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^Lifestyle
Trying To Decide Where To Retire? |
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This web page provides information to help you compare the cost of living in North San Diego County to that in other retirement places in the U.S. Your actual cost of living however will depend to a large degree upon your retirement lifestyle. ∙ Items that we believe may be approximately the same price or less costly than in most other areas of the U.S.: ∙ Groceries, dining out, clothing, car repair, chiropractic care, golf and many types of entertainment may cost the same or less in North San Diego County because of extreme competition between our large numbers of similar businesses. ∙ Heating and cooling costs are fairly low in most areas of North San Diego County (even though natural gas and electricity costs are quite high), because of the mild year-round temperatures and low summertime relative humidity. ∙ Items that may be more costly than in many other areas of the U.S.: ∙ The cost of gasoline, electricity, natural gas and water are usually higher than in many other areas of the U.S. Heating and cooling costs may be lower however because of our mild climate.
∙ Housing costs are higher than in many
other areas of the U.S. That's because North San Diego County's great
climate, natural beauty and many things to do make it one of the nations
most popular places to live. | |
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HOME PRICES AND HOME PRICE TRENDS HOME PRICES To Check Out North County's Choices & Prices Of Homes for Active Retirees-
Patty Anderson,
Our
Seniors Real Estate Specialist
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NOTE: To Return to Previous Page: Click-on
the back arrow About The Current Housing Market - The Inventory Of Homes For Sale Is High- - Prices Are Still below 2003 Levels - - Interest Rates Are Still Historical Lows - The San Diego Union Tribune reported the following for October, 2011:
The median price of resale Single Family Houses in the North County
Inland area decreased by 9.1% (from same month in 2010), to
$350,000 and Condominiums increased by 2.6% to $195,000. The median
price for Single Family Houses in the North County Coastal Area decreased by
6.3%
to $450,000 and Condominiums increased by 10.2% to $319,500. In Senior Communities, homes tend to be somewhat lower in price, detached home prices started in the lower $200K's, attached homes in the $90Ks, manufactured homes where you own the lot, in the $70K's and homes in Mobile Home Parks where you rent the lot, in the $30K's. There is an abundant inventory of homes from which to choose. Other Good News is that Interest Rates continue at near historical record lows., at least for the short-term future. | |
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A North County Home As A Lifestyle Investment-
- A North County Home Is Also An Investment In A Lifestyle North San Diego County offers: ∙ Near-perfect year-round Climates. (People who live in North San Diego County spend very few days sitting indoors, waiting for the weather to change- How much is that worth?) ∙ Beautiful coastal and hilly inland terrain. ∙ Hundreds of enjoyable Retirement Activities . ∙ An abundance of (more than 1500) fine Restaurants. ∙ Some great Active Retirement Senior Communities. ∙ Low Crime Rates that make it a comparatively safe place to live. ∙ Excellent Medical Facilities . | |
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A North County Home As A Retirement Investment- ∙ Prospective- ∙ Until the market plunge that began in 2006, San Diego County real estate, like that in other parts of the country, appeared to be a good long-term financial investment (please click on > Median House Prices to see a 20 year graph of San Diego Metropolitan Median Home Prices). At current home prices, that are below 2003 levels, San Diego County real estate may again be a good place to invest some of the dollars you hope to pass on to your heirs. An additional benefit is that you will enjoy living in your investment every day. Another factor to consider is that It is reasonable to assume that demand for the limited number of homes in our Senior Communities will increase significantly when the Baby Boomers begin reaching age 65 in 2011. Many Baby Boomers will want to downscale to retrieve retirement income from the equity in their present home. (For more information, please see Figures 5 and 6 on Pages 17 and 18 of Baby Boomer Generation ). | |
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About the Government's Insured ∙ Age 62+ Seniors may be able to use their retirement home investment dollars to purchase a seemingly unaffordable home that has no monthly payments as long as they live there, using a Government Insured Purchase Reverse Mortgage. An excellent guide named Purchase HECM. can be downloaded from the All Reverse Mortgage Company. The HUD (U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development) government agency also provides Required Investment Examples (you must be able to open and read a Microsoft Word file to see this). In one of its examples, a 67 year old wishing to purchase a $300,000 home would need approximately $122,400 (which includes your down payment plus an earnest deposit and closing costs) The $199,500 that is supplied under the Purchase Reverse Mortgage contract would accrue interest over time but payment would never be needed from the borrower as long as he or she remains in the home. You can calculate the amount you can purchase by using All Reverse Mortgage's Purchase Reverse Mortgage Calculator(doesn't include closing fees). The home can be a single family, up to 4-plex, manufactured home or a condo. Purchase Reverse Mortgages have positives and negatives, you should thoroughly understand the negatives before deciding if that is for you. Please read our Disclaimer ∙ Here are some links to Non-mortgage Company websites that provide additional information: Wikipedia (Section 1.2 HECM for Purchase) HUD Frequently Asked Questions Regarding HUD's Purchase Reverse Mortgage Program | |
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State Income Tax Rate (2011): 1% to 11%
Sales Tax Rate (2011): 8.75%
About California's State Real Estate Tax Laws-
∙ An
Overview of California's Real Estate Taxes-
∙ Even though home
prices may seem high, California's Real Estate Tax Rate is low
