[bearishgurl]

[quote=SkyRanchOwner]. . . Good point flu, but really, the Board of Supervisors needs to listen to the people of Santee. This is an old building/comlex left over from the 60s. There are many places to put this jail, and there has been a lot of redevelopment in Santee to support not plopping the new expansion jail in the middle of it all.[/quote]

Skyranchowner, the County has owned this land for nearly 50 years. Not only is Las Colinas situated there, but Edgemoor long-term care facility is also there, as well as other County offices. The County has a *fleet* of attorneys well versed in land-use matters in its employ and at their disposal (not hourly) to pursue eminent domain. They have nothing but time on their hands and will litigate into oblivion, all the way through the appeal process.

Every single business that has moved into Santee in recent years was AWARE that the County owned a HUGE parcel in the middle of Santee BEFORE they moved in.

County is only attempting to get eminent domain rights against the developer’s use of the fringes of the land they already own (most likely for easements for jail bus parking, truck loading ramps and the like).

I am a retired County employee, not necessarily always on the side of the County and can tell you that yes, this particular group of supervisors has been on board for 16 to 18 years. Every 4 years, each one comes up for re-election in their respective districts (Slater-Price’s and Horn’s districts have been “gerrymandered” in recent years) and they either run unopposed or “win” another term. I can personally recall two expensive and persistent campaigning attempts by one of the County’s unions for Dianne Jacob’s running mates. Alas, they did not work.

Skyranchowner, the PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN. Things are what they are. You must accept what Santee actually is below you as it is in your constant view 🙂

[bearishgurl]

[quote=SkyRanchOwner]. . . Good point flu, but really, the Board of Supervisors needs to listen to the people of Santee. This is an old building/comlex left over from the 60s. There are many places to put this jail, and there has been a lot of redevelopment in Santee to support not plopping the new expansion jail in the middle of it all.[/quote]

Skyranchowner, the County has owned this land for nearly 50 years. Not only is Las Colinas situated there, but Edgemoor long-term care facility is also there, as well as other County offices. The County has a *fleet* of attorneys well versed in land-use matters in its employ and at their disposal (not hourly) to pursue eminent domain. They have nothing but time on their hands and will litigate into oblivion, all the way through the appeal process.

Every single business that has moved into Santee in recent years was AWARE that the County owned a HUGE parcel in the middle of Santee BEFORE they moved in.

County is only attempting to get eminent domain rights against the developer’s use of the fringes of the land they already own (most likely for easements for jail bus parking, truck loading ramps and the like).

I am a retired County employee, not necessarily always on the side of the County and can tell you that yes, this particular group of supervisors has been on board for 16 to 18 years. Every 4 years, each one comes up for re-election in their respective districts (Slater-Price’s and Horn’s districts have been “gerrymandered” in recent years) and they either run unopposed or “win” another term. I can personally recall two expensive and persistent campaigning attempts by one of the County’s unions for Dianne Jacob’s running mates. Alas, they did not work.

Skyranchowner, the PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN. Things are what they are. You must accept what Santee actually is below you as it is in your constant view 🙂

[bearishgurl]

[quote=SkyRanchOwner]. . . Good point flu, but really, the Board of Supervisors needs to listen to the people of Santee. This is an old building/comlex left over from the 60s. There are many places to put this jail, and there has been a lot of redevelopment in Santee to support not plopping the new expansion jail in the middle of it all.[/quote]

Skyranchowner, the County has owned this land for nearly 50 years. Not only is Las Colinas situated there, but Edgemoor long-term care facility is also there, as well as other County offices. The County has a *fleet* of attorneys well versed in land-use matters in its employ and at their disposal (not hourly) to pursue eminent domain. They have nothing but time on their hands and will litigate into oblivion, all the way through the appeal process.

Every single business that has moved into Santee in recent years was AWARE that the County owned a HUGE parcel in the middle of Santee BEFORE they moved in.

County is only attempting to get eminent domain rights against the developer’s use of the fringes of the land they already own (most likely for easements for jail bus parking, truck loading ramps and the like).

