Irvine, Ladera Ranch or Laguna Niguel??? Need insight (Santa Ana, Orange: transplants, short sale)

[stylishmommy]

For the locals on the site, my husband is relocating to OC for work from Napa Valley and we need a 3 bedroom 2 bath home that we will rent at first, would like a yard but that seems like a joke considering the "yards" we saw scouting homes last week. We have a 9 month old son so I want a community that is very family friendly but also offers social gatherings and farmers markets, trails/parks. We lived in SF so also like nice restaurants/shops. I would love to know the Pros /Cons of the following areas....Irvine, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Niguel. I did recently go to the area but didn't have the chance to look thoroughly at homes just drove by the area. My husband works from home and then commutes to distributers so he will be driving a lot no matter what.

Any insight is appreciated. Thanks!

[OC Investor2]

Originally Posted by stylishmommy

For the locals on the site, my husband is relocating to OC for work from Napa Valley and we need a 3 bedroom 2 bath home that we will rent at first, would like a yard but that seems like a joke considering the "yards" we saw scouting homes last week. We have a 9 month old son so I want a community that is very family friendly but also offers social gatherings and farmers markets, trails/parks. We lived in SF so also like nice restaurants/shops. I would love to know the Pros /Cons of the following areas....Irvine, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Niguel. I did recently go to the area but didn't have the chance to look thoroughly at homes just drove by the area. My husband works from home and then commutes to distributers so he will be driving a lot no matter what.

Any insight is appreciated. Thanks!

All three are nice communities. But I would go with Irvine.

Much more centrally located for driving. Laguna Nigel and Ladera are both to far south. He'll be tacking 20 minutes each way onto any trip he needs to make into the rest of OC, LA or the IE from those other places. SO if you want him around an extra 3-4 hours a week, go with Irvine.

Irvine Good: a ton of parks, very good schools, ethnically diverse, very centrally located to all of OC. Bad: pretty cookie cutter (but so is all of OC), probably more expensive then the other two options.

LR Good: Newer community. Bad: Foreclosures are rampant, newer area means less "stuff" established & to do.

LN Good: Beach close. Nice houses. Good Schools. Can't think of any blinking light "bads" to add.

Both LR & LN are straight out bedroom communities. Very little there except tract houses and the occasional office park & retail center.

I think you wil find trails, family friendly socail outlets and farmers markets nearby in all three locations. I think Irvine would win for most parks and most walkable though, but not by to much. Probably also have the lead in good restaurants because its closer to Newport Beach where alot of the best OC eats are. Give up on the whole yard thing. Not gonna happen in newer parts (<20yrs old) of OC. That's what we use the parks for.

Good Luck!

[NaplesRes]

Originally Posted by stylishmommy

For the locals on the site, my husband is relocating to OC for work from Napa Valley and we need a 3 bedroom 2 bath home that we will rent at first, would like a yard but that seems like a joke considering the "yards" we saw scouting homes last week. We have a 9 month old son so I want a community that is very family friendly but also offers social gatherings and farmers markets, trails/parks. We lived in SF so also like nice restaurants/shops. I would love to know the Pros /Cons of the following areas....Irvine, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Niguel. I did recently go to the area but didn't have the chance to look thoroughly at homes just drove by the area. My husband works from home and then commutes to distributers so he will be driving a lot no matter what.

Any insight is appreciated. Thanks!

coming from sf and looking for nice restaraunts, etc I would look elsewhere. Either live in a beach town or go to north oc or south LA. south la/north oc is better for a guy that's driving a lot anyway since it's more central. south inland oc is about the most sterile cookie cutter place you could find and it's all tract homes with no yards or small yards. Think sacramento. If you're looking for Noe Valley, south inland oc is the opposite. if i misunderstand and you are infact looking for suburban tract living then any of those are fine and actually there is virtually no difference. Ladera is foreclosure central so maybe a bit depressing but maybe better deals. Irvine is the most convenient as it is furthest north.

[stylishmommy]

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful!

NaplesRes- I appreciate the insight since you know SF. I really love culture/fine dining and want to live in Corona del Mar but the prices seem very steep and out of our range unfortunately. We lived in Pac Heights in SF so I know we won't get that vibe in Irvine. Still need to do more research!

[NaplesRes]

Originally Posted by stylishmommy

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful!

NaplesRes- I appreciate the insight since you know SF. I really love culture/fine dining and want to live in Corona del Mar but the prices seem very steep and out of our range unfortunately. We lived in Pac Heights in SF so I know we won't get that vibe in Irvine. Still need to do more research!

why does it have to be south oc? take a look at my neighborhood...naples/belmont shore. walkable to shops, etc. great communities, outdoor living, lots of character, etc. also very central. think you'd love it. lots of SF transplants. look at belmont park specifically if you want a bigger yard. or look at some northern oc towns. don't limit yourself to those three cities you mentioned if you don't have to.

