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carli
ParticipantAlong similar lines, here’s a copy of Thomas Friedman’s piece in the NY Times yesterday –
May 4, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
Who Will Tell the People?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMANTraveling the country these past five months while writing a book, I’ve had my own opportunity to take the pulse, far from the campaign crowds. My own totally unscientific polling has left me feeling that if there is one overwhelming hunger in our country today it’s this: People want to do nation-building. They really do. But they want to do nation-building in America.
They are not only tired of nation-building in Iraq and in Afghanistan, with so little to show for it. They sense something deeper — that we’re just not that strong anymore. We’re borrowing money to shore up our banks from city-states called Dubai and Singapore. Our generals regularly tell us that Iran is subverting our efforts in Iraq, but they do nothing about it because we have no leverage — as long as our forces are pinned down in Baghdad and our economy is pinned to Middle East oil.
Our president’s latest energy initiative was to go to Saudi Arabia and beg King Abdullah to give us a little relief on gasoline prices. I guess there was some justice in that. When you, the president, after 9/11, tell the country to go shopping instead of buckling down to break our addiction to oil, it ends with you, the president, shopping the world for discount gasoline.
We are not as powerful as we used to be because over the past three decades, the Asian values of our parents’ generation — work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means — have given way to subprime values: “You can have the American dream — a house — with no money down and no payments for two years.”
That’s why Donald Rumsfeld’s infamous defense of why he did not originally send more troops to Iraq is the mantra of our times: “You go to war with the army you have.” Hey, you march into the future with the country you have — not the one that you need, not the one you want, not the best you could have.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Singapore. In J.F.K.’s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit. Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore’s ultramodern airport, with free Internet portals and children’s play zones throughout. We felt, as we have before, like we had just flown from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. If all Americans could compare Berlin’s luxurious central train station today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would swear we were the ones who lost World War II.
How could this be? We are a great power. How could we be borrowing money from Singapore? Maybe it’s because Singapore is investing billions of dollars, from its own savings, into infrastructure and scientific research to attract the world’s best talent — including Americans.
And us? Harvard’s president, Drew Faust, just told a Senate hearing that cutbacks in government research funds were resulting in “downsized labs, layoffs of post docs, slipping morale and more conservative science that shies away from the big research questions.” Today, she added, “China, India, Singapore … have adopted biomedical research and the building of biotechnology clusters as national goals. Suddenly, those who train in America have significant options elsewhere.”
Much nonsense has been written about how Hillary Clinton is “toughening up” Barack Obama so he’ll be tough enough to withstand Republican attacks. Sorry, we don’t need a president who is tough enough to withstand the lies of his opponents. We need a president who is tough enough to tell the truth to the American people. Any one of the candidates can answer the Red Phone at 3 a.m. in the White House bedroom. I’m voting for the one who can talk straight to the American people on national TV — at 8 p.m. — from the White House East Room.
Who will tell the people? We are not who we think we are. We are living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. We still have all the potential for greatness, but only if we get back to work on our country.
I don’t know if Barack Obama can lead that, but the notion that the idealism he has inspired in so many young people doesn’t matter is dead wrong. “Of course, hope alone is not enough,” says Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, “but it’s not trivial. It’s not trivial to inspire people to want to get up and do something with someone else.”
It is especially not trivial now, because millions of Americans are dying to be enlisted — enlisted to fix education, enlisted to research renewable energy, enlisted to repair our infrastructure, enlisted to help others. Look at the kids lining up to join Teach for America. They want our country to matter again. They want it to be about building wealth and dignity — big profits and big purposes. When we just do one, we are less than the sum of our parts. When we do both, said Shriver, “no one can touch us.”
ParticipantAlong similar lines, here’s a copy of Thomas Friedman’s piece in the NY Times yesterday –
May 4, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
Who Will Tell the People?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMANTraveling the country these past five months while writing a book, I’ve had my own opportunity to take the pulse, far from the campaign crowds. My own totally unscientific polling has left me feeling that if there is one overwhelming hunger in our country today it’s this: People want to do nation-building. They really do. But they want to do nation-building in America.
They are not only tired of nation-building in Iraq and in Afghanistan, with so little to show for it. They sense something deeper — that we’re just not that strong anymore. We’re borrowing money to shore up our banks from city-states called Dubai and Singapore. Our generals regularly tell us that Iran is subverting our efforts in Iraq, but they do nothing about it because we have no leverage — as long as our forces are pinned down in Baghdad and our economy is pinned to Middle East oil.
Our president’s latest energy initiative was to go to Saudi Arabia and beg King Abdullah to give us a little relief on gasoline prices. I guess there was some justice in that. When you, the president, after 9/11, tell the country to go shopping instead of buckling down to break our addiction to oil, it ends with you, the president, shopping the world for discount gasoline.
We are not as powerful as we used to be because over the past three decades, the Asian values of our parents’ generation — work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means — have given way to subprime values: “You can have the American dream — a house — with no money down and no payments for two years.”
That’s why Donald Rumsfeld’s infamous defense of why he did not originally send more troops to Iraq is the mantra of our times: “You go to war with the army you have.” Hey, you march into the future with the country you have — not the one that you need, not the one you want, not the best you could have.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Singapore. In J.F.K.’s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit. Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore’s ultramodern airport, with free Internet portals and children’s play zones throughout. We felt, as we have before, like we had just flown from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. If all Americans could compare Berlin’s luxurious central train station today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would swear we were the ones who lost World War II.
How could this be? We are a great power. How could we be borrowing money from Singapore? Maybe it’s because Singapore is investing billions of dollars, from its own savings, into infrastructure and scientific research to attract the world’s best talent — including Americans.
And us? Harvard’s president, Drew Faust, just told a Senate hearing that cutbacks in government research funds were resulting in “downsized labs, layoffs of post docs, slipping morale and more conservative science that shies away from the big research questions.” Today, she added, “China, India, Singapore … have adopted biomedical research and the building of biotechnology clusters as national goals. Suddenly, those who train in America have significant options elsewhere.”
Much nonsense has been written about how Hillary Clinton is “toughening up” Barack Obama so he’ll be tough enough to withstand Republican attacks. Sorry, we don’t need a president who is tough enough to withstand the lies of his opponents. We need a president who is tough enough to tell the truth to the American people. Any one of the candidates can answer the Red Phone at 3 a.m. in the White House bedroom. I’m voting for the one who can talk straight to the American people on national TV — at 8 p.m. — from the White House East Room.