I am a retired County employee, not necessarily always on the side of the County and can tell you that yes, this particular group of supervisors has been on board for 16 to 18 years. Every 4 years, each one comes up for re-election in their respective districts (Slater-Price’s and Horn’s districts have been “gerrymandered” in recent years) and they either run unopposed or “win” another term. I can personally recall two expensive and persistent campaigning attempts by one of the County’s unions for Dianne Jacob’s running mates. Alas, they did not work.

Skyranchowner, the PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN. Things are what they are. You must accept what Santee actually is below you as it is in your constant view 🙂

[bearishgurl]

svelte, I agree with your analogy about the quality of renters a particular property attracts. IMO, LOCATION and FAIR RENT is EVERYTHING here. The key to landlording is to ATTRACT and KEEP LONG-TERM tenants. IMO, this is far MORE IMPORTANT than being able to frequently raise the rent.

My former rentals were in SE San Diego. I cleaned up after SO MANY TENANTS (sometimes on holiday weekends and one time while nearly 9 mos. pregnant) and the work we had to do to ready the property for rent was typically FAR MORE than their deposit provided for. (A deposit equal to one mos. rent was all we could collect.) I won *12* small claims judgments for the balance of damages but was only able to collect on two of them. I had to replace the front door frame four times, the LR window once and the screens many times, due to damage from break ins. Eventually, we just installed wrought iron.

At the time of purchase, the neighborhood was fine, but between ’84 and ’86 went severely downhill due to PCP being sold openly down the street and the main drag turned into a race course for drunks. Eventually, all the local phone booths were stripped due to illegal activity being conducted from them. The police frequently used the field across the street for their helicopter “launching pad.”

Even though (conveniently) 5 mins. from NAVSTA (32nd St.), it got to a point where we couldn’t keep tenants even for the duration of their six-month lease. Two moved out in the middle of the night. Now, this ‘hood is somewhat “cleaned up” but IMO still not a good investment today at prices at or less than we paid almost 30 yrs. ago!

I think the best rentals are SFR vacation rentals (NOT TIMESHARES)! I’m looking into purchasing a 1300-1500 SF house in South Lake Tahoe, CA within one block of the free bus line to Heavenly and less than one mile from the south shore of the lake. Yes, I will turn it over to prop. mgmt. except for perhaps 1 week in winter which will be reserved for me and my family to ski. Even if it is sometimes vacant, I expect to make more than enough to pay the annual PITI and maintenance from the year-round day/wk/month rental fees (minus mgmt. fees). Many SFR’s in S. Lake Tahoe are rented day/wk/month. I don’t think this practice is allowed anywhere in SD except perhaps Mission Beach and Carlsbad (OB not anymore??). A vacation rental typically brings in a much higher rent than a regular rental.

At today’s prices, this property will cost me between $175K and $250K and I will put $50K down. In July/August 2014, I will sell here in SD County, retire in my “vacation rental” myself, do some minor remodel work and turn into a ski bum, that is, if my knees hold up – LOL! My kids have already and will leave SD County upon HS graduation as they have tasted other places they like better (other parts of Cal).

[bearishgurl]

svelte, I agree with your analogy about the quality of renters a particular property attracts. IMO, LOCATION and FAIR RENT is EVERYTHING here. The key to landlording is to ATTRACT and KEEP LONG-TERM tenants. IMO, this is far MORE IMPORTANT than being able to frequently raise the rent.

My former rentals were in SE San Diego. I cleaned up after SO MANY TENANTS (sometimes on holiday weekends and one time while nearly 9 mos. pregnant) and the work we had to do to ready the property for rent was typically FAR MORE than their deposit provided for. (A deposit equal to one mos. rent was all we could collect.) I won *12* small claims judgments for the balance of damages but was only able to collect on two of them. I had to replace the front door frame four times, the LR window once and the screens many times, due to damage from break ins. Eventually, we just installed wrought iron.

At the time of purchase, the neighborhood was fine, but between ’84 and ’86 went severely downhill due to PCP being sold openly down the street and the main drag turned into a race course for drunks. Eventually, all the local phone booths were stripped due to illegal activity being conducted from them. The police frequently used the field across the street for their helicopter “launching pad.”

