Valencia (Santa Clarita) vs. Rancho Palos Verdes? (Torrance, Pasadena: short sale, foreclose)

[SugarHazard]

Okay, before you jump to wondering if I'm insane and this should be a no-brainer, let me clarify the situation!

We live in SCV in a gorgeous 2004 built house with an amazing view. But because it was built in 2004, our nice landlord bought it in 2004 and is now upside down on the value of the house vs. her mortgage. Despite our sizable monthly rental payments to her, she is out an additional $1000 a month. So she has decided to list the house as a short sale before throwing in the towel completely and letting it foreclose on us. We need to move before that happens. Now we have to decide if we want to rent another gorgeous house in Santa Clarita but possibly end up in the same boat next year or move to another city that is safe enough for us and our children. We explored RPV and loved the PV Peninsula. We are just concerned by a few things and would love any advice you can throw at us

________________________________________
Stay in Santa Clarita

Pros -
1. short move = less expensive
2. clean and safe
3. already have a great pediatrician 15 minutes from home
4. already have a great preschool 10 minutes from home
5. kids will continue to live in a brand new 3000-3600 sq foot house with awesome playroom.
6. will be able to buy a home once the market gets better in Santa Clarita if we decide to stay in Calif.
7. cheaper to rent than RPV

Cons -
1. long butt 1.5-2 hr commute to work
2. expensive gas and car maintenance due to commute
3. kids get less sleep because they stay up later to wait for their Daddy to come home at 9pm due to horrible commute
4. hot hot hot during summer
5. wildfires!
6. possible move again due to same reason next year.


_______________________________________
Move to Rancho Palos Verdes

Pros -
1. cleaner and safer (at least within the Peninsula)
2. amazingly beautiful weather
3. great schools
4. shortest work commute we could find 35-45 minutes
5. kids get more sleep because Daddy will be home at 6pm
6. hopefully will not have to worry about moving again due to landlord not foreclosing on the house
7. save money $600+ on gas and car maintenance due to less commute

Cons -
1. far move = more expensive
2. older house 30-50 yrs old = asbestos and lead paint with poor insulation
3. have to drive through "sketchier" cities to get to fwys/shopping/doctors appts/running errands
4. more expensive rent (an additional $200) for 1600 sq ft! might possibly have to also rent storage unit (an additional $500/month)
5. kids have to adjust to new schools
6. far away from pediatrician (1-1.5 hrs away)
7. will be able to rent but never buy in Rancho Palos Verdes!

__________________________________________

So those are the particulars. If this was your situation, which would you pick? Should we stay or should we go?? Thanks for all replies!

[Charles]

Seems like a no brainer: Move to Rancho Palos Verdes

You can get most of the SC pros in PV (pediatrician, preschool); Sounds like you get more house in SC though.

Why would far move be (that much) more expensive?

None of those things can compensate the unhealthy drive for dad. None.
Older house asbestos? Can you find a healthier house?
Do you absolutely have to drive through sketchier neighborhoods for goods and services? (kind of hard to believe)
They have good pediatricians in PV.

Comments in red

Originally Posted by SugarHazard

Okay, before you jump to wondering if I'm insane and this should be a no-brainer, let me clarify the situation!

We live in SCV in a gorgeous 2004 built house with an amazing view. But because it was built in 2004, our nice landlord bought it in 2004 and is now upside down on the value of the house vs. her mortgage. Despite our sizable monthly rental payments to her, she is out an additional $1000 a month. So she has decided to list the house as a short sale before throwing in the towel completely and letting it foreclose on us. We need to move before that happens. Now we have to decide if we want to rent another gorgeous house in Santa Clarita but possibly end up in the same boat next year or move to another city that is safe enough for us and our children. We explored RPV and loved the PV Peninsula. We are just concerned by a few things and would love any advice you can throw at us

________________________________________
Stay in Santa Clarita

Pros -
1. short move = less expensive Not sure how big a deal this is
2. clean and safe So is PV
3. already have a great pediatrician 15 minutes from home You can get one in PV
4. already have a great preschool 10 minutes from home You can get one in PV
5. kids will continue to live in a brand new 3000-3600 sq foot house with awesome playroom. OK, SC sounds better here.
6. will be able to buy a home once the market gets better in Santa Clarita if we decide to stay in Calif. When you are ready to buy then move.
7. cheaper to rent than RPV still cheaper when factoring gas and your husband's coronary?

