We are relocating from Virginia to San Diego. I’m looking for a place to rent while I house hunt. I don’t want to be locked into a year lease. We would need at least three bedrooms and two bathrooms. My son will be starting graduate school at the University of San Diego on July 14th, so I’m afraid he will have to live with us until he can establish an independent housing situation. My husband’s office is located very close to USD. We can afford about $4k a month. We have a dog.
I’ve been on Realtor.com and Zillow and Airbnb. I’ve talked to a realtor I met out there, but he hasn’t been real helpful. Considered corporate furnished apartments, but they look so sad. I’d like the place we rent to give us a positive experience since that will be our first long term exposure to our new city.
I’m really stuck and think I am lacking clarity because I haven’t really been out there to house hunt yet. I’m planning a trip for June. I’m getting anxious about the whole move now and I think that’s clouding my judgement.
Any suggestions for realtors that might help me? Areas to avoid, etc.? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
The company I work for has offices in Torrey Hills, which is less than 10 minutes from UCSD. The apartments around the area look pretty nice from the outside. I’d recommend on focusing around Torrey Hills, Del Mar, and Carmel Mountain.
UCSD is in La Jolla. USD seems to be near Mission Bay, maybe halfway between downtown and La Jolla. I’ll PM you.
@shortnuke are these areas close to USD (he’s not attending UCSD) too? Or is there public transportation (bus/train) to USD from Torrey Hills, Del Mar and Carmel Mountain? My son isn’t much of a driver and I know the traffic is crazy around there. Thanks!
USD sits on the hill overlooking Mission Bay. Public transportation here in San Diego is not that good. Your S will want to live in the area near USD if he doesn’t like to drive. USD students that I know live by the beaches or closer to downtown.
Once you visit here next month you will get a better idea of the area. Housing is at a premium San Diego at the moment, both rentals and places for sale. If I were commuting near USD I would look at places like Little Italy, Mission Hills, Hillcrest or Point Loma.
Feel free to PM me with any questions you have about San Diego. We have lived near UCSD for almost 30 years.
As a native San Diegan… I would not recommend living in the northern part of SD; La Jolla, Carmel Valley, Del Mar , if your son is going to USD. The public transportation system here is not that good. They are connecting the trolley from UCSD to the other parts and that will help. As for now, if he doesn’t have a car I suggest being close. The surrounding area are; Linda Vista, Mission Valley, Bay Ho. What type of area are you looking for? residential? a house or condo?
My father had a townhouse off of Friar’s road which backed onto the USD Campus. It would be ideal to rent there so he could feasibly walk to class. I am not sure of the price anymore, but location in that complex would be great. It is off of Via Las Cumbres. Looking on Zillow there isn’t an availability, but who knows in June or other sites.
UCSD is about 10 miles north of USD and the towns mentioned are further north of UCSD. I think you’d want to look in other areas. (I think shortnuke just misread your post. )
Maybe @coralbrook would be willing to weigh in on this one. 
@mperrine Thanks for the information. I have heard the public transit is not good. My S will have a car, but just doesn’t like driving. I think I’d prefer residential (a house or townhouse), whereas he’d probably like a condo or apartment. I think he will start out living with us and then move on to live with other graduate students, ideally. A townhouse off of Friar sounds like an ideal location for walking to USD.
@Marilyn! And yes Coralbrook!
Since your budget is higher try to find something close to you and your husbands employment. If not you will spend your life commuting. Look for a place in University city or If you don’t mind a half hour commute live in Del Mar or the cheaper area just east or north of Del Mar, maybe even Solana Beach.
It might be worth the drive.
Bay Ho is close and has some nice areas. I would look there. Point Loma is also a nice area, but you will have to listen to airplane noise and might be more costly. Linda Vista is spotty and wouldn’t recommend it. Mission Valley has tons of new condos and might be a possibility.
The complex is called Friar’s village which had the townhomes. Small courtyard for the dog. I attached a link to see what they look like. This is one which recently sold so it’s no longer available but it gives you an idea what it looks like.
https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/house,mobile,land_type/16944351_zpid/globalrelevanceex_sort/32.773117,-117.179484,32.768255,-117.18635_rect/16_zm/0_mmm/1_rs/
Your situation is not going to be easy partly because there really aren’t many desirable short term unfurnished rentals in the area. I looked into that when we were house hunting from afar a few years ago and it wasn’t too promising. And furnished rentals will immediately run into ComicCon issues (it runs July 20-23 and books up all hotels around plus VRBO and Airbnb).
