Which Southern California beach

[yakers]

OK, this is real insider stuff about southern California surfing I know about because well, I'm a kayaker and I avoid where ever the surfer boys are going. So if you only want to surf occasionally but some decent waves you live somewhere near Ventura and take the Island Packers boat out to the Channel Islands. Drop over the side of the boat (I've done this with kayaks) and you have a huge expanse of empty island coast to paddle, surf, bird watch or whatever you want to do in the water. Amazing and empty, impossible to believe that millions of people are anywhere nearby.
Now Urchina must really be a local as Casmalia was mentioned, a decent restaurant there but not a damn thing else, really remote.

[NeverBored]

I live 3 miles from the beach in SoCal -- you have good advice here, but it seems to me you need to decide what you're really looking for. What's your priority?

Cost? $600k is going to be tough to do in walking distance to a nice beach.

Surfing? Most avid surfers here drive down to San Clemente, although the local surfing is okay.

Small town feel? Nice restaurants? close to freeway? Community?

The beach towns all have their own personalities. I'd hang out at the local small restaurants and coffee houses and talk to the locals to see what it's really like.

No one has mentioned Seal Beach, but it's one of our favorites. Charming Main Street, pier, good food and sense of community. Close to everything but still a small town. Not cheap though.

[laurence]

My parents live in Carlsbad, we couldn't afford it so moved to San Marcos, just east of it. I want to emphasize the foggy weather right at the shore (May Gray turns into June Gloom, etc.) where I am it's usually sunny, and we can look west and see the wall of fog and know it's not a good beach day. But when it is it's 20-25 minutes from starting the car to feet in the sand.

Have you considered the proverbial trailer park?

6550 Ponto Dr, Carlsbad, CA 92011 MLS# 1974 - Zillow

Beach front trailers are far more tolerable than those inland!

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurence My parents live in Carlsbad, we couldn't afford it so moved to San Marcos, just east of it. I want to emphasize the foggy weather right at the shore (May Gray turns into June Gloom, etc.) where I am it's usually sunny, and we can look west and see the wall of fog and know it's not a good beach day. But when it is it's 20-25 minutes from starting the car to feet in the sand. Have you considered the proverbial trailer park? 6550 Ponto Dr, Carlsbad, CA 92011 MLS# 1974 - Zillow Beach front trailers are far more tolerable than those inland!

Laurence, does that include the lot? Or is it just a lease? I can't quite figure it out.

Ha

[laurence]

I can't either but the description here Listing Detail | Windermere Real Estate says something about, "In the process of converting to home ownership" or some such thing. So I suspect you buy for 100k, then have to "buy" your lot once they finish negotiating. Still, it'll be well under 600k and you'll be on the beach. I've trained for races along there and the residents are not trailer trash. In fact it's a favorite place for triathletes. Highway noise is a factor, I'm sure. That's highway 1 it butts up against. But I've got it on my short list for retirement - if it's still around in 20 years!

[haha]

Thanks Laurence. Sounds like it could be a gem.

Ha

[Zoocat]

If I were fortunate enough to be able to buy a condo or house in S. Calif beach areas, I would still be hesitant. You might want to read some contrarian views on the housing market.

This one is not contraian, just candid about the San Diego RE market and what's happening
bubbleinfo.com | An insider's guide to North San Diego County Real Estate | Klinge Realty Blog by Jim Klinge

And of course Dr. Housing Bubble Blog

When you have massive government intervention in the housing market as we do with the FED buying over a trillion in mortgage backed securities and all those tax credits, how can you determine what the value will be in a couple of years when all that intervention maxes out? And then there's the possibility, likely, of interest rate increases in the coming years. Who knows? Something to think about.

Vacation rentals are a very good idea. www.vrbo.com

[laurence]

All depends on what you are looking for. If this is your retirement home i.e. in it until you are in a box, and you can afford the fixed payments or can afford to pay it off and your SWR is still plenty to live well on, then a short or medium term dip in your house/condo value doesn't really matter. Despite buying our current SoCal house at what looked like the bottom, we probably overpaid a bit (a year later similar homes are 5-10% cheaper) but we'll be here a loooong time and just love it.