I have heard alot of bad things about... (mortgage, how much)

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by melbon7462

Is it true that your mortgage should be 1/4 of your income?

It depends on your situation. Kids? No kids? $200k in debt from school? High maintenance wife? Spendaholic husband? Ideally, you shouldn't spend more than 25% of your gross income on housing (including taxes and insurance) and up to 33% of your gross income on all debt service (credit cards, car payments, student loans, etc) including your house payment. Unfortunately, that doesn't buy much in OC unless you have a huge down payment. So a lot of people push those ratios as high as 50% or even more. That's called being house poor.

[melbon7462]

ahh I see... well deff dont want to be house poor. So I might just have to look else where! I was thinking of Corona also, but the commute to OC would be crazy I hear. Oh well, thanks so much!

[missionhome]

Don't give up and quit just yet! Look at all your options. I think you could do better living here in Orange County and still have a home for 400k, rather than living in Corona where the traffic is a nightmare and is more of a place people "settle" with rather than actually want to live. Ask a lot of Corona people if they had no budget and could choose living in Orange County or Corona and I bet you will get an overwhelming choice for OC. Also, if you move to Corona, I hope you don't have kids in the public school system because in Corona, the high schools range from a 4-6/10 which is not good.

The market is falling here and many bottom market homes have dipped into the 400's.
Examples in nice, safe, desirable cities that are good for families:
Lake Forest
24141 Palmek Cir, Lake Forest, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information
24092 Jagger St, Lake Forest, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information
27201 Eastridge Drive, Lake Forest, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information
23902 S Barton St, Lake Forest, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information

Mission Viejo
22591 Via Loyola, Mission Viejo, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information
27492 GENIL, Mission Viejo, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information
27812 TORROBA, Mission Viejo, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information

Rancho Santa Margarita
26 Via Ulmaria, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information
5 VIA OLOROSA, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information
6 Osoberry St, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information

Laguna Hills
13 Indian Hill Ln, Laguna Hills, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information

Those are some examples. I know they are all older homes, and maybe you don't want that. But I just think these cities are a lot nicer and more desirable than Corona. You could fix some of these up nicely to and the homes could gain value even in this rough market. I think most people would rather have one of these than live in Corona. Again, if you have kids in school, Corona isn't the best.

[Coldjensens]

Zip codes will tell you nothing. It completely depends on the neighborhood. We lived in French Park (92701) which is very nice. The next neighborhood north, French Court (also 92701) is terrible. Lacy, the neighborhood to the South is also pretty bad (still 92701). To the West is mid town which is commercial, so there is nothing to rate there and to the east is pretty much nothing (the tiny historic Logan Barrio is there, but it is so smal that it has no impact one way or the other).

Floral Park is nice. West Floral Park is OK. Park Santiago is nice, but the elementary school there is not so good. Henninger Park is pretty decent. Wilshire Square and Washington Square are reasonably nice as well. Except for Floral Park, all have rough areas nearby. Several of the Neighborhoods in the South Coast Plaza area are nice (Sandpointe is pretty good).

Zip code information will not help you because it will include bad adjoining areas as well as the nice areas. You will get soem sort of an average. f you want an average, for some areas, you need to average in the immediately adjoining cities including Tustin, Irvine, Newport Beach, fountain valley, Orange, etc. You cannot reasonably expect that crime, and economic conditions stop at zip code lines.

[melbon7462]

Coldjensens, You are very right...never really thought of that And Missionhome you are great! I am so excited that there is hope Thanks everyone for the input! So now lake forest is a good area with good schools missionhome? It seems like housing is less and more affordable.

[sgvkev]

I don't think EscapeCalifornia meant bad as in rough areas... here is the per capita income data for all the zips from the last census (block group so it's very specific):

92701:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet...geMap=Identify

92706:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet...geMap=Identify

92703:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet...geMap=Identify

92704:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet...geMap=Identify

92707:
92707 5-Digit ZCTA, 927 3-Digit ZCTA by Block Group - TM-P066. Per Capita Income in 1999: 2000

92705:
92705 5-Digit ZCTA, 927 3-Digit ZCTA by Block Group - TM-P066. Per Capita Income in 1999: 2000

Judging by that data most of the city is lower income except for the northern and southern tips. If you don't want to be house poor you should look into those two areas (out of those mentioned in this thread Floral Park, West Floral Park, and Park Santiago have high per capita incomes while Henninger Park's the lowest as it's below the poverty line).

[sgvkev]

Oops, double post.

[JOHN ALVAREZ]

I'm Interested In Relocating To Floral City, Fl ; Hopefully In The Next 90 Days. Anyone Having First Hand Knowledge About Living Conditions Plz Advise. Thank You

[bob-jenkins]

John, this is an OC thread; not a Florida thread. How the heck would any of us know the neighborhoods of Florida.

[BreaOC]

JOHN ALVAREZ, I have asked that your post be moved to the Florida forums, you're asking in the wrong Orange County.
As for using zip codes, Coldjensens couldn't have worded it better. There are so many neighborhoods in a zip code, searching just by zip code may not do some great neighborhoods justice. Your best bet will always be to make a visit yourself and make your own decision on an area. Imagine hating the home you've just purchased? With the current market it will take some time for you to be able to get out of it. Regarding the current market, you may want to wait awhile because prices are still falling.