Cons -
1. long butt 1.5-2 hr commute to work totally unacceptable
2. expensive gas and car maintenance due to commute Yep
3. kids get less sleep because they stay up later to wait for their Daddy to come home at 9pm due to horrible commute totally unacceptable
4. hot hot hot during summer OK
5. wildfires! Not a big deal unless you live right up against the hills
6. possible move again due to same reason next year. OK


_______________________________________
Move to Rancho Palos Verdes

Pros -
1. cleaner and safer (at least within the Peninsula)
2. amazingly beautiful weather
3. great schools
4. shortest work commute we could find 35-45 minutes
5. kids get more sleep because Daddy will be home at 6pm
6. hopefully will not have to worry about moving again due to landlord not foreclosing on the house
7. save money $600+ on gas and car maintenance due to less commute

Cons -
1. far move = more expensive Can't see this being that big a deal
2. older house 30-50 yrs old = asbestos and lead paint with poor insulation This is a big problem; Can't you find another healthier home?
3. have to drive through "sketchier" cities to get to fwys/shopping/doctors appts/running errands Hard to believe
4. more expensive rent (an additional $200) for 1600 sq ft! might possibly have to also rent storage unit (an additional $500/month) you have to crank the numbers on gas and the worth of you husband's time
5. kids have to adjust to new schools not a problem
6. far away from pediatrician (1-1.5 hrs away) irrelevant: find a good one close to your home
7. will be able to rent but never buy in Rancho Palos Verdes! So when it is time to buy, move again.

__________________________________________

So those are the particulars. If this was your situation, which would you pick? Should we stay or should we go?? Thanks for all replies!

[JTGJR]

Where does your DH work?

[elousv]

You have a good list, now assign priority. My number one would be the commute.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by elousv

You have a good list, now assign priority. My number one would be the commute.

I agree. It is ten times worse than any of the other negatives listed.

[Clnconcpts]

Rancho Palos Verdes all the way.I hate SCV.The traffic is a nightmare to get out.RPV will also be much cooler

[SugarHazard]

So, what I'm hearing is between a dream house in the country boonies and an ol' city shack by the Ocean, ya'all would rather live in the shack. By George I've got it! It all comes down to ...... location, location, location??? Who would've thunk it? (giggle). I've been trying to convince him for us to go for it and move even if it is more expensive to rent. So we end up depleting our savings but at least he won't die in a horrible car accident on the freeway. And if he manages to survive the freeways and LA road rage, if we don't move his children will eventually forget who he is. Poor guy wants us to stay in SC because it's overall really safe and the house is a whole house size bigger (3600-1600 = 2000! the size of our first house in OC!) and he doesn't want our son to be taken away from the school he loves. But you have all given me arguing ammunition! I will direct him to this thread and force him to read the responses to show him that we would rather his presence in our lives than a big rented house without him.

JTGJR: what does DH stand for? Is it Dear Husband or Darling Husband, or Dumb Husband? (grin) I honestly don't know but I assume you're talking about him. He works in Marina Del Rey.

Regarding Asbestos and lead paint.. the homes are so old that they most likely have these two dangers. Some on Realtor.com lists "Asbestos Review done in 2000" or something scary like that! Regarding Asbestos we can try to get some kind of inspection prior to move in (might be hard to do as we will be renting not buying so I don't know if we will have to pay for it or the potential landlord will pay for it). Regarding paint.. worse case we'll paint the whole darn house ourselves if we have to.

He says he doesn't want to take the playroom away from the kids because our youngest is learning to walk and is finally old enough to play with his brother and all that. So they enjoy it immensely. Prior to SC, we were renting a 1100 sq ft apt and my oldest was so miserable. I never knew that kids can actually be affected by sq footage! I told him we can always rent storage space for all our excess crapola and turn the garage into a "playroom".

Moving expenses seem to be lowest on the priority list. We will incur them more or less so we'll just absorb it somehow. The moving companies charge by the amount of workers, the amount of hours worked, the amount of stuff, plus the distance to be driven.

Although I personally haven't checked, he said that he would have to drive through Torrance and Lawndale to get to the freeways and I would probably have to do shopping/run errands/Drs' appts in these cities as well. I think Torrance is suppose to not be AS bad as other cities and might even be okay compared to LA cities but I know nothing about Lawndale except for the fact that they sure do not lack in Adult Porn Stores. laugh. I told him that if he comes home late from work, I'll know where to find him. hehe.

Can you guys tell me more about Lawndale and Torrance and if they are safe/dangerous?

Thanks kindly!!!

