Best, safest LA outskirt city for family (Los Angeles, Glendale: real estate, foreclosures)

[uptown_urbanist]

The only people I know who have houses with anywhere near 4 BRs and 3 baths in a nice, safe, convenient (or even semi-convenient) neighborhood with acceptable schools are those who inherited, bought many years ago, or are in very high positions at big companies.

A house in the $600ks in South Pasadena right now (as an example) would be nice, but nothing fancy. There's one for sale at the moment that's 3BR, 1 bath, 1557 square feet. There's another one that has 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1067 square feet. If you bump it up to the upper 900s you can find 4 BRs and 3 baths plus nice yard. You can get that size for less in some other areas, but you pay more for good school districts.

For what you want at a reasonable price you're best far out of the city, but only if your husband can get a job out there.

Good luck; LA is a great place to live and raise a family, IF you can afford it. After awhile you start to find yourself looking at listings and saying "Wow! That place is "only" $500,00! Sure, it needs a lot of work and is small, but what a bargain!"

[BRinSM]

CEOs don't live in $600k houses, they live in $1mm+ houses up in the hills somewhere. people who live in $600k houses are usually upper middle class families, often with 2 incomes. think accountants, middle managers, and lawyers.

[uptown_urbanist]

The CEOs also don't have to worry about public schools, because they often just send their kids to the top private schools, anyway. Or at least that certainly seems to be the case in Pasadena. It's the middle class families who debate whether or not to spend the extra money to live in a place with a good school district, take the chance on the local district in the more affordable location, or spring for private school tuition that can run more than $20,000 year per kid.

The families I knew in $600k homes were the types of people BRinSM mentions: double income parents with jobs like lawyers, doctors, professors, etc. And those houses didn't usually have four BRs.

[uptown_urbanist]

Forgot to add: one thing about southern CA homes (not sure if it's this case in SC or not) is that it seems like no one uses their garage for parking; almost everyone seems to use them for storage, or in many cases have converted them (both legally and illegally) into extra living space. Offices seem to be a popular use. That's something to consider when deciding how many bedrooms you need, as it's one way to squeeze some additional living space out of a home.

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by PalmBch

Glendale or Glendora.
Glendale is slightly closer to Los Angeles.


Finding a nice house (unless very small, old & not very good area) for 300s is no way in LA/O.C area.
California is not South Carolina. Housing pricing is among the highest in the nation, and so are taxes.

Actually, Glendale is RIGHT NEXT to Los Angeles. It borders LA on the northeast.

If the OP's husband is going to be working in Glendale or the immediate area a move to Glendora would mean another 45 mins. to 1 hr in rush hour traffic (or more).

[bhcompy]

Irvine is priced out(double that for a house) and too far anyways. For the areas mentioned, I second Glendale.

If you don't mind the commute, plenty of people get much more for their money in Santa Clarita and commute to LA, Glendale, Burbank, etc. The median price looks to have dropped into the 350k range. There is a Metrolink train that runs between the areas as well, which would really help the commute and probably save cash to boot.

[lapommedeterre]

covina or san dimas
check out www.lalife.com I found that website the other day it has a lot of info on all the different cities and housing prices it should be of a lot of help

[UB50]

LA is going to be very expensive compared to SC. I recommend you rent for awhile too.

Anywhere close to LA, for a 4 bedroom, 3 bath house, you're going to be looking at $1M+

[ValleyBoy85]

If buying a home is what you seek I second Santa Clarita/Valencia area. Good schools, safe, and you'll get more bang for your buck.

[sll3454]

Glendora and San Dimas are pretty far if your husband works in downtown Los Angeles or in Glendale. On the map it doesn't look far, but traffic is much worse than anywhere in SC. You can get a 3/3 condominium in El Monte for under $300,000; that's a little closer.

A few years ago it would be a million dollars to get a 4/3 house, but it isn't now. When you're ready to buy, you might have to consider a short sale, though, because that's what most are now.

About garages: if you buy a townhouse/condominium, you might have to actually park in the garage.