What’s the scoop on the Stockton California market?
Does anyone have any advise or information on this market?
Hi Colton I live in the area and have done 2 live in flips on my 3rd and also have purchased 1 BRRRR property in Alabama which has been tough but got it done. I have lived in Stockton 34 years and know the area well. Not sure as to how much I could help with but hit me up.
The area around the University of the Pacific looked promising a while back when I last looked. Many parts of Stockton are extremely rough. You really need to know what you are doing to survive in a market like that.
my newest purchase is actually 2 streets over from UOP! Darius u are absolutely correct! My was a REO
I live in Stockton but am not investing here.
Prices are high vis-a-vis incomes unless you're a Bay Area commuter. But a commuter trades some housing expense for the home and instead have $400 up in commute costs (plus wear & tear on vehicle and lost time, say 2 hours each way - pre COVID - better than 2 hours until normal commute resumes).
I agree there are rough areas, but far fewer than media suggests. But I note that foreclosures are increasing.
Overall, a nice place to live, unless you're in one of the bad areas, but rents seem outrageously high and city council adopted the state's rent control law - limits rent increases to 5% per annum.
Maybe good for rehabbing former rentals into SFRs for owners. E-mail me with any questions.
@Mary Cronin I grew up in Lodi, and I've always had a terrible picture of Stockton in my mind, particularly my perception of the rampant violent crime there. Now I live on the east coast (DC area) and I look at Stockton real estate and it looks quite attractive from here. You say there are far fewer rough areas than the media suggests -- can you expand on that? In your perception, how "rough" is downtown, say between Harding and Fremont (N/S), California and Baker (E/W)? @William Hollifield, would love your opinion as well.
@Jake Moran would I personally buy in those areas not a chance. Could it work as a rental in those areas sure probably could if the numbers worked out, but your tenant base is not going to be the same as say Spanos area ,Stonewood ,Caldwell some areas around Lincoln, Brookside. Basically if you do not know the Stockton area very well i would never recommend investing here. There are just to many pockets. Again it depends on the investors choice, me personally am not into D class buy and holds. Some may actually want those areas and thats just what there into.
@Colton Mellor stay away from E Main st and S golden gate Ave when driving for dollars. Some guy pulled out a silver gun on me while I was driving around looking for fixers...
Also, secure your properties as much as possible or it may burn down at 4 am in the morning because of a homeless person (happened to me).
@Gi'angelo Bautista
Thanks for the response!
@Mary Cronin what part of Stockton are you referring to as a bad area?
When I first came to Stockton (1985) the bad areas were south of what is now the crosstown freeway (built around 1985; middle of downtown) and a few pockets north of that.
I can make generalizations about zip codes, but there are exceptions.
North of town, west of I-5: 95219 Brookside (high end gated communities; Mello Roos school taxes - so high taxes; Lincoln School District; some peat dirt problems on streets; don't know about foundations); Spanos Park West (some gated; lots of huge houses; basically built for commuters just west of I-5; Lodi School District)
North of town, east of I-5: 95209 Spanos Park East, Colonial Heights (most Lodi Unified Schools; though small pocket of Lincoln Unified)
North of town, east of I-5: 95207 Parkwoods and Lincoln Village (Lincoln Unified Schools; was considered best family area due to Lincoln Schools, but lots of flat tops and built since the 1950s so electrical can be kind of minimal - 1 outlet in kitchen instead of enough to use multiple appliances); lot of remodeling in this area. Lincoln Schools extend to the East but there is a bad-ish area here (Bianchi east of Pacific; Cotton Ct, etc.)
North of town, east of Pacific (east of Lincoln Village): 95207; reasonably good rental area (Stockton Unified rather than Lincoln) houses from 2/1 through 4/2; apartments, some duplexes up to fourplexes.
North of town, west of Pacific: 95207 If north of March, Stockton Unified (Venetian); if south of March, then Lincoln Unified (Venetian Bridges).
North of town, west of I-5: 95219 Lincoln Village West (Lincoln Schools) was high end housing area before Brookside was built, though some apartments and condos. Larger lots than Brookside, lower taxes (no Mello-Roos).
North of town, midway between Hwy 99 & I-5: 95210 I used to avoid like the plague, parts are still gang areas (north of Hammer; but west of railroad tracks), and was the car theft area of Stockton. Then they built new subdivisions south of Hammer that seem better, but this since I've been out of real estate for the last 8 years, so don't have much of an opinion about the area. Costco is at the corner of West Lane and Hammer and the newer homes are south of Costco. East of the railroad tracks are also newer developments that seem to be free of the gang areas.
North of town, east of Hwy 99: 95212 known as Morada (I think Lodi schools); most high end properties with acreage, some with orchards (cherries, walnuts, other?; some horse properties) but there is a lower cost subdivision there too and several mobile home parks.
Downtown: 95201-95206; older buildings; Stockton School District. City was trying to gentrify downtown (new convention center, condos, etc.) but parking is terrible so I doubt how successful it is. Old apartments (maybe 1920s), some new infill, certain areas had major drug problems (check with Stockton Police on this, I just avoid area; I looked at apartments there but found that few had any parking for residents)
Now there are new developments south of downtown near the airport (Hwy 99 side; east) and on I-5 side (west). The subdivision known as Weston Ranch (I-5 on south side of town) seems to be a commute area for Bay Area transplants but a bit light on amenities; Target might be only grocery nearby. These seem to be better than the area between crosstown and say 8th street on south, but other than a little driving the neighborhoods, I know little about them.
The old east side of town was basically built from 1930s to 1950s +/-. Lots of little houses on large lots, some with multiple units (can be cash cows) built before permits were required so grandfathered-in. Almost all on raised foundations and probably with hardwood floors (maybe under carpet). I changed a light switch for a friend and house still had old wiring, so expect old wiring & plumbing.
