Yesterday was spent on the road, checking out three north county cities. We started in Vista, which was listed as the seventh-best place in the United States for family life, based on factors such as jobs and business opportunities, education, climate, and cost-of-living in a 2008 review. Vista is a hop, skip and jump from Highway 5, via the newly paved Highway 78. The terrain is fairly flat, with some gently rolling hills around the edges. There is a diversity in neighborhoods, running from apartments to small post-war ranchers to larger elaborate mini-mansions. Strip malls abound, and we never did locate a proper “downtown” (despite using a brand new GPS system). They are building a new civic center, at the corner of Eucalyptus and Escondido, which is slated to be complete in the summer of 2010.

Some basic stats on Vista:
Population: 89,527 (based on the sign leading into town)
Median income (2006): $50,162
Below poverty line: 15%
Cost of Living Index: 121 (US Avg = 100)
Weather: Warmest Jul/Aug/Sept – low 80s Coolest Dec-March – 68
Crime: FBI crime stats show 50 per 10,000 residents (consistent with my current suburban location)
Miles from ocean: 7+

Because this is just a scouting trip, to see if we like SoCal, we have not contacted an agent to see listings. Our plan is to check out a few homes that fit our criteria, based on MLS listings, and then drive neighborhoods, visit downtowns and see what a city has to offer. My initial search turned up 12 properties of over an acre and under $600,000. As is typical of this area, many listings did not have addresses, and were listed as Undisclosed. In some cases, if I liked the look of a home, I would note the cross street and visit the neighborhood to see if it was of interest.

In Vista, we drove by three listings. The first, at 125 Kilby Lane sat amongst streets of palm and fruit trees. The home itself had no landscaping, was very vanilla in character, and overlooked an empty lot and a major thoroughfare. I had chosen this house because it came with 3 other parcels, had a pool, and had dropped in price from $1,196,000 to $519,900. Additionally, there were architectural plans for a second home. Unfortunately, it did not appeal to us.

As we drove around in a neighborhood on another side of town, we ran into 960 Phillips. A newer home, there were no flyers to check out, but we thought the neighborhood was nice. An added touch was the two peacocks strutting their stuff about 100 feet down the road. Turns out that the home is only on 6/10 of an acre (on 2 parcels), although it does have a pool. It’s in the price range at $485,000. Not quite what we are looking for, but nice nonetheless.

The neighborhood we liked best was off E. Vista Way. This was a very nice area, quiet, nice homes of varying sizes, all well-kept and landscaped. All seemed to be on generously sized lots with views of either the hills or the canyon. The home that brought us to this neighborhood is a newer French Normandy custom home on 1.18 acres. Unique, and all on one story, there were a number of high-end amenities in this listing and room for a pool or separate studio. Originally listed at $950,000, this home at 1925 Vista Grande is now priced at $625,000.

Next Up: Escondido

Previous Posts:

Thinking Ahead: Retirement Property

Retirment Search: Initiation

Ahhh…the elusive and never-ending search for what we want. It goes on even now, at our age. We’ve had a hard time pinning down what we want, as we know circumstances may change. I’d be perfectly content with a 2 bedroom home, on at least an acre, for under $600,000, somewhere in California. But, my parents have expressed interest in sharing a property with us, so we could look for compounds, a property with two homes on it, for $1mil or so. I am also willing to buy land and build a green, pre-fab home, like a Dwell house, or something from Tiny Tumbleweeds. And further yet, to be near to all our family and really enjoy our retirement years, maybe a small condo in SoCal (San Diego, Palm Springs) and a cabin (near Tahoe or Pinecrest)? Makes me sound greedy, doesn’t it?