Who will tell the people? We are not who we think we are. We are living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. We still have all the potential for greatness, but only if we get back to work on our country.
I don’t know if Barack Obama can lead that, but the notion that the idealism he has inspired in so many young people doesn’t matter is dead wrong. “Of course, hope alone is not enough,” says Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, “but it’s not trivial. It’s not trivial to inspire people to want to get up and do something with someone else.”
It is especially not trivial now, because millions of Americans are dying to be enlisted — enlisted to fix education, enlisted to research renewable energy, enlisted to repair our infrastructure, enlisted to help others. Look at the kids lining up to join Teach for America. They want our country to matter again. They want it to be about building wealth and dignity — big profits and big purposes. When we just do one, we are less than the sum of our parts. When we do both, said Shriver, “no one can touch us.”
ParticipantAlong similar lines, here’s a copy of Thomas Friedman’s piece in the NY Times yesterday –
May 4, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
Who Will Tell the People?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMANTraveling the country these past five months while writing a book, I’ve had my own opportunity to take the pulse, far from the campaign crowds. My own totally unscientific polling has left me feeling that if there is one overwhelming hunger in our country today it’s this: People want to do nation-building. They really do. But they want to do nation-building in America.
They are not only tired of nation-building in Iraq and in Afghanistan, with so little to show for it. They sense something deeper — that we’re just not that strong anymore. We’re borrowing money to shore up our banks from city-states called Dubai and Singapore. Our generals regularly tell us that Iran is subverting our efforts in Iraq, but they do nothing about it because we have no leverage — as long as our forces are pinned down in Baghdad and our economy is pinned to Middle East oil.
Our president’s latest energy initiative was to go to Saudi Arabia and beg King Abdullah to give us a little relief on gasoline prices. I guess there was some justice in that. When you, the president, after 9/11, tell the country to go shopping instead of buckling down to break our addiction to oil, it ends with you, the president, shopping the world for discount gasoline.
We are not as powerful as we used to be because over the past three decades, the Asian values of our parents’ generation — work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means — have given way to subprime values: “You can have the American dream — a house — with no money down and no payments for two years.”
That’s why Donald Rumsfeld’s infamous defense of why he did not originally send more troops to Iraq is the mantra of our times: “You go to war with the army you have.” Hey, you march into the future with the country you have — not the one that you need, not the one you want, not the best you could have.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Singapore. In J.F.K.’s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit. Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore’s ultramodern airport, with free Internet portals and children’s play zones throughout. We felt, as we have before, like we had just flown from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. If all Americans could compare Berlin’s luxurious central train station today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would swear we were the ones who lost World War II.
How could this be? We are a great power. How could we be borrowing money from Singapore? Maybe it’s because Singapore is investing billions of dollars, from its own savings, into infrastructure and scientific research to attract the world’s best talent — including Americans.
And us? Harvard’s president, Drew Faust, just told a Senate hearing that cutbacks in government research funds were resulting in “downsized labs, layoffs of post docs, slipping morale and more conservative science that shies away from the big research questions.” Today, she added, “China, India, Singapore … have adopted biomedical research and the building of biotechnology clusters as national goals. Suddenly, those who train in America have significant options elsewhere.”
Much nonsense has been written about how Hillary Clinton is “toughening up” Barack Obama so he’ll be tough enough to withstand Republican attacks. Sorry, we don’t need a president who is tough enough to withstand the lies of his opponents. We need a president who is tough enough to tell the truth to the American people. Any one of the candidates can answer the Red Phone at 3 a.m. in the White House bedroom. I’m voting for the one who can talk straight to the American people on national TV — at 8 p.m. — from the White House East Room.
Who will tell the people? We are not who we think we are. We are living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. We still have all the potential for greatness, but only if we get back to work on our country.
I don’t know if Barack Obama can lead that, but the notion that the idealism he has inspired in so many young people doesn’t matter is dead wrong. “Of course, hope alone is not enough,” says Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, “but it’s not trivial. It’s not trivial to inspire people to want to get up and do something with someone else.”
It is especially not trivial now, because millions of Americans are dying to be enlisted — enlisted to fix education, enlisted to research renewable energy, enlisted to repair our infrastructure, enlisted to help others. Look at the kids lining up to join Teach for America. They want our country to matter again. They want it to be about building wealth and dignity — big profits and big purposes. When we just do one, we are less than the sum of our parts. When we do both, said Shriver, “no one can touch us.”
ParticipantAlong similar lines, here’s a copy of Thomas Friedman’s piece in the NY Times yesterday –
May 4, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
Who Will Tell the People?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMANTraveling the country these past five months while writing a book, I’ve had my own opportunity to take the pulse, far from the campaign crowds. My own totally unscientific polling has left me feeling that if there is one overwhelming hunger in our country today it’s this: People want to do nation-building. They really do. But they want to do nation-building in America.
They are not only tired of nation-building in Iraq and in Afghanistan, with so little to show for it. They sense something deeper — that we’re just not that strong anymore. We’re borrowing money to shore up our banks from city-states called Dubai and Singapore. Our generals regularly tell us that Iran is subverting our efforts in Iraq, but they do nothing about it because we have no leverage — as long as our forces are pinned down in Baghdad and our economy is pinned to Middle East oil.
Our president’s latest energy initiative was to go to Saudi Arabia and beg King Abdullah to give us a little relief on gasoline prices. I guess there was some justice in that. When you, the president, after 9/11, tell the country to go shopping instead of buckling down to break our addiction to oil, it ends with you, the president, shopping the world for discount gasoline.
We are not as powerful as we used to be because over the past three decades, the Asian values of our parents’ generation — work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means — have given way to subprime values: “You can have the American dream — a house — with no money down and no payments for two years.”
That’s why Donald Rumsfeld’s infamous defense of why he did not originally send more troops to Iraq is the mantra of our times: “You go to war with the army you have.” Hey, you march into the future with the country you have — not the one that you need, not the one you want, not the best you could have.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Singapore. In J.F.K.’s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit. Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore’s ultramodern airport, with free Internet portals and children’s play zones throughout. We felt, as we have before, like we had just flown from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. If all Americans could compare Berlin’s luxurious central train station today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would swear we were the ones who lost World War II.
How could this be? We are a great power. How could we be borrowing money from Singapore? Maybe it’s because Singapore is investing billions of dollars, from its own savings, into infrastructure and scientific research to attract the world’s best talent — including Americans.
