Moving to Southern California from the East Coast (Santa Ana, Anaheim: credit, homes)

[Greenspot26]

With regards to the quality of service in the two areas, is La Habra Heights under-served because its a small community and relies on county services? I have been doing a bit of research and I have been reading about Los Angeles being in financial trouble, and La Habra Heights is in LA County and served by LA County services, could this be less desirable than a city that provides these services?

[stevemorse]

Originally Posted by capoeira

I suggest checking out La Habra Heights since it is closer to many things and still has the large homes with the open space.

La Habra Heights Single-Family Homes For Sale — Trulia.com

1347 El Paseo, La Habra Heights CA - Trulia

2133 Virazon Drive, La Habra Heights CA - Trulia

La Habra Heights to Honda Center

And still drivable to Kings games too.

Driving Directions from La Habra Heights to Staples Center

Personally I thought the second home was beautiful, the land. What a great area!! Good pick

[Greenspot26]

I have literally went through hundreds of these threads doing research...what I have noticed is very few of them have a sense of closure. I thought it would be nice if I came back here and "finished up" this thread. I have spent the past couple weeks looking at a lot of homes trying to figure out what the best fit for me was. I looked at houses in La Habra Heights, Fullerton, Yorba Linda, Coto, Anaheim Hills, North Tustin, and Turtle Rock. Finally I am in escrow on a house these are sort of my observations of each area:

1. La Habra Heights: This area is very underrated it has some really nice homes, but next to the really nice homes you have some really run down homes and multi-family housing. It seems more centrally located than any of the other areas. What I did not like about this area was the lack of general maintenance in the communities. It looked like a lot of people did not really care about their neighborhood or homes and were "running it into the ground." This area probably has the best value/per square foot of any of the other aforementioned cities/neighborhoods. I firmly believe though you get what you pay for, and it looks like this area will get worse in the coming years?

2. Fullerton: I went up into the hills of Fullerton and there are some great eclectic homes, and it looks like a very nice area. To me though this area looks to be an older sort of demographic (a lot of original owners). Many of the homes look to be in original condition and not very updated. There is decent value in this area but the cost of upgrading the homes would make this area less of a value. In the hills of Fullerton, it was also very hot? I noticed not much dense tree cover, it was more or less landscaping that gave certain homes a "woodsy feel." I like this area but it just felt too "old" for my tastes.

3. Yorba Linda: I visited a couple homes over here and it was very similar to Fullerton but it had a "newer" feel to the homes. I really liked a lot of the neighborhoods, although a lot of the custom homes felt like tract homes. The lot size was a big plus. Once again, I did not like the fact that most of the tree cover was artificial rather than indigenous. It seems this "fake forest" is quite popular in the hills of Orange County. In general though this area felt a lot newer than Fullerton.

4. Coto: I revisited a couple homes in this area, and like I said before this place is in the middle of nowhere, but with the seclusion comes some great benefits. I loved the beautiful huge oak trees, and the dense tree cover. This place is great. I don't like the lack of housing mix. It seems like most of the homes are custom homes built with a tract spirit. Why are tract homes so popular out here? I fail to see what the appeal is. I liked the seclusion but did not like the neighborhoods or the “far away” feel of the area. I was looking for something close but far (if you know what I mean).

5. Anaheim Hills: The agent took me to look at a couple of the typical tract homes. This place reminded me of Yorba Linda. I really did not see a huge difference between the two. After I begged the agent to show me something different, wow there are some hidden gems here. First we went to Peralta Hills, WAYY out of my price range, but this area reminded me of back where I am from. Huge Oaks, well kept homes, a nice eclectic blend of nicely kept older homes that cannot be replicated by modern homebuilders. I love this area too bad it’s out of my price range. So off we went to some of the other “non tract” areas. This place is interesting; next to Frank Lloyd Wrightesque homes you have Mediterranean, Cape Cod, bungalow etc type homes. Some of these neighborhoods are the exact opposite of tract homes. Many of the neighborhoods backed up to forests with undisturbed tree cover. Basically you can hike out of your backyard into dense untouched forest.

6. North Tustin: I loved this area, great eclectic homes, my biggest quam is privacy….Homes seem to be right on top of each other even though they are all on big lots. Seems like an older demographic, but this area is a great area. Only bad thing is the agent told me that you will have a Santa Ana mailing address which is not very “prestigious.”

7. Turtle Rock I really do not get what the hype is about this area. This area is full of yuppies and escalades. Older homes on smallish lots, where the exteriors look better than the interiors. I literally saw 4 homes that had brand new paint, siding, landscaping etc, but 1970’s kitchens complete with linoleum. Just weird place to be . I don’t get the area. I guess I don’t understand Irvine in general or what makes it so great?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Greenspot26

I don’t get the area. I guess I don’t understand Irvine in general or what makes it so great?

Excellent schools.
Close to jobs in both Irvine and other parts of Orange County, and not far from jobs in southern LA County.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Greenspot26

4. Coto: I revisited a couple homes in this area, and like I said before this place is in the middle of nowhere, but with the seclusion comes some great benefits. I loved the beautiful huge oak trees, and the dense tree cover. This place is great. I don't like the lack of housing mix. It seems like most of the homes are custom homes built with a tract spirit. Why are tract homes so popular out here? I fail to see what the appeal is. I liked the seclusion but did not like the neighborhoods or the “far away” feel of the area. I was looking for something close but far (if you know what I mean).

It is a long way from the 5 for a lot of the homes in this community. Even the 241/133/5 is a lot of miles to get into job centers. Housing in a lot of Coto is about the same $/sqft as RSM and Ladera Ranch and the HOA of $200/mo is about the same as Ladera (but Ladera gets internet included) and Dove Canyon.

[bhcompy]

Greenspot26, you speak a lot of trees, but you need to understand that most trees you'll see outside of the parks, national and state forests/parks, etc are planted and generally not native. The majority of plantlife are drought resistant scrub brush, gnarly trees, etc. Of trees, cottonwoods are fairly abundant, but they rely on nearby watersource like a river or stream, which are fairly uncommon in the area. Basically, you talk of fake trees and real trees when most are fake anyways, simply because the climate generally doesn't support it in many areas.

[Greenspot26]

Some areas have huge oak forests (which I am sure are not man made)...The planted trees which I generally see in communities are some sort of hybrid trees and eucalyptus.

[Greenspot26]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

Greenspot26, you speak a lot of trees, but you need to understand that most trees you'll see outside of the parks, national and state forests/parks, etc are planted and generally not native. The majority of plantlife are drought resistant scrub brush, gnarly trees, etc. Of trees, cottonwoods are fairly abundant, but they rely on nearby watersource like a river or stream, which are fairly uncommon in the area. Basically, you talk of fake trees and real trees when most are fake anyways, simply because the climate generally doesn't support it in many areas.

quick snap of my backyard some pines and further down a lot of oaks etc

[pacific2]

quick snap of my backyard some pines and further down a lot of oaks etc

Nice trees. Did you move to Anaheim Hills?

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Greenspot26

Once again, I did not like the fact that most of the tree cover was artificial rather than indigenous.

Nearly all trees in Southern California are non-idigenous since the original landscape was mainly chapparal and treeless, particularly in Orange County. Even the eucalyptus came from elsewhere (Australia).