Compared To Other States
(click & scroll down
and look at the US map). ∙ Under Proposition 13- ∙ The California property tax rate is 1% of the purchase price plus any bonds or special fees. If there is no new construction or change of ownership, the property cannot be reassessed and the property tax cannot be increased by more than 2% annually. ∙ A good discussion of the details and history of Prop 13 is presented by Wikipedia . ∙ About Propositions 60 and 90 ∙ In General: If you are age 55 or over and presently own a home in any county in California, you may be able to transfer your existing home's tax base (base year value) to a home of equal or less value in San Diego County ∙ These propositions apply to those aged 55 or older who are selling their home and buying another of equal or lesser value. ∙ If both the home you are selling and the home you are buying are your principal places of residence, this program allows the taxable value of the home you are selling to be transferred to the home you are buying, thereby preventing an increase in property taxes. ∙ Therefore, if you are 55 or older, you can move to San Diego County from any other county in California and keep your present base-year value if it is less it would be for the home you are purchasing. ∙ You may refer to the California State Board of Equalization web pages for more details. For specific questions, please contact Ernest J. Dronenburg Jr., County Assessor (619) 531-5481. For more information contact Ernest J. Dronenburg Jr., County Assessor (619) 531-5481. ∙ If both the home you are selling and the home you are buying are your principal places of residence, this program allows the taxable value of the home you are selling to be transferred to the home you are buying, thereby preventing an increase in property taxes. ∙ If you are 55 or older, you can move to San Diego County from any other county in California and keep your base-year value. ∙ You may refer to the California State Board of Equalization web pages for more details. ∙ Capital Gains Tax Exclusions and Tax Rate- ∙ The Prop. 60-90 property tax exclusions, when combined with the current Capital Gains Exclusions ($500,000 for married couples, $250,000 for singles) and low (0% or 15%) Capital Gains Tax Rates, provides a powerful reason to sell a property and purchase another when you retire. For exact details go to IRS Publication #523 "Selling Your Home." | |
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∙Winter Heating- Our winters are mild and therefore your heating utility bills may be lower than those in colder climates. ∙ Summer cooling- Our summers are mild (especially in the Coastal and Near-Coast regions) and the relative humidity is usually low and therefore your summer cooling bills may be lower than those in warmer climates ∙ Utilities Prices- Below are prices some of us North San Diego County residents paid in Jan, 2010. We do not know whether or not they are typical.
Electricity (Mar., 2011 Rates for 512 KW-hr Baseline)- Appprox. $0.14/KW-hr
(this rate comes from SDG&E's $0.0739/KwHr rate for electricity that changes
during the year, is higher in the summer than in the winter and increases if
you exceed the baseline. Plus an additional (approx.) $0.0665/KWHr rate is charged for
EECC that is
also higher in the summer than in the winter but appears to be independent
of usage).
Direct TV
Dish Network
Cox Digital Cable
Timer-Warner
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FOOD Groceries
We have many competitive Super Markets and many low cost neighborhood
specialty grocery stores like Trader Joes, Sprouts and Henry's Markets.
Nearly every city also has a Certified Farmers' Market (typically, where
streets are closed off and used for open air markets for one day of each
week) and some cities also have Farm/Fruit Stands. Click-on > VONS
Pick-
New Guests
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Restaurants
With more than 1500 restaurants to choose from you, will find that the cost
of dining out is very competitive and comparable to, or less than, prices in
most other US cities. if you want to compare prices yourself however, you
can use the links below to compare prices in our local Applebees and
Olive Garden restaurants to those for similar items in other locations.
Note: While most folks like these two restaurants, they are not necessarily
the least expensive and may not offer the best food or the best value for
your $.
Applebees
in San Marcos, CA
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GASOLINE
The price of gasoline
is typically higher in Southern California than in other states. You may
check out the current
Gasoline Prices
in San Marcos, CA.
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MEDICAL One way to estimate the cost of medical care in North San Diego County is to get a no-obligation Medical Insurance quote and compare its cost to that in other retirement places. To do so use 92078 ZIP code and provide your name, phone #, gender and email address. | |
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SPORTS
Golf: | |
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To Request Information,
Please
Phone (760) 473-4647 or Email
Ralph Anderson and
Associates
Patty Anderson,
our
Seniors Real Estate Specialist
will
be happy to provide you with detailed information on Available Retirement
Real Estate. Ralph Anderson can help answer your questions about Active
Retirement Living In North San Diego County.
- We Promise Not to Pester You With Unwanted Phone Calls or Emails! - | |
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Disclaimer: Although we believe the information presented on this website and its links to be reliable, it is impossible to verify the accuracy of everything presented and therefore, we assume no responsibility for its use. Specifically- External links are provided as a convenience for our visitors, and are not the responsibility of, or under the control of Ralph Anderson and Associates. If you use these links, we take no responsibility and give no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of these third-party sites and therefore, the application of or use of these data shall be at the sole risk and responsibility of the user and Ralph Anderson and Associates shall not be held responsible for any resulting loss or damage caused by use of such information. | |
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