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Some of San Diego's most appealing neighborhoods
include Del Mar, Carlsbad, Escondido, La Mesa, Hillcrest and Chula
Vista, and communities popular with retirees include sparkling La
Jolla (which is generally very expensive but where very small -
600 square feet - condos can be found for around $300,000), quaint
Coronado (with the wonderful Coronado Golf Course) and Rancho
Bernardo where small, two bedroom condos (900 square feet) can be
found for $269,000 (most are in the $330,000+ range,
though). Nicer properties are considerably more
expensive.
San Diego also has a good selection of
age-restricted communities. In Rancho Bernardo, which is
north and east of San Diego, Oaks North is a 55+ community with
condos (high $200,000s to low $300,000s), town homes (high
$300,000s to low $400,000s) and single family ranches with tile
roofs (from the high $500,000s); homes here were built in the
1980s. Seven Oaks is another 55+ community in Rancho
Bernardo (in fact it was the original senior community in Rancho
Bernardo and was built in the 1970s); here town homes begin in the
high $200,000s and detached homes start in the $500,000s.
HOA fees range from $200-$220 a month. Generally, these
developments attract older seniors and have many residents who
bought property when the developments were first being built.
Newer retirement communities tend to attract
younger seniors, those in their mid-50s to early 60s.
Beautiful Ocean Hills County Club or popular Villa Trieste are two
such developments. Ocean Hills, about 30 minutes from
San Diego and four miles from the ocean, has 1,600 homes, all
whitewashed with red tile roofs, a huge recreation center and
clubhouse, a concert hall, an actual library and has won awards
for its architecture. Homes here start in the mid-$350,000s
and top out in the $700,000s HOA fees are $300 to $325
per month. Popular (and small with 150 homes) Villa Trieste
is San Diego's newest retirement development and has duplexes with
roughly 1,800 square feet for $550,000. Condos start in the
high $300,000s and come with an attached garage. HOA fees
are $210 per month, and the community is about 2.5 miles from the
ocean.
Rentals in senior retirement communities are
scarce, but San Diego has a large variety of apartment
complexes. The average rent for a two bedroom apartment is
$1,254 per month.
Seniors will find more than 100 mobile
home/manufactured home communities, in all shapes and sizes, most
of which are in the northern areas of the
county. In 55+ parks, prices
range from $75,000 to $200,000 for a mobile home without land and
from $150,000 to more than $300,000 for a mobile home with land.
In general, prices along the coast are higher than inland.
Parks where homeowners do not own land typically charge $300 to
$600 per month for space rent; in parks where homeowners do own
land, monthly homeowner fees range from $75 to $200 per month.
The maximum amount of tax on real estate is
limited to 1% of the full cash value of the home (the taxes on a
$500,000 home would be $5,000 annually). Homeowners 62 and
older who earn $35,051 or less may file a claim for assistance on
96% of property taxes, up to $34,000 of the assessed value of
their homes, and there is a $7,000 homestead exemption. The
state has a property tax postponement program that allows seniors
and others to delay paying property taxes on their principal place
of residence, but interest is charged on the postponed taxes.
Social Security and railroad
retirement benefits are exempt from state income tax. All
private, local, state and federal pensions are fully taxed.
California does have two propositions in place to also provide
seniors with tax relief. Proposition
60 states that senior citizens 55 years of
age or better can buy a residence of equal or lesser value than
their existing home and transfer the current taxable value to
their new property. This provides property tax relief
for seniors by preventing a tax increase if they sell an existing
home in San Diego County and buy another (there are some
restrictions). Proposition 90 allows
seniors to transfer their current taxable value
into San Diego County even if they move from another qualifying
county in California. The replacement residence must
be of equal or lesser value than the original residence.
San
Diego, California, Continued...
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