Moving From Miami. Anyone Live in Ladera Ranch? (San Diego, Riverside: 2009, apartments)

[bhcompy]

why not check out western OC?

you'll get houses with bigger yards that are more inline with your price range. you can find neighborhoods like rossmoor and college park east where schools are tops, people are unpretentious(compared to south OC), people are involved in their direct community and schools, backyards have grass instead of a small patch of cement, and property taxes are closer to 1% than 2%

[jasmine22]

i currently live in ladera ranch. we rent an apartment. no kids. just my husband and me and our small dog. we work in irvine. ladera is a beautiful community...with alot to offer people with kids. theres a skatepark, waterpark, lots of walking trails and open space. everything is very clean, and people are often out and about utilizing the ammenities of the community. i think a couple of downfalls to the community are the small lot sizes and the high HOA fees. the schools are awesome though and everyone seems to be very very friendly. most people are working professionals and believe in education. be careful though, because i think alot of people are in major debt from trying to keep up with the jones'. if i could afford to buy here, i would...as it is an ideal place to raise a family. my husband is a police officer, and reports that he rarely hears anything bad about the crime in the area - mostly just domestic calls and noise complaints.

[socal359]

In a nutshell you really can't go wrong starting from Tustin Ranch down to the San Diego border pretty much all the cities in south county are winners. I think it is best to rent for a couple of years and try to get a feel for what the different cities have to offer.

[EricJess123]

Hello I do live in Ladera Ranch and My Wife lives in Coto De Caza and she loves it as do I love Ladera and Coto, RSM has more Condo's and Townhomes or Mc Mansions, Ladera has town homes and average new homes, I also advise you to check out Dove Canyon but the min. would probley be mid 700k. Out of all I would pick Ladera Ranch or Even Check out Lake Mission Viejo, Good Luck Dont go to the Inland Empire There's a reason the homes are low, bad schools, and bad weather

[MiamiDisplaced]

Well,

It's been a long time since I got back to this thread. We have looked in so many places, and yet see so many more that we haven't checked. No sooner will I say that Rancho Cucamonga, Temecula, and San Elijo Hills in Carlsbad/San Marcos are on the short list, that someone will say, hey...check this area out!

If I were to pick right now of the three listed above, I would say San Elijo Hills. There are two downers to San Elijo: taxes and having to go to San Marcos high school at the hs level. Everthing else is a win/win. Elementary and middle schools right in San Elijo. Tons of kids. Tons of community activities.

San Elijo is similar to Ladera Ranch as a master planned community. But is a little less expensive. We plan on renting for another year as housing prices must and will continue to fall in this economy: bailouts and lower interest rates will have little effect on homes in our pricerange (600k). The economy is still in for a rough ride.

In all, we love SoCal. There is much to do here. I saw that someone in this thread was going to relocate to Irvine. Irvine is great. Right there in the middle of everything. Housing prices are astronomical there, though. Because, you are in the work center of SoCal.

I hear what everyone is saying about the IE. I get it. I understand. And yet, it is so tempting! So much more bang for the buck on the home! But it's not the beach life. And there's smog. And it's hotter summer and colder winter. And there's traffic (which is really all over SoCal or should I just say CA!). Having said that, you can still have a very nice life raising kids in the IE. Here are the places, off the top of my head just sitting here this second that we have looked at:

Riverside
Lake Mathews
Rancho
Redlands
Upland
Corona
Temecula
Norco
Chino Hills
Yorba Linda
Irvine
Foothill Ranches
Tustin Ranches
Laguna Niguel
Aliso Viejo
Ladera Ranch
San Clemente (Talega)
Laguna Hills
Carlsbad
San Elijo Hills


I have spoken with many colleagues and people in general. They all speak highly of wherever they live. Someone posted in this thread that pretty much everything from the top of the OC to San Diego is good living. I can't really disagree with that. You have to watch out in some areas like Orange, or Annaheim. But most all areas are great in that zone.

Now I have to go check out Dove Canyon.

As a closer, this has been very confusing for us. There are many areas. Many many areas. And one day we wake up and say, this place. Another day we wake up and say no, this place. And it keeps repeating itself. For whatever reason, San Elijo Hills is coming to the top. Temecula is a close second. Rancho Cucamonga is third. And with Rancho, you have to live in the western part. Otherwise, the Santa Ana winds will tear you up. I mean, 80 mph winds. Forget that action. But you have to live where your kids will go to Los Osos high school.

