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I currently have a 3000 sqft home that is on the market for 375,000. I need to buy a house for that amount in orange county.
When I flew out for an interview I visited Newport Beach, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and Irvine. It was beautiful. I know that Newport Beach is too pricey, but I'm wondering where some hidden areas are in those other cities? I'd settle for a 1500 sqft home and will downsize appropriately.
Other than having a garage for my woodworking tools, I'm flexible. I prefer Dana Point because I have a sport fishing boat. As I said to my wife as we drove around, there's no way that all these homes that we see are that expensive. I can see some of ht mansions being worth half a million or more, but we just want a regular small house in a good area. We have three kids all still in school.
My wife especially liked laguna nigule because we stopped at a huge park that was having a soccer party and there must have been a thousand kids having free food, rides, gorgeous sunshine. She talked to some of the parents and was amazed at how into the community everyone was. I personally liked walking around the Dana Point harbor with all of the boats.
Hopefully with all of the foreclosures and everything we can get that house. I'm looking to move by middle of summer, so if you have any insight, please let me know!
Good luck. My cousin must bought a home in Torrance Ca which is part of the L.A. schools (used to be Gardena area) It is all of 845 Sq Ft, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, built in 1942 and she paid $270,000. It was a short sale I might add.
the best you can hope for, unless you go further away from OC is a condo/townhouse. I know some might suggest you rent for awhile, to me, that just makes no sense. It would be fine, if you are unsure about whether or not you will remain in Ca but other than that, all you would gain is nothing. What happens when the property values start back Up? then your $350 will be more like $450,000 and you will not have your tax write off.
Good luck, it sucks to be transferred under those circumstances but at least you have a job.
Unfortunately, $350K will just get you a condo in South County. BTW, the $350K South County condo actually costs much more once you factor in HOA fees and Mello Roos. Just an aside, New Yorkers (I’m a transplant from Manhattan) are accustomed to these little “extras,” even if they hate them, and budget accordingly, but it seems that SoCal buyers are shocked by these additional costs. They’re a fact of life when it comes to newer construction. Older condos have HOA charges, but not Mello Roos. Newer SFRs and condos carry both.
I know it seems bizarre, but obviously, simple rules of supply/demand keep these prices relatively high when compared to most of the country. Southern California is still a very desirable destination for those who can afford to live here.
The following cities are currently seeing an up tick in both median sales price and volume:
Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, Seal Beach, Anaheim (92808), Laguna Niguel, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest, Santa Ana (92706), Garden Grove (92840) and Stanton. I checked the Aliso Viejo sales and, not surprisingly, they consisted primarily of condos/townhouses, which seem to make up most of the AV housing stock.
The increases could be a fluke, though, and things could spiral down next month. At any rate, I would not advise anyone to rush into the market. IMHO, it’s much better to rent and get to know the area first before purchasing a home.
My wife especially liked laguna nigule because we stopped at a huge park that was having a soccer party and there must have been a thousand kids having free food, rides, gorgeous sunshine.
This is common in South County (along with plenty of hiking and biking trails, community pools, etc.), but only the sunshine was free. My hunch is that HOA fees paid for the rest. You may even have to pay HOA fees in some older areas.
I guess I should say that our current house that we're selling is worth about $375. I have a mortgage on it of $140,000, and will have a good portion to put down but I don't want to buy more home than I can afford.
For some of the prices that you say for single family homes in Dana Point, Laguna Niguel etc. I could buy an honest to goodness mansion here in Louisiana. Our trip started from my employer in Irvine across to Newport Beach along route 55, along the coast thru Laguna Beach, to Dana Point, out through Laguna Niguel then up the freeway back to our hotel in Anaheim.
Any of the areas from Newport Geach to Laguna Niguel would be perfect. We didn't spend much time in Costa Mesa except it didn't look all that appealing.
Looking on some of the real estate sites, that in all of those cities there aren't any sfr under $500k, and the ones that are look to be in really rough shape. Crazy.
I was told maybe to go further inland to Mission Viejo and Lake Forest but we want to be closer to the ocean.
I guess I'll just keep looking!
So if you sell for $375k it appears you'd be clearing approximately $225k'ish considering RE agent commissions and seller closing costs as well as if you credit the buyer any funds towards their closing costs.
What payment level are you comfortable with?
I'm not sure what your plan is, but if you put down $200k on a $375k SFR, with taxes/insurance, 30-year mortgage, your payment would be about $1,275 to $1,600/mo depending on the property taxes. Taxes tend to be a little higher here than in Louisiana (our homeowners exemption is $7k, whereas yours is like $75k or so) but homeowners insurance tends to be lower (if you are paying flood insurance in Louisiana). Not sure if you were expecting higher payments given that scenario.
