9 Questions to Ask Before Buying in Downtown San Diego

If you are thinking about purchasing a condo in Downtown San Diego make sure you ask yourself these nine questions. The questions may appear simplistic, but the answers will chart the direction for your lifestyle.

1. Why Downtown? Define your purpose for wanting to buy downtown. Is it work, lifestyle, downsizing, or relocation? Downtown San Diego equates to more people in a smaller area. Does urban living appeal to you?

2. What Type of Lifestyle do you want? Do you "Club"? Love eating out in a variety of restaurants? Are you a person who has to go to the gym everyday? What do you do about sports?

3. What Neighborhood lifestyle appeals to you? Downtown San Diego has 9 unique neighborhoods, from the East Village up to Little Italy. Each neighborhood attracts different businesses, different stores and restaurants, different residents and different traffic patterns. Take a little time to wander all the neighborhoods. Where do you feel "at home"?

4. What price can you afford? This may be the most important question of all because it takes money to purchase and you need to know how much will you need. This is where you work with your realtor and a good lender to get you preapproved for a loan.

5. What amenities are a must for you? Is casual security ok or do you want a "tight" building with a concierge and valet parking? Check out the security setup. Although downtown San Diego is a relatively safe place, it is still important to keep your eyes and ears open. There is a lot of visitor traffic through the downtown area. If you go to the gym, do you want the gym to be in your building or do you want to go to another gym in the downtown area?

6. What parking do you need? Parking in downtown San Diego ranges from no parking place in your condo to a space for each bedroom in your unit. Unless you plan to take a taxi or public transportation when you move around, you will need parking. Check each building out with this in mind.

7. Have you thought about the style of your building, i.e., high-rise, mid-rise, low-rise? The low-rise buildings in downtown San Diego tend to have the fewest amenities, such as pool and gym, but then again, have lower homeowner association fees.

8. Are you purchasing for personal or investment reasons? Personal purchases will allow you a wider selection of financing with lower downpayments. Investment purchasing will require a 20% - 30% downpayment.

9. Are pets important to you? Most buildings allow pets, but may have a number or weight restriction. Make sure you know homeowner association policies before you commit yourself to a purchase that leaves out your animals. Downtown San Diego is pet friendly, but do your homework