For our San Diego purposes, our retirement search will focus on a minimum 1 acre parcel, with minimum 2BR/1BA home, under $600,000. I will, however, keep my eye out for the perfect family compound, just in case one should pop up. Gotta keep those options open. As for other criteria, which would help us in narrowing our search:

Studio or separate building for office/guests
Right now we have a room in our home dubbed the “Brady B&B Room #2″ and it gets used on a regular basis. We have guests all the time, family and friends who visit the area. We love it, kind of like adult sleepovers. If we move away from our children, we do hope they will come to visit often, as well as other family and friends, so a space for them is crucial, as is an office for me. I am a freelancer and work 95% from home and need a dedicated space for myself.

Pool
I have never owned a pool in my life, unless you count those inflatable kiddie pools. If we live in a warm area, I’d like a pool. Of course, if we move close to the ocean or a lake, I’d be happy to forget this little option.

Single story (two story okay if there is one or more BR on first floor)
I have had rheumatoid arthritis for 13 years. I’ve adjusted my habits and try to keep it at bay, as best I can. But I am trying to think ahead, and stairs would not be the wisest choice for me (unless elevators are involved, which isn’t likely in this price range).

Style of home
I really, really don’t want a rancher. I want something with character: a barn, an old church, a Victorian, a cool mid-mod, a Craftsman or even a Spanish-style. Something unique, unusual. Doesn’t have to be in tip-top condition, in fact, I’d prefer a fixer, so I can put in the kitchen I have always longed for…..

I’ve been perusing real estate online in the following San Diego county cities:

• Vista
• Escondido
• Ramona
• San Marcos
• El Cajon
• Santee
• Lakeside
• Fallbrook

I’ve also been advised to check out Coronado (for a condo only), Valley Center (near Fallbrook), and I fell in love with Encinitas yesterday when we were driving around, so will put that on the list.

It’s rather ambitious of me to think I can check all these out in the week that I am here, but I’m going to do my best, in between working and visiting friends. First up will be Vista,Escondido and Ramona.

Fast forward to today. I am in San Diego County looking at retirement property. When doing research over the last two months, I remember finding out that one of the cities we would be checking out, Fallbrook, was a fire site in 2007, with mandatory evacuation of the whole town. I wondered how often that had happened and if I should be concerned. Today, I sit and watch the black smoke of wildfire curl up into the sky from multiple fires burning a few miles away at Camp Pendleton. Initially there was mandatory evacuation in parts of Oceanside, the city next to where I am staying. That has since been lifted, but it serves as a notice to me to be more aware of this potential hazard of certain towns, located near large expanses of open space and trees.

While wildfire is one of the downsides to living near national parks and open spaces, it seems more prevalent than the earthquakes we worry about on a continual basis in the Bay Area. My brother, living outside Los Angeles, deals annually with the fires inflamed by the whipping Santa Ana winds (which is also happening right now). They have yet to evacuate in the ten years of living in La Canada, but each fall they are effected by the smoke: windows and doors shut tight, ash in the air and covering everything, closed freeways blocking commuter routes, and air quality so poor that soccer games need to be cancelled.

Being in the midst of this type of natural disaster, seeing news reports, and smelling the destructive fires distinct aroma, causes me to pause and ponder. Over the years I have developed a sense that no matter where we live there will be something looming; hurricanes in Florida have caused friends to flee north, family in Missouri regularly takes shelter in their underground bunker during tornados, and rising rivers cause floods throughout the land. And if you are lucky enough to live where a major natural disaster isn’t likely to strike, chances are you have a regularly occurring annoyance, like hundreds of feet of snowfall per year. I think the key is to acknowledge it, prepare for it, and expect it, not letting your guard down.

Recently we prepared our living trust, wills, and advanced directives. We have compiled all our important papers, along with these, for easy grab and go. Family heirlooms (not gold and diamonds, but sentimental trinkets handed down) and well as family photos, are all in one place, and computers are laptops, easy to scoop up on the run. The rest is replaceable, more or less.

I don’t think this latest reminder will make me reconsider this area, but I’m glad it happened while I was here so that it can factor into a decision.

