Moving to Irvine from Michigan (Santa Ana, Orange: sales, real estate, apartment)

[cooks2010]

Hello, my husband and I are planning to move to Irivine, because of a job offer. We know CA is really expensive and would like to get an idea of what we can afford in terms of housing. Currently we own a 4bed/2 bath house for 230,000 and our mortgage is around 1700. I am sure we wont be able to get something similar.

But for around $1700 could we get an 2-3 bedroom apt in or around Irvine? His salary would be around $90,000...so I am assuming we can afford maximum upto $2000 for housing per month.

Hopefully I will find a job, though I wasnt planning on working full time...but maybe will have to if we move to CA just to make ends meet.

We are in our mid 30's, dont have any kids..so in terms of areas..are not looking for a singles area, but a more safe and family oriented one.

thanks,
Cooks

[Coldjensens]

Irvine is especially expensive. $1700 will not go far. You may want to look at Tustin, Some parts of Santa Ana, Orange or maybe Costa Mesa.

Keep in mind that you not only have to adjust to higher rent/mortgage payments, almost everyhting is more. Taxes, Movies, gasoline, milk, - you name it. Remarkably, McDonalds prices are the same, insurance is cheaper, utilities are usually cheaper (no heat is balanced by lots more air conditioning, but it nets out less.

You hear all kinds of horror stories about Santa Ana, but they are grossly exaggerated. It is a mostly hispanic and a pretty poor city. However in places, you can live basically across the street from Irvine in apratments that are no different than ones less than a mile away except they are much cheaper.

You may not need as much space as you think. You do not need as much clothing. You may spend less time indoors.

You may have to increase your rent budget, but two people can live fairly comfortably on $90,000 as long as you do nto get caught up in the "keeping up" mentality that prevails and dont get crazy with spending, eating out, clothing or cars.

[wIregEx]

Originally Posted by cooks2010

We know CA is really expensive

Not all of CA is expensive, you can get a 2 br for around 2k.

[cooks2010]

thanks a lot, you have really helped me become a little calmer, because the more posts I read here, the more nervous I was feeling.

[CAVA1990]

This should answer the question:

orange co apts/housing for rent classifieds "irvine" - craigslist

[pacific2]

We are in our mid 30's, dont have any kids..so in terms of areas..are not looking for a singles area, but a more safe and family oriented one.

OC rents are high and climbing. In descending order, they are highest in Newport Beach ($2,023), Irvine ($1,911), Aliso Viejo ($1,658), Costa Mesa ($1,595) and Orange ($1,572).
O.C. biggest rent hikes found in Irvine - Lansner on Real Estate : The Orange County Register

Since you don’t have kids, Irvine has absolutely nothing to offer over neighboring cities.

You might want to consider someplace like Mission Viejo ($1,470) which is attractive, safe, family-friendly and within easy commuting distance to Irvine.

Pocket the difference and put it into your piggy bank to help save for a down payment on a home, if that's in your plans.

Try:
http://www.Hotpads.com

[woodrough]

Just looking quickly at the Irvine Company's apartment web site (rental-living.com), there appear to be 2 bedrooms for around 2k. When we moved here from Seattle, we found the "everything is more expensive" thing to be really overblown (though not having state income tax was nice). But maybe coming from the midwest it would be more of a difference.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by woodrough

Just looking quickly at the Irvine Company's apartment web site (rental-living.com), there appear to be 2 bedrooms for around 2k. When we moved here from Seattle, we found the "everything is more expensive" thing to be really overblown (though not having state income tax was nice). But maybe coming from the midwest it would be more of a difference.

I think Seattle is nearly as expensive as OC. We were surprised by prices there when we visited recently. But what a marvelous city!

It is not a huge difference in most items. Gasoline is 40-50 cents more per gallon usually, sometimes it is only 20 cents more. Most groceries are just a little bit more. For some reason, Milk is noticably more expensive. A movie costs $3 to $4 more depending on where you go. Sales tax is 1.5% higher. Income tax I am not sure, it is not double. Car registration is about 50% more. Electricity is considerably higher, but you tend to use less most of the year. Water is way way higher I have not compared directly, but I think it is about 400 - 500%. You use more water in CA because it never rains (but then your yard is a fraction of the size so you have less to water). Produce is cheaper and better in the cold months, about the same in summer and fall. Clothing is near the same, but you need more clothing in the midwest, however is it more acceptable to wear Levis and Ts from Target in the midwest and you do not feel pressured to buy brand names. Real estate whether rent or buy is way way more expensive in CA. Medical/dental care is a bit more, maybe a couple of thousand a year more in California for our family of seven. Most things run 5-15% more. A few things are cheaper and a few things are dramatically more expensive. It nets out quite a lot more expensive. There are cost of living comparison calculators, but I have not found them to be even remotely accurate. We can live a lot better in Michigan on $200K than we did in CA on $300K. A lot of the difference is real estate and taxes.

[ragnarkar]

Since you don't have kids, you'll probably get the best bang for your buck in the area bordering I-405 and CA-55 which encompasses the cities of Santa Ana, Tustin, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, and Irvine. Look up "South Coast Plaza" for the name of the neighborhood.

You have shopping nearby, beaches nearby, airport nearby, and a multitude of freeways. Very convenient area.

Btw, I've also lived in Michigan and the only things I found to be significantly more expensive in CA are housing (and taxes.)

[Irvine Debs]

I was thinking on moving to Michigan from Irvine, CA, cant find any work here.

Originally Posted by cooks2010

Hello, my husband and I are planning to move to Irivine, because of a job offer. We know CA is really expensive and would like to get an idea of what we can afford in terms of housing. Currently we own a 4bed/2 bath house for 230,000 and our mortgage is around 1700. I am sure we wont be able to get something similar.

But for around $1700 could we get an 2-3 bedroom apt in or around Irvine? His salary would be around $90,000...so I am assuming we can afford maximum upto $2000 for housing per month.

Hopefully I will find a job, though I wasnt planning on working full time...but maybe will have to if we move to CA just to make ends meet.

We are in our mid 30's, dont have any kids..so in terms of areas..are not looking for a singles area, but a more safe and family oriented one.

thanks,
Cooks