Encinitas, California
An informational source for people who are relocating, with a particular focus on moving to the Carlsbad area of North County San Diego (and nearby coastal communities), with advice, guidance and true stories to help you on your way and make it a great journey, from a REALTOR� with plenty of personal (4 major moves, most recently from Boston to Carlsbad, California) and professional relocation experience. Are you running into problems selling your home? Need to find a new one quickly? Never moved before and haven't a clue? You'll find some great tips on how to solve your relocation issues here. Or ask me a question any time and I'll share some solutions or tell you where to get more information.
CA DRE License #01490977
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Dec. 17, 2008
Categorized in: House Hunting
 I have had a good number of buyers who are relocatin g here and want to be within walking distance of amenities such as shopping, restaurants, services, and the public library, among other things.
While this is not an easy thing to find, there are real estate opportunities in a number of North County San Diego communities where I work that will allow for this - Carlsbad, Cardiff, Encinitas, Solana Beach and Del Mar for example.
Walkability, of course, is in the eyes of the beholder, or should we say the feet of the walker?
Some people consider 15 - 20 minutes a very reasonable walk and others want to be closer, say 10 minutes or so. So as I am sharing information about these communities, bear in mind that if walking distance is important you will need to check it out for yourself to be sure.
There is a neat web tool that allows you to gain an idea of walkability. I talk about it in the first of my walkable neighborhood series articles - it's called a WALKSCORE. You simply enter an address and it will calculate a score based on proximity to a variety of amenities (plus you get the distances to those amenities so you can sort of judge for yourself). Being close to one store will not get you a high walkability score - what is more important is general walkability to a range of amenities and services.
READ MORE: Finding a Place to Live With Great Walkability (Walkable Neighborhood Series)
I am continuing to add communities to my walkable neighborhood series, but here are the first few. And if I can provide more information, please let me know. Or stop by the search page on my website and search for homes in the MLS (the link is BELOW). Grab a few and enter the addresses into Walkscore to see how it works. Or use your own address. have fun, and happy searching.
Carlsbad Village Real Estate in Carlsbad, California
Downtown Encinitas
Cardiff Real Estate in The Walking District in Cardiff-by-the-Sea
Carlsbad Homes for Sale in La Costa, Carlsbad
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If I can provide more information about Del Mar, Carlsbad and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
    
All content copyright © 2008 Jeff Dowler Carlsbad Homes and Real Estate Tidbits
Jan. 17, 2008
Categorized in: House Hunting
 I am often asked "what is the best way to learn about neighborhoods?"
To some extent, the answer depends on YOU and what information you need in order to determine what neighborhood you like.
Home buyers often have different ideas of what is important to them in a neighborhood.
Here's why...
- some things are rather tangible (the way it looks, the size, the type of housing, traffic, proximity to shopping)
- other attributes are less obvious (is it friendly, what are the demographics of the residents, noise) and have different meaning to different folks.
So, it is really UP TO YOU to determine what things ARE important so you can decide where to live.
Sometimes price will determine what neighborhoods will be suitable (this may be true in expensive areas, like Southern California, or if your budget is limited), or access to certain schools or other amenities.
When relocating, you should do extensive research on-line to learn more about the neighborhoods that interest you, or even to find out what they are in places that are totally unfamiliar. If schools are important, for example, you might start researching these and then target, geographically, the areas that are near those schools. You will be amazed at how much information you can find on the Internet about neighborhoods.
I absolutely recommend visiting the neighborhood you are planning to move to and spending significant time in the area, driving or walking around and getting a feel for the community and the people who live there. You can also stop in at some houses if you wish and chat with some of the neighbors, although some people aren't comfortable doing this. You might visit the area at different times of the day or on weekends if traffic and noise is a concern.
You will also probably drive around with me or your agent to look at houses, and that will help too. Plus I can tell you lots about different areas that I service, as can the agent you decide to work with.
