Best place for young family, Laguna Hills, Tustin, Foothills Ranch (San Diego: low income, best city)

[jeanniereese]

I just joined this forum, but have been looking on here for a couple months. My husband is interviewing for a job in Aneheim, but he will be traveling between LA and San Diego for sales. We are coming from the North suburbs of Chicago, Northbrook. We have a 5 year old, 3 yr old, 1.5 yr old and another baby on the way. I have been looking a lot in Laguna Hills and it seems nice. Irvine homes are too small for us, looking around $800,000. Are there a lot of young families there? Family activities, sports, etc...

Also, have looked at Tustin, but saw people on here say there are some shady areas. So, not sure I would want that. A safe neighborhood with great schools is most important.

What about Foothill Ranch? Are there more fires there, b/c it is closer to the mountains?

Aliso Veijo looks nice too, but there is not that many homes for sale over 2200 sq ft. 4 bedroom.

Would love some help from people with families! Thanks you!!! I really appreciate the help.

[saibot]

I can recommend my town, Rancho Santa Margarita. We've raised three kids here. The schools are highly rated, there are tons of young families, and it's extremely safe. I have seen it listed 5th on safest cities in the US. From where I live we can walk in a few minutes to a community pool, parks, the lake (which has a great "Beach Club" area for little ones), the library, Trader Joe's, Target, and a bunch of other places.

It's a bit of a haul to Anaheim, but the toll road helps. My husband works near the Fullerton/Anaheim border and the commute is not the greatest, but he's been doing it for 15 years now.

When there are fires, they tend to be in the wilderness areas and especially in canyons. I would avoid living in a house backed up directly to a wilderness/brush area. Foothill Ranch has quite a bit of that, but there are plenty of homes that are not.

[jamsifoes]

The nicest part of Laguna Hills is south of La Paz called Nellie Gail Estate. 800k won't get you a place there. Your best bet is the area between Paseo De Valencia and La Paz. These are older homes on big lots with very clean streets and mature trees. I really liked this area when house hunting. The schools in Laguna hills are probably a little worse than those in Aliso Viejo and Mission Viejo due to it taking in the students from the "ghetto of Aliso Viejo (Iglesia Park)" off Moulton Pkwy and a few low rent apartments off Alicia Pkwy and Paseo De Valencia.

For 800k, you really should look at Mission Viejo. You can get a house with a good size lot and more than 2600 sq ft with 3 car garages in Pacific Hills and neighborhoods off Oso Pkwy. With 4 kids, you will appreciate having 3 car garages down the line.

[jeanniereese]

Thanks for responding!

How long is the commute from Rancho Santa Margarita to Aneheim?

That is good to know about Laguna Hills, I'm not too fond of bussing in kids from other areas...

Is mission Viejo better then Lake Forest? I will look at the neighborhood you suggested in MV. Any suggestions for LF?

Any information for a great family area is sooo helpful. (Schools, young kids, safety, house size...)

[jeanniereese]

One more question, are mello roos taxes included in total property tax on MLS? If not, how do I find out the mello roos?

Thanks!

[Joe Van Fossen]

Originally Posted by jeanniereese

One more question, are mello roos taxes included in total property tax on MLS? If not, how do I find out the mello roos?

Thanks!

It's included, but not broken down. It is public information and you can get it straight from the OC tax assessor website: County of Orange - Treasurer-Tax Collector

[jamsifoes]

Originally Posted by jeanniereese

Thanks for responding!

How long is the commute from Rancho Santa Margarita to Aneheim?

That is good to know about Laguna Hills, I'm not too fond of bussing in kids from other areas...

Is mission Viejo better then Lake Forest? I will look at the neighborhood you suggested in MV. Any suggestions for LF?

Any information for a great family area is sooo helpful. (Schools, young kids, safety, house size...)

Depends on where you are in Rancho Santa Margarita, it can take 15-20 minutes just get to the 5 Fwy. If you take the toll road, it will cost you $14 a day on toll road fees alone to commute to Anaheim. It also is hard to find houses in the 800k range with 6000+ sq ft lots in Rancho because it's a newer community and the builders try to squeeze in as many houses as possible into a lot they have.