Even though (conveniently) 5 mins. from NAVSTA (32nd St.), it got to a point where we couldn’t keep tenants even for the duration of their six-month lease. Two moved out in the middle of the night. Now, this ‘hood is somewhat “cleaned up” but IMO still not a good investment today at prices at or less than we paid almost 30 yrs. ago!

I think the best rentals are SFR vacation rentals (NOT TIMESHARES)! I’m looking into purchasing a 1300-1500 SF house in South Lake Tahoe, CA within one block of the free bus line to Heavenly and less than one mile from the south shore of the lake. Yes, I will turn it over to prop. mgmt. except for perhaps 1 week in winter which will be reserved for me and my family to ski. Even if it is sometimes vacant, I expect to make more than enough to pay the annual PITI and maintenance from the year-round day/wk/month rental fees (minus mgmt. fees). Many SFR’s in S. Lake Tahoe are rented day/wk/month. I don’t think this practice is allowed anywhere in SD except perhaps Mission Beach and Carlsbad (OB not anymore??). A vacation rental typically brings in a much higher rent than a regular rental.

At today’s prices, this property will cost me between $175K and $250K and I will put $50K down. In July/August 2014, I will sell here in SD County, retire in my “vacation rental” myself, do some minor remodel work and turn into a ski bum, that is, if my knees hold up – LOL! My kids have already and will leave SD County upon HS graduation as they have tasted other places they like better (other parts of Cal).

[bearishgurl]

svelte, I agree with your analogy about the quality of renters a particular property attracts. IMO, LOCATION and FAIR RENT is EVERYTHING here. The key to landlording is to ATTRACT and KEEP LONG-TERM tenants. IMO, this is far MORE IMPORTANT than being able to frequently raise the rent.

My former rentals were in SE San Diego. I cleaned up after SO MANY TENANTS (sometimes on holiday weekends and one time while nearly 9 mos. pregnant) and the work we had to do to ready the property for rent was typically FAR MORE than their deposit provided for. (A deposit equal to one mos. rent was all we could collect.) I won *12* small claims judgments for the balance of damages but was only able to collect on two of them. I had to replace the front door frame four times, the LR window once and the screens many times, due to damage from break ins. Eventually, we just installed wrought iron.

At the time of purchase, the neighborhood was fine, but between ’84 and ’86 went severely downhill due to PCP being sold openly down the street and the main drag turned into a race course for drunks. Eventually, all the local phone booths were stripped due to illegal activity being conducted from them. The police frequently used the field across the street for their helicopter “launching pad.”

Even though (conveniently) 5 mins. from NAVSTA (32nd St.), it got to a point where we couldn’t keep tenants even for the duration of their six-month lease. Two moved out in the middle of the night. Now, this ‘hood is somewhat “cleaned up” but IMO still not a good investment today at prices at or less than we paid almost 30 yrs. ago!

I think the best rentals are SFR vacation rentals (NOT TIMESHARES)! I’m looking into purchasing a 1300-1500 SF house in South Lake Tahoe, CA within one block of the free bus line to Heavenly and less than one mile from the south shore of the lake. Yes, I will turn it over to prop. mgmt. except for perhaps 1 week in winter which will be reserved for me and my family to ski. Even if it is sometimes vacant, I expect to make more than enough to pay the annual PITI and maintenance from the year-round day/wk/month rental fees (minus mgmt. fees). Many SFR’s in S. Lake Tahoe are rented day/wk/month. I don’t think this practice is allowed anywhere in SD except perhaps Mission Beach and Carlsbad (OB not anymore??). A vacation rental typically brings in a much higher rent than a regular rental.

At today’s prices, this property will cost me between $175K and $250K and I will put $50K down. In July/August 2014, I will sell here in SD County, retire in my “vacation rental” myself, do some minor remodel work and turn into a ski bum, that is, if my knees hold up – LOL! My kids have already and will leave SD County upon HS graduation as they have tasted other places they like better (other parts of Cal).

[bearishgurl]

svelte, I agree with your analogy about the quality of renters a particular property attracts. IMO, LOCATION and FAIR RENT is EVERYTHING here. The key to landlording is to ATTRACT and KEEP LONG-TERM tenants. IMO, this is far MORE IMPORTANT than being able to frequently raise the rent.

