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As a returning Californian.. my texas neighbors here in Austin think we are absolutely insane to want to return. Of course, they dont know anything different than spending half(or more) the year locked in the air conditioned house because its either so hot and humid you cant stand it or cold and thundering. I wil say you cant beat the cost of living, there is alot of natural beauty in the austin area, and the people really are very fiendly. Buttttttttttttttttttt, there is just much more energy and stuff going on in OC and thats why there is a premium in cost of living. For us and our lifestyle, weve seen it both and oc trumps it all. For others, well {insert midwest city} may be heaven ..
Sorry I digressed.. good luck Houston and welcome to the oc.
And I think John is dead pn the money. We are leasing for a year in foothill ranch and wouldnt buy right now. Prices will either continue a downward trend ( my belief) or flatten.. either way waiting will not hurt you.
You REALLY should try to find a rental that will accept a 6 month lease and WAIT to buy.
Your price range...you can afford a nice place, BUT there is a huge mountain of builtup ARM readjustments that are primarily focused in mid-upper end housing. This is probably going to cause a huge number of defaults on these properties and send the places currently priced $600k-1.5million tumbling in the same manner that already happened wtih the low end properties. At any rate, they are not going to go up in price anytime soon unless you listen to some of the kool aid drinking realtors that are about to go out of business.
John is spot on. Move to the area. Rent a place in Huntington Beach or Irvine on a 9-12 month lease then get to know the area and make a more informed decision. It is still a risky time to buy here and your risk of overpaying and seeing the homes value drop is alot bigger then any risk you have waiting and having prices go up on you. Wait it out. Learn about the area and probably save some $$. Plus it will give your hubby time to get a better feel for where the bulk of his work will be. In So Cal quality of life is tied to how short of a commute you have. Let him get a better feel for what that will look like as that may guide your decision on where to live.
Just make sure your hubby negotiates his relo package so he can defer any buyer incentives (help w/ points, closing costs, etc.) to a time when you are ready to buy.
As I’ve documented in other posts, I’ve now been living in Laguna Hills, Orange County for just around a year and it has been incredible. My wife and I are in our 20s and have a 15 month old baby boy and I have to say that this is such an idyllic setting to raise a child. It is so green and safe and there are parks, churches, great schools, and families everywhere. In fact, Capistrano Unified is one of the best school districts in Southern California. In terms of your search amongst Mission Viejo, Irvine, RSM, and Huntington Beach, those are all wonderful locations. However, HOAs in Irvine tend to be VERY high (Ladera Ranch falls into this category as well). Huntington Beach encompasses somewhat of a younger crowd but I do not feel as though it is nearly as nice as South County. Mission Viejo is quite beautiful and a little bit more reasonable (pricewise) than Laguna Niguel/Laguna Hills/Aliso Viejo, as it is a little bit more inland. In your price range, you would have no problem finding a nice 4 bedroom with a decent size lot really in any part of South County (which I recommend by far over north county).
Last edited by scirocco22; 07-05-2009 at 10:50 AM..
Reason: soliciting removed
Hi Megs, My wife and I recently moved from our home in Robinson Ranch. We live in a next door community, Our family friends have been living in our home for about a year. We are getting ready to list this home, sounds like just what you folks are looking for. 2200 sq ft. complete new remodel, granite, my wife sells cabinets for a living, you should see this place. She made us a palace, new everything, heating,cooling,air,water etc. $699,000.00 will be our asking price.
Hi Megs, My wife and I recently moved from our home in Robinson Ranch. We live in a next door community, Our family friends have been living in our home for about a year. We are getting ready to list this home, sounds like just what you folks are looking for. 2200 sq ft. complete new remodel, granite, my wife sells cabinets for a living, you should see this place. She made us a palace, new everything, heating,cooling,air,water etc. $699,000.00 will be our asking price.
Good luck buddy getting $317/sqft in Robinson Ranch.
