Moving to CA. (Santa Ana, Irvine, Mission Viejo: debt, apartments, vacation)

[jessemh431]

Would you like any help searching for a place?

[TheStarLiesWest]

Anything is a great help at this point. My main concern is not a place, my wife has three or four slated out that she loves. My worry is a job. I don't want a flaky, unstable position. I've looked in my field out there and being near the tech coast I don't have too many worries, but I'm just intimidated by moving to a big place, you know?

I have a lot of good experience and a lot to offer a company, but until I land a position I'll be shakin' in my boots.

[jessemh431]

Yeah. I can't imagine how nervous you must be, coming from such a small town to the 12th largest city in the world (probably higher).

And there are plenty of jobs for tech stuff around SoCal. Check out careerbuilder.com

Is your wife getting a job?

I have a good idea, in return for help you can help me on my chemistry homework. LOL. I'm j/k.

I hate chemistry.

[TheStarLiesWest]

I was horrible at chemistry in high school, lol. I'm a little nervous, I will admit. But I'm positive..

[jessemh431]

As long as you're determined, you'll do fine. It may take you a while to get settled in with our high prices on everything, but if you stay for a while, you will soon live a luxurious life.

So what was your price range again? And do you mind a complex, because single family homes are very expensive to rent.

A word of advice, buy a cheap car good on gas. You're money will go quickly here paying for gas. Gas is approaching 4$ a gallon very quickly. What car do you drive?

[jessemh431]

Here's an example of a home for sale right now.

Condo/Townhouse/Co-Op - 158 California Ct, Mission Viejo, CA, 92692 - Realtor.com

That's one of the cheapest ones and its still nice.

[TheStarLiesWest]

We drive a Nissan Versa that we bought earlier this year. I'm still paying on it but over here it costs sometimes less than 30 bucks to fill up. It does pretty good on gas, 30 or so city and highway. We're going to live in standard apartment complexes for now. There are lots of nice ones there that we like so far, we'll get a one bedroom to save money if we can. My price range ultimately depends on the job I get, but 1500 a month is what I'm shooting for on rent. We found some places for that or a little less.

[jessemh431]

1500 is definitely enough for a 1 bed.

And your car is great. I wish more people in LA drove those. Check out prices here.

MapQuest Gas Prices – Find The Lowest Gas Prices Near You!

[missionhome]

By the way, Star:
When you look on real estate websites they will include the neighborhood of Ladera Ranch with Mission Viejo. Ladera Ranch is an unicorporated community adjacent to MV and has been included by the MLS with Mission Viejo, although it is an adjacent community. Ladera is still an incredible new neighborhood that is possibly the most perfect looking neighborhood in the county. It has won numerous awards for architeture ect... Ladera Ranch does go to Tesoro High School, so if you see a home with a Mission Viejo adress, but the description says it is in Ladera, then that home really does go to Tesoro High School, unlike the MV homes that just haven't been updated/changed after the boundary change. Also, there is another half of Ladera that goes to San Juan Hills High School. I don't know much about it as this is the school's first year and it only has freshmen (this is the school that caused the boundary changes). Note, although the real estate websites say Ladera has a Mission Viejo adress for ease of use, the neighborhood is not part of Mission Viejo, nor serviced/ruled by the city of MV.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by WannaBNorCal

Re: Santa Ana Mountains---I didn't know Santa Ana had mountans, what am I missing---unless you can only see them from MV?

Yep, the Santa Ana Mountains

TopoZone - USGS SANTIAGO PEAK (CA) Topo Map