My former rentals were in SE San Diego. I cleaned up after SO MANY TENANTS (sometimes on holiday weekends and one time while nearly 9 mos. pregnant) and the work we had to do to ready the property for rent was typically FAR MORE than their deposit provided for. (A deposit equal to one mos. rent was all we could collect.) I won *12* small claims judgments for the balance of damages but was only able to collect on two of them. I had to replace the front door frame four times, the LR window once and the screens many times, due to damage from break ins. Eventually, we just installed wrought iron.

At the time of purchase, the neighborhood was fine, but between ’84 and ’86 went severely downhill due to PCP being sold openly down the street and the main drag turned into a race course for drunks. Eventually, all the local phone booths were stripped due to illegal activity being conducted from them. The police frequently used the field across the street for their helicopter “launching pad.”

Even though (conveniently) 5 mins. from NAVSTA (32nd St.), it got to a point where we couldn’t keep tenants even for the duration of their six-month lease. Two moved out in the middle of the night. Now, this ‘hood is somewhat “cleaned up” but IMO still not a good investment today at prices at or less than we paid almost 30 yrs. ago!

I think the best rentals are SFR vacation rentals (NOT TIMESHARES)! I’m looking into purchasing a 1300-1500 SF house in South Lake Tahoe, CA within one block of the free bus line to Heavenly and less than one mile from the south shore of the lake. Yes, I will turn it over to prop. mgmt. except for perhaps 1 week in winter which will be reserved for me and my family to ski. Even if it is sometimes vacant, I expect to make more than enough to pay the annual PITI and maintenance from the year-round day/wk/month rental fees (minus mgmt. fees). Many SFR’s in S. Lake Tahoe are rented day/wk/month. I don’t think this practice is allowed anywhere in SD except perhaps Mission Beach and Carlsbad (OB not anymore??). A vacation rental typically brings in a much higher rent than a regular rental.

At today’s prices, this property will cost me between $175K and $250K and I will put $50K down. In July/August 2014, I will sell here in SD County, retire in my “vacation rental” myself, do some minor remodel work and turn into a ski bum, that is, if my knees hold up – LOL! My kids have already and will leave SD County upon HS graduation as they have tasted other places they like better (other parts of Cal).

[bearishgurl]

svelte, I agree with your analogy about the quality of renters a particular property attracts. IMO, LOCATION and FAIR RENT is EVERYTHING here. The key to landlording is to ATTRACT and KEEP LONG-TERM tenants. IMO, this is far MORE IMPORTANT than being able to frequently raise the rent.

My former rentals were in SE San Diego. I cleaned up after SO MANY TENANTS (sometimes on holiday weekends and one time while nearly 9 mos. pregnant) and the work we had to do to ready the property for rent was typically FAR MORE than their deposit provided for. (A deposit equal to one mos. rent was all we could collect.) I won *12* small claims judgments for the balance of damages but was only able to collect on two of them. I had to replace the front door frame four times, the LR window once and the screens many times, due to damage from break ins. Eventually, we just installed wrought iron.

At the time of purchase, the neighborhood was fine, but between ’84 and ’86 went severely downhill due to PCP being sold openly down the street and the main drag turned into a race course for drunks. Eventually, all the local phone booths were stripped due to illegal activity being conducted from them. The police frequently used the field across the street for their helicopter “launching pad.”

Even though (conveniently) 5 mins. from NAVSTA (32nd St.), it got to a point where we couldn’t keep tenants even for the duration of their six-month lease. Two moved out in the middle of the night. Now, this ‘hood is somewhat “cleaned up” but IMO still not a good investment today at prices at or less than we paid almost 30 yrs. ago!

I think the best rentals are SFR vacation rentals (NOT TIMESHARES)! I’m looking into purchasing a 1300-1500 SF house in South Lake Tahoe, CA within one block of the free bus line to Heavenly and less than one mile from the south shore of the lake. Yes, I will turn it over to prop. mgmt. except for perhaps 1 week in winter which will be reserved for me and my family to ski. Even if it is sometimes vacant, I expect to make more than enough to pay the annual PITI and maintenance from the year-round day/wk/month rental fees (minus mgmt. fees). Many SFR’s in S. Lake Tahoe are rented day/wk/month. I don’t think this practice is allowed anywhere in SD except perhaps Mission Beach and Carlsbad (OB not anymore??). A vacation rental typically brings in a much higher rent than a regular rental.

