House hunting in SoCal

[capnkirk52]

Someone school me on the best place in Southern Cal to buy a house... I'm just looking for somewhere warm that I can go to in the winter and maybe a couple other times during the year. The only reason I say SoCal is proximity to my current location (southern Colorado) and the beach/ocean.

Maybe the Texas coast would be better? I dunno.... That's Why I want you to tell me where to go!

Only requirements are warm weather and close to the ocean.

 

[P49Y-CY]

warm weather and close to the ocean? that could be anywhere from san Louis Obispo all the way down to the border! I love orange county myself. it is pricey but beautiful. best of luck

 

[capnkirk52]

warm weather and close to the ocean? that could be anywhere from san Louis Obispo all the way down to the border! I love orange county myself. it is pricey but beautiful. best of luck

I love SLO too... That's why I asked... Someone has to know some awesome places from there all the way down south.

 

[capnkirk52]

Maybe someone on here is a realtor in those areas as well?

 

[thomas91169]

SD is ****ing beautiful. I just moved here 5mo ago after vacationing there about once every 3-4mo for a year. I could not resist the 60-80* weather year round. You pay to live here though.

Your biggest question is what sort of home would you like, what sort of area, and what your budget is.

You cant touch anything decent in a decent area for less than $400k. If you want to go inland it gets cheaper but it also gets hotter and uglier (IMO).

I dunno what homes go for in southern colorado but my buddy is moving to texas and looking at new homes in the $150-200k range and they are ungodly huge. You get alot of house for that price and its 30min out of DFW area, 3 car garages, big property, 2500sf sized house. But its also hot as ****, and IMO, not that "nice" of an area scenery wise. For me too, being very into the beach, TX just cant hang with the likes of SoCal beaches.

 

[Camaro_94]

Get ready to open your wallet and bank accounts. Because SoCal is expensive as ****. I lived in San Diego for awhile. It was amazing. Perfect weather and the beaches are awesome.

 

[oldmodman]

Money, money, money.

That's really all you need to know about Beach Property anywhere in Califiornia.

Just recently David Geffen bought a tiny old beat up house next door to his beach house so he could build maid quarters and a garage.

Price? $3,650,000.00

He will spend another 5 million on the garage and guest house.

If you are asking about houses that are nowhere near the beach. Say, in a lousy, crappy hot part of the valley you should be able to find a house in a high crime area for 159K

Go inland another 80 miles and the land value falls even more.

A friend just bought, re-habbed, and sold four houses in California City.
Buy 25K, sell around 50K

 

[P49Y-CY]

SD is ****ing beautiful. I just moved here 5mo ago after vacationing there about once every 3-4mo for a year. I could not resist the 60-80* weather year round. You pay to live here though.

it sure is hard to resist, and similar story here. about 20 years ago my company moved me out here temporarily from the east coast. I went back for less than a year and was like... screw this!

whenever I hear someone visits and gets a taste, I always predict they will be back lol.

 

[thomas91169]

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8832-Helen-James-Ave-San-Diego-CA-92126/16831748_zpid/ - 2bdr for $200k in Mira Mesa

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8779-Harlington-Dr-San-Diego-CA-92126/16816269_zpid/ - 4bdr needs work $290k also Mira Mesa

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9990-Kibler-Dr-San-Diego-CA-92126/16833140_zpid/ - 3bdr decent needs updating $300k Mira Mesa

 

[thomas91169]

it sure is hard to resist, and similar story here. about 20 years ago my company moved me out here temporarily from the east coast. I went back for less than a year and was like... screw this!

whenever I hear someone visits and gets a taste, I always predict they will be back lol.

Yup.

So far everyone who has come down to visit us want to move there too now.

Most times though the home prices scare them off. My parents make great money in the valley, but unless they made 25-35% more, they wouldnt make enough to live in an equivalent home down here as they have up there.

 

[Steve@TF]

Money, money, money.

That's really all you need to know about Beach Property anywhere in Califiornia.

Just recently David Geffen bought a tiny old beat up house next door to his beach house so he could build maid quarters and a garage.

