What is it like to live in Santee California? | Best San Diego Suburbs

Whether you’re looking for an affordable area to raise your family or some new construction homes, Santee is the place to be. This is your complete guide to living in Santee. I am a third-generation San Diegan and I used to live in Santee myself. I’m a realtor here helping people move to San Diego and within San Diego. 

Discover everything there is to know about life in Santee.

All About Santee

Let’s talk about where Santee is located and that is in East County, San Diego. So of course, it’s a little bit east of the city of San Diego, just about 10 minutes or so from the actual city of San Diego, about 20 minutes from downtown to San Diego. The main freeway to get out there isthe 52 freeway. hat’s going to take you from the Kearny Mesa area out to Santee. Or you can take the 8 freeway and then take the 125 and that lands you right in Santee as well. We also have the 67 freeway on the far east side, which separates it from Lakeside. Santee is bordered by Lakeside as well as El Cajon. The main roads through Santee are Mast Boulevard, which heads east to west. Mission Gorge Rd, which also heads east to west. And Cuyamaca and Magnolia streets, which head north and south. These are your main arteries to get you in and around the city of Santee.

Santee Town Center

Right in the center of Santee is the Santee Town Center. This is where all your primary shopping is going to be. You’ve got all the big box stores like Target, Walmart, Costco, Home Depot, Lowe’s, a lot of chain restaurants as well. Your Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out, Raising Cane’s, Chipotle, different chain restaurants like that. There are some non-chain restaurants, certainly, but Santee tends to be known a little bit more for its chain restaurants. There are some really great coffee shops there, like Kaffee Meister, it’s a fantastic place to go get a cold brew and have a scone. And then also Board & Brew has some amazing sandwiches and awesome beer on top as well. 

Things To Do in the City of Santee 

Now there is so much to do in the city of Santee. First off, there is a big Sportsplex there. It has multiple soccer fields and baseball fields. So there are a ton of sporty events that occur there and you can rent it out for parties and corporate events as well. They also shoot fireworks off from the Sportsplex during 4th of July so depending on where you’re located in Santee, you can have a fantastic view of the fireworks and right next to the Sportsplex is the YMCA, it has the community pool that they partnered with the city of Santee. Also there’s a small waterpark; you’re just looking to get exercise in, it’s a fantastic pool to go to to swim.

There’s also golfing in Santee at the Carlton Oaks Country Club as well. Now, one of the big attractions in Santee is Santee Lakes. Santee lakes is actually a series of about nine lakes and there was a lot to do there. There are tons of playgrounds. You can picnic there, you can fish there. You can fish for Trout, Carp, Catfish, Bass. Trout, you can catch and take home as well as Carp. For Catfish, they prefer that you catch and release and Bass is definitely catch and release there. There is also a large RV campground where you can rent space for a weekend, or you can even stay long term in your RV here 30 days or more, I believe up to six months. 

There’s also cabins you can rent during the week or the weekend as well. And those are right on the lake. It’s a really great vacationing area either to go for the day and enjoy with your family or to go for a week or more at a time. Santee has some great parks as well. Big Rock Park is probably the most well-known, it has Pickleball, it has a dog park, it has playgrounds, it has barbecues, basketball courts. If you’re looking for a place to exercise or have a family party, a birthday party, anniversary, a special event, it has a fantastic park to go to. It is really huge and it’s right up on Mission Trails Park. So great scenery there as well. And then you also have Mast Park, a very large park, right in Santee and a nature discovery area as well.

Santee is also the primary access point for Mission Trails Regional Park. It has 65 miles of hiking trails and mountain biking trails. A lot of people will come to Santee just to go to Mission Trails Park to enjoy the incredible recreational activities that mission trails has to offer. Another feature of Santee is Gillespie Field. Now Gillespie Field is actually in the city of El Cajon, so it’s just south of Santee, but as a big commuter airport in El Cajon, the planes fly over Santee as well. So that’s a pretty interesting feature of Santee. 

Weather in Santee

Now the weather in Santee does get rather warm. So keep that in mind that you’re probably going to want air conditioning when you move out here and probably a pool. We’ll talk a little bit more about that. Now down in the valley of Santee, it tends to get pretty hot, cause there’s not as much air movement through there. However, if you own a home, that’s more up on the hillsides of Santee you’ve got a fantastic ocean breeze that comes across the Hills and actually stays relatively cool, at least comfortable, even when it gets warm into the hundreds during the summertime.

The Santee being an East County, East County is known to be more of the rural part of San Diego County and is more affordable overall. Therefore, it’s more of a blue collar community and certainly very family oriented.  However,there are some more expensive homes in therange. Because it’s more affordable and certainly more of a blue collar atmosphere.

Types of Homes in Santee

Now let’s talk about the types of homes that you’ll find in Santee. There isa very wide range of homes, you can find here. Anything from homes built in the mid-century about the 1960s, 1970s, as well as brand new construction, and very recently constructed home.

So depending on your budget and the amenities you’re looking for, there’s a wide range of options. In Santee, you can find homes with lots ranging from as small as about 6,000 square feet, all the way up to two acres. Now it’s very common to find homes with a quarter acre to a half acre of lot size. So if you’re looking for a little bit more space or maybe you’re not quite elbow to elbow with your neighbor, Santee is a great option for you.