At today’s prices, this property will cost me between $175K and $250K and I will put $50K down. In July/August 2014, I will sell here in SD County, retire in my “vacation rental” myself, do some minor remodel work and turn into a ski bum, that is, if my knees hold up – LOL! My kids have already and will leave SD County upon HS graduation as they have tasted other places they like better (other parts of Cal).

[bearishgurl]

ctr70, investing in condos can be unpredictable, what with the Board being able to raise Assn. fees and impose “special assessments” at their whim. In other words, you don’t have CONTROL over the maintenance overhead with a condo, whereby with an SFR, you do. If you’re not particularly handy, just do what you can do between tenants (clean, paint, etc.) and hire a handyman to do the rest. This is MUCH CHEAPER than paying monthly Assn. dues. Also, everything you said about the assn’s financial shape and ratio of homeowners to renters MATTERS when you try to resell your rental unit (when you are tired of the headaches, can’t manage yourself anymore, etc). IMHO it DOESN’T REALLY MATTER if you picked up the unit at a bargain price as you are only buying “airspace.” Why don’t you look at some 2-4 bdrm older homes in SD that need a little cosmetic update for rentals?

Tenants on a budget are not necessarily flocking to the ‘hoods with the “best schools,” even if they have kids. Many use relative’s addresses for school attendance purposes. Trust me when I tell you that tenant families typically KNOW their way around VEEP, magnet programs, zone and interdistrict transfers to get their kids into the schools they want, regardless of where they live.

IMO there will be an endless supply of tenant families in the coming months/years because of evictions from the homes they previously “owned.” Well priced rental houses will be attractive to them. They don’t have to be *newer* or in the best school attendance areas to attract tenants. Keep an open mind and allow small pets, with a deposit. Try to keep the rent at $1400 to $1800 mo. and you will very likely have a long-term tenant.

[bearishgurl]

ctr70, investing in condos can be unpredictable, what with the Board being able to raise Assn. fees and impose “special assessments” at their whim. In other words, you don’t have CONTROL over the maintenance overhead with a condo, whereby with an SFR, you do. If you’re not particularly handy, just do what you can do between tenants (clean, paint, etc.) and hire a handyman to do the rest. This is MUCH CHEAPER than paying monthly Assn. dues. Also, everything you said about the assn’s financial shape and ratio of homeowners to renters MATTERS when you try to resell your rental unit (when you are tired of the headaches, can’t manage yourself anymore, etc). IMHO it DOESN’T REALLY MATTER if you picked up the unit at a bargain price as you are only buying “airspace.” Why don’t you look at some 2-4 bdrm older homes in SD that need a little cosmetic update for rentals?

Tenants on a budget are not necessarily flocking to the ‘hoods with the “best schools,” even if they have kids. Many use relative’s addresses for school attendance purposes. Trust me when I tell you that tenant families typically KNOW their way around VEEP, magnet programs, zone and interdistrict transfers to get their kids into the schools they want, regardless of where they live.

IMO there will be an endless supply of tenant families in the coming months/years because of evictions from the homes they previously “owned.” Well priced rental houses will be attractive to them. They don’t have to be *newer* or in the best school attendance areas to attract tenants. Keep an open mind and allow small pets, with a deposit. Try to keep the rent at $1400 to $1800 mo. and you will very likely have a long-term tenant.

[bearishgurl]

ctr70, investing in condos can be unpredictable, what with the Board being able to raise Assn. fees and impose “special assessments” at their whim. In other words, you don’t have CONTROL over the maintenance overhead with a condo, whereby with an SFR, you do. If you’re not particularly handy, just do what you can do between tenants (clean, paint, etc.) and hire a handyman to do the rest. This is MUCH CHEAPER than paying monthly Assn. dues. Also, everything you said about the assn’s financial shape and ratio of homeowners to renters MATTERS when you try to resell your rental unit (when you are tired of the headaches, can’t manage yourself anymore, etc). IMHO it DOESN’T REALLY MATTER if you picked up the unit at a bargain price as you are only buying “airspace.” Why don’t you look at some 2-4 bdrm older homes in SD that need a little cosmetic update for rentals?

