Can I Buy a Home in San Diego for Under $500,000 in 2020?

Affordable homes for sale in San Diego California in 2020

I work with buyers in all price ranges. I work with buyers looking for homes and condos with a purchase price anywhere from a $200,000 dollars to well over a $1 million dollars. San Diego has a wide diversity of real estate and with that comes a wide variety of list prices for homes that are for sale. I’m often asked why real estate in San Diego is so expensive. My answer is simple; it’s a very desirable place to live. I can get into the list of why San Diego is such a desirable place to live but that would be good for a different blog post. Let’s just agree that San Diego is a desirable location and because of that real estate is expensive when compared to most other places in the United States.

I’m currently working with a buyer that has a max purchase price of $500,000. This purchase price can buy a small home in some areas of the county or a condo with an HOA. This specific buyer needs a minimum 3 bedroom 1 bath home or condo and prefers that it has at least 2 full baths. In the year 2020 in some areas of San Diego this is possible but there is a lot of competition. This scenario falls into the first time home buyer or small condo upgrade buyer.  

I created some quick search links below to show properties under $500,000 available for sale. I will then explain the findings of each of the searches. I’m going to exclude properties that are in the outskirts of San Diego County like Borrego Springs, Pine Valley, Pauma Valley and the like. Most buyers working in the more populated areas of the county will generally not look to buy a home in these areas due to a commute that is not something they’re willing to do.

Homes for sale in San Diego under $500,000

3 Bedroom 1 Bath Homes in San Diego under $500,000

3 Bedroom 2+ Bath Homes in San Diego under $500,000

While doing these searches in January of 2020, there are 248 homes under $500,000, 24 homes 3 Bedrooms with 1 bath and 96 homes with 3 Bedrooms with 2+ baths. If I include all areas of San Diego County including the outskirts of the county there are 385 homes under $500,000 on the market. So if you’re looking to purchase a single family detached home in San Diego County it’s definitely possible in 2020. As prices rise in San Diego over time the under $500,000 homes will be harder and harder to find.

So what homes are available for sale under $500,000? This varies from fixer uppers to completely remodeled and flipped properties. There are actually some really nice 3 bedroom 2 bath homes in San Diego for under $500,000. With 3.5% down and using current interest rates this should put your monthly payment somewhere around $3,100 which would include, principal, interest, taxes and insurance. I will tell you that this price range is extremely competitive and most of these properties will have multiple offers on them. So getting an offer accepted may be challenging. Having your loan in order and writing an offer as soon as it hits the market is very important to get your offer accepted.

Location, location, location is something you hear a lot in real estate. So where are these homes that are priced under $500,000? Well without going too far out into the north and east boarders of the county I see many of them in areas like; El Cajon, Spring Valley, Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, Oceanside, National City, San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Chula Vista, Lemon Grove, Logan Heights and others. 

Looking to explore what you can buy in San Diego? 

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Dawn Lewis at The Lewis Team at Big Block Realty

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