House Hunting - the good, bad and exceptionally ugly!

Speaking of boat houses, I remember seeing this one right at the beach:

202 Beach Dr, Aptos, CA 95003 | Zillow?

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I could totally see the Darth Vader house as an air BnB with a little fandom staging. I can’t imagine having a house with all those windows and neighbors that close.

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Some pictures of the interior from their rental listing are at 726-732 3rd St, Encinitas, CA 92024 - Apartment for Rent in Encinitas, CA | Apartments.com . I used to live in Encinitas and have driven/walked past the boat houses many times. The boat houses are 2 streets away from the ocean cliffs, with ~4 houses in between, so they probably do not have great ocean/lake view, like the Michigan one. They also are in a more crowded residential area. A Google street view is at Google Maps . While I’d prefer to live in the Encinitas area to Michigan, I prefer the style and view of the Michigan boat house to the Encinitas ones.

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D1’s friend and her bf just bought this house. Very small, but cute. It is is north San Diego county.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2414-Sarbonne-Dr_Oceanside_CA_92054_M11173-35051

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So cute but OMG the sq ft price is so high!

Cute house and nice hard! The price though is enough to knock this Midwesterner off her feet. That house would be a quarter of the price here - or less!

While I’m unfamiliar with that particular market, in general, welcome to CA real estate. :grimacing:

Just adding that when you get closer to the Pacific Ocean, the price increases a lot.

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This is what you get in the San Diego real estate market!

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It is about the size of our budget starter house. But yay… the San Diego home does have a nice backyard and second bathroom and updates that we lacked. (It’s in a depressed area of upstate NY… zillow estimate is $120k , taxes $3700).

When I have sticker shock over homes today, especially in pricey markets, I have to remind myself that payments could be reasonable at 3% interest. The hope is that the house will continue to appreciate (or at least not drop), in case there is. a need to sell.

I’m thinking those who say housing is going to crash again could very well be right. It went up sky high in many places during the pandemic.

Oceanside is actually one of the most affordable coastal regions in San Diego north county. The longer commute from major employers like Qualcomm and UCSD probably contributes, as does being located next to Camp Pendleton to the north.

The approximate median price of recently sold (past year) homes in a similar 1000-1500 sqft range that are not far from the coast, but do not have ocean view is below. The listed coastal towns are in order from north to south. In addition to price, another difference is Oceanside has far more homes in this <1500sqft range than the other listed towns.

Oceanside – $700k east of 5, $1M west of 5
Carlsbad – $900k east of 5, $1.2M west of 5
Encinitas – $1.2M east of 5, $1.5M west of 5
Solana Beach – $2M (small sample)

The next town down from Solana Beach is Del Mar. I see that there is currently a <1500sqft home selling for $4.7 Million in Del Mar at 2625 Camino Del Mar, Del Mar, CA 92014 | MLS# 61026192 | Redfin . There is no ocean view, but Google says it is only a 2 minute walk to the beach.

Del Mar is the #74 most expensive zip code in the US.

Expensive zip codes got me wondering about the cheapest ones. I found this link to the cheapest one in every state:

In CA it’s 93562 at $58,000 for a median house cost.

In my state of PA it’s 15901 at $27,200. That’s nowhere near where I live, but I googled it out of curiosity.

Here’s one that they say to tear down as it’s been vacant for a long time:

Here’s one that needs some fixing up, but looks livable at $19,900.

It’s also relevant what you are getting for the listed price. For example, Rancho Santa Fe is #18 on the linked most expensive zip code list, which tops San Diego County. The median price in Rancho Santa Fe is higher than the listed coastal cities primarily because the RSF homes are larger and on a bigger lot. Most RSF homes are >5000 sqft with multiple acres . A good portion have facilities for horses. Coastal homes tend to be far smaller and on a far smaller lot. There is such an extreme difference in type of home between Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, and Oceanside that it’s difficult to find any overlap to make an equivalent comparison. An attempt is below. Again I am choosing properties near coast, but not on coast/beach, unless otherwise noted. When you compare similarly sized homes, Del Mar appears to be more expensive.

~Median Price for 3000-4000 sqft with 0.25 to 0.5 Acres Sold in Past Year-
Del Mar – $5-6M (n = 8)
Solana Beach – $4M (n = 3)
Encinitas – $3-4M west of 5, $2.5M east of 5
Rancho Santa Fe (east of Encinitas + SB) – $2.7M (n = 2)
Carlsbad – NA west of 5 (n=0), $2M east of 5
La Costa (more eastern part of Carlsbad) – $1.7M
Oceanside – NA west of 5 (n=0), $1.4M east of 5
Vista (east of Oceanside) – $900k

The most expensive zip code on the full list was Atherton, in the Bay Area. If I do a similar list in the Stanford area, I get the following. I am not as familiar with the Bay Area, but it looks like Atherton also has larger properties, contributing to the higher price.

Palo Alto – $6M
Atherton – $5M (n = 4)
Los Altos – $5M
Menlo Park – $5M
Mountain View – $4.5M
Redwood City – $3.5M

You’re correct. The great majority of lots in Atherton are 1-acre minimum lots.

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Location, location, location. I’m accustomed to the fact that homes in desirable Boulder CO often cost twice as much as nearby communities. But this $1,200,000 listing stunned me - “FIXER-UPPER …with what looks to like a solid foundation”

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I wonder what happened in this house. If you look closely, you can see lots of damage. Although it’s listed as needing a complete renovation. I’d still be concerned about all the damage you can’t see.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1040-Bluestone-Dr_Lititz_PA_17543_M45444-26583

I just found the whole development so dreary. No mature trees. No sense of place.

Headscratcher. :slight_smile: Divorce? Default? I definitely see some problem areas that need to be dealt with. Like missing floors in some bedrooms (?) - was there water damage? Mold? Sad situation.

Zillow lists it as a foreclosure. Perhaps the owner started doing some renovation and then had financial problems and lost the house? There are missing cabinets and at least one bathtub as well as floor issues. But some of it seems well maintained.

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