Please keep in mind that as agents there are some things we cannot discuss because of potential discrimination issues, e.g., what school is the best, which areas to buy in due to the presence of different religious institutions, or the demographics of the community, or the crime statistics, and so on. We are prohibited by law from directing folks to or away from areas based on these kinds of factors, so please be understanding if we say we can't provide the precise information YOU would like to have. Those are things that you can investigate if they are important to you.
There is lots of information available to you about neighborhoods, and spending the time doing your due diligence will reward you with finding a home in the community that meets YOUR needs.
Read also:
From the Outside In – Searching out Neighborhoods
Noise, Noise, Noise
Checking out the Neighborhood
How Does it Feel?
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Jun. 25, 2007
Categorized in: House Hunting
 Making the decision to relocate is tough most of the time. You may have no choice, given your job situation. Or there may be other compelling reasons for the move (family, health, weather).
Once the decision is made, however, the next tough choice is WHERE to live. I'm not referring so much to a particular city since that choice is yours and, given the above, may already have been made.
But having worked with lots of relocations, it seems that one of the hardest things to do is to find a home in the right neighborhood, in a community or town you don't know.
 So what IS a neighborhood? Or perhaps more accurately, what does "neighborhood" mean to you and how will you know that you have found the right one? Can you put into words why an area feels right to you or not? Or is the home itself of greater importance?
- Is it a place that feels, or looks, just like where you now live?
- Is it defined by the physical parameters of the area - streets, fences, trees, open land physical boundaries such as fences and gates?
- Is it a place where everyone knows everyone on the street, interacts regularly, hangs out in driveways?
- Is is a place where the homes are mostly alike or more diversified?
- Is it defined by the people who inhabit the area?
- Is it an area that is near a downtown/commercial region, within walking distance
There isn't a right answer, of course, since what "neighborhood" means will vary for everyone. But I know that for most people it is a critical aspect of your home search. And something you need to think about as you explore housing possibilities.
And when you are on your house hunting trip, keep this in mind. You need to look at homes that meet your criteria, but you also need to gain a feel for the communities you are considering.
Is where you live going to be based on the house only? Or the neighborhood?
May. 9, 2007
Categorized in: House Hunting
 When you are moving, figuring out what neighborhood you want to live in is a challenge, but even more so when moving to a new area. If you know nothing about an area how do you start your research? I have a couple of thoughts based on experience.
Start with the general area and look at the town websites - you know you are moving to Denver, for example. This will give you an overview of the community but likely will also mention different areas, new subdivisions being built, etc. Wikipedia also will provide information on communities and often drills down to neighborhoods and subdivisions. Or just do a Google search for town or city of interest - this will likely reveal a wealth of sites to check out.
Check out Localism. This is a website dedicated to local real estate information on communities and neighborhoods throughout the country and populated with information written by folks who have lots of local information - real estate agents. You can start your search at a high level - say the city you are moving to - and work your way down into smaller communities and neighborhoods, depending on what has been written. Some areas will have lots of information (photos, market reports, details on housing, etc.) while others are more sparse. A side advantage to this site - you wll also learn a lot about some of the agents in the area and might be able to decide which one you want to call to figure out if THEY are the right person to help you relocate. Localism is fairly new and is constantly being updated - so check back often or bookmark it.
Another site to look at is Neighboroo. This site provides a wealth of information on communities throughout the US (not at the very local level but close enough) such as schools, housing market, climate, safety, demographics, income/work, and more. This is a great way to gather lots of details on a area you know nothing about, and perhaps compare it to your current to see if it feels compatible.
Of course the best thing is to actually spend some time exploring the area you like in person, on your house hunting trip. Statistics are one thing, but the emotional side of a particular area...how it makes you feel...is, in my opinion, of paramount importance.
Jan. 28, 2007
Categorized in: Neighborhoods
 I am starting to create a series on some of the neighborhoods in the area where I live and work. These will include information about the housing, things to do, some area photos, and other bits if information. I will also include a short virtual tour.
I hope you will enjoy these posts on the wonderful neighborhoods here along the coast.
Here a link to my first neighborhood post on La Costa - the area of Carlsbad (in the south) where I live. If I can provide more information, just let me know.
Enjoy!
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