Is Irvine Worth It Without Kids? (Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa: real estate, apartment, rental)

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by joryjim

I like Irvine's central location but is it worth the extra costs and higher taxes if you don't have kids?

If Irvine is what you want, then yes.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by DocGoldstein

Well you could say that about Santa Clara County, Manhattan, and many other places with sky rocketing housing prices. The thing is the median income is usually renters, or the family lives in a smaller condo/very old fixer upper, and the upper echelon usually buys the larger, newer, SFHs.

The other factor not mentioned is that there are probably a signification portion of homeowners with good incomes who are nonetheless drowning in debt.

[joryjim]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

The other factor not mentioned is that there are probably a signification portion of homeowners with good incomes who are nonetheless drowning in debt.

I don't think so. Very few homes for sale and if a family has too much debt, they can easily sell their home for a great price.

[Carlite]

Originally Posted by pacific2

Very true.

The Irvine home ownership rate @ 52.7%, even with subsidized university housing and other affordable housing programs, is slightly less than the California average of 56.7 percent.

It’s also interesting that even though the per capita income in Irvine is $43,102 (2007-2011 median income was $92,599), the city’s poverty rate seems to be relatively high at 10.6 percent.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/0636770.html

Poverty rates aren't really reliable in college towns. A lot of the students show up as being in poverty. They make in fact have low current incomes, but they're not what people typically think of as poor people.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by Carlite

Poverty rates aren't really reliable in college towns. A lot of the students show up as being in poverty. They make in fact have low current incomes, but they're not what people typically think of as poor people.

I thought about that, but I don't know how it can be parceled out, especially since the median income and per capita figures were not been given the same treatment on the Census.

Still, the actual figure may not be that far off. Look at the neighboring non-college town of Newport Beach with a surprisingly high poverty level of 7.2 percent and a higher median household income of $108,946.

Newport Beach (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

[EclecticEars]

Irvine advantages:

- Incredibly safe
- Very clean
- Very modern
- Much better traffic flow overall than much of Greater L.A.
- Accessible to the 5, 405, and 73.
- John Wayne Airport
- Easy access to Mission Viejo, SJC, and all of coastal Orange Co.
- Close to L.A. and San Diego
- Easy to live a very comfortable life there as long as you can afford it
- Extensive bike trail network, including a trail that takes you to Newport, I believe.

I'd live in Irvine.

[DocGoldstein]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

The other factor not mentioned is that there are probably a signification portion of homeowners with good incomes who are nonetheless drowning in debt.

Well that goes without saying. The more income, the more leverage. Not saying that's the case in Irvine specifically, but it tends to be that in wealthier demographics.

[Coldjensens]

It dpends on what you want. I, and many people I know would not live in Irvine for anything. However I see why Irvine appeals to certain people, it just does not appeal to me. I do not like conformity.

While the list of IRvine positives above is true, it is only by a tiny margin. Surrounding cities (South of Irvine) are nealy identical to Irvine and are somewhat cheaper. Do you really care if Irvine is .003% safer than Mission Viejo? Or that you can shave 5 minutes off a trip to LA?

You can live a very nice lifestyle as a single person in Aliso Veijo for example and I see no idvantage to Irvine over Aliso for you. You could also live in one of the nicer areas of Orange Santa Ana or Anaheim and it woudl be a lot cheaper and equally nice. But you do not get to say "I live in irvine" with a cat swallowed the canary smile on your face. That certainly has to be worth somehting. .

[joryjim]

<< I see no idvantage to Irvine over Aliso for you.>>>

I prefer to be close to Newport and Huntington Beaches rather than Laguna. I don't care about the prestige of Irvine if there is any. Impressing others is the last consideration of mine.

[SunnyTXsmile]

Originally Posted by joryjim

I don't think so. Very few homes for sale and if a family has too much debt, they can easily sell their home for a great price.

I could be wrong but I would imagine Irvine to be like anywhere else in the country. If someone owes more on their house (because they bought during the bubble) than they can get for it now (because the bubble has since popped), even if they can get a great price for their home relative to other areas in CA, well, I still highly doubt they'll be able to get what they paid in 2006 (so why would they sell?). Also, if they took out a loan against their home to pay for that snazzy new toy, well, you get the idea.

And my realtor recently told me when I listed a home for sale that the reason very few homes are for sale is because the market is simply way too low for people to even be able to afford to sell. The only reason I was listing was because I owed nothing on the house which means I wouldn't be taking a bath by selling it. Most people aren't in that situation, though.

Another reason very few homes are for sale is because once they hit the market, since there are so few to pick from, they are being scooped up, often within days. That was the case for myself and several friends.

Again, I could very well be wrong, but that's the situation on the east coast, and I doubt Irvine is in its own bubble, exempt from what's going on in the rest of the market. Someone correct me if that is indeed the case, though. I don't want to misguide anyone.

I think buying in Irvine is a smart idea because you know that you'll have an easy time selling due to the great school system. But if you're just renting, I see no real advantage to paying extra to live in Irvine, unless it's near work, you need a super safe neighborhood, etc.