Anyone living in a small condo with three kids in OC? (Orange: apartment, townhouse)

[tennisdork]

I am a native of CA moved to TX 5 years ago .I miss CA so much that I am thinking of buying a small condo, thats all I can afford. I have a huge house here in TX but it is not home.Anyone with a family of 5 or more care to share how life is with a large family living in a small condo?

[VeronikaW]

How small is small? We are currently a family of 4 (but about to be 5 in the next month or so), and we're in a 3 bedroom apartment. I hate living here with 2 kids (I don't have a living room, I have a play room, seriously), I can't even imagine how bad it will be with 3. I'm looking forward to moving back out of CA.

How old are your kids? Mine are toddlers right now, so it's not too bad, but if they were older, I think it would be a huge problem. Mine are really suffering from the lack of yard to play in. There are lots of parks around here, but I'm really too pregnant to chase them around at this point.

V. =)

[Charles]

We're a family of six (kids 11, 9, 7, and 3) in a five BR home.

I almost blow by brains out every night.

[tennisdork]

Around 1100-1330sqft , my kids are 4, 10 ,13.I have a big house here in TX and having the big house is really overated , but maybe I feel that way because the house is in TX.Thanks for responding.

[DinsdalePirahna]

i had (still have) a 3000 sq ft house in Missouri. 1/2 acre of land.

Im now in a 1200 sf condo with no yard and would not move back to Missouri if you paid me.

Having the Ocean and Harbor within walking distance makes up for not having a yard.

[pacific2]

Wow. At least try to get a townhouse with a backyard if you decide to make the move. On second thought, if interested, you might be able to find a nice detached home in Temecula for the same amount of money, or less, that you would spend on a small condo in Orange County. Check Redfin.com.

For example, this 4 bdr/3bth/2,023 sq.ft. home closed at $189,000:
33328 CALLE CANTU, Temecula, CA 92592 | MLS# T10017001

It looks like you have to move fast on the larger (greater than 1400 sq.ft.) Temecula and Murrieta listings.

[MQHP40]

I'm in sort of a similar situation. Soon to be a single mom w/ 2 kids (9 & 6) moving back to CA, probably into a townhouse.

Right now we live in a house on an acre of land. Truthfully, not working for me. Too much upkeep and I'm not the gardening kind. I look forward to someone else keeping up the landscape and getting rid of a bunch of stuff.

[BRinSM]

i spent much of my childhood in a 3 br condo with my parents and 2 brothers. my parents chose to live the condo lifestyle to make sure i attended top notch schools in a very expensive city. as a kid, you adapt to your surroundings quite easily, so i never really had an issue, especially since there were plenty of other kids around in the neighborhood for me to play with. i think you can make it work, but i doubt it will be easy.

[bhcompy]

I live in a 2bd 900sqft apt with my wife and child. It sucks.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by pacific2

Wow. At least try to get a townhouse with a backyard if you decide to make the move. On second thought, if interested, you might be able to find a nice detached home in Temecula for the same amount of money, or less, that you would spend on a small condo in Orange County. Check Redfin.com.

For example, this 4 bdr/3bth/2,023 sq.ft. home closed at $189,000:
33328 CALLE CANTU, Temecula, CA 92592 | MLS# T10017001

It looks like you have to move fast on the larger (greater than 1400 sq.ft.) Temecula and Murrieta listings.

Who's going to watch the kids 14 hours a day while mom and dad are making that horrible commute back to work in OC?