All Blog Entries by Sam Smith

We get a lot of questions regarding the Lakeshore Gardens land lease in Carlsbad, California.  First, these are manufactured homes in a secure gated community near the beach.  Many of our clients get excited due to the close proximity to the beach and low real estate prices that currently start at $129,000 for this senior community where one resident must be at least 55 years old.  The trade off for the low real estate prices is that you don't own the land underneath your home.  This is often called a "land lease" or "space rent" when dealing with manufactured homes.  Essentially, you are leasing that land where the manufactured home sits on which is paid on a monthly basis.  The space rents vary from property to property so it's important to check with

One of the newest communities in Carlsbad, California featuring new construction homes built in 2018 is the Seascape Homes neighborhood.  The homes are located near the cross streets for Pointsettia Lane and Aviara Pkwy and feature one and two story homes starting at just under $1 million dollars.  The topography of the land is very interesting as it's high enough on hill to offer nice mountain and ocean views from select properties.  

Currently there are 3 homes on the market for sale.  The lowest priced property at 6651 Surf Crest Street is listed at $989,950 and features a total of 3 bedrooms, 2 baths with 1,628 square feet.  This is one of the rare single story homes available here and located on an approximate 6,582 square foot lot.  The interior

One of the more popular condo buildings in the Bristol Cove area is the Tu Casa complex located at 4747 Marina Drive in Carlsbad, California.  The four story complex dates back over 40 years ago when it was built in 1975 with two to three bedroom units that often come up for sale and for lease.  The unique thing about this Tu Casa is it's prime location at the edge of the Aqua Hedionda lagoon.  Many of the units will offer wonderful water views with direct lagoon access and can offer private boat docks associated with the condo purchase.

Real Estate prices for two bedroom units currently range from $875,000 for a two bedroom water front view unit with 1,278 square feet to $950,000 for a rare corner unit with ocean front views.  Rentals are very rare in

The Crescent Del Sol Estates community is a collection of 8 luxury estates just a couple blocks to the beach in the city of Carlsbad, California.  The homes are adjacent to the Aqua Hedionda lagoon area with many of the homes offering expansive water and ocean views.  When they were first built in 2009 some of the biggest selling points were the homes having a private underground parking garage to hold up to three to four cars plus additional guest parking spaces.  These were very expensive homes at the time they were built with the first sales selling for $2.2 million dollars.  

There is currently one home for sale in Crescent Del Sol Estates and it's listed for $2,695,000.  It's been the market for nearly four months and features four bedrooms and

The Sheridan Estates Carlsbad neighborhood dates back to 2003 and 2004 when the first homes were built here.  This is a very small community with 5 luxury homes that were originally built by Manning home builders.  The first homes came on the market in the early part of 2004 and were priced between $915,000 for a four bedroom, three bath home with 2,935 square feet to $1,095,000 for a five bedroom, four bath home with 3,417 square feet.  All of the homes sold for the exact listing price.  3 of the 5 properties sold within 21 days of being on the market while the remaining two homes sold in 167 and 204 days on the market respectively.  Since then there has only been one re-sale property that has come on the market in 2005 that sold for $1.2 million

One of the newer Carlsbad communities is the 53 Melrose neighborhood.  The homes were built by D.R. Horton home builder approximately 7 years ago and share a location near the city of Carlsbad border with close proximity to many local schools, retail stores and restaurants.  Many of the homes in this neighborhood offer two story floor plans with large master suites, walk-in closets and private outdoor terraces.  For those looking for large parcels of land will enjoy lot sizes that can span over 15,000 square feet.

One of the unique parts about living here is that homeowners association dues are kept very low and currently average $140.00 a month.  There is no additional Mello Roos fee which is very common in new construction neighborhoods in Southern

For those buyers looking for a condo that provides a walk to the beach and ocean views then the Ocean Pointe complex could be the perfect place to call home.  Located just west of the 5 freeway is a large condo complex this is approximately 16 years old and offers an easy walk to the beach location with lagoon and ocean views.  When the complex was first developed there was a huge demand for buyers wanting to buy in this complex.  For starters, it's located in a gated community that is shared with one other complex called Windsong.  It offers private underground parking that allows elevator access to all levels of the floors.  Not all units will offer a view of the ocean as some are interior condos with no views while others face the lagoon with nice

One of the newest and hottest neighborhoods in the Carlsbad community is called "Beachwalk at Madison."  This is a very limited release of only 6 properties in this brand new construction neighborhood.  These are attached luxury townhouses that features two floor plans.  Floor plan A offers a total of 3 bedrooms, 3 baths with 1,607 square fee of living space.  Some of the highlights of this plan includes an exterior deck off the dining room and Master suite, two car garage, interior washer/dryer and bedrooms that have their own private bath.  Floor Plan B also offers a total of 3 bedrooms and 3 baths but is slightly smaller at 1,594 square feet.  It also has the same amenities as Plan A but just a slightly smaller foot print.

Real Estate prices

Legoland is one of the main attractions for tourists who visit the beach town of Carlsbad, California.  The theme park is located very close to the beach off Palomar Airport Road on the east side of the 5 freeway.  It's also within close proximity to the Carlsbad Premium Outlet shopping center which features high end shopping near the freeway.  Beyond the numerous shopping and restaurants located in this area are several residential neighborhoods that are within close proximity to Legoland.  All of these homes offer an easy 5 minute drive down to the beach with easy freeway access.  Here is a quick guide to the different communities found in this immediate area.

