Holiday visitors to San Diego might take a liking to our fair city, and wonder about our real estate market. They may want to see a few homes for sale to sample the local fare.
A few thoughts for the unfamiliar:
1. The local inventory has been picked clean.
Market conditions here have been excellent, and buyers have snatched up anything that resembled a decent buy. All that is left are the OPTs (over-priced turkeys). Any home for sale that has been on the market more than 30 days is probably 10% too high in price, or more.
2. It probably won’t get much better.
We are due for a surge of inventory, but the prices on new listings will be influenced by the lagging OPTs. Experienced home shoppers have given up on getting a deal, and instead are looking for the premium properties – only.
3. New listings are likely to be rehashed.
We suffer from lax enforcement of the MLS rules here, and as a result, agents will ‘refresh’ (cancel and re-input) their listings – usually without changing the price. Frustrated buyers and their agents think it is a hot new listing, and pay all the money; when in reality it’s been sitting on the market for weeks or months. A few of these go pending each week – it works. Buyer beware.
4. Not many off-market deals.
Every time I check, the off-market deals only amount to 10% to 15% of all sales, which means you need to work with a good agent to snag one of the 85%. Normal home-sellers demand the open-market exposure in order to achieve top dollar, so the off-market sales are typically the estate sales being sold by out-of-town heirs who want fast money.
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School quality is a big driver of real estate demand. The following are different areas of the North San Diego County’s Coastal region, with the scores of the elementary schools from www.greatschools.org, which isn’t a perfect measure but it’s all we got:
Carmel Valley, 92130
The hot bed of local real estate action, due to the excellent schools and proximity to local employment centers. All nine elementary schools are scored a 10; Sage Canyon, Ocean Air, Torrey Hills, Carmel Creek, Carmel Del Mar, Ashley Falls, Sycamore Ridge, Solana Pacific, and Solana Highlands (Solana Ranch not scored yet). Decent houses start at $1,000,000.
La Jolla
All three public elementary schools in La Jolla are ranked a 10; Torrey Pines, Bird Rock, and La Jolla Elementary. If you can find a decent house under $2,000,000, grab it.
Del Mar
Del Mar Heights Elementary scores a 10, and Del Mar Hills is a nine. Expect to spend $1,500,000 for a decent house in the 92014.
Solana Beach
All schools score a 9 in Solana Beach proper, where you can buy a decent home in the low-$1,000,000s.
Rancho Santa Fe/Fairbanks Ranch
Those living in the RSF Covenant area can enjoy K-8 at the R. Roger Rowe School, and those around Fairbanks go to Solana Santa Fe – both schools score a 10. Expect to spend at least $2,000,000 for something decent.
Encinitas/Cardiff
Three elementary schools rank a 10; Cardiff, Flora Vista, and Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary. You can find decent houses in the $800,000s – only 48% of the homes sold this year closed over $1,000,000.
Carlsbad
Carlsbad is the most populous town in the coastal region, and the furthest north, which plays a role for those who need to fight traffic daily going south. There are five schools that score a 10, and all are in South Carlsbad; Pacific Rim, Aviara Oaks, Mission Estancia, El Camino Creek, and La Costa Heights. You can still find a decent buy in the $700,000s, and 80% of houses sold this year closed under $1,000,000. Carlsbad is split into three different school districts, which means getting to high school might be a trek.
All the high schools from La Jolla to Carlsbad rank 8s and 9s.
Yes, you can find houses for sale for less than mentioned here, but you really need a good agent – and I can help! jim@jimklinge.com
Same here. Smart buyers consider the $14,000 per year per kid tuition savings when purchasing. Even smart buyers without school age kids know that a good school district means their purchase has additional value when it comes time to sell.
CCHS in Carmel Valley is around $16,000 per year.
A father of a recent graduate remarked how much he is saving now that his kid is at UCLA!
Remind him that the California Constitution forbids the charging of tuition to State residents. Always good for a laugh.
My eldest, bless her heart, graduated UCLA in three years. Double blessings; her employer is paying for grad school.
Never knew that Rob Dawg! That is a good laugh as my daughter graduated from UC-Santa Cruz in 2012. She graduated 3 months early, but from 2008-2012 were ridiculous tuition increases, including 1 year that had two! It took a village (her aunt, uncle and me) to get her through with no student debt…
My kids getting a PhD, but I’ve got a GED, an STD and two DUI’s.
😆
Speaking of student loans, I heard a good motivator recently. Parents are going to have their kid take out a student loan for college of his choice, and as long as he gets good grades – parents will pay loan. If he gets bad grades, then he pays the loan.
Sounds great in theory, but if a night comes where he has to choose between studying or attending a toga party, I’m not sure future debt will weigh heavily enough!
Performance remuneration is a very dangerous game with progeny. Paying for “A grades” is not the same as paying for “progress.”
Sharing here. My mom is “comfortable.” All her grandchildren were/are eligible for senior (last) year tuition being covered by her. I find the wisdom behind that policy quite deep.
How is your mother?
Here’s mine, on her 80th birthday tour this summer. My two brothers and sister on the right, Uncle Tom and Sally behind my mom, and Alameda County District Attorney O’Malley and her Chief of Assistants:
https://www.bubbleinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/moms-80.jpg
This photo was taken in front of the very desk where my grandfather upheld justice for 22 years as DA. New-hires have to read his book first!
Mom has abandoned snowbird status to become a permanent FL resident. Less travel as might be expected as the years go by. She and her boyfriend will be out here next summer for the wedding.
Wedding? Don’t tell me…..your daughter?
I met Nancy O’Malley at my Uncle’s memorial service in 2008, nice lady and funny. My gramma died that same year at age 95, but they did save the baby.
Excellent list! Love the breakdown by area!