[MANmom]

MANmom

Yes, Perry that is true, and I have been viewing all listings the past two or three years. But the scenario is the same…what this thread is talking about is big discounts and quick sales on newly built homes. The builders cannot just sit and wait it out like most homeowners. Yes, there are foreclosures, but in general the emotion is in the eye of the seller. They cannot accept that home prices are riduculous right now but are coming down; they want the same price for their home that the neighbor down the street got a year or two ago, and that ain’t gonna happen, at least not from me. I know my neighborhood well, have lived here many years. I am not asking for much, just a house big enough for my kids (three) with a bit of a yard and taxes that are reasonable. I am not looking to make big bucks in a few years, I don’t even care if it is a fixer. I have watched the market dilligently over the last two years. I know we have another few years to reach bottom, but I am not trying to time the bottom of the market. I am simply pointing out that 1995 was similar to today, new homes with discounts are selling, but with the tax bite, I am not buying.

[MANmom]

MANmom

I remember the same thing happening back in 1995 when my husband and I bought during the last bust. We looked at several established homes and could not get anything near what we got from the new home builder…we bought new because we got a much better deal. There was plenty of inventory out there, but again, the sellers wanted incredible amounts of money for their little peice of crap with no yard. Our agent pretty much told us that we should buy the new home, he couldn’t offer anything like that in the resale market (one of those rare honest agents). We went with a new home because it was fresh and clean and about $60,000 cheaper than resale homes. I am seeing the same thing now, but the only thing keeping us from jumping in to a new home is the huge tax burden…mello-roos has become unbelievable high. Why spend an additional $1,000 a month or more for a new home? They would have to give me a huge price break for us to go with a new home today.

[MANmom]

MANmom

Yes, having a big new home in a new area is nice (we had one in 1995) but don’t forget those Mello-Roos and CFD taxes not to mention HOA’s…some new homes have more than one HOA. Ask the builder to give you an estimate of those costs before you even look at the houses. You are looking at sometimes $700-1,000 per month extra. Kinda makes that older house with a huge backyard in Rancho Penasquitos look better and better. Most homes there have little or no Mello-Roos, and no HOA. I, however, am a fan of a small HOA, don’t particularly like a neighbor with a crappy lawn. Until they suspend those taxes, though, I am staying in an older well-established neighborhood and pocket that extra $700+…

[MANmom]

MANmom

Something to think about, some people (older, no kids, lazies) actually do not want a big yard to take care of…to each his own!

[MANmom]

MANmom

Could someone with resources tell me if Yahoo RE is behind on it’s listings? I noticed several listings in my area (92129) that are old, sold or have already been taken off the market…one in particular has been rented out, but is still listed for sale on Yahoo. Also, there are so many listings in the foreclosure pages for my area, could it be possible that there are that many distressed homeowners? It looks to be about 50% of the listings in my area area foreclosures or NOD’s…please comment.

[MANmom]

MANmom

I was dating my husband in 1989 when our realtor friend talked him into buying in Mission Viejo. He purchased a 2 BR 2 1/2 BA condo with less than 1000 SF for $138,000 VA no-no. A year later we were married and lived there for another year. By 1992 there were several of our unit for sale in the neighborhood of $99,000! OUCH!!! Luckily we could rent it our for a small loss every month, but what a hassle. We weren’t able to sell it until 2001, when we finally made $40,000. Don’t tell me the market can’t drop 30%…we lived it.

[MANmom]

MANmom

Yes, the Stonebridge kids go to Poway Unified schools…the current HS is Mt. Carmel in PQ. A friend just moved there and he is going to go to Westview, with an interdistrict transfer. I do not know what will happen in the future, but for now it is PUSD, which is one of the best.

[MANmom]

Thanks, SD Reator, I suspected as much. I have been watching that sale and others in the area. This property backs to a busy street, they will have trouble selling it at all.

