Considering Job in South Irvine, but probably commute from Riverside (San Diego: apartments, rental)

[thisgrub4u]

Have a career opportunity in Orange County, would be a great step professionally but we would be coming from Houston to take it. Obviously a bit different in-terms of cost of living, but I'm considering it because I'm pretty confident that I would be happy doing the job, and being in Orange County area to do it, well that's a pretty neat 1-2 punch. We are most likely leaving Houston no matter what, so California or probably back to the midwest.

Of course, you have to consider the 'reality' of living. For affordability reasons commuting will be required (via tolls roads where possible) plus my wife and I don't want to shell out $$$ for some tiny rental to be closer to work. Looks like we need to look west although I wouldn't mind something more south towards San Diego, we have family there.

With that said, commuting to the southern portion of Irvine from Corona, Riverside...is that just insane? We are trying to start a family so that will play into things if I take the position. Looks like the 91 is a huge choke point, the only way in/out of the valley.

[pacific2]

You're talking about a miserable commute and a soul-draining QOL.

Beyond the terrible commute, time away from your family, wear and tear on your body, and additional toll and car maintenance costs, you would also most likely end up paying a lot more for A/C if you lived in Riverside County.

What's your budget?

You might be able to find something reasonable in Lake Forest:
Apartments in Lake Forest CA for Rent | Apartments.com

[BGS91762]

My friend commutes from Riverside to Irvine on Metrolink. Not a bad commute at all. If you can do Metrolink I would do it. If you need to drive, definitely not.

[boulder2015]

Yes that is insane without mlink. Dont do it. Train will take a while but you will keep your sanity. If you like the idea of oc then live in oc. You wont have any time to spend there with this plan.

[thisgrub4u]

Thanks for the feedback, I keep trying to convince myself that this could be a good move but looking at the numbers it just doesn't make sense. I would rather live closer to work than commute and my first preference was to look at Lake Forest but housing prices are hard to swallow so I was looking at alternatives. Plus the company has indicated that most of their people commute.

Looks like we would be looking at $2500 - $3000 for rent, I would prefer a 3 bed/2 bath closer to 1500 sq ft home to rent rather than an apartment. We are in an apartment now, and we are tired of apartment living.

My wife would probably work, but not sure if it would be part or full time, really depends on the family situation. If she worked full-time and we could bring in closer to $175k for an income, and I wouldn't be as concerned. However it's just a big unknown as we are struggling to start a family, and fertility options are not cheap, so that's a huge expense that will impact our living expenses. We are in our late 30's, I want to believe we could buy a home someday, but hard to believe that would be possible.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by thisgrub4u

Thanks for the feedback, I keep trying to convince myself that this could be a good move but looking at the numbers it just doesn't make sense. I would rather live closer to work than commute and my first preference was to look at Lake Forest but housing prices are hard to swallow so I was looking at alternatives. Plus the company has indicated that most of their people commute.

Looks like we would be looking at $2500 - $3000 for rent, I would prefer a 3 bed/2 bath closer to 1500 sq ft home to rent rather than an apartment. We are in an apartment now, and we are tired of apartment living.

My wife would probably work, but not sure if it would be part or full time, really depends on the family situation. If she worked full-time and we could bring in closer to $175k for an income, and I wouldn't be as concerned. However it's just a big unknown as we are struggling to start a family, and fertility options are not cheap, so that's a huge expense that will impact our living expenses. We are in our late 30's, I want to believe we could buy a home someday, but hard to believe that would be possible.

If you are hoping to buy a home one day, then one option is to live in a nice apt or condo, short-term, that costs far less than $2,500-$3,000, and save the rest for a future down payment.

Alternately, rather than hand over $30,000-$36,000 to a landlord every year just to live in a SFR, why not just buy a townhouse, maybe even one that is detached, and build up equity plus get a tax deduction?