Defining the downtown in Redwood City was easy, but not so in San Carlos. I found it difficult determining which blocks to include. While I did walk or drive the full length of Laurel from San Carlos Avenue to Eaton, my final decision is to include only 3 (long) blocks, starting at San Carlos Avenue and ending at Arroyo. I will, however, point out those restaurants currently operating from Arroyo to Eaton, just to give you the largest range possible of eating establishments to choose from.

The first block of downtown Laurel, extending from San Carlos Avenue to Cherry, houses 40 storefronts, of which 13 are food-related. On the east side, you start with Starbucks, which is next to Bullpen Deli, which is next to House of Bagels. An alley separates these three from Chocolate Mousse Bakery. Also on this side are Nino’s Gourmet, New York New York Deli, Siamese Kitchen, and my favorite teahouse, The English Rose. On the west side, you have Foodville, La Boulangerie, Taqueria Mi Ranchito, Plantation Coffee Roastery, and the newest kid on the block, Pilita Mediterranean Grill.

Block 2 starts at Cherry and works its way down to Olive, where I found 39 storefronts, with 12 of those serving food. On the east side, which is heavily represented with European cuisine, is Speederia Pizza, followed by my personal favorite Piacere, then a soon-to-open Asian restaurant (replacing Laurel Street Café, whose owners have returned to France), Donut Delite (a fave with the older crowd), Santorini Mediterranean, Ristoranate Spasso (the best lavender crème brulee ever), Kaigan Sushi and La Tosca. Across the street is the ever-popular Town, soon-to-open Cask wine bar, Cowabunga Creamery (serving the delicious local Marianne’s brand ice cream), and Giuliana’s Ristorante Italiano.

The last block, from Olive to Arroyo, counts 8 culinary businesses out of 19 storefronts. The east side has only two: Yan’s Garden and Broiler Express. The west side is up and coming, with the new Foodvile/Bianchini’s set to open, Red Mango opening a franchise, Starbucks, Vanilla Moon Bakery (which I wrote about here), 888 Ristorante Italiano, and Ozuma Japanese.

In these three blocks, which total 98 storefronts, a whopping 33 serve food. Just over one-third trying to garner your business and satisfy your hunger. The majority of these have been in business for 10 or more years and seem to be holding their own, staying true to their initial vision. Newbies are creeping in, but seem to be carving out a niche, like Cowabunga Creamery which replaces the old ice cream shop in town and caters to youth, and Spasso which is the only game in town for tapas, that I know of.

Once you pass Arroyo, the pickings get slim, but are some of the best bets, particularly The Refuge and Micha’s. The Refuge is a wine pub with a chef that makes his own charcuterie and pastrami. They serve great international beers and have a constant crowd. Micha’s, at the very end of Laurel, almost to Eaton, has great barbecue and jazz every Friday and Saturday night. Other restaurants on Laurel outside of the downtown radius are: Gracie’s Delectables (near Arroyo); Cantina (between Morse and Brittan); Flower Drum, Big Joe’s Café, Rumi (next on my list of restaurants to try), Oxford Street Chinese, and New Canton (between Laurel and Greenwood); Absolute, Crepes, Skinny Sippin (Greenwood to Howard); and La Hacienda (Howard to Belmont).

Total count: 46
Cuisines: American, Mexican, Thai, Italian, Mediterranean, Chinese, Japanese, British, Greek, Persian

My favorite is this modern marvel built in 2004 at the top of Mount Tiburon. With clean lines, floor-to-ceiling windows, views of the Bay, I want to cook in that kitchen and have my morning coffee on the wraparound deck, watching the sun come up. Sitting on a third of an acre, it has 4 bedroom and 3.5 baths, so its not too oversized. In fact, it is downright small for a “mansion,” but I love the design, somewhat mid-mod and I think it fits in as a coastline home. This certainly isn’t the type of house for everyone, but given what is on the market in this town, I think it will appeal to Tiberonians.