And us? Harvard’s president, Drew Faust, just told a Senate hearing that cutbacks in government research funds were resulting in “downsized labs, layoffs of post docs, slipping morale and more conservative science that shies away from the big research questions.” Today, she added, “China, India, Singapore … have adopted biomedical research and the building of biotechnology clusters as national goals. Suddenly, those who train in America have significant options elsewhere.”
Much nonsense has been written about how Hillary Clinton is “toughening up” Barack Obama so he’ll be tough enough to withstand Republican attacks. Sorry, we don’t need a president who is tough enough to withstand the lies of his opponents. We need a president who is tough enough to tell the truth to the American people. Any one of the candidates can answer the Red Phone at 3 a.m. in the White House bedroom. I’m voting for the one who can talk straight to the American people on national TV — at 8 p.m. — from the White House East Room.
Who will tell the people? We are not who we think we are. We are living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. We still have all the potential for greatness, but only if we get back to work on our country.
I don’t know if Barack Obama can lead that, but the notion that the idealism he has inspired in so many young people doesn’t matter is dead wrong. “Of course, hope alone is not enough,” says Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, “but it’s not trivial. It’s not trivial to inspire people to want to get up and do something with someone else.”
It is especially not trivial now, because millions of Americans are dying to be enlisted — enlisted to fix education, enlisted to research renewable energy, enlisted to repair our infrastructure, enlisted to help others. Look at the kids lining up to join Teach for America. They want our country to matter again. They want it to be about building wealth and dignity — big profits and big purposes. When we just do one, we are less than the sum of our parts. When we do both, said Shriver, “no one can touch us.”
ParticipantAlong similar lines, here’s a copy of Thomas Friedman’s piece in the NY Times yesterday –
May 4, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
Who Will Tell the People?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMANTraveling the country these past five months while writing a book, I’ve had my own opportunity to take the pulse, far from the campaign crowds. My own totally unscientific polling has left me feeling that if there is one overwhelming hunger in our country today it’s this: People want to do nation-building. They really do. But they want to do nation-building in America.
They are not only tired of nation-building in Iraq and in Afghanistan, with so little to show for it. They sense something deeper — that we’re just not that strong anymore. We’re borrowing money to shore up our banks from city-states called Dubai and Singapore. Our generals regularly tell us that Iran is subverting our efforts in Iraq, but they do nothing about it because we have no leverage — as long as our forces are pinned down in Baghdad and our economy is pinned to Middle East oil.
Our president’s latest energy initiative was to go to Saudi Arabia and beg King Abdullah to give us a little relief on gasoline prices. I guess there was some justice in that. When you, the president, after 9/11, tell the country to go shopping instead of buckling down to break our addiction to oil, it ends with you, the president, shopping the world for discount gasoline.
We are not as powerful as we used to be because over the past three decades, the Asian values of our parents’ generation — work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means — have given way to subprime values: “You can have the American dream — a house — with no money down and no payments for two years.”
That’s why Donald Rumsfeld’s infamous defense of why he did not originally send more troops to Iraq is the mantra of our times: “You go to war with the army you have.” Hey, you march into the future with the country you have — not the one that you need, not the one you want, not the best you could have.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Singapore. In J.F.K.’s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit. Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore’s ultramodern airport, with free Internet portals and children’s play zones throughout. We felt, as we have before, like we had just flown from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. If all Americans could compare Berlin’s luxurious central train station today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would swear we were the ones who lost World War II.
How could this be? We are a great power. How could we be borrowing money from Singapore? Maybe it’s because Singapore is investing billions of dollars, from its own savings, into infrastructure and scientific research to attract the world’s best talent — including Americans.
And us? Harvard’s president, Drew Faust, just told a Senate hearing that cutbacks in government research funds were resulting in “downsized labs, layoffs of post docs, slipping morale and more conservative science that shies away from the big research questions.” Today, she added, “China, India, Singapore … have adopted biomedical research and the building of biotechnology clusters as national goals. Suddenly, those who train in America have significant options elsewhere.”
Much nonsense has been written about how Hillary Clinton is “toughening up” Barack Obama so he’ll be tough enough to withstand Republican attacks. Sorry, we don’t need a president who is tough enough to withstand the lies of his opponents. We need a president who is tough enough to tell the truth to the American people. Any one of the candidates can answer the Red Phone at 3 a.m. in the White House bedroom. I’m voting for the one who can talk straight to the American people on national TV — at 8 p.m. — from the White House East Room.
Who will tell the people? We are not who we think we are. We are living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. We still have all the potential for greatness, but only if we get back to work on our country.
I don’t know if Barack Obama can lead that, but the notion that the idealism he has inspired in so many young people doesn’t matter is dead wrong. “Of course, hope alone is not enough,” says Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, “but it’s not trivial. It’s not trivial to inspire people to want to get up and do something with someone else.”
It is especially not trivial now, because millions of Americans are dying to be enlisted — enlisted to fix education, enlisted to research renewable energy, enlisted to repair our infrastructure, enlisted to help others. Look at the kids lining up to join Teach for America. They want our country to matter again. They want it to be about building wealth and dignity — big profits and big purposes. When we just do one, we are less than the sum of our parts. When we do both, said Shriver, “no one can touch us.”
ParticipantRE: the question about HOA or MR in Del Mar. No, most houses in Del Mar don’t have either HOA or Mello Roos. I personally don’t know of any that do, but there may be some with very low fees.
However, if you ever decide to look for real estate around here, it’s good to know the difference between the two sections of Del Mar. One is the City of Del Mar, which is governed by its own City Council, has strict design regulations and is not part of the City of San Diego. This area, which is bordered basically by Crest Canyon to the east and the ocean to the west with lots of zigs and zags in between, is also sometimes referred to as “Olde Del Mar”.
There is another area, loosely bordered by Crest Canyon on the east and I-5 on the west, which is still technically Del Mar and has the Del Mar zip code, but is instead governed by San Diego. The Barbados Way property mentioned earlier is in this area of Del Mar and would presumably be a much easier fixer than one in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar since it’s governed by San Diego building dept rules and regs instead of Del Mar.
Since jpinpb seemed to refer to “Old Del Mar” and “Del Mar west of 5” as being the same area (unless I misunderstood), I thought it might help to point this out since it does affect property values and, also even more importantly (at least if you’re considering a fixer), design/construction regulations.
