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HOME & GARDEN


SENSE OF PLACE


A


few months ago my mother called from her home in Las Vegas to tell me that she and my


father were planning to buy a second house here in California. My mother travels to San Diego about every two months to see her kids, get her fix of the ocean air and escape the brutal dust and heat of the Nevada desert. She asked me if I could help her find a Realtor here and start preview- ing homes to get an idea of the current market. “Jim, I’ve been watching the news and I really think I could find a cute little home by the ocean between $350,000 and $400,000” she said. “Which ocean?” I asked. I set out to find my mother a Realtor so I could start pre- viewing homes for her. I found Kyle Poyser at Turn Key Realty through a referral and warned Kyle in advance that my mother is not exactly insane, but that “she just doesn’t live in our


reality.” My mother is an eternal optimist who has a certain convic- tion that things will simply work out as they’re intended—in other words, a perfect future Califor- nian. Unfortunately for her, when it comes to California real estate, only certain catastrophic disasters, natural or otherwise, can deliver you an oceanfront home for $350k. Informed of all my disclaimers, Kyle sent over a list of properties within her price range and our two-month home search began. We looked mostly in neigh-


borhoods I was familiar with, such as Hillcrest, Mission Hills, North Park, South Park and University Heights. We got to know Kensington a little better and discovered how charming (and hidden) Talmadge is. We ventured out to Point Loma and even searched up and down the coast into Carlsbad. After looking at hundreds of listings and walking through many of the available homes currently on the market between $350k and $500k, here are some observa- tions on what we found: Yes, you can get a deal on a nice single-family home in today’s market in a desirable and walkable neighborhood for under $400k, but it will most likely be some kind of fixer-upper. Be pre- pared to put some money back


into the property; most of what we looked at needed some updat- ing. Especially with older homes, basic issues like plumbing and electrical can set you back $10k right from the start. You will likely have to compro-


October 8-October 21, 2010 GAY SAN DIEGO


21


House hunting and the price of beauty JIMMY SULLIVAN


(top/bottom) Will one of these two charming Talmadge abodes become the next casa de Roxanne?


mise something on your wish list. Here’s the reality: California is still a very expensive place to live and own property. Unless you can drop $1.5 million on a secluded country cottage in La Jolla, you’re going to have to compromise. Whether it’s hearing your neigh- bor’s toilet flushing or having to park your hybrid on the street vs. a garage, you will likely have to be flexible with your list. Beware of the flops. Some of the homes we looked at had already been flipped. Many in- vestors have been seizing fore- closed properties at auctions and then trying to flip them for a profit. We called these “flops” and they’re usually easy to spot on older historic homes with their sloppy craftsman- ship, bad laminate flooring and cheap vinyl windows. While the thought of having the work done for you in advance may seem appealing at first, the truth is a lot of that work has been done without permits and therefore could lead to serious problems down the road (i.e. chances are you won’t find out about faulty unpermitted electrical work behind a wall until a fire happens). Request the permit history from the seller, if they can’t or won’t provide it to you, BEWARE. Location counts. If you’re looking for a home that’s going to hold its value in this economy then location should be a major priority for you. Look out for too many for-sale signs in a neighborhood because there is usually a reason. A flood of fore- closures or desperation sales in your neighborhood is only going to bring down the value of your new purchase over time. Foreclosure sucks. Sure you might be getting a great deal, but at whose expense? We saw several short sales and foreclosure homes which were occupied with families still living in them. It’s incredibly uncom- fortable to preview a home in


Jimmy Sullivan and his mother Roxanne Sullivan.


foreclosure when a mother is rocking her newborn baby in front of you. Even when no one is home it’s still hard not to no- tice things like family photos on the wall or someone’s vegetable garden in the yard.


“The fact remains that until California crumbles into the Pacific from a 10.0 people will always want to live here.”


Those of us who have lived in San Diego for awhile are well aware of the sacrifices and costs of living here. We’re also aware of the criticism that California in general is too expensive, our taxes are too high, we’re too lib- eral, there’s too many hippies, we’re too dreamy, blah, blah, blah. The fact remains that until California crumbles into the


Pacific from a 10.0, or is inciner- ated into a pile of ashes from the next great wildfire, people will always want to live here. Even with our current record high unemployment, massive budget deficits, and the great- est recession since the Great Depression, we can’t stop them from coming. California is a beautiful and special place, and that beauty


comes at price. For a beauti- ful and special woman like my mother, California is perfect.


—Jimmy Sullivan holds a B.A. in Architecture and is the owner of CitiZen Design Studio, a design firm located in Hillcrest. Write to Jimmy at jimmy@citizenarch. com or visit his website at www. citizenarch.com.


The walkable community of Talmadge is one of the many areas in which the author searched for a second home for his mother when not in Vegas.


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