We found an excellent realtor who worked with us for years while we were narrowing down our relocation options. I will PM you her info; she’s a San Diego native second generation realtor and was wonderful; we still consider her our friend.
We seriously looked in the Bay Park area - that’s just north of USD and has some lovely homes. It made our final list and we almost offered there. Further north is Bay Ho, which also has nice homes but can vary considerably block to block. And further north than that is University City, a nice suburban feel neighborhood.
We chose Point Loma in the end, about halfway down the peninsula and love love love the location. We felt it really embodied what San Diego was all about. Their short term rentals will all be at summer vacation prices right now. The communities up the coast are beautiful (La Jolla, Del Mar, Solona Beach, Encinitis, etc). but are not easily commutable to USD. Mission Hills is a lovely and expensive community close to the campus. A bit further west is Kensington, another desirable place to live. If you like the urban feel, consider North Park but again you want to know the individual blocks since they also can vary greatly.
It looks like USD has a tram shuttle to the Old Town Trolley Station: http://www.sandiego.edu/safety/tram-services/. That would really open up the options for your son if he can work with their summer schedule. Everything goes through the Old Town transit hub!
Here’s a decent map of the communities. Bay Park and Bay Ho are sort of real estate names; they run along the western half of what the map shows as Linda Vista and Clairemont Mesa. Mission Hills is just below Old Town (actuall above it because it’s on a hill but below it on the map :). ) http://www.sandiegomagazine.com/San-Diego-Magazine/March-2015/Best-Neighborhoods-in-San-Diego/The-Best-Places-to-Live-in-San-Diego/
LOL several responses while I was working on my post. We can watch the planes fly by after takeoff but don’t think the noise is a problem. We did turn down houses closer under the flight path; we are further down the peninsula so they’re in the mid-distance. It’s actually kind of fun to watch them; I always know when the Hawaiian Air 10:10 am to Honolulu is late (it’s a 747 so has a very distinctive engine sound).
Both @mperrine and @Marilyn have given you good suggestions.
You do not want to go to Del Mar, La Jolla, or even Torrey Hills. If your kiddo doesn’t like to drive, he’s gonna hate sitting on the I-5 during rush hour.
For short term rentals, you might want to look at Oakwood apartments. I believe they have some in Mission Valley near the Trolley line; I lived in their Renaissance apartments in La Jolla when I first moved here more than 2 decades ago.
For private rentals, Bay Park is a nice area close to USD, and those condos off Friars Road would be convenient. Mission Valley and Friars Road now have a number of newer buildings near the trolley line.
You will have a hard time finding a short term rental in coastal San Diego around the summer high season. They will already be booked.
There are several nice communities off Friars Rd that might have rentals but they are probably year lease only. I like the community on Gaines/ Las Cumbres and another one called Fashion Hills (may not be the exact name) as temporary locations while you look around San Diego. Fashion Hills is north side of Friars on hill above Friars with views over Mission Valley. I would recommend you look for everything for sale or sold in these areas and call the real estate agents and ask if they know any rentals in the neighborhood.
An alternative might be to look through student housing ads and rent something that your son stays in for the long term and gets roommates in the Fall. Maybe only a 2 bdrm to make it easier. The Linda Vista area just east of the campus is not a desirable area…you’ll want to stay away from that neighborhood.
That would give you a short time to find a good rental in a neighborhood you like.
Be warned that the majority of rentals in San Diego are not rented through real estate agents. In hot coastal markets landlords just put up signs, word of mouth or property management companies. I’ll search the realtor MLS and PM you if I see something.
Found one possibility
Sent you a PM
Just sent you a link via PM for a new apartment complex right across the street from USD. They have some units coming available
La Jolla, Carmel Valley, Del Mar were my favorite places when I lived in San Diego
Update - USD has come through with an on campus apartment for my S, but just for July. He will have to find another place to live after that, but I am grateful because it gives him time to look around.
We are still looking for a home for the rest of us. Will definitely keep those place in mind @philbegas Thank you!