Read our Blog:
Retirement Planning
A glimpse over the
retirement horizon; beyond the "Youth of Old Age."
Trying to Decide Where to Live When You Retire?
Here is an Overview of the
COST OF ACTIVE RETIREMENT LIVING IN
NORTH SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
PAGE MENU
(Click
Below or Scroll Down)
SUMMARY
An Overview of Cost of
Active Retirement Living in North County compared to other retirement
places.
HOME
PRICES
And
HOME PRICE TRENDS
ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT'S INSURED PURCHASE REVERSE MORTGAGE PROGRAM
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.
TAXES
About California and San Diego County sales, income and real estate taxes.
Information on Props. 60 & 90 that, if you are age 55 or over and
presently own a home in any county in California, allow you to transfer
your existing home's tax base (base-year value) to a home of equal or less
value in San Diego County.
MISCELLANEOUS
Food, Gasoline, Entertainment, Sports
This web page provides information to help
you compare the cost of Active Retirement Living in North San Diego County to that in other
retirement places in the U.S.
Your actual cost of living will however be highly dependent 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 our mild year-round temperatures and low summertime relative humidity.
Items that may be costlier 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. As stated above, heating and cooling costs may still be lower however because of our mild climates.
∙ 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 nation's
most popular places to live.
Please read on....
HOME PRICES AND HOME PRICE TRENDS
HOME PRICES
To Check Out North County's Home Choices & the Price Ranges of Homes for Active Retirees
Please click on-
Or
Our
Seniors Real Estate Specialist's
will be happy to provide you
with information on North San Diego County homes that meet your personal
requirements.
To "Window Shop" North County's conventional home prices,
please click on:
Homes for Active Retirees of All-Ages and scroll down to the
"Window Shop Homes for Sale Now" table.
To learn about the median prices and average monthly fees of homes
in our 56 Mobile/Manufactured Home Parks, please see
Cost of purchasing and living in a North County Age 55+ Mobile/Manufactured Home Community.
A North County Home as A Lifestyle Investment
- Investing in a North San Diego County home is an investment in a wonderful lifestyle
that you
can enjoy throughout the Retirement Chapter of your life -
North San Diego County offers:
∙ Near-perfect
year-round
Climates
(Those 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.
∙ Excellent shopping opportunities throughout North County
∙ A huge selection of (more than 1500) fine Restaurants.
∙ Some great Active Adult Communities.
∙ Low Crime Rates that make it a comparatively safe place to live.
∙ Excellent Medical Facilities .
A North County Home as a Financial Investment-
Prospective-
Even with the market correction that occurred between 2006 and 2009, San Diego County real estate has been a good long-term financial investment (please click on Median House Prices to see a 27-year graph of San Diego Metropolitan Median Home Prices). Current home prices are near the 2006 levels and therefore median home prices have risen more than 60% in the past 15 years. No one can predict the future but this does seem to indicate that San Diego area real estate may be a good place to invest some of the dollars you hope to pass on to your heirs. Also, no new Active Adult Communities are being built here and it may therefore be reasonable to assume that demand for the limited number of homes in our existing Active Adult Communities will continue to increase as more Baby Boomers decide to retire. And as more Baby Boomers decide to move here to enjoy our wonderful climate, plethora of retirement amenities and in some cases to be near their children and grandchildren. A major benefit of investing in a home here however, is that you will enjoy living in your investment every day.
About the Government's Insured
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage for Purchase
(H4P) Program
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 the
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) H4P Program.
The H4P Program lets seniors aged 62 and older purchase a home with approximately 40
to 60% down, helping you retain more of your financial nest egg. H4P
customers are however responsible for continuing to pay their property taxes and
homeowners insurance premiums as well as ongoing maintenance and home repair
costs.
Here are the basic requirements to qualify for this safe, federally
insured program:
•
The youngest homeowner must be 62 years of age or older.
• You must own the property outright or have a small mortgage balance.
• You must occupy the property as your principal residence.
• You must not be delinquent on any federal debt (no back taxes).
• You don't need to be employed
and no minimum credit score is required but the borrower is responsible for property taxes, homeowner's insurance, and property maintenance.
• You must participate in a consumer information session given by an approved HECM counselor.
