Beach House someday!!

[Namal Burman]

Folks,

I have been in San diego from last 17 years and would love to own a small beach house (not a condo though) overlooking nice ocean. Time horizon to buy within 5 years( can start saving for down payment) budget around $1.5M.What places i can start if someone can recommend and what i can do to make a great decision?  Recently been to Sunset Cliffs and love the location but didn't check the real estate prices. But if anyone has any experience buying a beach house and give any suggestion would be great.

Regards,

namal

[Dan H.]

Originally posted by @Namal Burman:

Folks,

I have been in San diego from last 17 years and would love to own a small beach house (not a condo though) overlooking nice ocean. Time horizon to buy within 5 years( can start saving for down payment) budget around $1.5M.What places i can start if someone can recommend and what i can do to make a great decision?  Recently been to Sunset Cliffs and love the location but didn't check the real estate prices. But if anyone has any experience buying a beach house and give any suggestion would be great.

Regards,

namal

 At that price point and over looking the ocean, you will be very limited.  A block or two from the ocean would open more opportunities.

The cheapest ocean front property is likely Imperial Beach.  There are various reasons for this but two primary ones is that it has water pollution issues from Mexico.  Also I think it loses some value from its proximity to Mexico.

Oceanside may be the next most reasonable for ocean over look.  I has a large military presence which has helped keep the prices a bit in check.

Sunset cliffs with Ocean overlook are multi million.  There are steep hills (Hill Street) that would allow homes a couple of blocks from the ocean to have outstanding ocean views in this area.  Sunset Cliffs area can be impacted with traffic as the base primary hours open (~7 AM), lunch (noonish) and close (~4:30).

You will want to find the right area for you as beach communities each have their own flair.  Mission Beach, Pacific Beach are for young partiers.  Ocean Beach has changed a lot in recent years but still holds a bit of the hippy type culture.  Encinitas is for wealthy that does not want to flaunt it and like a small town feel.  Del Mar is similar but a little bit more snobby.  La Jolla is for people that like to flaunt their wealth. 

Good luck