Situated on the Western coast of the United States, the city of San Diego commands an awe-inspiring view of the Pacific Ocean. Southwest of Los Angeles, the city escapes the deep-city traffic without forfeiting the West-coast vibes and big business. With Mexico nearby, it is culturally diverse and linguistically rich. Whether you are moving here for the job opportunities or just pilgrimaging for the beer, the city of San Diego is the best city to live in. Still not convinced?

Here are the top 10 reasons why we love this paradise on Earth:

 

The Beer – O’ Beer Lover, where art thou?

Even Forbes magazine named San Diego #3 (after Portland & San Francisco) in its ‘Best beer cities’ list. Every time you visit a bar in San Diego, you are sure to find at least one of the local brand. The beer culture is so vast that we have two big festivals in the city every year. Check out our best breweries.

The Lifestyle – Keep it casual, buddy.

Basking in the sunshine and enjoying the breeze with a beer in hand. In San Diego, people are too busy (and friendly) to care about what you wear. Sunglasses, maxi-dresses, and shorts; San Diegans resemble their climate, mild and pleasant!

The Climate – Perfect weather. Always.

Not too hot, not too cold. Not too sunny, and not too cloudy. The city near the ocean has just the perfect climate. 57-72 degrees all-round the year!

The Cuisines – Foodies paradise.

Good fishing and good seafood. San Diego is known for an amazing variety of fresh seafood dishes. Our proximity to Mexico means we also have some of the best authentic Mexican restaurants in the US. Lately, food trucks emerge as some of San Diego’s award-winning eats. Hungry Yet?

The Nightlife – Our definition of sleepless nights.

You would never miss Los Vegas. Gaslamp Quarter is an adult playground with bars, clubs, shops, and restaurants. If you prefer a more sophisticated night out, head to Ritzy La Jolla or Del Mar. San Diego has the best nightlife for any group.

The Beaches – Stretches of white.

Sun, sand, and salt! Afterall, we are known for our beaches. Unlike our neighboring So Cal cities, our beaches are easy to access by highway and offer hiking and biking trails in addition to some of the best surfs.

The Nature – Mountain view or animals in the zoo?

Energize your weekends by hiking up to Double Peak or Potato Chip Rock and enjoy the panoramic views. Turning adventure mode on when you go exploring underwater caves. Head out with your kids, or bring out the kid in you at San Diego Zoo, or Sea World. There is always something to do.

The Universities – Get Schooled. Get nerdy.

With three major universities and dozens of community colleges, the city of San Diego is probably the best place to get a college degree. It’s not only about quality education, but also the plethora of options means more opportunities for internships and exposure to a variety of careers.

The Vacancies – Qualified and skilled? Jump in.

San Diego is growing rapidly, and a lot of companies are looking for qualified and skilled employees. The top 5 recruiters include sectors like life science, healthcare, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and information communication technology.

California on a budget – Pocket smiling rent.

To add to it all, living in San Diego is comparatively cheaper than living in Los Angeles or San Francisco. The average cost of rent and utilities is about $2000 less expensive per month. Why not? California is calling–well, San Diego is.
Whether you are relocating with your job, or you are looking for the opportunity to move out here, San Diego (with bias) is one of the best cities in America. If you plan to move to San Diego and you are looking for a place to call home, call Claudette Cooper at (619) 825-1974 today.

The American economic crash of 2006 left the housing industry in shambles. After the market crashed, real estate prices hit rock bottom. As people were laid off from their jobs, they watched the value of their home plummet despite owing hundreds of thousands of dollar. People walked away from their family homes unsure what to do. It sent a wave of panic through the country and left us questioning whose fault it was. Inflated prices in the housing market, poor regulatory constraints on mortgage and money lending, and short-term profit goals led to one of the worst market crashes in US history.
Today, house buyers are skeptical. Real estate is up and running, and the value of homes in increasing again.  It’s easy to understand why buyers are so hesitant, but the crash lead to a lot of changes in the industry.

Here is what you need to know:

1. The Congress passed the Dodd-Frank act to tighten regulations on the money lending business. This act ensures no one can sanction a loan without proper identification and a thorough background check for loan repaying capacity.
2. Market prices are even higher than in 2006. The median sale price of a home was around 236,000.  Today, they are about 2% more expensive. However, the economy is in a better position. Unemployment rates are significantly lower, and fewer families are buying new homes. These factors create higher prices, but also lower the risk of another crash.
3. The market is almost entirely restored in some areas of the United States.  Most city economies are already back to pre-crash status. San Diego, for example, is selling houses above 2006 prices. To ease concerns about stability, we are also experiencing job growth at the rate of 39.4 %, and unemployment rates are well below national average.  
4. Many markets that have not bounced back yet, show healthy improvements. For example, Austin’s economy saw a 63% increase in its housing prices since 2006. Denver shows a 54% increase.
5. Places like Los Vegas, Tuscan, and Riverside, Ca. remain low. They are about 20% below pre-crash levels, but they still see an increase every year. Los Vegas took a particularly hard hit. After the crash, nearly 70% of Nevada’s home mortgages suffered heavily, and the city almost stopped growing in population. However, it’s not an absolute tragedy for these markets. Older homes and houses below $200,000 are still turning good profits.

The markets are recovering fast, and the prices are on a ride again. While some parts of the US are doing better than before, other areas are seeing a slow recovery.  However, the tighter set of regulations and lower of unemployment rates stabilize the housing markets across the country.
San Diego is back in the safe zone, but that does not mean you shouldn’t take precautions. You can multiply your annual budget to get a comfortable range for a mortgage. We still recommend that you talk to a financial planner to help you set a safe budget before you purchase a home. When you are ready to look at houses and condos around San Diego, give us a call.