What type of salary change are you getting for moving to an area with a higher cost of living? It's tough to gauge your living expenses in other areas of the country without living there for awhile, even with all of the data and info you can find on the internet, it hardly substitutes for real life experience... do you have to buy right away or can you rent for awhile until you are comfortable with all of the areas in OC? Google Maps works great, they drove pretty much every square inch of road with a video camera here so you can see how specific neighborhoods look.
Finally got our house in Louisiana sold. Now looking for a place in south Orange County.
We're still intent on Laguna Niguel and Dana Point area. After all the research that we've done, we've narrowed it down to those two cities.
I still can't get over how expensive they are. And beautiful! While there are no houses priced within our price range, I'm still hopeful that as prices slide some more we can get one. If we can't we're looking at central orange county, maybe Mission Viejo, Anaheim, Garden Grove, Fullerton. I've been told that being across the highway that "snobs" closer to the ocean look down on that area, but at some point we have to make a choice.
Will my kids really be looked down upon? Like when the high school from Dana Point plays the high school in Garden Grove, is there really snobbishness between the two, like taunting, etc?
For south OC living it doesn't get much better than Dana Point. Laguna Niguel is a better/cheaper alternative if you like the "suburb" feel. Dana Point has the small "downtown" area along PCH which makes it feel very quaint. Mission Viejo is still considered south OC - pretty much anything south of the 55 freeway is.
There is no snobbishness, or if there is it's not noticed. You may feel that way, but it's just about perception. People in OC are very friendly for the most part. If high school sports are important to your kids, you may want to look at schools who are doing well in those in those areas (such as Mission Viejo High School has a good football team, so does Mater Dei but that's a private school in Santa Ana - Mater Dei you don't have to live by to attend).
Finally got our house in Louisiana sold. Now looking for a place in south Orange County.
We're still intent on Laguna Niguel and Dana Point area. After all the research that we've done, we've narrowed it down to those two cities.
I still can't get over how expensive they are. And beautiful! While there are no houses priced within our price range, I'm still hopeful that as prices slide some more we can get one. If we can't we're looking at central orange county, maybe Mission Viejo, Anaheim, Garden Grove, Fullerton. I've been told that being across the highway that "snobs" closer to the ocean look down on that area, but at some point we have to make a choice.
Will my kids really be looked down upon? Like when the high school from Dana Point plays the high school in Garden Grove, is there really snobbishness between the two, like taunting, etc?
Mission Viejo will be out of your range too. At $350,000 to $375,000 for a SFR you will probably be looking at a mostly Hispanic or Vietnamese community in Central OC (Garden Grove, Westminister, Anaeheim, Santa Ana, Orange). Frankly I do not think that you will find much even there, unless you go tiny tiny or a really bad neighborhood. I have never heard of a SFR under $450,000 unless it is seriously in trouble, incredibly tiny or in a really bad area.
Your kid's reactions will depend on where you end up and where your kids hang out. As long as your kids are wearing/holding $2000 worth of clothing and electronics each, no one is likely to taunt them or make fun of them. When you buy their Porsche or BMW, if you have to get a used one, probably best to get one old enough to be considered "classic"
The places that meet your budget will be some middle class and some groups of Hispanic families who live 5-10 in an apartment and as many as 40 - 50 in a house (usually more like 20 people in a house.) They do not play with or against the South County schools in most sports and many of them do nto speak the same language.
There is nothing wrong with living in predominantly Hispanic, Vietnamese, Caucasian, or any other monitory laden neighborhood. One may even find it preferable (i.e. if you are Chinese perhaps you want to live in a neighborhood where a lot of Chinese people live - hence the clusters of cultures). Any illegal occupancy of a home could be a nuisance (i.e. 20 people living in a 4-bedroom home), you are right about that.
25232 Pizarro Rd Lake Forest CA - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - MLS #S663231 - Realtor.com® is a $350k 1,568 sq ft SFR with a pool & spa in in Lake Forest, which is just north of Mission Viejo. The prices in Lake Forest are lower because it's an older community (once was known as the city of El Toro) & further from the ocean than Mission Viejo (albeit it's just north of it), but honestly in my opinion isn't not a ton different than northern Mission Viejo (where I grew up). 24541 Highpine Rd Lake Forest CA - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - MLS #P777809 - Realtor.com® could actually be a real good deal if you don't mind getting a rehab/renovation loan to do the repairs - 1,900 sq ft home (permitted) on an 8,200 sq ft lot. I'm sure you'd definitely want to do repairs (no offense to the current owners)... that neighborhood is closer to the freeway though.
If you haven't, I'd start making connections with various real estate agents to get their opinions in certain areas, within each city there can be neighborhoods that completely hit or miss the mark.
Central OC has some great neighborhoods too. The tree lined Floral Park & West Floral Park neighborhoods in Santa Ana have some great architecture and I personally like the feel of the area. 1629 W Santa Clara Ave Santa Ana CA - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - MLS #P789620 - Realtor.com® is a listing there for $375k - needs "updating" but is by no means a fixer. It can be really tough to search out areas over the internet without locals helping you out, you may completely write off a city and miss out.