Here are a couple SFR recent sales in Robinson Ranch
the wise readily accept reproof and correction-proverbs
Quote:
Originally Posted by megs1130
We are a young couple (25 and 30) and may possibly move to the Orange County area. My fiance has been offered a position there. It is not the first place we would choose to relocate; however, the position is a great career move for him. Our budget for a home is in the $600,000 to $750,000 range. We have been looking at homes on MLS in Rancho Santa Margarita, Mission Viejo, Irvine and near Huntington Beach. The company is setting us up with a realtor as we are going out to visit this weekend, but we would love to hear feedback from others familiar with the area. We were both raised in the Midwest area and love the friendly and laid-back atmosphere we have grown up in. Also, we are looking to start a family in the next 2-3 years so an area with a family oriented environment and great schools would be ideal. Thanks in advance for all the info.
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You may, but not like what I have to say but it may save you thousands and years of grief. My family moved from Houston Tx in 1976 back to Calif. Huntington Beach. At that time homes 3 br. bungalow type track homes that had driveways only big enough to park 2 full sized cars before overhanging the sidewalk which was 4 ft wide and another 4 ft of grass to the curb at the street. These homes were selling for 80k range in 1976. Real estate went nuts in the 1980s, dropped during the recession of 1992 and went nuts in next 10 yrs. Parents sold home 1998 for 380k$ which in next 2 yrs sold for 400k$ and eventualy 500k$ later on. This was all due to the real-estate bubble in Calif. and speculation. Comparison: I moved to Dallas Texas 2008 (close to 800,000 people moved there because Real estate was still 30% under market price compared to rest of the country), you see Dallas never had a real estate bubble, so prices were still reasonable. Today in CALIFORNIA-2010 realestate prices have fallen 40% from their peak, not sure exactly when that was, but I predict that because wages do not keep up with prices, there will be another 40% drop in prices when the Depression finally kicks in and gets up to speed. (don't believe me check stock analysis sites like elliot wave.com and guys who crunch the numbers to predict the future of markets, Paul Weiss- UNCOMMON WISDOM, BOOK: Ravi batri: Great Depression of 1990. My suggestion: buy property only in area of Calif. where there was no artificial speculation investment bubbles to artificially raise prices beyond true value, because during a depression prices go back down to what people can realistically afford to pay based on wages not artificial inflated prices. Ask yourself instead how can I afford the least expensive home, in order to survive the coming crash in the market, and still have residual left over and not bear the crushing debt when credit is not available and you possible run out of money and lose your home because you failed to build in a "buffer zone " into your budget. Don't let others tell you what you can afford, instead ask what is the least I can get by with. The last depression the people who faired the best were those who had credit, and had cash on hand when everyone else was broke due to overextending themselves. Consider living in places like the high desert like apple valley, where homes are still alot cheaper than places like orange county. You can still find 120k$ tract homes outside of Fresno if you are willing to live inland and away from SanFansisco, and over inflated coastal cities like OCC, and LA.The problem with lower cost housing areas is they are seldom close to employment and job opportunities. A friend of mine graduated from SF state and works in SanFransisco buT commutes nearly 200 miles to Modesto because it is the only cheap housing market he can afford. This is sometimes the trade off you have to make.Do not bite off more than you can chew. God forbid if you overbuy and bite off more than you can chew in housing then get hit will the double whammy of falling housing prices and possible negative cash flow. My mom used to sell Real Estate and she warned me too many people get conned into buying more than they can afford, especially with creative financing.(code words for this will set you up for investment bubble or speculation). She said if you can not afford more than 1% of home value as a monthly mortgage payment then you can not afford it. Example:
250k$ home price =2500$ monthly mortgage payment. If they try to tell you it is less, they are lying to you or setting you up for failure down the road by getting you in over your head. There used to be a standard in personal finance which said that you should only spend 25% of your income on housing, this has been ignored in Calif. and many people are in over their heads paying sometimes 60% or more for their home from their income and when the economy crashes they will have nothing to fall back on. Many will have to just walk away or abandon homes because they will not be able to refinance or survive forclosure. Please carefully consider your choices and be ultra conservative in this volitile( this means danger-buyer beware) market.