The home may be a:
• Single family home or 1-4 unit home with one unit occupied by the borrower.
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved
condominium.
• Manufactured home on a permanent foundation
that meets FHA requirements.
The loan is due when:
• The last remaining borrower passes away or leaves the home to live elsewhere for more than 12 consecutive months.
• The home is sold.
•You do not meet the borrower obligations of maintaining payment of property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, homeowner’s association fees, and basic home repairs or you fail to comply with other loan terms.
One Example:
(From
Your Guide to Reverse Mortgages) is that a 71-year old wishing to
purchase a $350,000 home would need approximately $197,342. The $152,658 that is supplied under the H4P contract would accrue interest over time but payment would never
be needed from the borrower as long as he or he/she remains in the home.
Please
if you wish to look into purchasing a home using the H4P program.
State Income Marginal Tax Rate (2019 for couples): 1% to 13.3%.
California also charges a
1% mental health surcharge (in addition to the regular tax rate)
for residents with incomes over $1 million. Social Security benefits however
are not taxed in California (See
States That Exempt Social Security).
Sales Tax Rate
(2019): 7.75% in all North County
cities except Vista. The Sales Tax rate in Vista is 8.25%.
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 relatively
low; ranking 17th in
the nation. See Real-Estate Tax Rankings.
∙ 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-
∙
∙
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 than 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) 236-3771.
∙
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.∙ 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) provide a powerful reason to sell a property and purchase another when you retire. For exact details go to IRS Publication #523 "Selling Your Home."
∙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, 2019. We do not know whether or not they are typical.
Electricity (January, 2019 Rates to 130% of 783 KW-hr Baseline)-
Approx.
$0.193/KW-hr.
Natural Gas (winter heating)- Most homes in North San Diego county
are heated by natural gas. Our home is an exception however; it is heated by
electricity. We were unsuccessful in finding information on the
internet regarding local natural gas prices. Our winters however are
very mild (please see:
Climate
Comparisons) and therefore your heating bill should be lower than in
most other areas of the US.
Water- $2.63 customer charge plus $4.24/CuFtX100. This is the price in one water district. Other
water districts may have different prices.
Sewer and Trash- Highly dependent upon where you live in No. S.D.
County, we pay $31.19 for sewer and $18.74 for trash per month.
Satellite and Cable TV- Prices start at around $40/month. A $115/month
bill is probably more typical. if you want more information, please contact
the suppliers for your area:
FOOD
Groceries:
We have many competitive Super Markets like
Walmart and Costco and many neighborhood
natural foods specialty grocery stores like
Trader Joes,
Sprouts Farmers Market and
Frazier Farms.
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
Enter the food you are interested in pricing.
NOTE:
If you leave this page, Click-on
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 Applebee's 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 $.
Applebee's
in San Marcos, CA.(click on "Menu").
NOTE:
If you leave this page, Click-on
To get an better idea of local Super Market grocery prices, you may check
the prices at Vons Supermarkets (Albertson sister stores) that do not necessarily have the lowest prices:
Back
to Return.
Olive Garden
(#3) in Carlsbad, CA. (click on "Menus")
Back
to Return.
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.
NOTE:
If you leave this page, Click-on
Back
to Return.
MEDICAL
If you are presently on Medicare, one way to estimate the cost of medical care in North San Diego County is to get a no-obligation Medicare Supplement 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. Check Kaiser Permanente too! If you are not on Medicare, you may wish to contact Covered California.
SPORTS
Golf:
Prices examples for 18 holes, range from approximately $16.00 (for Resident Seniors) at the
Oceanside Golf Course
to $215+ at the
elegant
Park Hyatt Resort Aviara golf course in Carlsbad.
Check out the prices of playing at our other
Local Golf Courses.
To Request Information,
Please
Phone (760) 473-4647 or Email
ralph@retirensdc.com
Our
Seniors Real Estate Specialists
Seniors Real Estate Specialist's
- We Promise Not to Pester You with Unwanted Phone Calls or Emails! -
or if You Prefer-
will
be happy to provide you with detailed information on Available Active Retirement
Real Estate and Ralph Anderson can help answer your questions about Active
Retirement Living in North San Diego County.
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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