Keep the info coming!

[5FLgirls]

I've been following your thread. We moved to OC (Laguna Niguel) from Jax (Ponte Vedra Beach) and before that we'd lived in Jupiter for 13 years and my husband is a graduate of U of Miami. We loved Florida. We were sold on the topography of south OC. Over the summer, we had to make a decision between moving to San Diego or back to Jupiter and made the decision to move to San Diego. We don't regret it for a minute! Friends just recently moved to our town from San Elijo Hills and they loved living there because of the amount of kids and activities in the area. Their reason for moving--they weren't impressed with the elementary schools. Good luck to you! Renting is a GREAT option--you always have an out!

Originally Posted by MiamiDisplaced

Well,

It's been a long time since I got back to this thread. We have looked in so many places, and yet see so many more that we haven't checked. No sooner will I say that Rancho Cucamonga, Temecula, and San Elijo Hills in Carlsbad/San Marcos are on the short list, that someone will say, hey...check this area out!

If I were to pick right now of the three listed above, I would say San Elijo Hills. There are two downers to San Elijo: taxes and having to go to San Marcos high school at the hs level. Everthing else is a win/win. Elementary and middle schools right in San Elijo. Tons of kids. Tons of community activities.

San Elijo is similar to Ladera Ranch as a master planned community. But is a little less expensive. We plan on renting for another year as housing prices must and will continue to fall in this economy: bailouts and lower interest rates will have little effect on homes in our pricerange (600k). The economy is still in for a rough ride.

In all, we love SoCal. There is much to do here. I saw that someone in this thread was going to relocate to Irvine. Irvine is great. Right there in the middle of everything. Housing prices are astronomical there, though. Because, you are in the work center of SoCal.

I hear what everyone is saying about the IE. I get it. I understand. And yet, it is so tempting! So much more bang for the buck on the home! But it's not the beach life. And there's smog. And it's hotter summer and colder winter. And there's traffic (which is really all over SoCal or should I just say CA!). Having said that, you can still have a very nice life raising kids in the IE. Here are the places, off the top of my head just sitting here this second that we have looked at:

Riverside
Lake Mathews
Rancho
Redlands
Upland
Corona
Temecula
Norco
Chino Hills
Yorba Linda
Irvine
Foothill Ranches
Tustin Ranches
Laguna Niguel
Aliso Viejo
Ladera Ranch
San Clemente (Talega)
Laguna Hills
Carlsbad
San Elijo Hills


I have spoken with many colleagues and people in general. They all speak highly of wherever they live. Someone posted in this thread that pretty much everything from the top of the OC to San Diego is good living. I can't really disagree with that. You have to watch out in some areas like Orange, or Annaheim. But most all areas are great in that zone.

Now I have to go check out Dove Canyon.

As a closer, this has been very confusing for us. There are many areas. Many many areas. And one day we wake up and say, this place. Another day we wake up and say no, this place. And it keeps repeating itself. For whatever reason, San Elijo Hills is coming to the top. Temecula is a close second. Rancho Cucamonga is third. And with Rancho, you have to live in the western part. Otherwise, the Santa Ana winds will tear you up. I mean, 80 mph winds. Forget that action. But you have to live where your kids will go to Los Osos high school.

Keep the info coming!

[MiamiDisplaced]

5FLgirls,

What neighborhood did you buy in Laguna Niguel? I think we looked at Columbus there some time ago. The thing that was attractive about LN was there was no mello-roos...anywhere. None. New communities or not, no mello roos.

We liked the area.

Just went to San Elijo Hills today. Just came back. DISAPPOINTED. Nice area and all that but the houses are built very cheap. To us, as soon as we see pre-formed/fiberglass shower tubs, we are completely turned off. Here are homes, 800k and up at the height of the market and some over a million, and here are these cheap tubs. That drives us nuts. Builders.....

Go figure.

So, the look goes on. At least we now have seen everything we are remotely interested in with the current inventory in San Elijo and can just concentrate on anything new on the market.

Another thing....the floor plans in San Elijo are goofy. They don't flow. They are chopped up. And often don't make sense of what the builder was even thinking in accepting the floor plans he purchased for building.

I'm also sorry to hear that the schools in SEH are not good. They have good ratings at www.greatschools.com which goes to show you how schools can game the exams to get higher ratings. I don't know about here, but in FL, schools would teach the FCATS because they got more money from the state government the higher the grades the kids got.

