Sunset Cliffs

[PerryChase]

lindismith, I didn’t ask the question but I appreciate your comments. I beleive I share your tastes in San Diego neighborhoods.

I currently live in North County and I am so tired of suburban life. I’m looking to move to central SD when the time is right. I’m now browsing the Net, and driving around to get familiar with different areas of central San Diego.

[Anonymous]

Pt Loma is nice and pleasant area. It would be a nice place to live if you were far enough away from the flight path. However, for a family it wouldn’t be great. Like any high priced area of San Diego, there are very few young families. It is mostly older people, old money. I don’t see it as a good place to have kids. Although frankly I don’t see very many areas of San Diego are good places to have kids.

[hammer]

Thanks Deadzone,

If you are not high on Sunset Cliffs, do you have another recommendation for a couple living downtown

[Anonymous]

Pt Loma is by far the nicest area in central SD in my opinion. Unfortunately, due to its pricy homes young families have generally been priced out for a long time. I would agree with most of the other posters, Mission Hills is very nice, maybe select areas of Clairmont and Bay Park. If you are willing to spend upwards of 700K then you could also get into the La Jolla market in a couple of years. But La Jolla has the same problem where the young families are priced out so I don’t see it as an ideal place to raise kids either.

[hammer]

Deadzone,

What part of the La Jolla market may come available in that range? BirdRock? I am not to familiar of the pockets of La Jolla. WHich pockets ae most family friendly?

[barnaby33]

Put your helmet on!

Why, does he ride the short bus?

Josh

[barnaby33]

If you have 700 to 900k this might be too blue collar for you but, Tierrasanta is very family friendly. Plus you can live right next to America’s largest urban park, which I just love. The schools as I understand it are pretty good, and its certainly a safe area. My girlfriend lives there and has since 94.
Josh

[zk]

If you like Sunset Cliffs, then you probably wouldn’t like a bland suburb. But if you wouldn’t rule it out, consider this:

Carmel Valley (which is as bland and suburban as it gets) does have great schools and, despite being relatively expensive, has a very large number of young families. It is also very mild in the summer, with highs usually in the low to mid 70s. It is very close to the I-5, and commute times to downtown wouldn’t be too bad. It is also a very safe, family-oriented place to live. For 900k you can get a 2600sf house on a 4000-5000 sf lot.

[sdrealtor]

That was last month. This month in carmel valley you can get a well upgraded 3000+ sq ft home on a 6000 to 7000 sq ft lot for 900K.

[zk]

“This month in carmel valley you can get a well upgraded 3000+ sq ft home on a 6000 to 7000 sq ft lot for 900K.”

I believe that’s a tad hyperbolic, but there are a couple examples of motivated sellers getting only a bit more than 900k for homes that almost fit the above description. Of course, motivated sellers seem to be the only ones closing deals these days. And in another few months the above may be the norm. Heck, in a couple years, you might need a 4500sf mansion with a pool to fetch 900k.

[SD Realtor]

Hi Hammer –

SD Realtor here, different person then sdrealtor. If you are planning on occupying the home you live in for several years then you should be okay. Make no mistake I do believe we have more depreciation coming so be prepared to take a ride down and then back up again. However if you enjoy where you live and have a secure financing vehicle then you will be fine. My brother lived there for many years and loved it. There was definite noise from the flight path (where he lived) so beware of that. If you are south down towards Pt Loma then you will be fine. Also as others have commented the east side of the hill is really nice as well. I am not overly thrilled about the Southpark area due to the school districts. The same is true for North Park, Talmadge, Kensington, University Heights areas. Don’t get me wrong, they are nice places, I own a home in Talmadge, however unless you plan on private schools I would not recommend those locations for a family raising thier kids and sending them to public schools. As other posts have recommended alot of people recommended Carmel Valley. Cookie cutter homes with not much personality but they are newer, and the school districts are very good. You may want to compromise in a community like University City. The home stock is a bit older but they are still nice homes and the school district is good, not as great as Carmel Valley but still good. Finally you get a bit more value then Carmel Valley and you are about 15 minutes closer to downtown.