Located on the ocean side of the freeway is a very popular neighborhood called "Terramar

Located in the hills of the La Costa area is a neighborhood called Canyon Park.  The area is commonly referred to as the Corona La Costa community that is managed by a homeowners association with dues paid on a monthly basis.  The location is near the cross streets of La Costa Avenue and Rancho Santa Fe Road near Cadencia Street.  The large majority of properties were built here in 1979 and are often one story ranch homes.  The neighborhood gets it's name from the large park area that is called "La Costa Canyon Park" with large grassy area, hiking and biking trails and children's tot lot.  The La Costa town square is also a very short distance from this community with low homeowners association dues. Children who live here often attend a variety of

One of the hottest condo complex's in Carlsbad is the Pacific View townhomes community.  This is an older complex that is approximately 11 years old and has recently get a renovated face lift and being offered again for sale as premier water front and beach close condos.  As of today, 3 of the 5 properties that have been released are currently under contract and were just released for sale staring in the month of Carlsbad.  What makes these condos so unique?  Well, for starters the location is really hard to beat.  The location is on Carlsbad Blvd which can be a busy street but the city of Carlsbad has very few homes and buildings located right on the sand so buildings located on the east side of Carlsbad Blvd are considered "ocean front" since they have

The Agave at the Preserve is a brand new construction community with 88 two story townhouses currently under construction.  I had the opportunity to view these homes and was pleasantly surprised by the open floor plans and outdoor spaces that are incorporated into these homes.  Four of the model homes are open right now and give you good sense of the various floor plans that will be available to purchase.  One of my favorites was the corner unit townhouses that offered lots of natural light from lots of windows located on two sides of a room.  

The floor plans are relatively the same idea with just variations in square footages and small design changes.  The main living room and kitchen area are located on the ground level with both rooms open to each

One of the newest developments to come on the market are the homes located in the Buena Vista Colony neighborhood.  This is a rather small community with some of the first homes slated to be completed this spring.  The location is near the Carlsbad and Oceanside border and east of the 5 freeway.  Situated off Carlsbad Village Drive on a small street known as James Drive is a small collection of vacant lots that have turned into one of the latest developments in Carlsbad.  The neighborhood Is known as Buena Vista Colony with some of the first homes in the Las Brisas floor plan to be completed in the next month or two.  The five bedroom, five bath home features 3,523 square feet of living space and comes with a two attached garage plus a one bedroom, one

A set of 8 residential townhouses are currently under construction right now in the heart of the La Costa area.  The condos located at 7570 Gibraltar Street are built in the Contemporary Modern style and directly across the street from the La Costa Resort & Spa south golf course.  This area is very filled with small individual condo and townhouse communities that sit next to the golf course with direct golf course views.  These are brand new condo listings that have all come on the market in the last two weeks.

The name of the development is called "La Costa Villas" and is primed for those looking for nice golf course views.  Three of the eight condos have been released for sale with units 101, 104 and 105 available for purchase.  Unit 101 features

The Tamarack Point neighborhood is highly regarded as a family oriented neighborhood located near the Calavera Hills area of Carlsbad.  For the most part many of these homes are located on level lots that don't offer much of a view at all.  There are some exceptions to this with some homes located on lots that offer panoramic views including the Pacific Ocean.  Look for homes located on Buckingham Lane, Piccadilly Court, Chelsea Court and Southhampton Street.  These streets are widely known for offering great ocean, sunset and canyon views.

So the questions becomes on how much is an ocean view worth?  How much difference in price will an ocean view increase the value of the home.  There are several factors that go into this.  First, the value of the

There are a lot of rental options in the beach town of Carlsbad from magnificent ocean front homes and condos to traditional style homes in well established neighborhoods.  Many of the requests that we get are for those looking for a rental that accepts pets.  This is always a tricky thing to navigate as many landlords don't want to have to deal with damage that may occur in relation to having a pet.  There are some landlords that are very pet friendly and have advertised there home as available for those renters that do have pets.  Those listings are few and between and are listed here.  There is also a selection of rental properties were the owner is open to negotiating on pets.  These are typically the best types of rentals for pet owners as they might

We are always asked where are the most expensive properties located in Carlsbad and are simple is "the beach."  In fact, this is true for this year's top 3 sales in the Carlsbad as two of the three were located on the beach on the famous Ocean Street.  2016 was an incredible year in Carlsbad with already 1,734 homes sold and counting for the remainder of this month.  Here is a recap of what homes sold for the most money in the beach community of Carlsbad, California.

The first two highest sale this year goes to an oceanfront home located at 2497 Ocean Street in Carlsbad.  The home sold for $4.2 million and closed escrow on 08/02/2016.  This was a private sale that sold even before the home came on the market and was originally marketed at $4,450,000.

One of the newest communities in Carlsbad is the Seagrove community where brand new construction townhouses are currently being built.  The initial phase of selling has already begun with a large majority of the units have already been sold.  The area offers a unique location near the beach with panoramic views of the Buena Vista lagoon area as pictured below.  The floor plans are pretty simple and include a main floor bedroom and bath on the entry level.  The model homes had this set up as a zen room, bike storage room and office.  It could be used for a variety of things but this is the first thing guest will see as they enter your home.  Once you go up the stairs there is a long narrow room that includes a family room, kitchen and dining area.  There

The beach town of Carlsbad in North San Diego county can be very expensive, especially when looking for a home close to the beach.  While most homes sell for over $600,000 there is a still a small pocket of properties that sell for under the $300,000 price point.  The 92008 zip code in Carlsbad is an area closest to the ocean and typically covers ocean front and ocean close homes within a ten minute radius.  One of the condo complex's located in this geographic range is The Grove condominiums which also currently offers condos for sale under $300,000.  The location is located next to The Shoppes at Carlsbad that features Macy's and other brand named stores.  It's also centrally located next to the 78 freeway and approximately 10 minutes to the beach.