Moving to Irvine from London (Long Beach, Santa Ana: apartments, rent, health insurance)

[AA83]

Hi Guys,

Was hoping for some advise. So very confused at the moment.

So i currently live in London, well have been all my life.

Was looking for a job in LA but have been offered a position in Irvine.

From what I have read it is not possible to commute everyday from LA to Irvine, so therefore need to live in or close to Irvine.

So questions are;

Best place to live in OC for a young single male?
How much would I be looking to pay? Would like to share a 2 bed to bath place.

Also another question is what is a good average earning for a single guy. Bit random, but have no idea if what I have been offered is enough or similar to those working in OC.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[OC Investor2]

Couple Quick thoughts -

If you can afford it, I would reccomend Newport beach. Its probably OC's poshest city, but you can find living arrangements that are somewhat affordable. If you can't swing NB, try Huntington Beach. Both these locales will give you the chance to live the sterotypical So Cal beach lifestyle. Another possibilty would be the area know as "South Coast Metro" which is the part of the cities of Santa Ana and Costa Mesa around South Coast Plaza. Lastly Costa Mesa itself is town that attracts alot of young singles so if you are a 20 something guy, that may be an option as well.

You can do a google for apartments listings, and chack www.rentalliving.com for apartments in Newport Beach and Irvine that are owned by the Irvine Co., a large landord in the area. Good earnings is all subjective, and depends on your field. Lastly craigslist.com is a popular online classifed service in the US and you'll see a ton of ads for roommate & shared living situations there.

As for income, I would say you'll need $50-60k/ year to live somewhat comfortably in OC. Don't forget you need to provide for your own health insurance in the US as well and if its not part of your compensation from your employer it can be quite expensive to get on your own. OC is a suburban area with bad public transit, so you'll need to plan to have a car plan for the expenses that go with that.


Good luck!

[TurcoLoco]

Unless, you are a house cat, an introvert dork/geek, I would say avoid Irvine.
Irvine is a very clean, safe and seemingly nice city but I personally would not want to live there (and I have for a year). I pick anywhere in central or south Orange County over Irvine. If you want an active nightlife then you need to be closer to LA, at least around Costa Mesa, Newport Beach or Huntington Beach area where life is more active and interesting than monotonous and boring Irvine.

Check out Craig's List if you are on a budget or just to have an idea. Economy in CA sucks gerbil nuts right now and there is no sugar coating it.
Sadly, cost of living has not improved at all so if you are making at least 40K /yr (bare minimum imho), you should be OK living with a roommate as an average single bedroom in any of the above cities will be around $1300+. 2 Bed/Bath apartments start around $1600. These are roughly the minimums in decent places, you might find relatively cheaper places but I doubt you would enjoy your stay that much. Check out different apartment related web sites and read former tenant reviews.
I live and would recommend Long Beach as it is in the middle of OC and LA so it would provide many more options. It would also save you a few hundred from rent but daily commute from LB to Irvine would be like approximately 45+ minutes each way during rush hours. So when making your decision, consider commute times as well.

[AA83]

Thanks for the feedback guys.