Housing Market in San Diego

[Circle K]

I am just about ready to fill out my preference card (winging June 30 or July 28, no winging on the 14th) and have a few questions about the current housing market in the greater San Diego area. The wife and I are strongly considering it. We would like to stay CONUS but would like to get away from the East Coast. The problem is, we would really like to buy a house at this point.

1. Am I completely crazy for even thinking a house can be afforded on an O-2 salary/BAH? (The wife has a degree in Computer Science/IT but hasn't worked in the industry while we've been moving every 6 months in the training command. It would take her some time to get a job and probably won't be able to factor into how much we can borrow.)

2. To get into relatively affordable housing (300K ish), what kind of drive am I looking at? We'd like to have 3BR but two is fine as well, approx. 1300-1500 sq. feet. If the answer to question #1 is no, please recommend some communities to being looking into.

Yes I did multiple searches, most information was on renting, and most was from early to mid 2005, obviously the market is extremely fluid.

 

[Penguin]

Housing is very expensive out here, but not completely unatainable. I don't know what your overall financial status is, i.e car loans, student loans, credit cards, etc., but I know of other O-2s who have bought recently. I was stationed out here in 2003 as a LTJG and my wife and I bought a 3br/1bath/1000sq ft house in La Mesa (12 miles door to door on NASNI) for $326,900. When we got back out here this spring we found a 3/2/1350 sq ft in the same area of La Mesa for $495,000. As you can see, prices have really gone up. I'd say you can get a condo in the size range you want for not much more than 300K, but a single family home might be tough. There are lots of nice suburbs within 10-15 miles of NASNI that are great for family living. Most of my single buddies want to be downtown, or near the beach so they can stumble home after a wild night. The prices close in are totally out of sight. I think some studio condos in the Gaslamp Quarter were going for over 500K recently. Anyway, I could go on for ever but nobody probably wants to hear. Send me a PM if you want more infoa bout realtors, first time buyer programs, etc. We love it here, and can't imagine any place we'd rather be.