Moving to Orange County, Need help on which city to live in (San Diego: 2015)

[Reklowmom]

Hi, my family is moving to Orange County in 2015 when my daughter starts high school and my toddler girl starts kindergarten.
I'm a stay at home mom for now but will definitely work once my little one starts going to school.
We need a safe place to raise children, good neighborhood and schools maybe a walking distance from home. My husband's salary is $80K/year and hopefully I can help with the bills when I start working.
I need help finding a decent place not too expensive. Our car will be paid off in 1 year.
TIA. :-)

[Electrician4you]

It all depends on where his work is. Transfer? Already secured a job? Not enough info to give recommendation. What is your budget? House, condo townhome apartment

[DinsdalePirahna]

Live as close to your office as possible.

Most of Orange County is pretty safe. Even the worse parts are nicer that than the bad parts of other cities.

Generally stay away from Santa Ana (there are nice areas in the SouthCoast Area), Stanton, Midway City.
Avoid most of Anaheim, Westminster, Garden Grove
Be careful with Costa Mesa - Neighborhoods can go from excellent to crappy within a block - Also part of the South Coast Area.

South County is very nice, very family oriented, although a bit sterile.

[Reklowmom]

Originally Posted by Electrician4you

It all depends on where his work is. Transfer? Already secured a job? Not enough info to give recommendation. What is your budget? House, condo townhome apartment

He's a cost accountant and we will move to where he's gonna find a job. Obviously, we need to do that first. But I'm hoping to know which cities to find a job and home.
The problem is he just got discharged from bankruptcy on June 2013. I heard you can be qualified to buy a new house 2-3 yrs after bankruptcy discharge. My credit score is good but I don't have a job yet. We are gonna try to sell our house in San Diego. Maybe the best thing for now is to rent for a year or 2.

[Reklowmom]

Originally Posted by Reklowmom

He's a cost accountant and we will move to where he's gonna find a job. Obviously, we need to do that first. But I'm hoping to know which cities to find a job and home.
The problem is he just got discharged from bankruptcy on June 2013. I heard you can be qualified to buy a new house 2-3 yrs after bankruptcy discharge. My credit score is good but I don't have a job yet. We are gonna try to sell our house in San Diego. Maybe the best thing for now is to rent for a year or 2.

I forgot to mention the budget. Looking at $400K if we buy a house or if we rent, $2,000 - $2,300 per month.

[Reklowmom]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

Live as close to your office as possible.

Most of Orange County is pretty safe. Even the worse parts are nicer that than the bad parts of other cities.

Generally stay away from Santa Ana (there are nice areas in the SouthCoast Area), Stanton, Midway City.
Avoid most of Anaheim, Westminster, Garden Grove
Be careful with Costa Mesa - Neighborhoods can go from excellent to crappy within a block - Also part of the South Coast Area.

South County is very nice, very family oriented, although a bit sterile.

Hi,
Thank you for your advice. May I know about those places to stay away from? :-)
I came across this: Top 10 Cities To Live in Orange County
Do you think this is accurate?

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by Reklowmom

I forgot to mention the budget. Looking at $400K if we buy a house or if we rent, $2,000 - $2,300 per month.

You're not gonna find much house for 400k. Maybe a condo that needs a full renovation. Your rent is realistic for a rental. You can find a two bed apartment for less than that in decent areas.
No city is perfect but OC is a pretty safe area. With a recent BK and your credit score down you will need to work at getting the credit up.
IMO I would simply try to be debt free and just save the money for a down rather than incurring a bunch of debt and CC to get that score up. You can get CC just don't use them. Or if you do only put enough on them that you can pay at the end of the month.
Good luck with the move and future house purchase

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by Reklowmom

Hi,
Thank you for your advice. May I know about those places to stay away from? :-)
I came across this: Top 10 Cities To Live in Orange County
Do you think this is accurate?

I would say thats a pretty accurate list.

You can find a two-three bedroom condo/townhouse for rent in my neighborhood near the beach (Huntington Harbour) in your price range. The caveats are that yards are small or non-existant, but in addition to the beach, there is a lot of public space. My general rule of thumb in beach communities is to stay within 1.5 miles of the Coast Highway.

Another warning about Huntington Beach is to stay away fro the area bounded by Slater, Edinger, Beach and Gothard. (even though Belle Terre is turning the Edinger area around for the better).