For example, we live in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar, and when we renovated our house, we had to jump through huge hoops with the City of Del Mar Design Review Board, which took many months and added unanticipated costs, such as an entire french drain system (designed by a civil engineer whom we had to hire) surrounding the entire property for runoff…it’s good stuff in the long run and of course, important for the environment, but it can put quite a damper on a tight budget.
Also, as with many houses in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar, we can only build on 25% of our lot and cannot go up more than one story. So, even if you have a 10,000 sf lot, you’re looking at only a max of a 2500 sf house, 440 sf of which is usually a 2-car garage, so you’re left with just over 2000 sf living area.
This is a great size for a 2nd home, empty nesters or even smaller families, but it becomes tougher as our 3 kids grow older and we all feel like we’re always in each other’s space. Seriously, our kids drool over some of those mega-CV homes with the pool and the gigantic game/movie rooms (while my hubby drools over the 3-4 car garages). Still, we talk to our kids about how we value being near the beach and the benefits of living in a cozy, well-designed home, but sometimes kids just don’t understand. Hmmmm…imagine that! Anyway, you may get a bit of the same feedback as your twins grow older, but maybe not.
So…that was long-winded and somewhat off-topic, but I think my original point was to say that houses in both the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar or the Del Mar area west of 5 don’t normally have HOA or Mello Roos!
By the way, I’ve found that if you want to get a good birds-eye view of what’s available in a certain neighborhood, you can use the Zip Realty website (and probably others, too, but this is just one I’ve found). Of course, you have to register, but then you can click on “search for homes” and then “interactive map.” You can then click and drag the mouse around the map to immediately view a snapshot of properties for sale in your price range in any given area of the map. This is helpful if you don’t know street names or just want to check out a neighborhood, or you want to see if there are any houses for sale on a certain canyon. Maybe everyone but me discovered this tool a long time ago, so excuse me if this is old news, but I think it’s really helpful!
ParticipantRE: the question about HOA or MR in Del Mar. No, most houses in Del Mar don’t have either HOA or Mello Roos. I personally don’t know of any that do, but there may be some with very low fees.
However, if you ever decide to look for real estate around here, it’s good to know the difference between the two sections of Del Mar. One is the City of Del Mar, which is governed by its own City Council, has strict design regulations and is not part of the City of San Diego. This area, which is bordered basically by Crest Canyon to the east and the ocean to the west with lots of zigs and zags in between, is also sometimes referred to as “Olde Del Mar”.
There is another area, loosely bordered by Crest Canyon on the east and I-5 on the west, which is still technically Del Mar and has the Del Mar zip code, but is instead governed by San Diego. The Barbados Way property mentioned earlier is in this area of Del Mar and would presumably be a much easier fixer than one in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar since it’s governed by San Diego building dept rules and regs instead of Del Mar.
Since jpinpb seemed to refer to “Old Del Mar” and “Del Mar west of 5” as being the same area (unless I misunderstood), I thought it might help to point this out since it does affect property values and, also even more importantly (at least if you’re considering a fixer), design/construction regulations.
For example, we live in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar, and when we renovated our house, we had to jump through huge hoops with the City of Del Mar Design Review Board, which took many months and added unanticipated costs, such as an entire french drain system (designed by a civil engineer whom we had to hire) surrounding the entire property for runoff…it’s good stuff in the long run and of course, important for the environment, but it can put quite a damper on a tight budget.
Also, as with many houses in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar, we can only build on 25% of our lot and cannot go up more than one story. So, even if you have a 10,000 sf lot, you’re looking at only a max of a 2500 sf house, 440 sf of which is usually a 2-car garage, so you’re left with just over 2000 sf living area.
This is a great size for a 2nd home, empty nesters or even smaller families, but it becomes tougher as our 3 kids grow older and we all feel like we’re always in each other’s space. Seriously, our kids drool over some of those mega-CV homes with the pool and the gigantic game/movie rooms (while my hubby drools over the 3-4 car garages). Still, we talk to our kids about how we value being near the beach and the benefits of living in a cozy, well-designed home, but sometimes kids just don’t understand. Hmmmm…imagine that! Anyway, you may get a bit of the same feedback as your twins grow older, but maybe not.
So…that was long-winded and somewhat off-topic, but I think my original point was to say that houses in both the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar or the Del Mar area west of 5 don’t normally have HOA or Mello Roos!
By the way, I’ve found that if you want to get a good birds-eye view of what’s available in a certain neighborhood, you can use the Zip Realty website (and probably others, too, but this is just one I’ve found). Of course, you have to register, but then you can click on “search for homes” and then “interactive map.” You can then click and drag the mouse around the map to immediately view a snapshot of properties for sale in your price range in any given area of the map. This is helpful if you don’t know street names or just want to check out a neighborhood, or you want to see if there are any houses for sale on a certain canyon. Maybe everyone but me discovered this tool a long time ago, so excuse me if this is old news, but I think it’s really helpful!
ParticipantRE: the question about HOA or MR in Del Mar. No, most houses in Del Mar don’t have either HOA or Mello Roos. I personally don’t know of any that do, but there may be some with very low fees.
However, if you ever decide to look for real estate around here, it’s good to know the difference between the two sections of Del Mar. One is the City of Del Mar, which is governed by its own City Council, has strict design regulations and is not part of the City of San Diego. This area, which is bordered basically by Crest Canyon to the east and the ocean to the west with lots of zigs and zags in between, is also sometimes referred to as “Olde Del Mar”.
There is another area, loosely bordered by Crest Canyon on the east and I-5 on the west, which is still technically Del Mar and has the Del Mar zip code, but is instead governed by San Diego. The Barbados Way property mentioned earlier is in this area of Del Mar and would presumably be a much easier fixer than one in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar since it’s governed by San Diego building dept rules and regs instead of Del Mar.
Since jpinpb seemed to refer to “Old Del Mar” and “Del Mar west of 5” as being the same area (unless I misunderstood), I thought it might help to point this out since it does affect property values and, also even more importantly (at least if you’re considering a fixer), design/construction regulations.
For example, we live in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar, and when we renovated our house, we had to jump through huge hoops with the City of Del Mar Design Review Board, which took many months and added unanticipated costs, such as an entire french drain system (designed by a civil engineer whom we had to hire) surrounding the entire property for runoff…it’s good stuff in the long run and of course, important for the environment, but it can put quite a damper on a tight budget.
Also, as with many houses in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar, we can only build on 25% of our lot and cannot go up more than one story. So, even if you have a 10,000 sf lot, you’re looking at only a max of a 2500 sf house, 440 sf of which is usually a 2-car garage, so you’re left with just over 2000 sf living area.
