Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-25-2010, 10:35 AM
 
5 posts, read 6,906 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Greetings All,
My husband's job is relocating us to Santa Ana. I have near been on that coast. He is going to be working in Santa Ana and I hope to go to school in LA. Where can we find a house over 1k square feet, with a lawn for the dog, close to pubilc transit somewhere inbetween both places?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-25-2010, 10:57 AM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,338 posts, read 93,537,811 times
Reputation: 17829
Buying or renting? Budget?

Metro | Getting Around | LA Metro Home
HousingMaps
Find All the Homes for Sale & Experienced Real Estate Agents | Redfin
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-26-2010, 07:47 AM
 
5 posts, read 6,906 times
Reputation: 10
Hoping to buy but might start out renting while we look. We would prefer to stay around 150,000
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-26-2010, 09:34 AM
 
11,715 posts, read 40,361,816 times
Reputation: 7585
Quote:
Originally Posted by TiffanyAnn View Post
Hoping to buy but might start out renting while we look. We would prefer to stay around 150,000
I'd prefer to make a million bucks a year, but it ain't gonna happen. For the budget that support a $150k, house, you'll be renting a small apartment, probably not in the greatest area.

Where in LA is the school? "LA" covers a ton of territory, much of it very far (time-wise) from Santa Ana. Public transit is great if you happen to live, work, and go to school right off a train line. Otherwise, how many hours do you want to spend in transit.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-26-2010, 09:57 AM
 
2,654 posts, read 5,450,652 times
Reputation: 1946
Quote:
Originally Posted by TiffanyAnn View Post
Hoping to buy but might start out renting while we look. We would prefer to stay around 150,000
Tifffany - welcome to Orange county.

You may need to reset your expectations on housing costs. The median homeprice in OC is somewhere in the low-mid $500k range last time I looked. Whatever your budget, renting first is a good plan. It will give you time to learn the area and find out area really suits you best, especailly as you have never been here before.

Also what part of LA are you planning to go to school in? In general in SO Cal it is best to keep your commute as short as is economically feasible. Basically, your quality of life here is inverse to time/distance to work. Different parts of the city & county of LA mean different transportation options and may play a big roll in where you want to live.

Another option you may have is looking in the inland empire - Riverside, Corona, etc. In Riverside & San Bernadino counties. Many folks come in from the IE to OC for work. The housing out there is significantly cheaper. This may work for your hubby to come to OC, but would make getting to LA difficult for you.

Good Luck!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-26-2010, 10:00 AM
 
5 posts, read 6,906 times
Reputation: 10
I have been searching on line and have found some places in Anaheim. Is that not a good area? I am applying to UCLA and my husband is working in Santa Ana. I might have to find a job for the first year then reapply once I have established residency. I have a car if I have to drive I would just prefer to find a place near a train line.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-26-2010, 10:01 AM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,338 posts, read 93,537,811 times
Reputation: 17829
Quote:
Originally Posted by TiffanyAnn View Post
I have been searching on line and have found some places in Anaheim. Is that not a good area? I am applying to UCLA and my husband is working in Santa Ana. I might have to find a job for the first year then reapply once I have established residency. I have a car if I have to drive I would just prefer to find a place near a train line.
Not sure if there is a train that goes near UCLA.

What about UC Irvine? CS Fullerton, or CSULB?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-26-2010, 10:11 AM
 
11,715 posts, read 40,361,816 times
Reputation: 7585
Quote:
Originally Posted by TiffanyAnn View Post
I have been searching on line and have found some places in Anaheim. Is that not a good area?
Not if you found something for $150k. $150k might get you a 1 bedroom condo (probably an apartment conversion, so cheap construction) in a place like Santa Ana or Anaheim with a 30% vacancy rate (due to foreclosure) and lots of illegals. Do you enjoy loud music, overcrowding, and unsupervised kids of all ages looking for trouble?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-26-2010, 10:46 AM
 
Location: RSM
5,113 posts, read 19,712,212 times
Reputation: 1927
No rail to UCLA, or even close. You'd be better off at UCI, which is still a very highly rated school in the UC school system, and you'll be closer to home.

As far as your budget, everyone is right, 150k isn't going to get you anything good, or even decent. You'll have to add 50-100k to your budget to find a condo in a decent area locally. Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Midway City, Westminster, and Stanton will possibly show prices in your existing range, but probably in the worst parts of those cities. While those areas are mostly not as bad as the gang ridden areas of LA County, you're still talking gangs, higher crime, etc. And as mentioned, apartment conversions, and old apartments in So Cal aren't built for privacy(or longevity imho)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-26-2010, 11:46 AM
 
5 posts, read 6,906 times
Reputation: 10
Ok, so what price point are we looking at? is 200 enough to get us into a better area? What area between Santa Ana and La gets the best bang for your buck?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:26 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top