Friends (new immigrants) want to retire on $4M in San Diego

[almost there]

What are they used to? In many areas here a million wont buy all that much home. 3-4 bedroom 2000-2500 sq ft. close to the coast. (Am using my home as an example)$450-500 sq ft./ Ok ocean view. I live in this area and am doing it on much less than they are. But the house is paid for as well as a rental in the same area. If you deduct my real-estate, I only have about a million in retirement dollars with no worries. But they are also a few years younger and looking at college costs. Am glad those days are behind me. So, yes its easily doable. Depending on their spending habits.
You can also get a nice place for 500-600k, depends where you want to live.

[Spanky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by almost there You can also get a nice place for 500-600k, depends where you want to live.

Yup - you could get a nice place for a reasonable price if you are willing to live further from central San Diego.
A 3 beds 2.5 baths 1,254 sqft house in Vista, CA (~30 miles north of San Diego) is in the 400K range.

[explanade]

Is it because of distance from SD or something else?

It seems Carlsbad is more pricey than Vista and Oceanside even though they're all next to each other?

[almost there]

That's true. Oceanside is the bargain of SoCal Beach Communities.
You can get a nice place on the border of Oceanside and Carlsbad.
Oceanside prices, Carlsbad school district. (That's where my rental is located) 3-4 bedroom homes are about $450k -500k 3 miles from the coast. I live in the next city north of Oside in Orange County. Where the prices again jump back up. (Generally speaking / the further you get from the ocean the prices come down) Unincorporated Vista can be a 20 minute drive to the coast.

Prices climb as you go north on the coast as well. Dana Point, Laguna, Corona Del Mar, Newport beach, etc.

The term "San Diego" is kind of a broad statement. You could be in the desert in SD county over an hour from the coast. Google Ocotillo Wells.

[rodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade Is it because of distance from SD or something else? It seems Carlsbad is more pricey than Vista and Oceanside even though they're all next to each other?

Oceanside and Vista have the marine base factor... I worked in Oceanside right out of college and when the marines were practicing with tanks and heavy munitions, the windows would rattle and you could feel the ground shake.

Also Vista seems to have less strict zoning - so there are a lot of industrial business parks right adjacent to residential... (At least that's what it seems to me when I drive through there.) That might make it less attractive to buyers and suppress the prices some.

Carlsbad has a lot of planned communities which keep them looking nice if you don't mind covenants etc. I definitely have a strong preference for the old Carlsbad area, west of I5... but the price point is higher there. Also the homes around Elfin Forest.

If they want to be in San Diego proper - there are coastal areas (west of I-805) that are more affordable... but the issue then is schools. Using the school choice system in San Diego Unified is a solution to that...
I agree about the I-15 corridor for schools. Scripps Ranch and north. Scripps Ranch is still within San Diego unified but very good schools. Rancho Penasquitos is a neighborhood that is in San Diego but part of Poway Unified - which are excellent schools. Poway school district covers Poway, Rancho Bernardo, and 4S ranch. The temps are warmer by 10 degrees in the summer, and cooler by 10 degrees at night in the winter - so AC is probably required for summer.

FWIW - I live in the UC/UTC area. Decent schools - lots of educated immigrants because of the proximity to UCSD and all the staff and post-doc types... plus access to torrey pines (biotech) and Sorrento Valley (digital/IT jobs).

[AnIntentionalRoad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade Not sure how much longer the tech stocks which are fueling these runaway housing prices in the Bay Area will continue to rise.

It's been going strong since at least the mid-90`s. I would bet on it continuing for quite some time.


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[AnIntentionalRoad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by almost there Oceanside yes. La Jolla no,

Isn't Oceanside where the big Marine Corp base is situated? I vaguely remember that area being a bit run down but I haven been there in a looong time.

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[almost there]

Yes, Camp Pendleton.
Its a fairly large area, with a population of about 175,000.
Its cleaned it self up quite a bit over the past 20 yrs,
Some parts are still substandard, other parts are really nice.
Homes go from 400k to a few million. Fire Mountain is nice, ($600k-900k range)
but some areas are not so nice. Same as any larger city I guess.
Its the most affordable beach community in SoCal.
So, its not going to compete with LaJola, Laguna, Newport back bay etc.
Just depends what your after. I have been in San Clemente the past
40 years and have seen lots of change. Population growth from 9k to about 70k.
But have no plans to ever move.

[Urchina]

If your friends are looking for SD specifically, then have at it. But if they are open to Coastal California / not SD but still good climate, they might want to look at San Luis Obispo. College town, solid schools, 10 minutes from the beach, but inland enough to avoid most of the fog. Little traffic, no big-city vibe.

Lower housing prices as a result.

Ventura and Carpinteria, CA, may also interest them. If they decide to look at Ventura, I'd stick with northern Ventura and avoid Oxnard.

[Spanky]

Orange county is another possibility. San Juan Capistrano is somewhat affordable coastal city to live. A friend of mine retired there about 10 years ago. He chose Orange County over SD County because of better health care.

[someguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayinpenn San Diego is indeed beautiful and wow that weather...but way too expensive. There are too many alternatives that are less pricey and wonderful too.

Such as?

[eta2020]

Quote:

Originally Posted by someguy Such as?

Algarve Portugal and one can get 10 year special status and pay almost no income taxes. http://nonhabitualresidents.com/

Same wonderful climate as SD with more interesting/historic feel to it and friendly people, inexpensive health care, lower crime then SD.... but if living in US is a requirement it would be out of the question.

[cathy63]

Imperial Beach is another beach city in San Diego County that could be an alternative to Oceanside. IB has been undergoing a renaissance during the past few years and the waterfront area has become quite nice. It's also closer to the city of San Diego than Oceanside is.

[AnIntentionalRoad]

I lived in IB for a short time in the late 80's. Great surfing!

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[rodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urchina If your friends are looking for SD specifically, then have at it. But if they are open to Coastal California / not SD but still good climate, they might want to look at San Luis Obispo. College town, solid schools, 10 minutes from the beach, but inland enough to avoid most of the fog. Little traffic, no big-city vibe. Lower housing prices as a result. Ventura and Carpinteria, CA, may also interest them. If they decide to look at Ventura, I'd stick with northern Ventura and avoid Oxnard.

Last I checked SLO was pretty darn pricey. But I'll admit I haven't followed it closely. I have friends in San Diego who say they want to move to SLO (went to school there) but can't afford it. One of my favorite campgrounds is the Morro Bay state park - just over the hill from SLO.

[explanade]

Why would SLO be that pricey?

I thought about visiting the castle but couldn't figure out how much it cost and they didn't reply to my email.