Planning a Move to OC (Huntington Beach?) from St Louis, Missouri (Long Beach: real estate, rental)

[Demethostes]

(This is a long one, read and comment on as much as you like) Greetings ladies and gentlemen. I've been doing research on the internet, with a large chunk of that time on city-data, reading anecdotes, comparing graphs and data, etc.

I am a 19 year old white male. I was born and raised in south county, St Louis, Missouri. In my teenage years, I've generally grown tired of the region; its climate (miserably humid, hot summers, frigid long biting winters), its politics (overly socially conservative at times), its size (not even in the top 50 US cities), and most importantly its laws (Midwest Nazi Police State, draconian drug prohibition, etc.)

I have been looking at real estate in OC, specifically in Huntington Beach. While I dont completely agree with the.. perhaps overly materialistic lifestyle, the climate and generally appearance of the area looks amazing. Most importantly, I want to be close to the beach. Living in one of the most landlocked parts of the country, I visit the coasts as often as possible and miss it deeply after each trip.

The properties I've been paticularly interested in reside in a mobile home park. While I was at first very turned off to the idea of a mobile home, they are decently sized (~28'x58', double wides) for (IMO) a reasonable price: $50,000-$75,000. Just off of Newland, its a literal hop and a skip to the beach. My dream.

I am planning on moving here with 2 of my best friends and future business partners from STL. One is Afghani, 19, and the other caucasian, 17. We will probably be leaving STL in the next 6-12 months. Using mortgage calculators (assuming a 15 year loan, 6.7% interest (I have a 705 FICO credit score) I'm being fed monthly mortgage payments of ~$820. This seems reasonable for a party of 3 to split.
I've been toying around with other bills & utilities... please tell me if you feel my numbers are off or if you can think of any other CA/OC/HB related fees/taxes, etc. Monthly Costs (Total):
Mortgage: $820
Phone/Internet/TV Bundle: $145
Water: $30
Garbage: $30
Gas: $30
Groceries (for all 3): ~$450-$500?
Total Communal Costs: ~$1500
Cost per Resident: ~$500

I think $500 from each of us is reasonable for a mortgage + utilities. Im estimating that a person making minimum wage would earn roughly ~$1000-~$1100 a month. Leaving each individual (assuming they're working minimum wage) $550-$600 a month for gas, car insurance, spending money, etc. My friends and I also have a lucrative business on the side we're planning to run, and with a home of our own to operate out of, I'm tentatively putting out profits at roughly $10,000 - $20,000 every month or two. But even without this supplementary income, am I being unreasonable thinking 3 minimum wage earners could keep this home?

All in all I'm thinking a 3BR, 2BTH, 1300Sq Ft wouldn't be too cramped for 3 single guys. We've already agreed that we're not going to be raising families (at least not this soon, and not in this home), so Im thinking a bedroom per person, plus a kitchen, den and porch to share, with a beach a short walk away is downright liveable.

Anywho, does anyone have any thoughts/opinions/experiences with this? Hows living in Huntington Beach? Hows the shopping (what kind of stores and food outlets do you have?) Do you enjoy the night life? Is getting to 405 too unreasonable? As I said, I'm just trying to get a more detailed concept of Huntington Beach living from those that dwell there. Thanks for your time, and sorry it was TL;DR

[EscapeCalifornia]

How much is the space rental in the mobile home park you found?

[bhcompy]

Mobile homes will have space rental fees, like EscapeCalifornia mentioned. Be aware of this. It can be well over 500/mo. There could also be property tax, but I'm unsure since you don't physically own the land.

And you don't have electricity listed. That is expensive. Gas is expensive too. Over the summer we'll probably be around or over 3.00/gallon as its around 2.75 right now.

[AKgirlinCA]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

How much is the space rental in the mobile home park you found?

That's the FIRST thing I thought. Easily $700-$800+ I would imagine.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by AKgirlinCA

That's the FIRST thing I thought. Easily $700-$800+ I would imagine.

Yeah at least. If it was as cheap as the thread starter thinks, LOTS of people would be more than happy to live a couple blocks from the beach for $75k. Also, don't mobile homes depreciate through wear and tear like a car instead of appreciating like a house? Most of the value in a house is the land around here anyway. Who's going to lend a 19 year old 100% of $75k for a depreciating asset?

[AKgirlinCA]

Yup, you're exactly right. Heck, I have even considered purchasing a mobile home but it's that damn space rent and the depreciating factor that make it not a wise choice. Also your neighbors can be kinda sketchy in certain mobile home parks. In Anchorage, where I'm from, there were a lot of trailer courts in town. The city started tearing them down and it has been a great thing for the city. It is sad for the people that are forced to move, but they are compensated (monetarily at least,of course not emotionally) and it has really helped to clean up the city a lot.

[Demethostes]

I'm sorry- on the property's page it had a detail that said "Land Included: Y/N" "Y".

I assumed that this meant that the lot is included in the home's price, and thus a monthly lot rental fee was avoidable. Am I misunderstanding this, or am I being deliberately misled?

Thanks guys, this is why I come here

[EscapeCalifornia]

If you could buy the land for that price, I'd buy three (one to live in and one on each side for parking) and wouldn't be looking to leave the state for affordable housing.

[JohnG72]

Ugh, theres a reason why young people ALWAYS get the same advice.....because its what actually works.

This is just oh so simple.

Either go to college where you are, work for a couple years, then at 24 or 25 years old, use that experience to apply for jobs in OC and Long Beach. OR............

Come out to So Cal for a year(so that you can meet the residency requirements and not pay out of state tuition). Rent a room in a house or find a roommate situation thats aggreeable to you for a year. Live frugally and try to save some money. Then go to college out here....the Cal State system has very good schools....in OC they are CS Fullerton and CS Long Beach. There is also Cal Poly Pomona that is not too far a drive from OC. Tuition runs around $3500-4000 a year for either. You can work full or part time and obtain student loans for the rest.

[Demethostes]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

Ugh, theres a reason why young people ALWAYS get the same advice.....because its what actually works.

This is just oh so simple.

Either go to college where you are, work for a couple years, then at 24 or 25 years old, use that experience to apply for jobs in OC and Long Beach. OR............

Come out to So Cal for a year(so that you can meet the residency requirements and not pay out of state tuition). Rent a room in a house or find a roommate situation thats aggreeable to you for a year. Live frugally and try to save some money. Then go to college out here....the Cal State system has very good schools....in OC they are CS Fullerton and CS Long Beach. There is also Cal Poly Pomona that is not too far a drive from OC. Tuition runs around $3500-4000 a year for either. You can work full or part time and obtain student loans for the rest.

I appreciate the advice, but I'm not here primarily for a Cali education, I'm here for a liberal government with an ideal business environment.

I'm looking for affordable housing my mates and I can live in for a few years while we get our business off the ground and can more easily cover costs and debts.


EscapeCalifornia, instead of being sarcastic/condescending, why dont you help explain to me how much renting/purchasing a lot WOULD be, or where to find some affordable housing? You dont have to mock me simply because I'm trying to practically and meticuously plan out my future. At least I didnt just jump in a car and drive here, correct?