Moving From Miami. Anyone Live in Ladera Ranch? (Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita: renting, houses)

[missionhome]

DMUSD= Del Mar Union School District

Del Mar Union School District

[Gator cooley]

Originally Posted by 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!

Sounds like our situations are very similar. I am looking to relocate from Florida to a job in the Lake Forest area, with children aged 4 and 8. We live in the Daytona Beach area, which is considerly less costly than Miami, I think, therefore are really going through "sticker shock" with the housing. I think I've decided to rent for a year in order to let the market find a bottom (hopefully)while at the same time, researching the various areas to live.

How have you found the house leasing market? How much could I expect to pay for a 2 or 3 bedroom home in a decent family oriented neighborhood, in the South Orange County area?

Thank you for your help.

[MiamiDisplaced]

Gator,

Renting is definitely the way to go for now. Try google'ing lease/rent in orange county. I got this hit in Orange. Which is not really a great place to live. But is near Lake Forest.

Orange Apartments - Rent an apartment in Orange, California

I find that there must be a ton of money out here as CA people are a little nuts about their homes and the prices they will pay. Renting is the best way to go about it and let the dust settle. Local news reported a 23% drop next year in housing in LA. Other areas very similar.

I would think you could find a nice place to rent in Lake Forest for 2k per month for a 2 bedroom and hit the points of family oriented, safe, and good schools.

www.greatschools.com is a great source for the schools. Just type in the name of the town and schools will come up.

[missionhome]

Gator,
You are looking around $2,000-2,500 per month for the starter single family homes with 2-3 bedrooms in south OC. Most look to be around 1,000-1,400 square feet. Executive homes in the 3,000 range are usually going around $3,300-over 4,000. Mid size homes in the 2,000 range are falling anywhere from $2,800 to over $3,300 for really remodeled ones.

[nappyshouse]

We are thinking about relocating to Ladera Ranch. We would appreciate candor and truth. Is LR really as perfect as it seems? Are there any negatives?

What is really important to us is a community feel .where neighbors hang out together and have block parties and do activities together; lots of children(we have two boys 4 and 7) and good schools in the neighborhood.
Thank you, every bit of info is appreciared!

[5FLgirls]

Originally Posted by nappyshouse

We are thinking about relocating to Ladera Ranch. We would appreciate candor and truth. Is LR really as perfect as it seems? Are there any negatives?

What is really important to us is a community feel .where neighbors hang out together and have block parties and do activities together; lots of children(we have two boys 4 and 7) and good schools in the neighborhood.
Thank you, every bit of info is appreciared!

My close friend, mom to four children (ages 10, 8, 5, 2) has lived in LR for four years. They are very very happy there. The schools are great. The neighbors do hang out and have block parties. People go to the water parks together. There are always children riding bikes and the local parks are always full. People are friendly, also. But, as with every neighborhood, it depends on where you live. This friend has lots of children on her cul de sac but another friend had no children in their immediate vicinity and they only met friends through school. Personally, I chose not to live in LR because of it's Leave it To Beaver perfection. I like some personality and uniqueness where I live. Based on everything you said above, this would be a good fit for you.

[missionhome]

Originally Posted by nappyshouse

We are thinking about relocating to Ladera Ranch. We would appreciate candor and truth. Is LR really as perfect as it seems? Are there any negatives?

What is really important to us is a community feel .where neighbors hang out together and have block parties and do activities together; lots of children(we have two boys 4 and 7) and good schools in the neighborhood.
Thank you, every bit of info is appreciared!

Ladera is probably as close to perfection as any community can get. Most of what you read about this community and see in adds is pretty darn close to reality there. However, a good amount of people are upside down in their mortgage there because the entire community bascially bought at the height of the market, which has since crashed. The stuff about family block parties, going to water parks, frisbee in the park, relaxing walks down trails, waving at your neighbors is all true. It can feel like a little utopia town from a movie almost.

Only drawback in my opinion is a little over half the community is in the boundaries of San Juan Hills High which opened last year. I have heard a mixed bag from "the school is decent" to "its horrible." For academics, the API is 748, which isn't great, especially considering every other south Orange County high school is above 800. Social problems at the school come from affluent or middle class students from perfect Ladera mixing with poor Hispanic students from working class areas of San Juan Capistrano. I hope the school will work these social problems out and be better by the time your kids hit high school age (it comes faster than you think). SJHHS cost the ditrict over $100 million dollars so even those of us with kids at other schools in the district want this to be a successful campus.

Tesoro High School serves the northern portion of Ladera and at this point is preferable. 5 years from now things could change and San Juan Hills could be great, but right now Tesoro is a better choice if you are thinking long term.

Also, Crown Valley is a nightmare at rush hour and is one of the main streets into the community. It is currently under construction and being widened.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by missionhome

Only drawback in my opinion is a little over half the community is in the boundaries of San Juan Hills High which opened last year.

That boundary is the south of Windmill, Flintridge, and Roanoake.

LR is served by one middle (LRMS API 874, GS 9) and one elementary (LRES, API 891, GS 9).

Tesoro API 836, GS 9
SJHHS API 748, GS 8

Capistrano Schools Attendance Boundary Maps

[missionhome]

Originally Posted by Charles

That boundary is the south of Windmill, Flintridge, and Roanoake.

LR is served by one middle (LRMS API 874, GS 9) and one elementary (LRES, API 891, GS 9).

Tesoro API 836, GS 9
SJHHS API 748, GS 8

Capistrano Schools Attendance Boundary Maps

Yes, thanks Charles

There are two other elementary schools serving Ladera though. Chaparral Elementary serves the northern portion of Ladera that is in the Tesoro boundary. Oso Grande Elementary serves the newest portion of Ladera at the southern end and the gated Covenant Hills neighborhood. Check the boundary map Charles provided for exact streets.

Chaparral Elementary: API 924, GS 10/10
Oso Grande: API 879, GS 9/10

[Charles]

Originally Posted by missionhome

Yes, thanks Charles

There are two other elementary schools serving Ladera though. Chaparral Elementary serves the northern portion of Ladera that is in the Tesoro boundary. Oso Grande Elementary serves the newest portion of Ladera at the southern end and the gated Covenant Hills neighborhood. Check the boundary map Charles provided for exact streets.

Chaparral Elementary: API 924, GS 10/10
Oso Grande: API 879, GS 9/10

Ooops, Look like I missed those. Now I have the elementary, middle, and high school maps overlayed in google earth. (go to the zoom map, not the pdf version and expand to 100%, then save as a jpg and insert as an image overlay in google earth. Then putz around with it until it lines up with things like freeways and coastline.)