Tenants on a budget are not necessarily flocking to the ‘hoods with the “best schools,” even if they have kids. Many use relative’s addresses for school attendance purposes. Trust me when I tell you that tenant families typically KNOW their way around VEEP, magnet programs, zone and interdistrict transfers to get their kids into the schools they want, regardless of where they live.

IMO there will be an endless supply of tenant families in the coming months/years because of evictions from the homes they previously “owned.” Well priced rental houses will be attractive to them. They don’t have to be *newer* or in the best school attendance areas to attract tenants. Keep an open mind and allow small pets, with a deposit. Try to keep the rent at $1400 to $1800 mo. and you will very likely have a long-term tenant.

[bearishgurl]

ctr70, investing in condos can be unpredictable, what with the Board being able to raise Assn. fees and impose “special assessments” at their whim. In other words, you don’t have CONTROL over the maintenance overhead with a condo, whereby with an SFR, you do. If you’re not particularly handy, just do what you can do between tenants (clean, paint, etc.) and hire a handyman to do the rest. This is MUCH CHEAPER than paying monthly Assn. dues. Also, everything you said about the assn’s financial shape and ratio of homeowners to renters MATTERS when you try to resell your rental unit (when you are tired of the headaches, can’t manage yourself anymore, etc). IMHO it DOESN’T REALLY MATTER if you picked up the unit at a bargain price as you are only buying “airspace.” Why don’t you look at some 2-4 bdrm older homes in SD that need a little cosmetic update for rentals?

Tenants on a budget are not necessarily flocking to the ‘hoods with the “best schools,” even if they have kids. Many use relative’s addresses for school attendance purposes. Trust me when I tell you that tenant families typically KNOW their way around VEEP, magnet programs, zone and interdistrict transfers to get their kids into the schools they want, regardless of where they live.

IMO there will be an endless supply of tenant families in the coming months/years because of evictions from the homes they previously “owned.” Well priced rental houses will be attractive to them. They don’t have to be *newer* or in the best school attendance areas to attract tenants. Keep an open mind and allow small pets, with a deposit. Try to keep the rent at $1400 to $1800 mo. and you will very likely have a long-term tenant.

[bearishgurl]

ctr70, investing in condos can be unpredictable, what with the Board being able to raise Assn. fees and impose “special assessments” at their whim. In other words, you don’t have CONTROL over the maintenance overhead with a condo, whereby with an SFR, you do. If you’re not particularly handy, just do what you can do between tenants (clean, paint, etc.) and hire a handyman to do the rest. This is MUCH CHEAPER than paying monthly Assn. dues. Also, everything you said about the assn’s financial shape and ratio of homeowners to renters MATTERS when you try to resell your rental unit (when you are tired of the headaches, can’t manage yourself anymore, etc). IMHO it DOESN’T REALLY MATTER if you picked up the unit at a bargain price as you are only buying “airspace.” Why don’t you look at some 2-4 bdrm older homes in SD that need a little cosmetic update for rentals?

Tenants on a budget are not necessarily flocking to the ‘hoods with the “best schools,” even if they have kids. Many use relative’s addresses for school attendance purposes. Trust me when I tell you that tenant families typically KNOW their way around VEEP, magnet programs, zone and interdistrict transfers to get their kids into the schools they want, regardless of where they live.

IMO there will be an endless supply of tenant families in the coming months/years because of evictions from the homes they previously “owned.” Well priced rental houses will be attractive to them. They don’t have to be *newer* or in the best school attendance areas to attract tenants. Keep an open mind and allow small pets, with a deposit. Try to keep the rent at $1400 to $1800 mo. and you will very likely have a long-term tenant.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=UCGal]Your kidding about them moving Las Colinas, right?

NO neighborhood wants a prison in their backyard. It’s already in Santee – and it seems extremely unlikely that it will be moved to someone elses backyard. NIMBYism will prevent it. Where are they going to move it? It has to be central enough to get to the 3 courthouses in the county (downtown San Diego, El Cajon, North County). Santee fits that bill.