A townhouse, of course, doesn't appreciate as much as a SFR but, IMHO, due to OC's highly speculative market, and the fact that many are priced out of SFR's, the latter may soon hit a price ceiling, or drop.

[thisgrub4u]

Originally Posted by pacific2

Alternately, rather than hand over $30,000-$36,000 to a landlord every year just to live in a SFR, why not just buy a townhouse, maybe even one that is detached, and build up equity plus get a tax deduction?

I would prefer to do this over renting, but intimidated at the $400K+ price tag(looking at Lake Forest). The career opportunity is great, but might not be worth the compromises we might have to make to make it all work. This opportunity in CA is one of those 'Big Risk, Big Reward?' situations. I have another opportunity back in Wisconsin, which is the 'safe' alternative, so I guess I'm trying to minimize the risk of moving to CA where I can to make it a possibility. Knowing that a nice home, proximity to family/friends, and a stable career (but not as much potential as CA) are there in Wisconsin should I choose makes CA difficult to rationalize. 5 years younger, and CA would be an easy decision.

My wife and I over the past 5 years, well, curve balls of life have really taken it's toll (mostly medical issues). On one had you feel like "this is it!" All the crap and BS we've gone through, this could be the light at the end of the tunnel! On the other had, maybe it's time to wise up and realize your place.

[LuvSouthOC]

OP, Pacific is spot on. I would urge you to also consider a place like Rancho Santa Margarita (RSM). It allows you to commute to Irvine and puts you in a place where you can get to San Diego when you want to. You may spend much more on housing than you'd like, but the QOL is very high in RSM. You'll thank me later.

[Dunbar42]

Riverside would be an insane commute. The western part of Corona actually wouldn't be a terrible commute if you use the toll roads to get to Orange County. I believe it's around a 45-60 minute commute depending on traffic. You would want to hop on the 91W at Green River Rd. to minimize traffic in the AM. Do not even consider living in southern Corona as that could easily add 30 minutes to your commute. Southern Orange County would be nicer place to live if you can afford it IMO.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by thisgrub4u

I would prefer to do this over renting, but intimidated at the $400K+ price tag(looking at Lake Forest). The career opportunity is great, but might not be worth the compromises we might have to make to make it all work. This opportunity in CA is one of those 'Big Risk, Big Reward?' situations. I have another opportunity back in Wisconsin, which is the 'safe' alternative, so I guess I'm trying to minimize the risk of moving to CA where I can to make it a possibility. Knowing that a nice home, proximity to family/friends, and a stable career (but not as much potential as CA) are there in Wisconsin should I choose makes CA difficult to rationalize. 5 years younger, and CA would be an easy decision.

My wife and I over the past 5 years, well, curve balls of life have really taken it's toll (mostly medical issues). On one had you feel like "this is it!" All the crap and BS we've gone through, this could be the light at the end of the tunnel! On the other had, maybe it's time to wise up and realize your place.

I'm very sorry to hear about the extremely hard bumps, and hope that everyone's health is fine now.

BTW, I know that $400K+ for a condo can seem to be excessive if you don't live in this region. It must be a real shocker. You can probably think of huge SFR's with big yards that you could get elsewhere. Those are great to have if you live in the Midwest or South, frequently deal with inclement weather, and have to bunker down. They are not necessary and, due to the cost of land, certainly not readily available in SoCal. So, few miss them here.

Ready access to beaches and mountains; a year-round temperate climate (with only occasional heat spells); sunny skies; plenty of hiking and biking trails; lots of parks; and hills galore; are what keep most people happy in South OC.

Also, while many may prefer to live in either a beach or more coastal town, others, for a variety of reasons, are drawn to slightly more inland areas; still, with an easy commute (30 minutes or less) to the beach.

That said, if you decide to move to OC, but don't want to live in *Lake Forest, maybe because it is older, I second LuvSOC's suggestion of looking at townhouses/condos in the newer community of Rancho Santa Margarita.

*LF is still worth serious consideration with its abundance of mature trees, hills, etc.