This is a great size for a 2nd home, empty nesters or even smaller families, but it becomes tougher as our 3 kids grow older and we all feel like we’re always in each other’s space. Seriously, our kids drool over some of those mega-CV homes with the pool and the gigantic game/movie rooms (while my hubby drools over the 3-4 car garages). Still, we talk to our kids about how we value being near the beach and the benefits of living in a cozy, well-designed home, but sometimes kids just don’t understand. Hmmmm…imagine that! Anyway, you may get a bit of the same feedback as your twins grow older, but maybe not.
So…that was long-winded and somewhat off-topic, but I think my original point was to say that houses in both the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar or the Del Mar area west of 5 don’t normally have HOA or Mello Roos!
By the way, I’ve found that if you want to get a good birds-eye view of what’s available in a certain neighborhood, you can use the Zip Realty website (and probably others, too, but this is just one I’ve found). Of course, you have to register, but then you can click on “search for homes” and then “interactive map.” You can then click and drag the mouse around the map to immediately view a snapshot of properties for sale in your price range in any given area of the map. This is helpful if you don’t know street names or just want to check out a neighborhood, or you want to see if there are any houses for sale on a certain canyon. Maybe everyone but me discovered this tool a long time ago, so excuse me if this is old news, but I think it’s really helpful!
ParticipantRE: the question about HOA or MR in Del Mar. No, most houses in Del Mar don’t have either HOA or Mello Roos. I personally don’t know of any that do, but there may be some with very low fees.
However, if you ever decide to look for real estate around here, it’s good to know the difference between the two sections of Del Mar. One is the City of Del Mar, which is governed by its own City Council, has strict design regulations and is not part of the City of San Diego. This area, which is bordered basically by Crest Canyon to the east and the ocean to the west with lots of zigs and zags in between, is also sometimes referred to as “Olde Del Mar”.
There is another area, loosely bordered by Crest Canyon on the east and I-5 on the west, which is still technically Del Mar and has the Del Mar zip code, but is instead governed by San Diego. The Barbados Way property mentioned earlier is in this area of Del Mar and would presumably be a much easier fixer than one in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar since it’s governed by San Diego building dept rules and regs instead of Del Mar.
Since jpinpb seemed to refer to “Old Del Mar” and “Del Mar west of 5” as being the same area (unless I misunderstood), I thought it might help to point this out since it does affect property values and, also even more importantly (at least if you’re considering a fixer), design/construction regulations.
For example, we live in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar, and when we renovated our house, we had to jump through huge hoops with the City of Del Mar Design Review Board, which took many months and added unanticipated costs, such as an entire french drain system (designed by a civil engineer whom we had to hire) surrounding the entire property for runoff…it’s good stuff in the long run and of course, important for the environment, but it can put quite a damper on a tight budget.
Also, as with many houses in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar, we can only build on 25% of our lot and cannot go up more than one story. So, even if you have a 10,000 sf lot, you’re looking at only a max of a 2500 sf house, 440 sf of which is usually a 2-car garage, so you’re left with just over 2000 sf living area.
This is a great size for a 2nd home, empty nesters or even smaller families, but it becomes tougher as our 3 kids grow older and we all feel like we’re always in each other’s space. Seriously, our kids drool over some of those mega-CV homes with the pool and the gigantic game/movie rooms (while my hubby drools over the 3-4 car garages). Still, we talk to our kids about how we value being near the beach and the benefits of living in a cozy, well-designed home, but sometimes kids just don’t understand. Hmmmm…imagine that! Anyway, you may get a bit of the same feedback as your twins grow older, but maybe not.
So…that was long-winded and somewhat off-topic, but I think my original point was to say that houses in both the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar or the Del Mar area west of 5 don’t normally have HOA or Mello Roos!
By the way, I’ve found that if you want to get a good birds-eye view of what’s available in a certain neighborhood, you can use the Zip Realty website (and probably others, too, but this is just one I’ve found). Of course, you have to register, but then you can click on “search for homes” and then “interactive map.” You can then click and drag the mouse around the map to immediately view a snapshot of properties for sale in your price range in any given area of the map. This is helpful if you don’t know street names or just want to check out a neighborhood, or you want to see if there are any houses for sale on a certain canyon. Maybe everyone but me discovered this tool a long time ago, so excuse me if this is old news, but I think it’s really helpful!
ParticipantRE: the question about HOA or MR in Del Mar. No, most houses in Del Mar don’t have either HOA or Mello Roos. I personally don’t know of any that do, but there may be some with very low fees.
However, if you ever decide to look for real estate around here, it’s good to know the difference between the two sections of Del Mar. One is the City of Del Mar, which is governed by its own City Council, has strict design regulations and is not part of the City of San Diego. This area, which is bordered basically by Crest Canyon to the east and the ocean to the west with lots of zigs and zags in between, is also sometimes referred to as “Olde Del Mar”.
There is another area, loosely bordered by Crest Canyon on the east and I-5 on the west, which is still technically Del Mar and has the Del Mar zip code, but is instead governed by San Diego. The Barbados Way property mentioned earlier is in this area of Del Mar and would presumably be a much easier fixer than one in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar since it’s governed by San Diego building dept rules and regs instead of Del Mar.
Since jpinpb seemed to refer to “Old Del Mar” and “Del Mar west of 5” as being the same area (unless I misunderstood), I thought it might help to point this out since it does affect property values and, also even more importantly (at least if you’re considering a fixer), design/construction regulations.
For example, we live in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar, and when we renovated our house, we had to jump through huge hoops with the City of Del Mar Design Review Board, which took many months and added unanticipated costs, such as an entire french drain system (designed by a civil engineer whom we had to hire) surrounding the entire property for runoff…it’s good stuff in the long run and of course, important for the environment, but it can put quite a damper on a tight budget.
Also, as with many houses in the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar, we can only build on 25% of our lot and cannot go up more than one story. So, even if you have a 10,000 sf lot, you’re looking at only a max of a 2500 sf house, 440 sf of which is usually a 2-car garage, so you’re left with just over 2000 sf living area.