Wow I mean wow! We moved from Irvine,CA to Keller, TX a little over 2 years ago and I am shocked. A couple of those homes would have easily sold for 1 million + 2 years ago. My how the market has tumbled.
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You may, but not like what I have to say but it may save you thousands and years of grief. My family moved from Houston Tx in 1976 back to Calif. Huntington Beach. At that time homes 3 br. bungalow type track homes that had driveways only big enough to park 2 full sized cars before overhanging the sidewalk which was 4 ft wide and another 4 ft of grass to the curb at the street. These homes were selling for 80k range in 1976. Real estate went nuts in the 1980s, dropped during the recession of 1992 and went nuts in next 10 yrs. Parents sold home 1998 for 380k$ which in next 2 yrs sold for 400k$ and eventualy 500k$ later on. This was all due to the real-estate bubble in Calif. and speculation. Comparison: I moved to Dallas Texas 2008 (close to 800,000 people moved there because Real estate was still 30% under market price compared to rest of the country), you see Dallas never had a real estate bubble, so prices were still reasonable. Today in CALIFORNIA-2010 realestate prices have fallen 40% from their peak, not sure exactly when that was, but I predict that because wages do not keep up with prices, there will be another 40% drop in prices when the Depression finally kicks in and gets up to speed. (don't believe me check stock analysis sites like elliot wave.com and guys who crunch the numbers to predict the future of markets, Paul Weiss- UNCOMMON WISDOM, BOOK: Ravi batri: Great Depression of 1990. My suggestion: buy property only in area of Calif. where there was no artificial speculation investment bubbles to artificially raise prices beyond true value, because during a depression prices go back down to what people can realistically afford to pay based on wages not artificial inflated prices. Ask yourself instead how can I afford the least expensive home, in order to survive the coming crash in the market, and still have residual left over and not bear the crushing debt when credit is not available and you possible run out of money and lose your home because you failed to build in a "buffer zone " into your budget. Don't let others tell you what you can afford, instead ask what is the least I can get by with. The last depression the people who faired the best were those who had credit, and had cash on hand when everyone else was broke due to overextending themselves. Consider living in places like the high desert like apple valley, where homes are still alot cheaper than places like orange county. You can still find 120k$ tract homes outside of Fresno if you are willing to live inland and away from SanFansisco, and over inflated coastal cities like OCC, and LA.The problem with lower cost housing areas is they are seldom close to employment and job opportunities. A friend of mine graduated from SF state and works in SanFransisco buT commutes nearly 200 miles to Modesto because it is the only cheap housing market he can afford. This is sometimes the trade off you have to make.Do not bite off more than you can chew. God forbid if you overbuy and bite off more than you can chew in housing then get hit will the double whammy of falling housing prices and possible negative cash flow. My mom used to sell Real Estate and she warned me too many people get conned into buying more than they can afford, especially with creative financing.(code words for this will set you up for investment bubble or speculation). She said if you can not afford more than 1% of home value as a monthly mortgage payment then you can not afford it. Example:
250k$ home price =2500$ monthly mortgage payment. If they try to tell you it is less, they are lying to you or setting you up for failure down the road by getting you in over your head. There used to be a standard in personal finance which said that you should only spend 25% of your income on housing, this has been ignored in Calif. and many people are in over their heads paying sometimes 60% or more for their home from their income and when the economy crashes they will have nothing to fall back on. Many will have to just walk away or abandon homes because they will not be able to refinance or survive forclosure. Please carefully consider your choices and be ultra conservative in this volitile( this means danger-buyer beware) market.
This is good advise no matter where you are living but especially important in southern CA.
I would HIGHLY advise you to rent before you buy. There is a lack of current inventory in most cities in Orange County. Renting will give you a "cheaper" preview of the city and give you time to explore and find that right location. If you fiance's job will be in Huntington Beach then Los Alamitos, Belmont Shores, Huntington Beach, and/or Costa Mesa night be good options. If he will be working further south....you can consider Irvine, Coto De Caza, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, and Ladera Ranch. Good luck!
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