San Diego County is one county and dozens of places, and the address does not always tell you which. An Eastlake house is addressed Chula Vista; many Rancho San Diego homes read El Cajon; Bonita, Spring Valley and Jamul are not cities at all but unincorporated communities run by the county.
These guides start in the South Bay, around Edgard’s brokerage in Chula Vista, and run north and east into East County. Each one says what the place is, a few facts worth knowing, and the questions buyers ask first. The outline on every page is that community’s real boundary.
Chula Vista and its neighbors.
From the bayfront and the county’s second-oldest city to the planned communities east of the 805.
- City · South Bay Chula Vista From the bayfront to the planned communities east of the 805. Read the guide →
- Planned community · Chula Vista Eastlake A planned community around a lake and a golf course, along SR 125. Read the guide →
- Planned community · Chula Vista Otay Ranch Walkable villages, newer homes and the Town Center. Read the guide →
- Planned community · Chula Vista Rolling Hills Ranch Hillside streets, canyon open space and Montevalle Park. Read the guide →
- Unincorporated · South Bay Bonita Riding trails, bigger lots and the Sweetwater River valley. Read the guide →
- City · South Bay National City Victorian homes, the trolley and the bay, next door to Chula Vista. Read the guide →
The valley, the hills and the open country.
Inland, warmer and roomier — from El Cajon and La Mesa out to rural Jamul.
- City · East County El Cajon The valley they call the Box — trolley, freeways and every kind of home. Read the guide →
- Unincorporated · East County Rancho San Diego Hillside suburbs east of El Cajon, and where Edgard has sold. Read the guide →
- City · East County La Mesa A walkable village downtown, the trolley and Lake Murray. Read the guide →
- Unincorporated · East County Spring Valley Family homes between La Mesa and Sweetwater Reservoir. Read the guide →
- Unincorporated · East County Jamul Rural lots and open country along SR 94. Read the guide →
Lemon Grove and Encanto.
A small city and a hilly San Diego neighborhood, side by side on the Orange Line.
San Diego County looks like one market from a distance and it is not. East of the 805 in Chula Vista the houses are newer, the streets were planned, and the questions are about HOA dues, Mello-Roos and which school the address feeds. Out in El Cajon and Rancho San Diego the lots are bigger, the views run down the canyons, and the questions are about the roof, the solar, the slope and what it costs to insure. Buying the right house means asking the right questions for that side of the county — and selling one means answering them before a buyer has to ask.
Your partner in real estate, in the language you are most comfortable in.
Edgard Espinosa, Premier Properties