San Diegans--condos a great buy true or false?

Parent Cafe
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<p>We just returned from a great week at a beach rental on the Central Coast. I would love to buy a vacation place there. Unfortunately the going price is 700K for a tear down and 1.5 for a nice place. </p>

<p>In the meantime, a friend recently returned from San Diego and says that the condo market is flooded right now. She is telling me you can buy a nice condo in the downtown/Petco Park/Gaslamp district for about $250K. </p>

<p>Anyone from San Diego out there know if this is really what they are selling for? Any opinions on that part of town? In the early 80s when I lived in SD it was a terrible neighborhood. Last year we stayed at the Omni and went to Padres game. We were very impressed with the neighborhood, etc. </p>

<p>Any advice/info would be great.</p>

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<p>How much time do you want to spend there per year and what would it cost to rent a place? Compare that to the cost of buying and potentially dealing with further price declines, paying annual property taxes in a state with severe budget and pension problems.</p>

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<p>Well, I’d never want to live downtown but plenty of people are moving there and there are a lot of new condos built in that area. It is close to the ballpark, the gaslamp district (restaurants/nightclubs) and the bay. Now’s probably a pretty good time to buy since prices in general have come down in the last year or so. It seems as if I’ve seen some ads for condos close to the 250K price range but I’d think that’s way at the low end so it might be a pretty tiny studio or something. I’m sure you can get an idea by googling and also by going to realtor.com.</p>

<p>My D’s interested in a condo around here within the next year or two as well so we’ll probably start looking. It’d be nice to get one when the prices are somewhat down. We prefer North County however. </p>

<p>I’ve checked prices of condos on the bluffs with nice ocean views. They’re still very expensive and don’t seem to have gone down much if at all. They’re very expensive.</p>

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<p>I read an informative blog every day –
irvinehousingblog.com</p>

<p>The scuttle is that housing prices will continue to drop for at least another two years, not just in Irvine but all of SoCal. </p>

<p>Another site dedicated to the San Diego market –
[Piggington’s</a> Econo-Almanac | San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis](<a href=“http://piggington.com/]Piggington’s”>http://piggington.com/)
I don’t know this one, except that the graphs are cool.</p>

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<p>Thanks…I was hoping ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad would weigh in. Knew you would know something about the market. I hear you about North County…I’m not sure downtown is really for me.<br>
I just wish I could afford the beach.</p>

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<p>I recently attended an open house for a tiny two story condo on Mission Beach. It was more than a million (can’t remember exact figure) and rented for $3500/month. It was a tear down that had been newly rebuilt.</p>

<p>If you want the very nice realtor’s name, pm me.</p>

<p>Houses on Mission and Pacific Beach have foundation problems.
Most were built incorrectly and many are now being rebuilt. Near the beach the houses are mostly summer rentals.</p>

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<p>for a quarter million, you can buy a nice house within 2-4 blocks of the Oregon beach, a condo with beach frontage or a timeshare with 21 days at 1/4 of that.</p>

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<p>[Little</a> Italy Real Estate & Little Italy Homes For Sale — Trulia.com](<a href=“Little Italy, San Diego, CA Homes For Sale & Little Italy, San Diego, CA Real Estate | Trulia”>Little Italy, San Diego, CA Homes For Sale & Little Italy, San Diego, CA Real Estate | Trulia)</p>

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<p>That $3500/month in post #6 was a week. My mistake.</p>

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<p>ebeeee- what about the beach area of Oxnard. Hollywood Beach, Silver Strand or Oxnard Shores. I haven’t looked lately but wondering if prices have dropped any in that area.</p>

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<p>ebeee:</p>

<p>Here’s a nicely done website with info about condos more in North County coastal - around Del Mar and Solana Beach. They also show condos in the vicinity of UCSD (UTC Condos), and some other areas - </p>

<p>[San</a> Diego Homes For Sale](<a href=“http://www.sdhomesforsale.com/]San”>http://www.sdhomesforsale.com/)</p>