This is a great size for a 2nd home, empty nesters or even smaller families, but it becomes tougher as our 3 kids grow older and we all feel like we’re always in each other’s space. Seriously, our kids drool over some of those mega-CV homes with the pool and the gigantic game/movie rooms (while my hubby drools over the 3-4 car garages). Still, we talk to our kids about how we value being near the beach and the benefits of living in a cozy, well-designed home, but sometimes kids just don’t understand. Hmmmm…imagine that! Anyway, you may get a bit of the same feedback as your twins grow older, but maybe not.
So…that was long-winded and somewhat off-topic, but I think my original point was to say that houses in both the City of Del Mar/Olde Del Mar or the Del Mar area west of 5 don’t normally have HOA or Mello Roos!
By the way, I’ve found that if you want to get a good birds-eye view of what’s available in a certain neighborhood, you can use the Zip Realty website (and probably others, too, but this is just one I’ve found). Of course, you have to register, but then you can click on “search for homes” and then “interactive map.” You can then click and drag the mouse around the map to immediately view a snapshot of properties for sale in your price range in any given area of the map. This is helpful if you don’t know street names or just want to check out a neighborhood, or you want to see if there are any houses for sale on a certain canyon. Maybe everyone but me discovered this tool a long time ago, so excuse me if this is old news, but I think it’s really helpful!
ParticipantWe live in Del Mar and are also going through a search for something a little bigger with more space for the kids but staying within the Del Mar Union School district for elementary and the San Dieguito school district for middle school and high school (we love both districts and have had outstanding experiences with both).
We don’t want a gigantic megahome in Carmel Valley (plus we believe most of those prices will continue to fall). However, I agree, it is always tempting when you wander in to a newly decorated Derby Hill Plan 3, and we start to think, “well, maybe this would be okay if it was on a nice canyon view lot” but, those go for $1.7 or so (without upgrades) for the bigger view lot, which is the only way we could stand to be in that kind of cookie-cutter, wedged-in environment. No way. Even though we could afford it, we won’t do it because we just cannot imagine that those will hold their value, not to mention that we find ourselves cringing every time we drive through (which should be a definite gut-check to remind ourselves how we’d feel living there)!
So, our search continues for the perfect 3500ish sf home with good design and quality interior on a nice lot – it is not easy, even in a much higher price range than yours. They are very few and far between. We now find ourselves focusing on looking for fixers on exceptional lots in good locations, but it seems many others are looking for the same thing so we run up against multiple offers. The ones that are available for long are not being sold at fixer prices if you count on approx. $250-300/sf for construction costs, which we feel is realistic (and we’ve now done the fixer route 3 times over the past 20 yrs). For example, what you saw on Sun Valley Rd is a perfect example – I think I know that property and there’s no way you can build there with landscaping and all the other stuff (I think it even needs septic, if I recall correctly) for less than $1.5, unless you’re a developer/builder. I don’t know about your subdividing idea…Del Mar, Solana Beach and RSF almost never allow it, but it’s always worth checking.
Anyway, back to your original question about properties in the area for $800,000 or so – have you checked out Del Mar, just west of the 5 and just south of Del Mar Heights Rd, bordered by Calais Dr on the east and Portofino Dr on the west? There are some nice streets and small cul de sacs in that neighborhood that have older, smaller homes on good sized lots. Our kids go to school with many families from that area and they love it. Many of the homes are dated and need sprucing up (or in some cases, major overhauls), but will go for the $800ish range. There was one that just sold on Calais Dr somewhere in the mid-800’s that was definitely liveable as is but also had good future potential. I think it was around 2000 sf or a little more. Another came on the market in the last couple weeks on Barbados Way for $825,000. A friend of mine saw it and said it had good potential…from the listing, it looks like it’s a 1527 sf house on a 12,600 sf lot, and I’ll be surprised if it lasts for long. I know other families who live on Barbados Way, which is a quiet cul de sac, and they love it.
One major caveat about that area – I am not completely tuned in to the current discussion about the widening of I-5, which if it happens, is definitely going to impact people who live on Portofino, and maybe streets further east. Even now, there is a road noise issue in some parts of that area, but you need to check out each property individually to see what it’s like because it varies widely. The house I’m referring to on Barbados Way is on the east side of the street and is probably well-protected from major noise. I know you want a fully done house for the $800,000 price, but if you can put a little money into this one, it may be a good way to get you into the school district.
However, if waiting is an option, why not just hang out and see what happens? In my opinion (as with many on this board), prices will continue to soften and may even eventually go into a freefall, so if you’re in a position to wait it out, that’s the smartest way to go. None of these properties are going anywhere too fast, although a good fixer does sometimes get multiple offers. Still, there will be another one to come along.
I would also suggest checking out the older neighborhood just north of Del Mar Heights Rd and east of 5, off of High Bluff Rd where you can find some decent prices on older homes with bigger lots, but that area is part of Solana Beach School District. It comes as a surprise to many people that the homes in neighborhoods along DM Heights Rd on the north side are part of Solana Beach School District and not Del Mar Union School District. Solana Beach is a very good district, but if you’re looking for Del Mar schools (as in most of Carmel Valley such as Derby Hill and Torrey Hills area), you won’t be enrolled in them if you buy east of 1-5 and on the north side of DM Heights Rd. Sunset Pt Way and Evening Sky Court fall into that category.
Sun Valley Road area, which we also love, is very pricey and also, although it’s a Del Mar address, you will be in Solana Beach school district for elementary school. Many people love that area because it has a semi-rural feel like RSF and also has some horse properties, yet it’s more convenient than RSF, being closer to the 5 and the beach. You probably know this, but once your kids hit middle school, all Solana Beach, Del Mar, RSF kids go to schools in the San Dieguito Union High School district. Until that time, there are separate elementary districts.
Hope this is somewhat helpful. Good luck deciding your options! Sounds like any way you go, you’re in a good place.
ParticipantWe live in Del Mar and are also going through a search for something a little bigger with more space for the kids but staying within the Del Mar Union School district for elementary and the San Dieguito school district for middle school and high school (we love both districts and have had outstanding experiences with both).
We don’t want a gigantic megahome in Carmel Valley (plus we believe most of those prices will continue to fall). However, I agree, it is always tempting when you wander in to a newly decorated Derby Hill Plan 3, and we start to think, “well, maybe this would be okay if it was on a nice canyon view lot” but, those go for $1.7 or so (without upgrades) for the bigger view lot, which is the only way we could stand to be in that kind of cookie-cutter, wedged-in environment. No way. Even though we could afford it, we won’t do it because we just cannot imagine that those will hold their value, not to mention that we find ourselves cringing every time we drive through (which should be a definite gut-check to remind ourselves how we’d feel living there)!