Recent Sweet Digs Posts:
SF and Daly City: FSBO Homes not Immune to Price Cuts
Berkeley and Oakland Homes: Price Cuts Come to Those Who Wait
Upcoming REO Workshops in the South Bay
Getting Hit in San Rafael: More REO Listings
If I Ruled the World – Or Were At Least the President…..
Bay Area: Comical, Useless Real Estate Advertisement
Back on the Market: My Visit to a Home Auction, Part 2

The three best things so far? The price of gas: $3.39 for regular (I paid $3.79 a week ago on the Peninsula), the weather (went to bed, it was 70, woke up, it was 70) and the beach. My home base is in Carlsbad, a house located just 1.7 miles from the sand and surf. We took a ride down to the waterfront last night, lots of hustle and bustle, visitors walking the long winding path that fronts the ocean. Happy people with happy dogs. Light breeze, the lapping ocean waves against the sand. Definitely gonna spend more time down there.

Carlsbad is a cute, laidback city, and the downtown appears to be a cross between Santa Cruz and Cambria. Lots of independent shops, with a few chains like Cold Stone, Starbucks and Jamba Juice. You can hear music, restaurants do a brisk trade, people get around on foot and bicycle. There are a few shopping and strip malls, as well, and the housing I have seen so far varies. Some great beach houses right on the water, mostly rentals, several high-end retirement communities, and your typical apartments, condos, and SFRs. I found one street that I loved, with huge lots and unique homes – Painted ladies, Craftsman, and Spanish style. Larger homes, some I would go so far as to call “compounds” where multiple families could live, which appeals to me as my parents age. My guess is that it is a smaller version of San Mateo, given the types and ages of housing and the overall feel of the city.

I am staying in a neighborhood made up primarily of single family ranchers, and I’m guessing the bulk were built in the ’50s and ’60s. San Diego has been hit fairly hard with the mortgage and credit crisis. When my friends were looking, there were a lot of short sales and REOs. Three in the neighborhood were available, all in the low 500’s, high 400’s. One specific home last sold for $656,000, had been initially listed at $515,000, and got its first and final bid about 30-40 days in for $469,000. That’s for a standard rancher, 3/2, on almost a 10,000 sf lot. This home, along with two others around the corner are being remodeled at the same time. Two older homes within a block are undergoing exterior changes and upgrades, as well. The area seems to be seeing a revitalization and I was surprised by the lack of FOR SALE signs as we drove around, although remodeling efforts were visible everywhere.

On my agenda this week: Fallbrook, Vista, Santee, Escondido, Ramona…plus a few others, if I have time.

The Tesla Roadster is their first production vehicle and began rolling off the line in July. This sporty little car is 100% electric, burns no oil, and gets 244 miles per charge, not to mention it can make 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds! Currently a waiting list of 1200 for this little gem, which is selling for $109,000 (base price). Obviously the economy can’t be hurting too much…at least for some.

Tesla is the one car that is headquartered, designed, and will be produced locally. Tesla’s home base is in San Carlos, but they made the decision to mass produce their cars in San Jose. The new state-of-the art plant, to be located off Zanker Road and Highway 237, will pour $250,000,000 into the local economy in construction costs, and will house the assembly plant, corporate headquarters and their R&D campus. Construction begins next summer and when completed will employ 1,000 local workers.

The Tesla S, their 5-passenger luxury sedan, will follow as the second car in production. Once the San Jose plant is up and running, they expect 15,000 vehicles to roll off the line per year, starting in 2010. The Tesla S will run on a lithium-ion battery pack and be priced around $60,000, a bit more affordable in the scheme of things, not to mention it will hold a family and groceries.

One thing Tesla has done right, trumping mortgage lenders, is requiring a $5000 initial deposit to lock in price, and an additional $55,000 before production begins. That’s a 55% total down payment, significantly more than recent home loans.

