Only recently, I spent quite a large sum of money on investment property. Though I did some research into San Diego, the area I have always lived, I didn't end up buying investment property there. I decided to look elsewhere. As a long-term resident of San Diego, I see a lot of hidden factors that investors and others miss. These factors, I believe, will soon start to diminish the property value of my hometown. There's been a lot of speculation these days about when the market's going to correct itself, and where the new hotspots will be. Is San Diego a wise choice for investment property?
There are two factors that I think will heavily, negatively influence the cost of property in San Diego. They both stem from the same source. Drought. San Diego has always been praised for its temperate climate and easy weather conditions. But now, due to a long set of circumstances that isn't likely to diminish anytime in the near future, San Diego is beginning to show its true colors. San Diego is a desert, a desert in a severe water crisis. This past year, due mostly to restrictions on water and overall dryness, yards in San Diego have taken a turn for the worse in terms of attractiveness. Home owners are only allowed to water their lawns half as much as many were used to. This has caused and continues to cause many lawns and once beautiful landscapes to slowly die. But there's another factor.
Because of the growing amounts of fires in Southern California, much of the overall surrounding vegetation is all burned up. This has caused many vegetation eating animals like rabbits to move into neighborhoods and begin subsisting on lawns. Rabbits can kill a lawn very quickly, and often do when gone unchecked. As a lifelong resident, I've noticed that more and more people are having a huge difficulty in San Diego, taking care of the aesthetic beauty of their property. There's little else that can more quickly decrease the value of a neighborhood property than the lack of exterior attractiveness.
Another factor that I briefly mentioned already. For reasons that many have speculated upon, more and more fires are starting to break out constantly all across Southern California. During my childhood, I grew up without once going through a major fire. Now, in the past five years, we've seen two that have ripped through whole sections of the city, devastating hundreds and thousands of acres. This trend doesn't seem likely to end in the near future.
Though these factors alone are not enough to determine what the real estate market in San Diego is going to do, they do help set the atmosphere for what people are talking about in terms of their property investments. On the whole, most residents are far less satisfied with their properties than they were in years past. A lot of people are starting to think about moving to somewhere less expensive. And though real estate market has dropped on the whole, property in San Diego is still quite expensive overall. This price difference was once justified. San Diego was beautiful. A wonderful, temperate climate near the ocean that most people would kill for. But now, San Diego is finally showing its true colors. San Diego is a desert, prone to fire and drought. To me, that's not really the kind of a place that a person usually wants to spend a high price for.