$84 Million Invested in San Diego
As the holidays emerge, conversations increasingly mention shopping and family.  During such a happy time of year, we loath knowing some people in our community cannot afford the luxuries of the holidays. For some San Diegans, the holidays are the last thing to touch their thoughts.
They’re worrying about how to afford their health.
The US Department of health considers some parts of San Diego County Medically Underserved Areas (MUA). This means that this part of the community is disadvantaged by the inability to pay, access care, access comprehensive healthcare. These disparities exist for all imaginable reasons: race, religion, language group or social status. While the news is enough to give us goosebumps, especially over the holidays, hope arrives just in time. The San Diego Civic center is ringing in new opportunities for our community, and just time time for the new year.

New San Diego Development

The advantage of the tag Medically Underserved opens the door to enormous developments. We are eligible for government grants that create new organizations and structures within San Diego. Recent new developments include The Rural Health Clinic (RHC) Certification, Migrant Health Centers, Community Health Centers, and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and FQHC Look‐Alikes.
In 2017,  Civic San Diego (SD) applied for a New Markets Tax Credit through the federal government and received the national award. The tax credit promotes such developments. Eventually, the public resources benefit the public by creating quality jobs, providing health care facilities to low-income group, enabling small businesses to grow, and providing essential services to the poor. To ensure transparency and clarity to all, the Civic SD generates a report on the development status of all their ongoing projects.

Civic SD Steps Up

Reese A. Jarrett, President of CivicSD said, “Civic San Diego is always looking for new, innovative ways to bring capital investment into our urban communities that is not only going to help these communities grow but also make a difference in the quality of life for the people who live there.” He also added, “The New Markets Tax Credit program is an excellent example of successfully executing this goal. Every time these projects create a new full-time, living wage job or provide services to families in need, we are reminded of the importance of our work and the role Civic San Diego can play in helping our underserved neighborhoods flourish.”
CivicSD also received equity investments from the banks to the tune of $84 million for 4 of their approved projects:

• Copley-Price Family YMCA: Focuses on childcare and camp scholarships to children from low-income family
• Family Health Centers’ Health Information Technology Education and Career Center: Focuses on providing healthcare facilities to economically backward class and higher wages to full-time employees.
• Urban Corps of San Diego County: Focuses on providing placements to graduates, enhance environment by planting trees and cleaning litter, and providing on-site charter school for low-income groups.
• Jackie Robinson Family YMCA: Focuses on creating construction and pre-development jobs, and reserving majority of these for the low-income and underserved communities.

But wait, there’s more

This impressive collection of $84 million received even more appreciation from the federal government in the form of another award of $50 million. The massive $134 million is an awe-inspiring figure for cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Oakland, which haven’t received this level of investment over the past four years. It’s especially important to our fellow San Diegans in need of public help.
As the holiday’s flood gates open, all our community looks to give the best of themselves. For some, this is easier than for others. But new developments bring hope for the whole community that someday we can provide affordable care and to all.

This is San Diego: Balboa Park. Padre’s Baseball. Beaches for miles. Shops and cafes and historical churches. All these things and more. Here, you’ll find footsteps of the first settlers of San Diego, demonstrated by ancient architecture. Notice the modern high-rise condominiums, sophisticated mid-level complexes, and the Victorian architecture. Given its all-encompassing atmosphere and proximity to the I-5 freeway, Cortez Hill’s location is ideal for both pedestrians and automobiles. This magnificent district was named after its feature attraction, the El Cortez Hotel. With new housing projects developing, the Cortez neighborhood rebuilds itself and transforms into one of the best housing projects area in the city of San Diego. Furthermore, the high-value housing and parking projects upgrade the aesthetic of the neighborhood.

Project 6th & A

Housing details:

First, this gigantic project includes a 43-story, 401-ft tall residential tower. It comprises of 389 units & 5746 square feet of commercial space. When completed, it will create around 33 affordable houses and 433 parking spaces. These 33 affordable homes are reserved for tenants with low-level income. In addition, the podium level (Level 8) provides 11,700 square feet of common outdoor space. This open space contains amenities such as pool, a public space for pets on the eighth floor, and a drainage section connected to the sewer system. The development sits on the north side of A Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues. The project boosts affordable houses in the area. The proposers of this massive project are Malek Investment Group, LLC.

Employment:

Not only will the new 6th & A project generate massive housing opportunities, but it will also create jobs. According to the estimates made by the CivicSD, this project will create 408 construction jobs and 35 permanent jobs.

Project 800 Broadway

Housing details:

Another mega housing project comes in the form of a 40-story, mixed-use, development project with 384 dwelling units, approximately 21,000 square feet of retail space, and 358 parking spaces. The developer plans to include 34 affordable units. The Minto Investment Group, LLC proposed the project. Located between 8th & 9th avenues in the East Village neighborhood, the 800 Broadway project spreads across 20,000 square feet of land.

Employment created:

Along with generating a massive housing opportunity, according to the estimates made by the CivicSD this project will create approximately 413 construction jobs and 94 permanent jobs.

From the massive housing redevelopment projects and positive support from the CivicSD, economists predict the area to become a significant hub for residential and commercial activities. If you are planning to buy a condo in downtown San Diego but not sure where to start, contact Claudette Cooper at (619) 825-1974 today.