So, our search continues for the perfect 3500ish sf home with good design and quality interior on a nice lot – it is not easy, even in a much higher price range than yours. They are very few and far between. We now find ourselves focusing on looking for fixers on exceptional lots in good locations, but it seems many others are looking for the same thing so we run up against multiple offers. The ones that are available for long are not being sold at fixer prices if you count on approx. $250-300/sf for construction costs, which we feel is realistic (and we’ve now done the fixer route 3 times over the past 20 yrs). For example, what you saw on Sun Valley Rd is a perfect example – I think I know that property and there’s no way you can build there with landscaping and all the other stuff (I think it even needs septic, if I recall correctly) for less than $1.5, unless you’re a developer/builder. I don’t know about your subdividing idea…Del Mar, Solana Beach and RSF almost never allow it, but it’s always worth checking.
Anyway, back to your original question about properties in the area for $800,000 or so – have you checked out Del Mar, just west of the 5 and just south of Del Mar Heights Rd, bordered by Calais Dr on the east and Portofino Dr on the west? There are some nice streets and small cul de sacs in that neighborhood that have older, smaller homes on good sized lots. Our kids go to school with many families from that area and they love it. Many of the homes are dated and need sprucing up (or in some cases, major overhauls), but will go for the $800ish range. There was one that just sold on Calais Dr somewhere in the mid-800’s that was definitely liveable as is but also had good future potential. I think it was around 2000 sf or a little more. Another came on the market in the last couple weeks on Barbados Way for $825,000. A friend of mine saw it and said it had good potential…from the listing, it looks like it’s a 1527 sf house on a 12,600 sf lot, and I’ll be surprised if it lasts for long. I know other families who live on Barbados Way, which is a quiet cul de sac, and they love it.
One major caveat about that area – I am not completely tuned in to the current discussion about the widening of I-5, which if it happens, is definitely going to impact people who live on Portofino, and maybe streets further east. Even now, there is a road noise issue in some parts of that area, but you need to check out each property individually to see what it’s like because it varies widely. The house I’m referring to on Barbados Way is on the east side of the street and is probably well-protected from major noise. I know you want a fully done house for the $800,000 price, but if you can put a little money into this one, it may be a good way to get you into the school district.
However, if waiting is an option, why not just hang out and see what happens? In my opinion (as with many on this board), prices will continue to soften and may even eventually go into a freefall, so if you’re in a position to wait it out, that’s the smartest way to go. None of these properties are going anywhere too fast, although a good fixer does sometimes get multiple offers. Still, there will be another one to come along.
I would also suggest checking out the older neighborhood just north of Del Mar Heights Rd and east of 5, off of High Bluff Rd where you can find some decent prices on older homes with bigger lots, but that area is part of Solana Beach School District. It comes as a surprise to many people that the homes in neighborhoods along DM Heights Rd on the north side are part of Solana Beach School District and not Del Mar Union School District. Solana Beach is a very good district, but if you’re looking for Del Mar schools (as in most of Carmel Valley such as Derby Hill and Torrey Hills area), you won’t be enrolled in them if you buy east of 1-5 and on the north side of DM Heights Rd. Sunset Pt Way and Evening Sky Court fall into that category.
Sun Valley Road area, which we also love, is very pricey and also, although it’s a Del Mar address, you will be in Solana Beach school district for elementary school. Many people love that area because it has a semi-rural feel like RSF and also has some horse properties, yet it’s more convenient than RSF, being closer to the 5 and the beach. You probably know this, but once your kids hit middle school, all Solana Beach, Del Mar, RSF kids go to schools in the San Dieguito Union High School district. Until that time, there are separate elementary districts.
Hope this is somewhat helpful. Good luck deciding your options! Sounds like any way you go, you’re in a good place.
ParticipantWe live in Del Mar and are also going through a search for something a little bigger with more space for the kids but staying within the Del Mar Union School district for elementary and the San Dieguito school district for middle school and high school (we love both districts and have had outstanding experiences with both).
We don’t want a gigantic megahome in Carmel Valley (plus we believe most of those prices will continue to fall). However, I agree, it is always tempting when you wander in to a newly decorated Derby Hill Plan 3, and we start to think, “well, maybe this would be okay if it was on a nice canyon view lot” but, those go for $1.7 or so (without upgrades) for the bigger view lot, which is the only way we could stand to be in that kind of cookie-cutter, wedged-in environment. No way. Even though we could afford it, we won’t do it because we just cannot imagine that those will hold their value, not to mention that we find ourselves cringing every time we drive through (which should be a definite gut-check to remind ourselves how we’d feel living there)!
So, our search continues for the perfect 3500ish sf home with good design and quality interior on a nice lot – it is not easy, even in a much higher price range than yours. They are very few and far between. We now find ourselves focusing on looking for fixers on exceptional lots in good locations, but it seems many others are looking for the same thing so we run up against multiple offers. The ones that are available for long are not being sold at fixer prices if you count on approx. $250-300/sf for construction costs, which we feel is realistic (and we’ve now done the fixer route 3 times over the past 20 yrs). For example, what you saw on Sun Valley Rd is a perfect example – I think I know that property and there’s no way you can build there with landscaping and all the other stuff (I think it even needs septic, if I recall correctly) for less than $1.5, unless you’re a developer/builder. I don’t know about your subdividing idea…Del Mar, Solana Beach and RSF almost never allow it, but it’s always worth checking.
Anyway, back to your original question about properties in the area for $800,000 or so – have you checked out Del Mar, just west of the 5 and just south of Del Mar Heights Rd, bordered by Calais Dr on the east and Portofino Dr on the west? There are some nice streets and small cul de sacs in that neighborhood that have older, smaller homes on good sized lots. Our kids go to school with many families from that area and they love it. Many of the homes are dated and need sprucing up (or in some cases, major overhauls), but will go for the $800ish range. There was one that just sold on Calais Dr somewhere in the mid-800’s that was definitely liveable as is but also had good future potential. I think it was around 2000 sf or a little more. Another came on the market in the last couple weeks on Barbados Way for $825,000. A friend of mine saw it and said it had good potential…from the listing, it looks like it’s a 1527 sf house on a 12,600 sf lot, and I’ll be surprised if it lasts for long. I know other families who live on Barbados Way, which is a quiet cul de sac, and they love it.
