East County, San Diego
East San Diego County Real Estate
San Diego's East County offers a diverse landscape with rolling hills, mountains, lakes, canyons, deserts, and suburban neighborhoods. Lovers of the outdoors will enjoy hiking Cowles Mountain, mountain biking in Mission Trails Regional Park's 7,220 acres, fishing at El Capitan Reservoir, or walking along the shores of Lake Murray.
Communities in East County San Diego include La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Spring Valley, El Cajon, Santee, and Alpine. If you're interested in learning more about real estate in East San Diego County, please contact Elaine Boyd or read more below.
Some Favorite Neighborhoods Include:
La Mesa
A personal favorite for style, value, and friendliness, La Mesa is a city in its own right, and has its own unique personality. Close to San Diego but with its own cute vibe, La Mesa offers various neighborhoods that can feel very different one to the next. Expect rolling hills, tall trees, and popular Lake Murray as a sort of centerpiece. La Mesa has a lot of charm, a ton of native San Diegans, and a great quality of life.
Real Estate in La Mesa runs the gamut from condos and townhomes to mid-century/post-war stuff, and it even has a little stash of old vintage beauties.
With its wide variety of independently owned business, beautiful parks, parades, farmers markets, and it’s very own amphitheater on the top of Mount Helix… come see why La Mesa is also known as “the jewel in the hills.”
Spring Valley
As part of San Diego County, Spring Valley offers a community of rolling hills and countryside East of San Diego. Summer temperatures average 89 degrees and winter 61 degrees.
Spring Valley also offers lots of large parcels which lends to the ranch-feel of SV – there are even horses and livestock there. You can find small homes, large homes, townhouses and condos there. It has the added benefit of being one of the more affordable areas of the county.
Spring Valley is San Diego County's largest unincorporated community, yet keeps a small town flair. A good choice for affordability and rural community life.
Lakeside
Lakeside is an unincorporated community with a sort of cowboy-town reputation and by San Diego county standards, affordable housing. Lakeside is more rural, has a cute downtown area, a lot of horse ranches, and even has its own permanent rodeo facility, the Lakeside Rodeo Grounds.
Lakeside’s Chamber of Commerce claims it has “one of the top school districts thanks to the Spanish and Mandarin language immersion program that was implemented in 2006.” The local high school, El Capitan, has one of the only agriculture programs in the county.
You know you are in Lakeside when you occasionally have to stop your car to allow horses or geese to cross the road! There is also Lindo Lake, a picturesque location featuring tons of ducks and geese! Definitely worth checking out, but uh… don’t wear your best shoes (if you know what I mean). Worth the drive even if you’re not shopping for San Diego real estate.
Lemon Grove
Claiming to have “the world’s best climate,” Lemon Grove is known for its giant lemon!! Yes there is a giant lemon that’s been there forever and is quite a landmark.
Lemon Grove, like other East County communities, offers a number of homes that sit on large parcels of land. It seems to be a fruit tree-growing hotspot in general. Something of a fruit geek myself, I’m struck by how often someone with lots and LOTS of fruit trees say they live in Lemon Grove.