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by stylishmommy

For the locals on the site, my husband is relocating to OC for work from Napa Valley and we need a 3 bedroom 2 bath home that we will rent at first, would like a yard but that seems like a joke considering the "yards" we saw scouting homes last week. We have a 9 month old son so I want a community that is very family friendly but also offers social gatherings and farmers markets, trails/parks. We lived in SF so also like nice restaurants/shops. I would love to know the Pros /Cons of the following areas....Irvine, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Niguel. I did recently go to the area but didn't have the chance to look thoroughly at homes just drove by the area. My husband works from home and then commutes to distributers so he will be driving a lot no matter what.

Any insight is appreciated. Thanks!

Here are some more towns:

Tustin (including unincorporated areas nearby)
Santa Ana (do your research thoroughly, though; having said that, don't let a Santa Ana address or what people say scare you off; you might get a real deal!)
Orange

I would list more but they are even farther north in Orange County and I'm not sure where your husband's home office is. North and central Orange County tend to be less expensive than the newer communities down south.

[ItalianPrincessOC]

I lived in Ladera for a couple years and honestly, I could not stand the "nose in the air" attitude most of the people had there. It is very family oriented...almost everyone that lives there has a family. There are tons of parks and trails. I LOVED Ladera, but I just could not stand most of the women I encountered. Oh, and the roundabouts drive you crazy after a while! As for yards, the houses are slammed up against each other. With a 3 bedroom home, you will get very little yard, if any. I lived in large 5 bedroom home and we even had a small patch of yard. I'm also not a big fan of how your neighbors are so close to you that you can hear them sneeze, but most of the newer neighborhoods are like this. I moved from Ladera to Rancho Santa Margarita and I found it to have nicer people and we now have an actual yard (even though our new house is smaller). I've never lived in Irvine or Laguna Niguel, but I thought I'd give you my two cents about Ladera. Try checking out Rancho Santa Margarita if you get a chance.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by ItalianPrincessOC

As for yards, the houses are slammed up against each other. With a 3 bedroom home, you will get very little yard, if any. I lived in large 5 bedroom home and we even had a small patch of yard. I'm also not a big fan of how your neighbors are so close to you that you can hear them sneeze, but most of the newer neighborhoods are like this. I moved from Ladera to Rancho Santa Margarita and I found it to have nicer people and we now have an actual yard (even though our new house is smaller). I've never lived in Irvine or Laguna Niguel, but I thought I'd give you my two cents about Ladera. Try checking out Rancho Santa Margarita if you get a chance.

I don't live in Ladera Ranch, but I've researched the heck out of it.

Cons: Expensive HOA ($200+/month) for what amenities you are actually going to use. (In all fairness, most nice neighborhoods in South OC have HOA $150-$200/MO.)
Huge LR con: A lot of tandem garages. They are advertised as three car but it is a two car garage with one stall extended deep. So, you park two cars in the outer two spaces and put bikes, scooters, etc in the deep stall. What that means is your kids drag their bikes out against your cars and scratch them up.
Lots of sub 6000 square foot lots - really tight as described above.
On other LR con: the northern third attends super performing Tesoro High School, the southern two thirds attends "jury is still out" San Juan Hills High School.

LR Pros: Excellent ES and MS schools, aesthetically pleasing (but so is just about every other subdivision in South Orange County). Shopping is close by.

Wagon Wheel is a little further out there but 1) Excellent Schools (Wagon Wheel ES, Las Flores MS, Tesoro HS) and 2) Super low HOA, something like $60/month.

Las Flores in RSM has slightly larger lots (it seems) than LR and most of the homes have a "real" three car garage (two garage doors - a double and a single, side by side). I really like Las Flores; Schools are Las Flores ES and MS and Tesoro HS. Community Pool, close to shopping and neighborhood parks. Convenient to the toll road.

Dove Canyon has a lot of really nice homes too but it's HOA isn't cheap either.

Some Robinson Ranch homes are a bit older, maybe late 1980s, early 1990s so the Mello Roos may be both low and have bonds which will mature soon (no more Mello Roos).

Some parts of (northern) Dove Canyon and (I think all of) Robinson Ranch attend Mission Viejo High School - that's a long schlep.

Another good place to look is the extreme northern (northwestern) side of RSM. Good schools too including Trabuco Hills High School. Convenient to the toll road.

Here's a nice home which recently sold ($585K) out there: http://www.redfin.com/CA/Rancho-Sant...8/home/5115295

I'm seeing homes in all these neighborhoods creeping below $250/sqft - some significantly below.

Look at this 5BR, 3.5BA Dove Canyon beauty on a 6500 sqft lot, sold for less than $195/sqft ($780K for 4000sqft). It started out at $1M in April 2009. On a very desirable family cul de sac. Oh, and it wasn't a short sale either. That is now a solid comp - the rest of the neighbors must be cringing.

5 COACHMAN, RSM, CA 92679 | MLS# S572307

[diggums]

Ladera Ranch = ghetto white trash types

Laguna Niguel = old neighborhoods

Irvine = flat and sterile

Take your pick.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by diggums

Ladera Ranch = ghetto white trash types

That must be good stuff, buddy.