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Old 01-18-2017, 06:44 PM
 
2 posts, read 3,839 times
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Hi all,
I am new to this thread and have tried searching for the answer to my question, without a lot of success. My husband and I are relocating from Florida to Camp Pendleton as I'm in the Navy and will be starting there as my first duty station. He works as an investment analyst and is currently searching for a job. We just got back from a house hunting trip in the greater San Diego area, and unfortunately, still do not have a better idea of where we want to live. We expanded our search to include Carlsbad, Oceanside, San Marcos, Escondido, Vista, all the way up to Laguna Hills and Laguna Niguel. My husband has had better luck with the Orange County job hunt than he has the San Diego County job hunt, thus he feels we should concentrate our condo search in the Laguna Hills area. Unfortunately we were only able to spend a few hours there this past weekend but from what we could tell, the area appears clean, safe, and family oriented. We have two dogs, no kids (no plans for kids in near future). We made offers on condos in Carlsbad, Oceanside, and Laguna Hills, with no luck in Carlsbad, and our offer accepted in Oceanside. We are waiting to hear back from Laguna Hills. From what we can tell, Oceanside seems to be a polarizing topic on many online forums. Again, we only spent a couple of hours there and our agent took us to a nice neighborhood, but we just couldn't shake the memory of seeing/hearing negative things in person and online about this community. I suppose I'm simply looking for reassurance that I'm right or for someone to prove me wrong and tell me that it's actually a wonderful place to live and that we shouldn't believe everything that we hear/see. I'd also like more information regarding the Laguna Hills area from people that have lived or that live there now - do you like it, what don't you like, are you happy/any regrets about living there, what you wish you would've known about the area, etc?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks
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Old 01-18-2017, 07:36 PM
 
5,381 posts, read 8,630,690 times
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You referenced the Laguna Hills area, so this recent thread may address some of your questions since Lake Forest is in the same vicinity.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/orang...rest-area.html

BTW, the commute down to Camp Pendleton should be an easy one and take about 40 minutes.
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Old 01-18-2017, 09:47 PM
 
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Where will you be working on Camp Pendleton?

Oceanside has been undergoing something of a "rebirth" in recent years, mainly because the areas surrounding it have become so expensive. There are still some so-so areas of Oceanside, but other areas are perfectly safe and OK. Perhaps go to crimemapping.com and enter your actual address. Set the date range to last six months (default will only show you a week). For comparison sake, do the same with the address where you are currently living in Florida. That will show you how crime compares.

Have you considered just renting or maybe applying for onbase housing? There is some onbase housing near San Onofre which may work for you both.

Of course, the bigger issue is going to be where your husband will be working. Since he doesnt have a job lined up yet, your job should take priority. He might need to be flexible if your career is going to be the Navy (I am saying this as a former Navy spouse myself -- I learned to adapt. )

Good luck with everything!
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Old 01-18-2017, 10:26 PM
 
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Thanks so much for the information! We decided to go with our gut and not move forward with the Oceanside property. I'll actually be working in 52 area, so on the north side. That is why we were thinking about living north of the base. My husband has been looking at jobs in Newport and Huntington Beaches because it seems there are quite a few investment firms there. We have to be moved by end of March and our budget is around 3000/month or around 430,000. We have considered base housing until he secures a job but we aren't thrilled about it. In the long term it would probably be smarter to do that, however I'm having a hard time of wrapping my head around the inconvenience of moving twice in a short period of time. I should also mention that we've found in our search that we prefer to stay as close to the ocean as possible (we don't have to be on the ocean), but for example, I really was not fond of San Marcos/Vista areas simply because I felt too far inland.
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Old 01-18-2017, 11:29 PM
 
8,359 posts, read 7,547,426 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flusnpa View Post
Thanks so much for the information! We decided to go with our gut and not move forward with the Oceanside property. I'll actually be working in 52 area, so on the north side. That is why we were thinking about living north of the base. My husband has been looking at jobs in Newport and Huntington Beaches because it seems there are quite a few investment firms there. We have to be moved by end of March and our budget is around 3000/month or around 430,000. We have considered base housing until he secures a job but we aren't thrilled about it. In the long term it would probably be smarter to do that, however I'm having a hard time of wrapping my head around the inconvenience of moving twice in a short period of time. I should also mention that we've found in our search that we prefer to stay as close to the ocean as possible (we don't have to be on the ocean), but for example, I really was not fond of San Marcos/Vista areas simply because I felt too far inland.
If you're working on the north end of Camp Pendleton, then Orange County makes total sense, as long as you understand that it will cost you more than some parts of San Diego.

The other rule of thumb for Southern California is that you will pay more and get less space for every mile closer to the ocean you live. Every couple is different, but when my husband and I lived close to the beach, we spent a lot lesst time "on the beach" than we expected. So, we moved inland, got a lot more for our money, and have never regretted our decision. In fact, we found that we actually prefer being closer to the mountains and desert for hiking. But, that's just us; as I said, everyone has to make their own decision about the trade offs involved with where to live.

Good luck, and I am sure you will find the right situation!

Last edited by RosieSD; 01-18-2017 at 11:38 PM..
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