My husband and I are looking down the road a few years to retirement. It has been our intention and goal to semi-retire in our fifties. We’d like to move out of suburbia and have some room to stretch our legs. We’ve seen too many family members either work up until they died, or retire early and succumb to disease and illness in their sixties. We had our children young, so we’d like to spend our later years doing a bit of travel, gardening, and whatnot before infirmities or death set in. While we may very well live into our 80s or 90s, nothing is for certain and we’d like to take advantage of our stable legs and sound mind while we can.

While we don’t have the money to invest in a second home yet, it’s important for us to try and find the right fit, location-wise, which means some travel. There are a few things we are determined to have in our search for a new area to live. One is that we will stay in California and the other is that we want some land. Doesn’t have to be a lot of land, just an acre or so, just so we don’t have to hear our neighbors sneeze and we can sleep without loud music keeping us awake or leaf blowers waking us up. Beyond that we have criteria to help us whittle down the large number of potential sites available to us. They are in no particular order, but I’m sure over time that I will build some sort of spreadsheet and we will develop a rating system to help guide what is sure to be an emotional decision.

• Promixity to family (by plane or car)
• Proximity to major airport
• Price of real estate
• Weather ( we like it warm/hot)
• Quality of medical facilities
• Cost of living
• Safety
• Ability for additional residence on property (for aging parents)

A few months ago I found a link to a site that recommended areas to live based on a few minimal criteria (and which I cannot seem to locate now). It seemed a bit half-assed, but I’m game to try these things in the interest of research. What came back was 8 of the 10 recommended cities were in San Diego County, a place we had never entertained thoughts about. But it got me searching and wondering, and given that a friend just relocated to Carlsbad, I though it might be a good idea to check it out. So, today my hubby and I are off on a road trip to visit said friend and look at possible cities to retire. I’ve done my homework and there are quite a few, at least on paper. I’ll be doing posts on these towns and properties on the San Diego Sweet Digs blog. If anyone around these parts is interested, I’d be happy to post them here, too. Just let me know.

But who will the bill bailout? That has yet to be seen, but Carolyn Said over at the SF Chronicle has an idea of some measures the government could make to help out you, me, and the economy: An interest rate cut to stimulate the economy [note: a key rate was cut this morning by .5%]; a stimulus package—think tax cuts, maybe another tax incentive to buy a house, and money to create jobs; further deposit insurance, beyond the $250,000 current limit; restructure mortgages to prop up housing and prevent further wholesale foreclosures; and, direct capital injections to keep companies afloat—in return for a share of the profits. This last idea is one I wrote about September 24th in the weekly news, in which Sweden stopped a similar crisis by participating as owners in companies they helped fund. It was win-win for the companies and the taxpayers.

As if it wasn’t enough that the Feds are bailing out what seems like everyone but those who read this blog, our illustrious Governator is asking the Feds for a $7 billion loan to help pay the bills for our fair state. After an 80+ day budget stalemate that he could not negotiate, he goes hat in hand to D.C. to make payroll. Not that I want state employees going without, that is not the point. The point is that we should be paying closer attention to local happenings. With the election, the credit crisis, mortgage meltdown, Wall Street taking a hit, we hardly have time to catch out breath. But if I were the federal government, I’d get the ruler out and slap his wrists. With Louisiana still trying to play catch-up and Texas in crisis due to recent natural disasters, why should we get money? There are countries that run on budgets smaller than ours….

So, what do you all think about Coldwell Banker’s 10 Day Sales Event (October 10th – 19th), where you can get 10% off Coldwell Banker listings nationwide? I’ve been hearing about it, but I have to say that trying to confirm the 10 day/10% was difficult. The main CB website doesn’t even make mention of it all. The CB event website (which I googled) came back with 2 sentences and no details. The Buy section of CB doesn’t mention it either. The CaliforniaMoves.com site that CB owns does have an ad for it in the sidebar. Clicking on it gives you a downloadable pdf, which makes no mention of the 10% off, only a vague reference to “specially reduced prices.” Blessings go to the San Francisco Real Estate Blog, which posted part of the press release. I read the fine print and it does say that the 10% is for “participating home sellers,” which could mean 1 or 1,000 or 10,000. That’s the kicker. You have to contact them to find out which homes are participating. A great marketing ploy, to be sure. It may also help to sell houses, which is an even bigger result. Although if they don’t do better getting their message out and available, no one is going to take advantage.

