BELLFLOWER? What would a commute to Monrovia on I-605 north be? How about from Bellflower to IRVINE? (Los Angeles: real estate market)

[egyptianheidi]

Hi-

We've found some relatively new nice homes in Bellflower (south of the 91). Can you tell me more about the area? It seems to be a good option for me (who needs to commute to Monrovia) and my husband, who would commute to Irvine.

Major gang activities there? We've lived in cities, so we can deal with a bit of crime. But, I don't want to get knifed if I go for a jog. Any advice?

THANKS!

-EH

[missionhome]

Bellflower is not close to Irvine or Monrovia. You are positioning your home in an area where you each will have about a one hour to two hour drive to work if you go at rush hour. It will be hard to find a nice in between area from Irvine to Monrovia. They are on polar opposites of the vast Southern California region. Monrovia is in the northern half of the region and Irvine is in the south. If one of you could get a job closer to the other, this might be reasonable, but otherwise you are too spread out and there isn't a very good midpoint. If you are fine with long drives, then that is another situation. Let me know if you can handle AT LEAST one hour in the car each direction per day.

[egyptianheidi]

Hi Missionhome-

Yes, we could each handle an hour each day, but that's the max we'd want to commute. And, to be honest, I'll have the option to work from home and not drive to Monrovia everyday. So, we'd rather live slightly closer to Irvine if that's necessary. Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

[dougnaie]

I think knowing your general budget would be helpful here - what are you willing to pay to live? Be aware that an hour commute here is not even remotely unusual...it many cases, that's low end.

[egyptianheidi]

Annual income would be around $175k...Would like to stay around $600k or less for a home...

[IamInShape]

Originally Posted by egyptianheidi

Annual income would be around $175k...Would like to stay around $600k or less for a home...

Don't buy a house--prices are going down--buy in 4 years--you will get a better price--prices will bottom out in about 4 years--read this articles about what happened in the 70's-80's and 80's-90's in SOuthern California real estate--there are real estate cycles in this real estate market--smart thing to do is wait and save more money--read these for more info

History of a housing bubble

the above article talks about bubble of late 80's and bust of early 90's

THE DAY LOS ANGELES'S BUBBLE BURST - New York Times

the above article talks about bubble of late 70's and bust of early 80's


Look aroung today and you see a bubble of the early 00's and a bust in the late 00's

[pootie562]

you should probably rent in Lakewood its not a bad area not too pricey and its in the middle of Irvine and Monrovia, hope this helps

[ferretkona]

Originally Posted by pootie562

you should probably rent in Lakewood its not a bad area not too pricey and its in the middle of Irvine and Monrovia, hope this helps

Bellflower and Lakewood are next to each other.
South of the 91 is pretty good other than the apartments on Ramona or the trailer parks. The freeway has retaining walls so the noise is low compared to years ago. We go for late walks and never been in any trouble.

There are new homes where the hospital was, not sure of the prices. Just to the south west of Woodruth and Artesia.