One major caveat about that area – I am not completely tuned in to the current discussion about the widening of I-5, which if it happens, is definitely going to impact people who live on Portofino, and maybe streets further east. Even now, there is a road noise issue in some parts of that area, but you need to check out each property individually to see what it’s like because it varies widely. The house I’m referring to on Barbados Way is on the east side of the street and is probably well-protected from major noise. I know you want a fully done house for the $800,000 price, but if you can put a little money into this one, it may be a good way to get you into the school district.
However, if waiting is an option, why not just hang out and see what happens? In my opinion (as with many on this board), prices will continue to soften and may even eventually go into a freefall, so if you’re in a position to wait it out, that’s the smartest way to go. None of these properties are going anywhere too fast, although a good fixer does sometimes get multiple offers. Still, there will be another one to come along.
I would also suggest checking out the older neighborhood just north of Del Mar Heights Rd and east of 5, off of High Bluff Rd where you can find some decent prices on older homes with bigger lots, but that area is part of Solana Beach School District. It comes as a surprise to many people that the homes in neighborhoods along DM Heights Rd on the north side are part of Solana Beach School District and not Del Mar Union School District. Solana Beach is a very good district, but if you’re looking for Del Mar schools (as in most of Carmel Valley such as Derby Hill and Torrey Hills area), you won’t be enrolled in them if you buy east of 1-5 and on the north side of DM Heights Rd. Sunset Pt Way and Evening Sky Court fall into that category.
Sun Valley Road area, which we also love, is very pricey and also, although it’s a Del Mar address, you will be in Solana Beach school district for elementary school. Many people love that area because it has a semi-rural feel like RSF and also has some horse properties, yet it’s more convenient than RSF, being closer to the 5 and the beach. You probably know this, but once your kids hit middle school, all Solana Beach, Del Mar, RSF kids go to schools in the San Dieguito Union High School district. Until that time, there are separate elementary districts.
Hope this is somewhat helpful. Good luck deciding your options! Sounds like any way you go, you’re in a good place.
ParticipantWe live in Del Mar and are also going through a search for something a little bigger with more space for the kids but staying within the Del Mar Union School district for elementary and the San Dieguito school district for middle school and high school (we love both districts and have had outstanding experiences with both).
We don’t want a gigantic megahome in Carmel Valley (plus we believe most of those prices will continue to fall). However, I agree, it is always tempting when you wander in to a newly decorated Derby Hill Plan 3, and we start to think, “well, maybe this would be okay if it was on a nice canyon view lot” but, those go for $1.7 or so (without upgrades) for the bigger view lot, which is the only way we could stand to be in that kind of cookie-cutter, wedged-in environment. No way. Even though we could afford it, we won’t do it because we just cannot imagine that those will hold their value, not to mention that we find ourselves cringing every time we drive through (which should be a definite gut-check to remind ourselves how we’d feel living there)!
So, our search continues for the perfect 3500ish sf home with good design and quality interior on a nice lot – it is not easy, even in a much higher price range than yours. They are very few and far between. We now find ourselves focusing on looking for fixers on exceptional lots in good locations, but it seems many others are looking for the same thing so we run up against multiple offers. The ones that are available for long are not being sold at fixer prices if you count on approx. $250-300/sf for construction costs, which we feel is realistic (and we’ve now done the fixer route 3 times over the past 20 yrs). For example, what you saw on Sun Valley Rd is a perfect example – I think I know that property and there’s no way you can build there with landscaping and all the other stuff (I think it even needs septic, if I recall correctly) for less than $1.5, unless you’re a developer/builder. I don’t know about your subdividing idea…Del Mar, Solana Beach and RSF almost never allow it, but it’s always worth checking.
Anyway, back to your original question about properties in the area for $800,000 or so – have you checked out Del Mar, just west of the 5 and just south of Del Mar Heights Rd, bordered by Calais Dr on the east and Portofino Dr on the west? There are some nice streets and small cul de sacs in that neighborhood that have older, smaller homes on good sized lots. Our kids go to school with many families from that area and they love it. Many of the homes are dated and need sprucing up (or in some cases, major overhauls), but will go for the $800ish range. There was one that just sold on Calais Dr somewhere in the mid-800’s that was definitely liveable as is but also had good future potential. I think it was around 2000 sf or a little more. Another came on the market in the last couple weeks on Barbados Way for $825,000. A friend of mine saw it and said it had good potential…from the listing, it looks like it’s a 1527 sf house on a 12,600 sf lot, and I’ll be surprised if it lasts for long. I know other families who live on Barbados Way, which is a quiet cul de sac, and they love it.
One major caveat about that area – I am not completely tuned in to the current discussion about the widening of I-5, which if it happens, is definitely going to impact people who live on Portofino, and maybe streets further east. Even now, there is a road noise issue in some parts of that area, but you need to check out each property individually to see what it’s like because it varies widely. The house I’m referring to on Barbados Way is on the east side of the street and is probably well-protected from major noise. I know you want a fully done house for the $800,000 price, but if you can put a little money into this one, it may be a good way to get you into the school district.
However, if waiting is an option, why not just hang out and see what happens? In my opinion (as with many on this board), prices will continue to soften and may even eventually go into a freefall, so if you’re in a position to wait it out, that’s the smartest way to go. None of these properties are going anywhere too fast, although a good fixer does sometimes get multiple offers. Still, there will be another one to come along.
I would also suggest checking out the older neighborhood just north of Del Mar Heights Rd and east of 5, off of High Bluff Rd where you can find some decent prices on older homes with bigger lots, but that area is part of Solana Beach School District. It comes as a surprise to many people that the homes in neighborhoods along DM Heights Rd on the north side are part of Solana Beach School District and not Del Mar Union School District. Solana Beach is a very good district, but if you’re looking for Del Mar schools (as in most of Carmel Valley such as Derby Hill and Torrey Hills area), you won’t be enrolled in them if you buy east of 1-5 and on the north side of DM Heights Rd. Sunset Pt Way and Evening Sky Court fall into that category.
Sun Valley Road area, which we also love, is very pricey and also, although it’s a Del Mar address, you will be in Solana Beach school district for elementary school. Many people love that area because it has a semi-rural feel like RSF and also has some horse properties, yet it’s more convenient than RSF, being closer to the 5 and the beach. You probably know this, but once your kids hit middle school, all Solana Beach, Del Mar, RSF kids go to schools in the San Dieguito Union High School district. Until that time, there are separate elementary districts.
Hope this is somewhat helpful. Good luck deciding your options! Sounds like any way you go, you’re in a good place.
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