Is it better to buy a house, townhouse, or condo in Orange County? (Rancho Santa Margarita: real estate)

[CmpEngineer]

Is it better to buy a house, townhouse, or condo in Orange County?

Together with my partner, we can buy a house. I know California real estate is very expensive. I feel like a fool to pay such outrageous prices for a property that might only be a condo or townhouse. My friend and his wife just paid $500,000 for an Orange County townhouse. If they had paid just $100,000 more, they could have bought a house instead.

My partner and I do not really need a house (a condo or townhouse is sufficient for our needs). However, I like the idea of buying a house because of the following reasons:

1) you own the land underneath the home

2) if you have a fire, it will only destroy your own home without harming anyone else's property (in contrast, a fire in your condo/townhouse can destroy other people's condo/townhouse too because the fire can spread)

3) you can build another room (such as a sunroom) onto your house

What is the rental market in Orange County for various types of properties (in the event that I want to rent out my property in the future)? Is it easier to get a renter for a condo/townhouse than it would be for a house (whose expensive rent would price out many renters)?

[Need_affordable_home]

A house is the best thing but a big, nice new townhouse in a prime location can easily cost more than a house. We(in my neck of the woods south Florida) have "luxury" townhouses at $400k, $500k, $700k, even $1m! Ditto for condos. Most of the "luxury" condos are high rise, many with intracostal and/or ocean views! Orange county isnt cheap, I dont think theres any cheap areas in south CA or costal CA. How much are you looking to spend on a house? Ive heard a decent house in a decent area can be $700k!

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by CmpEngineer

Is it better to buy a house, townhouse, or condo in Orange County?

Together with my partner, we can buy a house. I know California real estate is very expensive. I feel like a fool to pay such outrageous prices for a property that might only be a condo or townhouse. My friend and his wife just paid $500,000 for an Orange County townhouse. If they had paid just $100,000 more, they could have bought a house instead.

My partner and I do not really need a house (a condo or townhouse is sufficient for our needs). However, I like the idea of buying a house because of the following reasons:

1) you own the land underneath the home

2) if you have a fire, it will only destroy your own home without harming anyone else's property (in contrast, a fire in your condo/townhouse can destroy other people's condo/townhouse too because the fire can spread)

3) you can build another room (such as a sunroom) onto your house

What is the rental market in Orange County for various types of properties (in the event that I want to rent out my property in the future)? Is it easier to get a renter for a condo/townhouse than it would be for a house (whose expensive rent would price out many renters)?

A house is the gold standard in CA. Make no mistake, it's not like the east coast where a condo is a life-long residence.

Anyway, I think this housing bubble has been driven by 2 components - speculation in new, detached tract homes and speculation in new condos.

Personally I would never buy a condo unless I was single, retired, or living in a very central dense urban area.

[CmpEngineer]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

How much are you looking to spend on a house? Ive heard a decent house in a decent area can be $700k!

I have seen 3 bedroom 2.5 bath homes in good areas of Orange County for $600,000. Rancho Santa Margarita has some homes for that price.