MANmom

[MANmom]

I am a conservative, more fiscal than religious, and I agree with you, society in general is better off with stable couple relationships than a free-for-all, regardless of what gender. I think civil unions are a good thing, I even think gays should be able to adopt children, but that priority of adoption of infants and small children be given to hetero couples first, simply for practical reasons. A man cannot be a mom and a woman cannot be a dad. To deprive a child of both is not optimal. Sure there are great books out there, but speaking as the mother of three boys and the sister of six brothers, I can no more tell my boys what it is to be a man as my husband could tell a girl what it is to be a woman. But better adopt out to a gay couple than live without any family. There are some pretty awful hetero families out there. All couples regardless of gender want the same thing, security, a partner in life, a family, and love. What’s so wrong with that?

MANmom

[MANmom]

PS, MH, if you do choose PQ, don’t buy or rent in the Woodcrest hills subdivision, near Mercy Road. That area has the 92129 zipcode, but the schools are Mira Mesa, which are much less sought after than Poway unified schools.

MANmom

[MANmom]

powayseller, you have not really looked at PQ. Just as
Poway has some junky neighborhoods (garden rd. all up and down pomerado from poway rd to ted williams, Aubrey, I could go on) PQ does have some junky older neighborhoods, but you can’t judge the whole area by a few places. Check out Park village area, the area by the new middle school, Christmas card lane (Oviedo), Barcelona, Torrey Highlands, I could go on. I have lived on that side of the freeway, I sincerely like this area better, mostly because of the people. And again, you can’t beat living by the canyon. There are many beautiful areas of Poway, true. Another consideration, though, is the fact that it is usually about 10 degrees cooler here by the canyon, we get a great breeze up from the ocean. Poway can really get hot in the summer.

MANmom

[MANmom]

MANmom

MH, we are retired USMC couple living in Penasquitos. When we retired and moved back to SD after Yuma, we looked at the same areas. La Costa/Carlsbad has some great areas, but you have to be careful about schools, some are San Marcos, not as good as Carlsbad/La Costa. Look up the API scores of the areas you are looking at, we found PQ to be the best for us. For the “800” club for high schools (best scores, see San Diego Mag. for info) three of the four were in Poway Unified, the fourth was Torrey Pines. PQ is great for sports (we have three boys), wrestling, baseball, football, softball, a great sports town. See http://www.pqsports.com if you don’t believe me. I found that the coastal areas were in general less diverse than PQ, if that means anything. Lots of military and former military here. I found LC/Carls to be a bit snootier, more BMWS and Mercedes, and the only military I ran across (a very limited search when we were looking) was a navy doctor. Another great thing for PQ is the canyon. The PQ park is a great place to experience the natural beauty that is CA. We both run through the canyon daily. We hike with the kids, walk the dog, etc. Being close to the canyon (we are renters) is something we are greatful for and when we buy, we will stay here. Great Schools, Great people, Great place!

[MANmom]

PS, Powayseller, SOME areas of Poway are very beautiful, especially green valley and highland valley, but there are many ugly tract homes in Poway, too. Just drive the areas around Aubrey, Robinson, Garden, etc…plenty of ugly homes there.

[MANmom]

Yes, Powayseller, it is not technically within the city boundary of Poway, I was merely providing a reference point for this svferris…finding Poway on a map is easier than finding scripps ranch, and looking at the adjacent areas it is easier to see just where this is. And it is Poway unified school district, but the residents pay HUGE taxes to benefit from that…I personally don’t think $1,000 per month is enough benefit, heck, you could send the kids to private school for that and live where you want.

[MANmom]

The map to this property is thouroghly misleading…what a builder mislead you? It is really South Poway, I lived over there a few years ago, if you are familiar with south Poway/North East Scripps Ranch, it is kind of where the old General Dynamics plant was, not really in the flight path for Miramar. You can see Kohl’s of Poway from there. Again, the fees are horrendous, but if you are willing to commit yourself to an additional $1,000 to 2,000 per month for at least 20 years after you pay your mortgage, knock your self out! Also, Santaluz is gated and has a golf course, Stonebridge (name of this development) has neither of these.

[Author]

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