Finally got our house in Louisiana sold. Now looking for a place in south Orange County.
We're still intent on Laguna Niguel and Dana Point area. After all the research that we've done, we've narrowed it down to those two cities.
I still can't get over how expensive they are. And beautiful! While there are no houses priced within our price range, I'm still hopeful that as prices slide some more we can get one. If we can't we're looking at central orange county, maybe Mission Viejo, Anaheim, Garden Grove, Fullerton. I've been told that being across the highway that "snobs" closer to the ocean look down on that area, but at some point we have to make a choice.
Will my kids really be looked down upon? Like when the high school from Dana Point plays the high school in Garden Grove, is there really snobbishness between the two, like taunting, etc?
another thing to budget...you mentioned having a boat..thus Dana Point was on your list...you do know that permanent slips there are wait list only...if in fact you get one...likely to add to your monthly expenses..
you can of course put your boat in the water for a day..but then tow it home...and many areas do not allow boats in residential areas...
there is nothing wrong with living in predominantly hispanic, vietnamese, caucasian, or any other monitory laden neighborhood. One may even find it preferable (i.e. If you are chinese perhaps you want to live in a neighborhood where a lot of chinese people live - hence the clusters of cultures). Any illegal occupancy of a home could be a nuisance (i.e. 20 people living in a 4-bedroom home), you are right about that.
I did not say that anything was wrong with living there. In fact, we lived in a primarily hispanic area for nine years and loved it there. It was a neat and mostly positive experience there. However it does have a big impact on your kids when hardly any kids in your neighborhood speak english. Our kids played together (we have 5), or with kids from church. They only really knew 2 or 3 kids from the neighborhood. You also get into problem schools, but there are options if you work hard enough at it.
25232 pizarro rd lake forest ca - home for sale and real estate listing - mls #s663231 - realtor.com® is a $350k 1,568 sq ft sfr with a pool & spa in in lake forest, which is just north of mission viejo. The prices in lake forest are lower because it's an older community (once was known as the city of el toro) & further from the ocean than mission viejo (albeit it's just north of it), but honestly in my opinion isn't not a ton different than northern mission viejo (where i grew up).
This looks like an amazing bargain. This might be one to jump on if the op is interested. The needed repairs cannot be that costly. Maybe there are huge hoa or mello roos. This will probably sell fast.
"close to the freeway"?? You must be a realtor. They always say things like that. This house is one lot from the freeway. One of the country's busiest freeways in your back yard. We looked at a house that backed to the 5 like this in santa ana. The noise and exhaust 24/7 kept us away. Maybe some people do not mind, but for me this would be worse than a really bad neighborhood. That is a tiny lot for a 6 bedroom house. Are the bedrooms 4x10? To me the other one seems like a monumentally better option
central oc has some great neighborhoods too. The tree lined floral park & west floral park neighborhoods in santa ana have some great architecture and i personally like the feel of the area. 1629 w santa clara ave santa ana ca - home for sale and real estate listing - mls #p789620 - realtor.com® is a listing there for $375k - needs "updating" but is by no means a fixer. It can be really tough to search out areas over the internet without locals helping you out, you may completely write off a city and miss out.
this listing is riverview neighborhood, not floral park. Not by a long shot. I think that floral park is possibly the nicest neighborhood in orange county. There are school issues, but they can be dealt with. Park santigo, french park and most neighborhoods near south coast plaza are all pretty decent too. Santa ana could be a reaonable option for a limited budget. You will need help with schools if you choose santa ana or any central oc city. I would not choose riverview to live in, but the park is neat to have nearby. It is an areas that comes and goes. Sometimes it is pretty nice, sometimes it is pretty scary. You do have the bike trail to the beach and a golf course basically in your back yard.
To the op: Remember in looking at houses that you do not need a lot of space or a big yard, and you cannot have them anyway. You will be outside and off of your property most to the time. Your house is where you sleep. There are so many neat things to do that it makes little sense to sit around your house watching tv. Plus things take a long time due to traffic and waiting in lines. If you have the money and buy a house for entertaining then you will spend more time at home, but you are buying just a house. You will probably spend little time in it.
Schools will be your biggest headache. It will be very hard to find a place in your budget with decent schools. However you can locate charter schools and drive your kids to school. You may be able to get intradistrict transfers. You might be able to get scholarships for private schools if your kids are especially bright or talented. Although the south county schools are genrally better, some of the best high schools in the county are in central oc (oxford, troy and ochsa). Further we foudn that our ikids did just fine in santa ana's "fundamental" schools through jr high. The oldest are now in college with substantial academic scholarships, so santa ana schools did not do too badly for them.
Your best bet is to add $100,000 to $200,000 to your price and open up some really nice options. Still not the beach communities that you like best, but lots of good options. Either that or go with a condo or just rent.
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