I think the people of Santee need to be comfortable with Las Colinas – they’re going to coexist as long as we need a womens detention center.

Santee is nice enough. I’m not a Santee basher. Las Colinas wouldn’t be a deciding factor if I were looking there. One of my extended family is looking at REOs out there.[/quote]

You are correct, UCGal, IMO the law is on the side of the County here.

See: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/30/las-colinas-jail-land-to-be-acquired-by-eminent/

(I noticed Flu’s post of last night [above] referring to the same article in this link after I posted.)

Santee has historically been one of the absolute CHEAPEST places to buy raw land in the entire county, due to a variety of factors (heat, air pollution, lack of zoning, etc). In short, it fails the “location, location, location” test.

No doubt Lennar purchased the land to develop Sky Ranch dirt cheap (esp. since they had to cut off the top of one of Santee’s surrounding mtns (which sock it in with air pollution). There are absolutely no sales comparables in Santee to support Lennar’s purported asking prices here. They have obviously over-developed for the area. The $3,300+ a month that SkyRanchOwner posted is an ASTRONOMICAL monthly cash outlay to live in SANTEE!! SkyRanchOwner may have a large house, but IMHO a $600K+ purchase price will buy a VERY well-located property with LAND (1/4 AC – 1 AC) in SD County. Well-located LAND is generally MORE VALUABLE THAN ANY lot in a *NEW* subdivision. With a $323 mo. HOA fee, SkyRanchOwner could purchase A LOT of home improvement products EACH MONTH to fix up a large cosmetic fixer on LAND and she/he would be giving back to THEMSELVES every month in the form of sweat equity instead of an “HOA.”

No offense to any Piggs here but even though many businesses have moved into Santee in the last 20 years, its topographical, geographical and zoning issues render it as having what we refer to in RE parlance as “economic obsolescence.”

[bearishgurl]

[quote=UCGal]Your kidding about them moving Las Colinas, right?

NO neighborhood wants a prison in their backyard. It’s already in Santee – and it seems extremely unlikely that it will be moved to someone elses backyard. NIMBYism will prevent it. Where are they going to move it? It has to be central enough to get to the 3 courthouses in the county (downtown San Diego, El Cajon, North County). Santee fits that bill.

I think the people of Santee need to be comfortable with Las Colinas – they’re going to coexist as long as we need a womens detention center.

Santee is nice enough. I’m not a Santee basher. Las Colinas wouldn’t be a deciding factor if I were looking there. One of my extended family is looking at REOs out there.[/quote]

You are correct, UCGal, IMO the law is on the side of the County here.

See: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/30/las-colinas-jail-land-to-be-acquired-by-eminent/

(I noticed Flu’s post of last night [above] referring to the same article in this link after I posted.)

Santee has historically been one of the absolute CHEAPEST places to buy raw land in the entire county, due to a variety of factors (heat, air pollution, lack of zoning, etc). In short, it fails the “location, location, location” test.

No doubt Lennar purchased the land to develop Sky Ranch dirt cheap (esp. since they had to cut off the top of one of Santee’s surrounding mtns (which sock it in with air pollution). There are absolutely no sales comparables in Santee to support Lennar’s purported asking prices here. They have obviously over-developed for the area. The $3,300+ a month that SkyRanchOwner posted is an ASTRONOMICAL monthly cash outlay to live in SANTEE!! SkyRanchOwner may have a large house, but IMHO a $600K+ purchase price will buy a VERY well-located property with LAND (1/4 AC – 1 AC) in SD County. Well-located LAND is generally MORE VALUABLE THAN ANY lot in a *NEW* subdivision. With a $323 mo. HOA fee, SkyRanchOwner could purchase A LOT of home improvement products EACH MONTH to fix up a large cosmetic fixer on LAND and she/he would be giving back to THEMSELVES every month in the form of sweat equity instead of an “HOA.”

No offense to any Piggs here but even though many businesses have moved into Santee in the last 20 years, its topographical, geographical and zoning issues render it as having what we refer to in RE parlance as “economic obsolescence.”

[Author]

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