<p>For downtown specifically - </p>

<p>[San</a> Diego Downtown Condominiums For Sale, Up to $349,999](<a href=“http://www.sdhomesforsale.com/ap_listings_condos/sandiegodowntown01.htm]San”>http://www.sdhomesforsale.com/ap_listings_condos/sandiegodowntown01.htm)</p>

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<p>Three words: Rent, Rent, Rent. Unless you intend to live in the place for a prolonged period.</p>

<p>My nephew is staying a condo bought by a parent. Its now been 4 years. The kids are graduating. Original purchase was a 3/1, Countrywide. You figure it out.</p>

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<p>Can someone explain to the uninitiated what this means ? Thanks.</p>

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<p>Anyone who rents in this area long-term eventually has it catch up with them as rents continually increase but purchases, if done correctly, become ‘fixed’. I know some people who have rented longer term who are in a real bind because their rent is 3 or 4 times what their payments would have been had they purchased 20 years ago.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t buy any place right now without planning to keep it at least 5 years. I’d also shoot for a fixed rate loan since rates are relatively low now.</p>

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<p>This is for a vacation home though and the cost equation depends on how much time you will be spending there. If the place is empty 11 months of the year, it seems like a waste of money to buym</p>

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<p>I agree with hard-knocks that prices in CA are still falling. I think next year might be a better bet.</p>

<p>I adore the cental coast… Cambria is my fantasy retirement community.</p>

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<p>My inlaws liked the idea of a vacation home on the ocean. They purchased one many years ago. They found that they did not go as often as they thought. My FIL would get restless and they would last about 3 or 4 days at a time. After being robbed they decided to detach a bit and list it with a vacation rental agency. It does quite well and they actually make money on it.
One snag is that when they first started renting it out you could rent it without any restrictions. The townspeople got fed up with people coming in and out and felt a loss of community. The laws were changed and now you may only have one change of occupancy per week. So instead of getting people come for a few days the person must rent for a week or you lose money. My inlaws place is on the oceanfront so they have done okay with the changes. But for others who counted on the income to pay the mortgage it has been a problem.</p>

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<p>Here in San Diego, housing prices are coming down, but keep in mind we had astronomical appreciation for many years so “coming down” doesn’t mean “bargains” yet.</p>

<p>Alot depends on what you want from your vacation home. If you want to be on the water or a few blocks from a swimmable beach, or in an upscale North County area like Del Mar or La Jolla, you’re not going to find anything worth buying for under $400,000 or $500,000. </p>

<p>If you’d be happy in a studio condo downtown, or a condo in little Italy with planes coming into Linbergh field right over your building, you can probably find something in the $250,000 range, but it won’t be anywhere near the ocean. You’ll need a car for that. But if you are envisioning a “city retreat” that might be do-able.</p>

<p>The one exception if you want to be within walking distance of the beach might be Imperial Beach, which is the last stop before the Mexican border. Unfortunately, the beach there is closed several times a year for sewage spills from Mexico.</p>

<p>If you’re willing to look in South County, or the eastern part of the county, you’ll find more deals. Houses can be had in western Chula Vista and National City for under $300,000. The prices are higher in the newer sections. In east county, you can buy some houses in El Cajon and Lakeside for close to that — but, again, they probably won’t be places you’d want to spend your vacation time. :)</p>

<p>If I wanted to buy a house or condo with ocean view, I think I’d also head north to Oregon myself. Check out: [Washington</a> Real Estate, Oregon Real Estate, Idaho Real Estate, John L Scott](<a href=“http://www.johnlscott.com/]Washington”>http://www.johnlscott.com/)</p>

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<p>The water up in the NW is too darn cold to enjoy. Really really cold. I’d stick to Cambria and south.</p>

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<p>If you want to go in the water I would not recommend Cambria. The water is cold and the waves and riptides make it accessible for only strong swimmers. </p>

<p>Pismo Beach, Avila Beach is as high as I would go. Morro Bay is pretty but again the surf is pretty rough.</p>