I just checked out “Seductively Sold XXIX” over at San Franciscso Schtuff. They are reporting 40 SFRs sold last week, ranging from $225,000 to $4,500,000. A whopping 48% of those sold within 30 days. One even sold with 0 days on the market. Only 6 had been sitting for longer than 90 days, leaving 25% of the homes waiting 31-90 days for a buyer. I actually think that’s pretty darn good. The prior week saw only 28 SFR sales, with only 8 sold in less than 30 days, so there was a bit of a bump.

I’m not sure what happened, but in the last 35 years, San Carlos has chewed up and spit out a lot of grocery stores, which is a great revenue loss for the city. When I was growing up there was a grocery at Laurel and Eaton, one where the current Rite Aid store is located, one across from the post office, Foodville at the end of San Carlos, with another mom-and-pop store almost directly across the street (where Chocolate Mousse now resides). And at one point a Safeway was located where the current Longs Drug Store is on San Carlos Avenue. Foodville is the lone survivor from that crowd, and the oldest market in downtown. (Trader Joes being the only other market, located off Belmont and El Camino.) Owned by the Bianchini’s, who also have a market in Portola Valley, Foodville is slated to move into the old Bell/Lunardis spot across from the post office. The move will mean larger quarters, more shelf space, and a new name. Foodville will join its sister store in becoming Bianchini’s Market. While I am sure that many will miss the old store for its convenience, that building was badly in need of repair and updating and my guess is that the renovation would have cost too much, in money and in lost revenue. I’m looking forward to seeing them in their new spot (below).

Also on the horizon are three new eating establishments (like San Carlos really needs more!). On the west side of Laurel between Cherry and Olive, a new wine bar is being created. The Cask, located next to Cowabunga Creamery at 782 Laurel, will be a sister to Spasso, just across the street. Spasso features some great tapas and probably one of the best lavender crème brulees that I have ever had. The owners are diversifying and trying their hand at offering something for the after-dinner crowd. On the east side of Laurel, in the same block, the former crepe restaurant is being completely transformed into something very Asian. The design, bamboo plantings, and serving dishes sitting in plain sight gave away its intention, but no sign tells us what exactly it will be. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Finally, Red Mango is opening up a storefront by Starbucks, on Laurel between Olive and Arroyo (see photo right). This frozen yogurt chain offers all-natural yogurt, with no artificial anything. This will make the 5th NorCal store on the map, beating out its rival Pinkberry, which has not strayed out of SoCal as yet. Unfortunately, there is already an independently owned organic fro-yo store around the corner on Arroyo, Harmony Frozen Yogurt. Serving Strauss Creamery yogurt, it has gotten rave reviews and has quite a following. I hope readers will continue to frequent this establishment so it can remain in business.

The other “big” project is at Morse and Laurel; dubbed 1001 Laurel, this project will house 90 luxury condominiums as well as professional and retail space, further extending downtown. Look for a full post on this project in the near future.

For those of you with children, you’ll be happy to know that the Burton Park Playground renovation, initially scheduled to be completed last August, is now set to open on October 25th, assuming that the landscaping is established enough and the final touches are complete. What has been done so far looks fun and safe for the city’s youngest residents: bright colors adorn the climbing structures and slides, a water-spray feature has been added, there are modern swings, soft and safe ground covers, new benches/seating, and low knee-high walls with children’s artwork. Shades for the school-age area, picnic tables and final landscaping is all that is left to do.