariana Road): Very nice well kept development. Nice quiet location
-Santa Fe Hills (Corte Raquel): Nice central location, only one on list with no HOA I think
-Silver Crest (Edgewater): Close to Sprinter, gated
-Stone Canyon (Canyon Heights): Nice homes, nice views, gated
-Twin Oaks Valley Ranch (Pebble Beach Drive): Nice homes, well kept
-Varadero (Camino del Arroyo): Awesome sweeping views! Tiny lots, mostly old folks
-Victoria Ranch (Victoria Way): 1 acre lots, huge homes, gated
-Walnut Hill (Silver Shadow Drive): well established, nice layout, country feel
-Williamsburg (Rose Arbor Dr): Gated and always feels claustrophobic to me. Little privacy.

Now, if you don’t mind older homes here are some areas that always intrigue me:

-Coronado Hills (Washingtonia Drive): Awesome views, high fire danger, only one way in/out
-San Marcos Farms (Birchwood Dr): larger lots, quiet, private. I’ve watched this area for years – very little goes up for sale.

I’ve never been a big fan of SEH, probably because I don’t understand the draw and I think it gets waaay too much attention already.

[SMRealEstate]

I think the wide variety of homes in SFH makes it difficult to say that SFH is cheaper than other parts of San Marcos. Homes were built between 1990 and 2004, by two different builders. The square footage ranges from ranch 1,050 to two story 3,555. The older (and smaller) homes are closer to Palomar College, which makes parking and traffic more annoying (fines for street sweeping). Those are also the homes that probably appear less unkept. On the opposite spectrum, several homes have oceans views. Several homes have amazing views of ridgelines. Several homes are nearby a really nice community path.. exact opposite of claustrophobic. In fact, I think most homes in SFH are less claustrophobic than SEH, and Discovery Hills.

When you add up and round everything, the older section of SFH brings down the value of the newer section of SFH. To get a better picture, you should select the different sections of SFH and perform averages on each section.

[svelte]

[quote=SMRealEstate] On the opposite spectrum, several homes have oceans views. [/quote]

SFH is in the valley surrounded by hills.

Which homes have ocean views in Santa Fe Hills?

[djc]

On another note – do you know of any place to see what’s available via new construction in NC? My googling has yielded dated information. I saw something on the east side of RSF north of La Costa ave but can’t remember what it was.

I don’t think there’s much new contraction in the area, but curious about what there is.

[Prufrock]

I think you mean Arterro at La Costa, which is adjacent the new La Costa Town Square.

[djc]

Yeah, I drove by again and got the name. Way out of my range.

[djc]

Silver Crest seems to be newer and lower cost per sq/ft, entrance looks inconvenient from the east (take Barham Dr all the way to Barham Ln and backtrack?)

Ranch Santalina is rather new.

What’s the negatives about these areas? Sprinter / Train noise? Freeway noise?

[Author]

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