I would like to get some advice on nice communities to buy a retirement home within an hour drive north of San Diego .

That includes all of north San Diego County and parts of southern Orange and Riverside Counties. What kind of home, what is your budget, what activities do you enjoy?

How much money do you have? (Question is not meant as snooping or a joke... There is a huge difference in property values between desert, inland and coastal communities.)

Why only north? Many people enjoy the south bay area because some areas are relatively cheap in comparison. Also, the climate tends to be more moderate.

It's further away from LA or the rest of California for trips, but hey you're retired, take your time!

Pauma Valley

If money is no object, LaJolla & Laguna Beach both looked nice on my visit to So Cal last fall....

Chula Vista is a nice place if you're looking for something inexpensive. Sorry it's not north, it's between SD and the border.

There's nothing inexpensive. The median price of a single family home in San Diego is now $500,000.00. Condos are also very expensive. There are very nice retirement communities in the Rancho Bernardo area of San Diego and in Riverside County.

monteryebob, bottom line is that if you want real estate help here, you need to give more information.

San Diego is just behind San Francisco, in term of highly increasing housing price in the last 6 months.

Nice north coastal area: Del Mar, Encinitas, Cardiff by the Sea, Carlsbad. Outside of San Diego: Laguna Beach. The real estate are expensive in those areas. I think Carlsbad is still affordable; depends where the community is. Anything along the coast is high price.

The high end housing: Rancho Santa Fe & Fairbanks.

North inland: Rancho Bernado & Poway.

Poway gets pretty hot in the summer. If that doesn't bother you, check out Temecula, also. Or maybe anywhere along 78 FWY, Vista, La Costa, Escondidio. OR maybe Julian and environs, in the mountains? Not sure how much snow they get each winter. Get yourself a winter place in Palm Springs.

There seems to be a growing retirement community in Ramona, a small town about an hour northeast of San Diego, in the mountains. It's very hot and dry (that's where the big Cedar fire began last October). You'll get more for your money than along the coast, and it has a close community feel.

Yes, Poway and Rancho Bernado are both pretty hot in summer since they are inland & surrounded by hills. Particularly, Poway & El Cajon have extreme weather; hot @ daytime & cold @ nightitme.

K.

How about Escondido? Friends of ours sold a small house in Point Loma and bought a 4000+ sq.ft. place in Escondido and had money left over.

Escondido, weather-wise, is hot; real estate wise, it is affordable. There are 2 areas of Escondido; the old one and the new large/custome homes scattering in diffrent neighborhoods. Depends on where in Escondido, customed homes nearby the North County Shopping Centers or Lake Hodges are nice and on big lots.


K.