There are a lot of homes that have a similar floor plan that were built right around 1960. 3 bedroom, two bath homes ranging from a just over a 1,000square feet to about 1,100 square feet. These are fantastic starter homes. Some of them have been flipped and upgraded by previous owners. And some of them need a little bit more work first. You might be able to get in and find kind of a deal on one of the older homes that you can do the work yourself, or you might find one that’s been upgraded and of course, it’s going to go for a little bit more money But right now, those homes are going to range about $650,000 to $800,000 depending on the level of upgrades that have been done to them.

Now, the median price for homes in Santee right now, which is rapidly rising at this time is $765,000. There’s also a lot of other homes built in the 1970s. These ones are going to be a little bit larger, generally speaking, and you’re going to find homes that are going to range in this area from about 1,500 – 3,000 square feet. Now these homes are going to be a little bit more expensive and they’re going to range from about $800,000 – $1 Million, again, depending on the level of upgrades that have occurred to them. 

Now you are going to find a lot of homes in Santee that have pools, not all of them, but certainly a fair amount because it does get warm out in Santee. Also, as I mentioned before, if you can get up on the hillside, not only is it going to stay a little bit cooler for you, but you’re also going to have some really fantastic views of the city and of the surrounding mountains as well.

Townhomes and Condos

Now there are a number of townhomes and condos in the city of Santee as well. These are going to be a little bit more affordable at a median price right now around $530,000 also rapidly rising along with the whole county of San Diego, but a little bit more affordable and there’s a whole mix of condos here. Older ones built in the 1960s, 1970s, as well as some more newer construction homes and we’ll get into those here in just a minute. 

New Construction – Sky Ranch 

If you’re looking for homes that are on the newer side, a great place to start is the community of Sky Ranch in Santee. Sky Ranch is on the eastern side of Santee up on a hillside right on top of a mountain. And it has absolutely incredible views of the city of Santee, but also looking east into the mountains of San Diego. These homes are definitely on the larger side, generally ranging from about 3,000 to 3,400 square feet, 4 to 6 bedrooms, 3 to 5 bathrooms, incredible views from here. Oftentimes they have a pool as well. These homes are going to range from about $1.2 – $1.7 million. 

There is an HOA here of about $220 a month, but there is no Mello-Roos. Modern Spanish style homes are going to have very large entertaining areas, large living room, large family rooms, large open kitchens as well, very large bedrooms and bathrooms.They’re also going to be fairly modern as far as granite countertops, stain kitchen cabinets. So maybe not the quartz that you’re seeing a lot of times now, but definitely granite countertops. And these are just really beautiful, gorgeous homes. And it’s a fantastic community to live in. 

Now there’s a townhome community in the Sky Ranch neighborhood called NorthStar. It has a range of homes for about 1,000 to 1,500 square feet, 2 – 3 bedrooms, 2 – 3 bathrooms in each one. The HOA here is about $400 a month. There are a lot of amenities that come with it though. You have a pool and jacuzzi, a barbecue area and a clubhouse as well.A lot of these homes are going to have really great views too, because again, it’s built up on the top of this mountain. 

New Construction – Weston

The other newer community, which actually some of these homes are still being completed right now is the community of Weston. It is located right off of Mast, closer to the 52 freeway right next to West Hills High School, which is a great high school here in Santee.

These homes were completed in 2019, but as mentioned, still a few of them are being completed as the community has finished getting built out. So at the moment, there are not a lot of homes available for sale here but they are starting to come available as some people are looking to move on to other areas, but this is a fantastic neighborhood. The homes are absolutely gorgeous. Generally modern Spanish-style homes. They’re ranging in size from anywhere from about 2,300 to 3,300 square feet.

The bedrooms are going to be about 4 bedrooms all the way up to 7 bedrooms. Bathrooms are going to be 3 to 5 bedrooms as well. These price ranges are going to be around $1.1 to $1.6 Million. Most of these aren’t necessarily going to have a view. However, some of them will when the ones that are located along Santee lakes, those are going to have the best view for you as well.

Now the backyards here are going to be a bit on the smaller side. You’re not going to have the larger lots. You might get elsewhere in Santee, but they’re going to be very beautiful and very private. Now there is a community area as well. There is a park. It’s a fantastic area for walking dogs. There’s a clubhouse. There is a pool. Now there is an HOA and Mello-Roos that comes with this so it’s going to be totally around $450 per month with the combination of the HOA and the Mello-Roos. 

New Construction – Prospect Fields

The other newer construction area is a neighborhood called Prospect Fields. This is located on Prospect, just west of the 125 freeway, a really nice neighborhood with of course, newer homes built in 2017. And so the neighborhood is starting to turn over just a little bit so homes can come available here occasionally. 

These homes are generally going to be 3 or bedrooms, and generally 2-and-a-half to 3 bathrooms. And they range in size from about 1,900 to 2,200 square feet. They’re going to be very modern as well. Granite countertops, large entertaining areas. And they’re going to have backyards that are small, but decent size. Not going to have any views here, definitely in a flat area of Santee, but you’re going to have a lot of privacy. 

The cool feature about this area is basically the neighborhood is a loop. And so the only through traffic in here is the folks that live in this neighborhood. There is a small basketball court and a playground in this neighborhood and there is an HOA fee of $156 a month but no Mello-Roos.

That is the guide to living in Santee. If you’re interested in exploring Santee, please hit me up. I’d love to meet with you and talk to you more about the specific neighborhoods of Santee and what kind of home you are looking for. Again, I am a real estate agent here in San Diego, helping people buy and sell homes. If I can help you with that journey of buying your home, please call, text or email me. I would love to help you in buying your home here in Santee or anywhere here in the county of San Diego.

Curtis Chism, Realtor
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