Is La Mesa a good place to buy near Naval Base San Diego?

La Mesa is one of East County's oldest cities, built on the hills east of San Diego State around a village center that still has its trolley stop and its Saturday farmers market. For a Navy family it is the East County option with the most neighborhood character, a commute that is longer than the South Bay's but shorter than Santee's, and a housing stock that is old enough to be affordable and old enough to need an inspection.

Who lives here and why

Mid-grade and senior families who want a settled neighborhood with a walkable center, dual-military or dual-income households with one commuter at 32nd Street and one in Mission Valley or Kearny Mesa, and buyers who want a single-family house at an inland price. The draw is character and location — La Mesa reaches downtown, Mission Valley and the eastern suburbs quickly — and the La Mesa-Spring Valley and Grossmont campuses. The trade is age: much of the housing is seventy or eighty years old, the lots are hilly, and the commute to the bay bases crosses the whole city.

The commute

Twenty to thirty minutes to the 32nd Street gates: Highway 94 west to I-15 south and the base exits, or I-8 west and I-15. Highway 94 is the direct route and it congests at the peaks. Mission Valley and Kearny Mesa are ten to fifteen minutes on I-8 and the 163; downtown is fifteen to twenty. The Orange Line trolley runs from the village to downtown for a commuter who can use it.

Housing stock and what the appraiser sees

Almost all of La Mesa's single-family stock predates 1978, and the findings follow: peeling paint brings the lead-based paint condition, original roofs and knob-and-tube or undersized electrical come up on the oldest houses, galvanized plumbing is common, and converted garages and unpermitted additions are everywhere on the hillside lots. Retaining walls, slope and drainage draw notes. A termite clearance is standard practice. None of it is unusual for the age and all of it is negotiated; the appraisal page covers the process. The condos along University Avenue and near the trolley are where junior buyers land, and the project must be VA-approved — the condo answer covers the check. No Mello-Roos anywhere in the city; the tax bill is the standard Proposition 13 base.

The loan angle

La Mesa's mid band makes it a full-entitlement, no-down-payment single-family market at senior-NCO and officer BAH and a condo market below that. A buyer on remaining entitlement from a house at the last station runs the second-tier calculation; at this band it often works with little or no down payment, and the entitlement calculator shows the number. The Naval Base San Diego guide sets La Mesa against Santee, El Cajon and the South Bay, and California's programs are on the California benefits page.

Next

• See BAH for Naval Base San Diego →
• Compare nearby neighborhoods →

Around Naval Base San Diego

• Buying Near Naval Base San Diego and Coronado: The San Diego VA Loan Guide
• California Veteran Home Buying Benefits: CalVet and the VA Loan
• Eastlake and Otay Ranch
• Imperial Beach
• Jamul
• La Presa
• Lakeside and Alpine
• Lemon Grove and Spring Valley
• National City
• Point Loma and Ocean Beach
• San Carlos
• Santee and El Cajon
• The PCS Home Buying Guide