[sdrealtor]

ZK,
I think not! I saw a house last week on Shorepointe in Sansonnet on the market 4 months with an asking price of 950 to 999K. It was beautifully upgraded and well landscaped with a lot size of 6621 sq ft. The yard had a spa, bbq island, waterfall and beautiful flowers. The house was 5BR/3.5BA built in 2000 with a very nice open/flowing floorplan and good size 2ndary BR’s (14 X 12). I spoke with the agent and they were anxious to see any and all offers. They were offering to pay closing costs and the buyers mortgage until the end of the year.

It just went into escrow so we’ll know what it went for in a month or so.

There was also a 3700 sq ft home on Longshore asking 999K on a 5600 sq ft lot. It went into escrow this week also.

[sdduuuude]

The canyon homes in Clairemont are a great value. The parts of Clairemont most poeople see are pretty low-end, but if you have someone who knows the ins and outs looking for you, you can find some great homes, especially with your budget.

I would always prefer those homes built in the 50s to any built in the 70s or later. The quality is excellent. You just have to find those areas with larger lot sizes, back in the canyons, away from the well-travelled streets.

Not sure what lindismith means by “getting in and out is for the birds.” Getting in and out of Point Loma is TERRIBLE compared to Clairemont. In PL, Your only choices are Nimitz and Rosecrans. You are stuck on a peninsula. Clairemont is surrounded by freeways. You have your choice of freeway access in any direction at any time and no freeway meters on Hwy 52.

If Clairemont is too cheap for you, consider UTC. You’ll get less home for the money, but it is a much nicer area and shares the central location of Clairemont.

Also, Bay Park and Bay Ho are nice. Lots of canyons and views of the bay. Sloped lots can lead to small yards, though, and the views will cost plenty.

The advantage of Bay Park, Clairemont and UTC over Point Loma = no airport noise, fewer overcast, foggy and misty days, less compact.

[zk]

I concur with the duuuuude on access to Clairemont.

UTC, if I’m not mistaken, gets a fair amount of noise from Miramar Jet departures. Anybody ever live there that can tell us about that?

sdrealtor: Those were exactly the two “motivated sellers” to which I was referring. They both probably got more than 900k, the 3700sf one probably significantly more. The one with the 6k+ sf lot has lots of unuseable slope in that square footage. So maybe we’re splitting hairs there, but the important thing is that, yes, you can get somewhat more there now than you could a month or two ago.

Sounds like you know CV pretty well. I have a question for you. A large percentage of buyers in CV are Chinese. The Chinese love the number 8 (their word for 8 sounds like their word for prosperity) and hate the number 4 (sounds like “death” in Chinese). The street number of the 3700 sf house is 4414. Do you think this might’ve reduced the number of potential buyers for that house?

I’ve noticed that at all the new home releases, there are huge numbers of Chinese (in fact, at one release, I was the only white person there out of 47, most or all of them being Chinese, Indian or Middle Eastern), but I don’t know about the resale market (maybe they prefer new homes). Any insight on that?

[Anonymous]

Bay Park! definitely Bay Park. I work downtown often and it takes about 10 minutes to get down there. I live in the upper section of Bay Park where we have views of Mission Bay and the SeaWorld fireworks. The streets are wide and many of the houses have been/are being remodeled. Friendly, family-oriented neighborhoods with young couples and older retirees – a mix of all kinds of people. Our block party last weekend had 350 neighbors attend! Remember that Bay Park is not really a part of Clairemont – some people phrase it like that. We’re next to Clairemont, but worlds apart! different zip code, even. Homes in Bay Park generally sell from $600-700k. Homes with the best views, tho, will go for $200-300k more.

[Author]

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