Price? $3,650,000.00

He will spend another 5 million on the garage and guest house.

If you are asking about houses that are nowhere near the beach. Say, in a lousy, crappy hot part of the valley you should be able to find a house in a high crime area for 159K

Go inland another 80 miles and the land value falls even more.

A friend just bought, re-habbed, and sold four houses in California City.
Buy 25K, sell around 50K

hey i live in a crappy hot part of the valley and no way in hell can you find a house for $159k! oke:
lowest ive seen is in the mid 200s for a 1 bedroom fixer upper.

living in the valley, its about 30-40 min drive to the beaches in malibu

oxnard area has some nice beaches. there are somewhat affordable houses over there. especially if just for a vacation home.

 

[G04cobra]

Check out Hermosa/ Manhattan beach..if prices are too high, check out Torrance. It has a small suburban feel, it's next to the beaches and near LA.
If prices are too low, check out Rancho Palos Verdes. Also , note that most beaches here in So Cal will reach maybe the 80's at most during the summer time. Not exactly tropical but it is beautiful.

 

[GM Nitemare]

Malibu, you can afford it.

 

[BlueSnake01]

hey i live in a crappy hot part of the valley and no way in hell can you find a house for $159k! oke:
lowest ive seen is in the mid 200s for a 1 bedroom fixer upper.

living in the valley, its about 30-40 min drive to the beaches in malibu

oxnard area has some nice beaches. there are somewhat affordable houses over there. especially if just for a vacation home.

+1
I love the valley :shrug: But NO WAY you gonna find a 159K house on avg.. More like 200k
It's pretty much in the middle of everything. As far as housing goes, to get a decent nice 4 bedroom house, you gonna need to cough up at LEAST 400k. Anything below needs fixture and are ok houses. Starting my first home, I dont care if its a simple home, not planning on keeping it forever just gotta start somewhere and build equity.

Sucks though how we have to work harder to still be below middle class :nonono: Texas is my next option but things are still working well for me here.

 

[TorchMach]

I'm a Realtor here in SoCal. If you want the best weather, walking distance to the ocean, and not to far from airport, fun ,etc check out Oceanside prices shouldn't be as crazy as the LA area beaches and SD beaches. I work in the LA Area only, but know that Oceanside isn't that bad and you still get everything you could want. Only down side or maybe upside if that's your thing is all the Marines that are there.

If money isn't THAT much of a issue check out Manhattan Beach, I have a listing coming up in Newport for north of 2mil. if your into it PM me. Or if you like mexican woman I have a rehab I did in East Los for 270k 3bed/1bath =) lol

 

[IH8GM]

thats a tough question to answer without a pricepoint. I lived on the coast side of so-cal for about 10 years now. started In torrance but lived in long beach and huntington beach and worked my way south to San Diego. It has the best weather of so-cal, not that L.A is bad but SD is a bit better and without the smog. Orange county is very nice specially south of seal beach and affordable till you get to newport beach at least. expect to pay ~$300 per sqft thats been going up about 5% per month for the last couple.
In San Diego if its a place for vacationing Oceanside or Carlsbad are great places and most affordable i think. I would not buy in south San Diego , id stay away from imperial beach and chula vista. Im currently looking for a Condo myself but the interest rate jump in the last month is killing me even with that inventory is still very low.
Dont now much about texas but from my visits to austin and san antonio i liked everything but the heat. I feel like the coast of texas might be nice and cheaper then socal

 

[steves04cobra]

I'm in the process of buying a house in oceanside right now. I found a 2 story 4 bed house about 8 miles from the beach for less the 400k. You just have to look.

 

[thomas91169]

Oceanside is pretty nice Imo.

I work in San Marcos/Vista btw.

 

[mcdover]

I hear Chula Vista and San Ysidro is nice.

 

[loadchris]

I live in Ventura County. Just purchased my first home (townhome) in new part of Oxnard for 215k. There are a few places in East Ventura and Camarillo going in between 300-500k for single family homes, just 15-25min to the beach.