Disappointed. Somewhere out there has to be the home we want to raise our kids in!

[5FLgirls]

Originally Posted by MiamiDisplaced

5FLgirls,

What neighborhood did you buy in Laguna Niguel? I think we looked at Columbus there some time ago. The thing that was attractive about LN was there was no mello-roos...anywhere. None. New communities or not, no mello roos.

We liked the area.

Just went to San Elijo Hills today. Just came back. DISAPPOINTED. Nice area and all that but the houses are built very cheap. To us, as soon as we see pre-formed/fiberglass shower tubs, we are completely turned off. Here are homes, 800k and up at the height of the market and some over a million, and here are these cheap tubs. That drives us nuts. Builders.....

Go figure.

So, the look goes on. At least we now have seen everything we are remotely interested in with the current inventory in San Elijo and can just concentrate on anything new on the market.

Another thing....the floor plans in San Elijo are goofy. They don't flow. They are chopped up. And often don't make sense of what the builder was even thinking in accepting the floor plans he purchased for building.

I'm also sorry to hear that the schools in SEH are not good. They have good ratings at www.greatschools.com which goes to show you how schools can game the exams to get higher ratings. I don't know about here, but in FL, schools would teach the FCATS because they got more money from the state government the higher the grades the kids got.

Disappointed. Somewhere out there has to be the home we want to raise our kids in!

Just a bit of background: We owned in Jupiter from 2000-2006. We put our house on the market in 2005 and it sat for 18 months. We did everything we could think of--repaint and then just kept following the market down (which was our biggest mistake). We finally sold at a +$200K loss. During this time, we bought at the height of the market in PVB and moved to CA 9 months later. This time, we took a company buyout and took a $50k loss. That house (which was absolutely beautiful--no lie--completely remodeled in a top notch neighborhood) sat for 11 months and recently sold at a $150K loss, not including my husband's company's 11 months of holding costs. Needless to say, after being complete losers in the FL RE market, we had NO desire to buy in CA.

Anyway, in LN, we lived south of Crown Valley in an older community on a golf course. We also lived in Kite Hill which is on the corner of Alicia and Aliso Creek. Neither of these homes have mello roos but there are a few subdivisions in LN that DO have mello roos so you have to do your homework. One of the things we realized is that the market is still going down. Things we looked at 18 months ago at $1.5M in Kite Hill are now in the mid-$900k range and decreasing. Most of these houses need to be gutted. The ones holding their prices are the ones who have been completely remodeled. A home that costs over $1M here is probably around $4-500K on the east coast so you have to realize that just because it has a nice price tag doesn't mean it's going to a nice house!

One of the other things I learned when we moved here is to physically visit and tour the school!! Especially during a school day. When we visited the top-notch OC school we were supposed to attend, I was very disappointed by the amount of non-English speaking students that were bussed in and the amount of first graders to be in my daughter's class that had never attended school before. Needless to say, my children attended private school when we lived in OC. We currently go to school in DMUSD and are very very very happy! Although our school doesn't have the best ratings (because we have a lot of ESL students), it's a small district and the teachers are great. And I did choose where I live now based on the specific school, believe it or not. People thought we were crazy but I didn't care. I don't care if I can never afford to buy a house here...my kids are going to go to the best schools I can find!

[MiamiDisplaced]

What is DMUSD? And ESL?

Good points on visiting the schools. My wife and I have talked about that very necessity.

We got beat up in Miami on the sale of our home, too. But had equity in it so we got out with some, "profit". We bought in 2002.

Going to search in LN later today online. It was the realtors in LN that were telling us that there were no mello roos anywhere in LN. But we will do our due diligence to confirm before we buy.

Again, it goes to show that those school ratings aren't everything.........but they are an indicator of how many non-english speaking kids are in a particular school. Which is only bad in the sense that they hold the classes back. The teacher simply can't cover the material as quickly with kids that don't speak english. Which highlights the need for whatever school we go to to have AP capability. Or GATED programs. Or baccalauriet (I'm sure I butchered that spelling) programs.

So you, too, are renting now? We just saw on the local LA news last night that Fortune magazine has slated LA as the biggest loser in 2009 in the realestate market. They said that LA will go down another 23%. Riverside County 22% and San Diego county 21%.

We have a long way to go in this economy and the, "savior", about to take office isn't going to turn the tide anytime soon!

[Charles]

One Great Schools metric is % english language learners (Or ESL, English as a Second Language).