Foothill Ranch is part of Lake Forest. Some students in Foothill Ranch are assigned to El Toro high school which is ranked the lowest of all the high schools in the area (even lower than Laguna Hills high). It's not a bad school, just that there are better high schools in the area. There are a lot of lower income areas in Lake Forest and the reason why the schools aren't as good. Foothill ranch has the same problem as Rancho Santa Margarita, both are far away from the fwy.

In my opinion, this is how I would rank the south county cities if I had 800k to spend on a house:
1. Laguna Nigual (the better/more expensive it gets the closer you are to the beach...800k won't get you very close to the beach and not a very big lot, but you can generally avoid mello roos tax here),
2. Mission Viejo (lake access is awesome, best city library in the south county, dated shopping centers are a negative),
3. Aliso Viejo (small lots and everybody has to pay a city HOA that gives you not much back in return, tons of nature trails if you are the outdoorzy type),
4 Rancho Santa Margarita and Foothill ranch (these two would rank on par with Aliso Viejo if there weren't so damn far from the fwy),
5. Laguna Hills (Nellie Gail has million dollar homes and private schools but we are talking about 800k here. 800k will have you living on the poor side of town and your kids will attend a ok public school with kids from the low income apartments),
6. Lake Forest (there are good areas and low income areas on different parts of the city, very convenient freeway access but for 800k you deserve something better...like Mission Viejo).

[jeanniereese]

Originally Posted by jamsifoes

Depends on where you are in Rancho Santa Margarita, it can take 15-20 minutes just get to the 5 Fwy. If you take the toll road, it will cost you $14 a day on toll road fees alone to commute to Anaheim. It also is hard to find houses in the 800k range with 6000+ sq ft lots in Rancho because it's a newer community and the builders try to squeeze in as many houses as possible into a lot they have.

Foothill Ranch is part of Lake Forest. Some students in Foothill Ranch are assigned to El Toro high school which is ranked the lowest of all the high schools in the area (even lower than Laguna Hills high). It's not a bad school, just that there are better high schools in the area. There are a lot of lower income areas in Lake Forest and the reason why the schools aren't as good. Foothill ranch has the same problem as Rancho Santa Margarita, both are far away from the fwy.

In my opinion, this is how I would rank the south county cities if I had 800k to spend on a house:
1. Laguna Nigual (the better/more expensive it gets the closer you are to the beach...800k won't get you very close to the beach and not a very big lot, but you can generally avoid mello roos tax here),
2. Mission Viejo (lake access is awesome, best city library in the south county, dated shopping centers are a negative),
3. Aliso Viejo (small lots and everybody has to pay a city HOA that gives you not much back in return, tons of nature trails if you are the outdoorzy type),
4 Rancho Santa Margarita and Foothill ranch (these two would rank on par with Aliso Viejo if there weren't so damn far from the fwy),
5. Laguna Hills (Nellie Gail has million dollar homes and private schools but we are talking about 800k here. 800k will have you living on the poor side of town and your kids will attend a ok public school with kids from the low income apartments),
6. Lake Forest (there are good areas and low income areas on different parts of the city, very convenient freeway access but for 800k you deserve something better...like Mission Viejo).

Thanks, that is really helpful. I am leaning more towards Mission Viejo now...

[jeanniereese]

Originally Posted by jamsifoes

The nicest part of Laguna Hills is south of La Paz called Nellie Gail Estate. 800k won't get you a place there. Your best bet is the area between Paseo De Valencia and La Paz. These are older homes on big lots with very clean streets and mature trees. I really liked this area when house hunting. The schools in Laguna hills are probably a little worse than those in Aliso Viejo and Mission Viejo due to it taking in the students from the "ghetto of Aliso Viejo (Iglesia Park)" off Moulton Pkwy and a few low rent apartments off Alicia Pkwy and Paseo De Valencia.

For 800k, you really should look at Mission Viejo. You can get a house with a good size lot and more than 2600 sq ft with 3 car garages in Pacific Hills and neighborhoods off Oso Pkwy. With 4 kids, you will appreciate having 3 car garages down the line.

Thank you, I am now looking more into MV. I'm assuming you meant the Bathgate elementary school area. There are a few houses there that would be perfect!

[jeanniereese]

Originally Posted by Joe Van Fossen

It's included, but not broken down. It is public information and you can get it straight from the OC tax assessor website: County of Orange - Treasurer-Tax Collector

Thanks!