I’m partial towards Carlsbad. In North County it has the reputation as being a well-put-together City. They have a long coastline and some of the finest beaches around. There is a more family-oriented feel there and the beaches aren’t crowded with transients, young drunks, homeless, etc. They have a bit of an artsty feel in the Village area, but not quite as much as Encinitas. Then again, the “artsiness” of a town is not a huge selling point with me. Some of the eastern parts of Carlbad, like east La Costa or Calavera Hills would be a good option for me. Great schools, less overcast, mild temperature, nice infrastructure (roads, buried utility lines, etc), secluded feel.
As for Poway, too hot for me. I used to go there a number of years ago to get my hair cut at Sal’s, who was Vietnamese and not Italian. I also worked with the City government there at my old company. We used to call them PO-way as in they’re too poor to pay their contracts on time. No offense Powayseller! Other than that I’m sure it’s a fine town.
I don’t recall seeing many SOLD signs. I’m sure that a few units have turned over, but they are still there for the most part. If you don’t believe me, take a drive down La Costa Ave, East of El Camino Real sometime. They are also continuing to build quite a few new units, mostly in tract developments. I imagine this is pissing off the owners of the older homes that want to get out of the market ASAP.
My wife and I are reminded of this everytime we drive by here and we just shake our head. We keep telling ourselves that there’s no way we are going to buy in this market, with prices being the way that they are. It looks like a lot of others feel the same way.
I’m glad I didn’t bite. Back to the topic, here in the La Costa area the number of Home for Sale signs has been up for quite a while now. I think my wife and I counted something like 17 or 18 on La Costa Ave east of El Camino Real. 3 adjacent lots next to us have also recently put up for sale signs…something I haven’t seen for the past four years or so. “Let’s get out now!” the owner must be saying to her/himself.
Back to the monthly rent cost vs. monthly mortgage cost. I pay $1000 a month for a 2B/2B (and it’s gone up only $75 in the past 4 years). If I buy a similar size/age condo that’s selling up the street for $550k +/-, my monthly payment would be, I’m guessing, something like $2500; unless I went with some sort of fancy ARM or no-interest deal. At any rate, you get the point. I know that, in most cases, it’s more important to own than rent, but not when it costs 2.5x more to own. Maybe I’m missing something here.
