Neighborhood Guide

The Arbors in San Luis Obispo

What It's Like to Live Here, and What Your Home Is Worth

If you're looking for an established San Luis Obispo neighborhood with tree-lined streets, parks, sidewalks, and convenient access to just about everything in town, The Arbors is one of the neighborhoods worth knowing.

Located on the south side of San Luis Obispo, The Arbors offers a combination that can be hard to find in SLO: an established residential neighborhood that still feels relatively close to downtown, shopping, restaurants, schools, trails, and Highway 101.

We recently toured The Arbors for an episode of our Love Where You Live Show, where we took a closer look at the neighborhood, its homes, and what makes this part of San Luis Obispo unique.

Where Is The Arbors in San Luis Obispo?

The Arbors is located in southern San Luis Obispo, generally near Tank Farm Road and Broad Street.

One of the neighborhood's biggest advantages is its location. Residents have relatively easy access to downtown San Luis Obispo while also being close to shopping, restaurants, parks, hiking and biking opportunities, and the commercial areas along Broad Street.

It's also convenient for getting onto Highway 101 and heading south toward Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande, and the Five Cities area.

What Are the Homes Like in The Arbors?

The Arbors was primarily developed in the late 1980s and 1990s, so the neighborhood has had time to mature. That makes a noticeable difference.

Instead of the smaller trees and more uniform landscaping you often see in brand new developments, The Arbors has mature landscaping, established yards, and streets that feel like they've been part of San Luis Obispo for a long time.

Most of the neighborhood consists of detached single-family homes, although the homes vary considerably in size, floor plan, lot configuration, upgrades, and condition.

And that last point is particularly important when determining what a home in The Arbors is worth. Two homes that appear fairly similar on paper can have significantly different market values depending on remodeling, location within the neighborhood, lot, views, floor plan, landscaping, and overall condition.

What Is It Like to Live in The Arbors?

One of the things we like about The Arbors is that it feels distinctly residential without feeling disconnected from the rest of San Luis Obispo. The neighborhood has sidewalks, mature trees and landscaping, and several nearby outdoor spaces.

For someone comparing different areas of SLO, The Arbors can offer an interesting middle ground between older neighborhoods closer to downtown and some of the newer developments on the edges of town.

You get an established neighborhood while still having relatively modern homes compared with many of San Luis Obispo's early and mid century neighborhoods.

Parks and Outdoor Recreation Near The Arbors

Outdoor access is one of the reasons people love living in San Luis Obispo, and The Arbors puts residents close to a number of recreational opportunities.

Walking, biking, neighborhood parks, open spaces, and nearby trail systems make it relatively easy to get outside without driving across town.

And, of course, living in San Luis Obispo means you're also within a short drive of places like Avila Beach, Shell Beach, Pismo Beach, Edna Valley, and many of the hiking and biking trails throughout the area.

How Much Are Homes Worth in The Arbors?

This is probably the question we get most often from homeowners: "What would my house actually sell for?"

There isn't one simple price per square foot number that accurately answers that question in The Arbors. The market can put a significant premium on things like:

• Updated kitchens and bathrooms
• Newer flooring, paint, windows, and major systems
• Attractive landscaping and outdoor living areas
• Larger or more private lots
• Views and location within the neighborhood
• Functional floor plans
• Overall presentation and condition

Just as importantly, sellers have to consider what else is available to buyers at the same price. A buyer looking at a $1.2 million home in The Arbors, for example, isn't necessarily comparing it only with another home in The Arbors. They may also be considering homes in Righetti Ranch, Serra Meadows, the Country Club area, neighborhoods near downtown, or even Arroyo Grande and the Five Cities.

That competition matters when determining the right listing price.

Thinking About Selling a Home in The Arbors?

If you own a home in The Arbors, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is assuming that an automated online estimate tells you exactly what your property is worth.

Online valuations can be useful as a starting point, but they don't walk through your house. They don't necessarily know that you remodeled the kitchen, replaced the flooring, created a great backyard entertaining area, have a particularly desirable lot, or that the house down the street that sold for less needed $100,000 worth of work.

That's why we prefer to look at three things:

From there, we can develop a realistic range for what the property could sell for and determine whether there are any improvements worth making before putting it on the market.

Should You Remodel Before Selling a Home in The Arbors?

Not necessarily. This is an area where we see homeowners spend money that they don't always get back.

There are situations where new flooring, interior paint, landscaping, repairs, staging, or other relatively simple improvements can make a substantial difference in how buyers perceive a home. A major kitchen or bathroom remodel right before selling is a different question.

Before spending $50,000 or $100,000 preparing a property for market, we recommend looking at the likely difference in sale price first.

Sometimes doing the work makes sense. Sometimes cleaning the property up, making a handful of strategic improvements, and letting the next owner remodel it is the better financial decision.

Is The Arbors a Good Place to Buy a Home?

Every buyer has different priorities, but The Arbors deserves consideration for buyers who want an established San Luis Obispo neighborhood with convenient access to many of the things that make living on the Central Coast enjoyable.

The best way to determine whether it's right for you is to compare it with several other SLO neighborhoods. Drive through at different times of day. Walk around. Look at the homes. Explore the nearby parks and amenities.

San Luis Obispo has a number of neighborhoods that can look similar on a map but feel very different once you're actually there.

That's one of the reasons we created our Love Where You Live Show. We want to help people understand not just the houses that are for sale, but the communities and neighborhoods they're considering calling home.

Check out a live snapshot of the Arbors, what's active and pending, on our website! 

The Schwaegerle Team

San Luis Obispo County Real Estate

Helping you love where you live.

DRE #02040597 | DRE #02107467