The west side of town, north of downtown but not in newest areas; basically the Country Club area - have lots of rentals [middle & working class]. At the west end on the deep water channel, Stockton Golf & Country Club and multi-million dollar homes (parts of 95206 known as Riviera Heights). In the 1980s there were lots of lawsuits in the area against builders - soil was peat and lots of foundations issues.
I've kind of lost steam here. Maybe if you have specific questions I can answer them.
Hope this helps.
😂😂 Guess Mary knows the area! Alot info there! Good job
Quote from @Mary Cronin:
When I first came to Stockton (1985) the bad areas were south of what is now the crosstown freeway (built around 1985; middle of downtown) and a few pockets north of that.
I can make generalizations about zip codes, but there are exceptions.
North of town, west of I-5: 95219 Brookside (high end gated communities; Mello Roos school taxes - so high taxes; Lincoln School District; some peat dirt problems on streets; don't know about foundations); Spanos Park West (some gated; lots of huge houses; basically built for commuters just west of I-5; Lodi School District)
North of town, east of I-5: 95209 Spanos Park East, Colonial Heights (most Lodi Unified Schools; though small pocket of Lincoln Unified)
North of town, east of I-5: 95207 Parkwoods and Lincoln Village (Lincoln Unified Schools; was considered best family area due to Lincoln Schools, but lots of flat tops and built since the 1950s so electrical can be kind of minimal - 1 outlet in kitchen instead of enough to use multiple appliances); lot of remodeling in this area. Lincoln Schools extend to the East but there is a bad-ish area here (Bianchi east of Pacific; Cotton Ct, etc.)
North of town, east of Pacific (east of Lincoln Village): 95207; reasonably good rental area (Stockton Unified rather than Lincoln) houses from 2/1 through 4/2; apartments, some duplexes up to fourplexes.
North of town, west of Pacific: 95207 If north of March, Stockton Unified (Venetian); if south of March, then Lincoln Unified (Venetian Bridges).
North of town, west of I-5: 95219 Lincoln Village West (Lincoln Schools) was high end housing area before Brookside was built, though some apartments and condos. Larger lots than Brookside, lower taxes (no Mello-Roos).
North of town, midway between Hwy 99 & I-5: 95210 I used to avoid like the plague, parts are still gang areas (north of Hammer; but west of railroad tracks), and was the car theft area of Stockton. Then they built new subdivisions south of Hammer that seem better, but this since I've been out of real estate for the last 8 years, so don't have much of an opinion about the area. Costco is at the corner of West Lane and Hammer and the newer homes are south of Costco. East of the railroad tracks are also newer developments that seem to be free of the gang areas.
North of town, east of Hwy 99: 95212 known as Morada (I think Lodi schools); most high end properties with acreage, some with orchards (cherries, walnuts, other?; some horse properties) but there is a lower cost subdivision there too and several mobile home parks.
Downtown: 95201-95206; older buildings; Stockton School District. City was trying to gentrify downtown (new convention center, condos, etc.) but parking is terrible so I doubt how successful it is. Old apartments (maybe 1920s), some new infill, certain areas had major drug problems (check with Stockton Police on this, I just avoid area; I looked at apartments there but found that few had any parking for residents)
Now there are new developments south of downtown near the airport (Hwy 99 side; east) and on I-5 side (west). The subdivision known as Weston Ranch (I-5 on south side of town) seems to be a commute area for Bay Area transplants but a bit light on amenities; Target might be only grocery nearby. These seem to be better than the area between crosstown and say 8th street on south, but other than a little driving the neighborhoods, I know little about them.
The old east side of town was basically built from 1930s to 1950s +/-. Lots of little houses on large lots, some with multiple units (can be cash cows) built before permits were required so grandfathered-in. Almost all on raised foundations and probably with hardwood floors (maybe under carpet). I changed a light switch for a friend and house still had old wiring, so expect old wiring & plumbing.
The west side of town, north of downtown but not in newest areas; basically the Country Club area - have lots of rentals [middle & working class]. At the west end on the deep water channel, Stockton Golf & Country Club and multi-million dollar homes (parts of 95206 known as Riviera Heights). In the 1980s there were lots of lawsuits in the area against builders - soil was peat and lots of foundations issues.
I've kind of lost steam here. Maybe if you have specific questions I can answer them.
Hope this helps.
The Melo Roos in Brookside was paid off years ago. I own 4 single family homes in Brookside and it is an amazing place to have invested. Taxes are not high, but you do have home owner dues but have a lot of amenities to go with it. I live in the Bay Area and have been investing in stockton ever since the real estate crash there, and it has been one of the best places to put my money over the years. ( have numerous properties in stockton, not just Brookside).
Was looking at a twelve flex no parking in the 95202 area. Seven vacant five rented what do you think of this area. Is is it really bad. Close to down town.
Quote from @Rafael Ordonez jr:
Was looking at a twelve flex no parking in the 95202 area. Seven vacant five rented what do you think of this area. Is is it really bad. Close to down town.
Did you close this? how is it going?
i passed. no parking lots of breakings on vehicles.
Stockton is one of focus areas. Stockton is a great place to invest by several measures. It is the closest big city to bay area. Stockton rate of appreciation is comparable to areas like Sacramento though price points are lower. A few years back, Stockton made it to the top 10 cities to invest I remember. City has recovered from bankruptcy in 2012.
There are rough areas in the city. But several of them are improving fast. Some streets are still bad but I see many new constructions happening. Being an old are large city (Stockton is the first city with an english name in CA) we can expect several rough. There are several large apartment buildings with no parking. There are several empty buildings but not blighted. Insurance in several areas are costly possibly due to frequent fire incidents.