[nickdahammer]

Originally Posted by SugarHazard

So, what I'm hearing is between a dream house in the country boonies and an ol' city shack by the Ocean, ya'all would rather live in the shack. By George I've got it! It all comes down to ...... location, location, location??? Who would've thunk it? (giggle). I've been trying to convince him for us to go for it and move even if it is more expensive to rent. So we end up depleting our savings but at least he won't die in a horrible car accident on the freeway. And if he manages to survive the freeways and LA road rage, if we don't move his children will eventually forget who he is. Poor guy wants us to stay in SC because it's overall really safe and the house is a whole house size bigger (3600-1600 = 2000! the size of our first house in OC!) and he doesn't want our son to be taken away from the school he loves. But you have all given me arguing ammunition! I will direct him to this thread and force him to read the responses to show him that we would rather his presence in our lives than a big rented house without him.

JTGJR: what does DH stand for? Is it Dear Husband or Darling Husband, or Dumb Husband? (grin) I honestly don't know but I assume you're talking about him. He works in Marina Del Rey.

Regarding Asbestos and lead paint.. the homes are so old that they most likely have these two dangers. Some on Realtor.com lists "Asbestos Review done in 2000" or something scary like that! Regarding Asbestos we can try to get some kind of inspection prior to move in (might be hard to do as we will be renting not buying so I don't know if we will have to pay for it or the potential landlord will pay for it). Regarding paint.. worse case we'll paint the whole darn house ourselves if we have to.

He says he doesn't want to take the playroom away from the kids because our youngest is learning to walk and is finally old enough to play with his brother and all that. So they enjoy it immensely. Prior to SC, we were renting a 1100 sq ft apt and my oldest was so miserable. I never knew that kids can actually be affected by sq footage! I told him we can always rent storage space for all our excess crapola and turn the garage into a "playroom".

Moving expenses seem to be lowest on the priority list. We will incur them more or less so we'll just absorb it somehow. The moving companies charge by the amount of workers, the amount of hours worked, the amount of stuff, plus the distance to be driven.

Although I personally haven't checked, he said that he would have to drive through Torrance and Lawndale to get to the freeways and I would probably have to do shopping/run errands/Drs' appts in these cities as well. I think Torrance is suppose to not be AS bad as other cities and might even be okay compared to LA cities but I know nothing about Lawndale except for the fact that they sure do not lack in Adult Porn Stores. laugh. I told him that if he comes home late from work, I'll know where to find him. hehe.

Can you guys tell me more about Lawndale and Torrance and if they are safe/dangerous?

Thanks kindly!!!

Ah, the South Bay. I don't know how anyone would have a problem with Torrance. It just sits there, ya know? Suburbia inland and a little sliver of a 'Riviera' at the ocean. The drunks at Alpine Village (ah, Oktoberfest) might annoy you a bit, but I honestly can't think of anything. Actually, Oktoberfest is kinda fun in its way.

Lawndale is alittle sketchy- but dangerous? It's just a place one goes through to get somewhere else (like Stanton in OC). And porn shops are everywhere- they are 'respectable' now. You can even find one in Old Town Pasadena!

RPV is really nice- another world. The Botanical Gardens are great, the hills, the horse trails (there are actually Rolling Hills Estates, Rolling Hills, Rancho Palos Verdes). The western part of San Pedro is nice as well. The freeway is a little far, but that is why it's nice.

[JTGJR]

SugarHazard, I was going to send you a direct message, but you've opted not to receive them. You have a lot of options. I spent my high school years in PV and it's a great place to raise children. But it's not the only great place, in west LA or the south bay. You're not going to get the price to value that you have in SCV, but you can certainly get what you're looking seeking for your family.

Shopping in Lawndale or Torrance is not a problem.

[once-ler]

You would have no problem shopping in Lawndale or San Pedro (much less Torrance or Lomita, which are pretty well up in the middle class range IMHO...). In Lawndale about the most danger you will get is seeing some people who don't have cars walking or riding bicycles. If you choose to brave shopping for groceries at some place like Big Saver you might see someone with tattoos. If you want to raise children in the schools here or like to take long walks at 1am it might be an issue. But driving through or shopping is at least as safe as anywhere else... you are in FAR more danger of traffic accidents on that long commute than any sort of street crime nere.

Anyway I don't see why the DH should ever have to go up to Lawndale, since it is bounded by the 405... I guess if he works in MDR he goes up Hawthorne Blvd and hits the 405 there... or takes a long drive up PCH/Sepulveda.

The biggest issue is that these are LONG drives up surface streets which tend to have a lot of traffic... 35-45 mins seems a little optimistic to me. Thats the real problem with PV... the commute is still going to be pretty bad because of limited freeway access and the South Bay tends to be bigger than you think. Personally I MUCH prefer the PV atmosphere to Santa Clarita... but I guess it is a matter of taste.