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Old 01-24-2008, 10:39 PM
 
Location: Mission Viejo, CA
2,498 posts, read 11,438,813 times
Reputation: 1619

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Do you have to live in Tustin? Currently you could buy in Mission Viejo, another very nice Orange County city that has everything Tustin has for $435-450. There are 9 detached single family homes around about 1,000 square feet that are selling in that price range. Most of them are banked own from the real estate downturn and are older houses, but some have been nicely remodeled. I know they are small, but they are starter homes and are in one of the safest cities in the country with shopping, its own lake you can swim in, and good schools. Hospitals nearby include Mission Hospital (Mission Viejo), Saddleback Medical Center (Laguna Hills), South Coast Medical Center (Laguna Beach), Saddleback Hospital at San Clemente, and Irvine Medical Center.

Mission Viejo pretty well fits what your looking for with the parks, manicured lawns, families, etc....
here is a link to homes in your price range:
27243 Las Nieves, Mission Viejo, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information

22591 Via Loyola, Mission Viejo, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information

28081 Wentworth, Mission Viejo, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information (http://www.prudentialcal.com/Listing/ListingDetail.aspx?Search=c442ed21-5e13-4a58-a415-1959e1d3608d&Listing=27196662&IRPAgentID=&Image=1& First=1&Last=10&pagesize=10&SearchType=city&Listin gDistrictTypeID=&FirstLetter=&Sort=6&Cookies=&UseC olorBar=false - broken link)

69 Melrose Dr, Mission Viejo, CA | California Real Estate | Listing Information
The house in the link above is labeled as a condo. That was done for tax purposes by the builder, but it is a detached house (although it may not feel like it). This home is in gated neighborhood near Pacific Hills. Bathgate Elementary School is also one of the best in the city. Again, a newer home, but you literally get almost no yard as you can see from the picture. The other homes are older but you get more yard and spaciousness.
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Old 01-25-2008, 10:17 AM
 
27 posts, read 101,176 times
Reputation: 16
I agree on renting for a while, if not to save a down payment then just to get a feel for the place. You may buy someplace right away and realize you are not happy there or opportunity may knock elsewhere. By all means look at Mission Viejo, lake forest, Irvine, each has a major hospital and countless med. centers/walk in clinics and IT is not a problem. On Tustin (I lived and worked there for a few years) I like to think of it as a nice buffer zone between Irvine (nice) and Santa ana (not so nice) Tustin Ranch is nice with lots of nice apt. complexes but very cramped and sometimes parking is an issue. Check out Lake Forest, affordable rents, nice clean city and tons of stuff to do for familys, the city does an exellent job keeping us entertained, next week is snow day where they bring in a snow making machine and cover a park for sledding, we have movies in the park, concerts, you name it fun stuff. Plus the Sheriffs Dept. is great we have one on every corner and 5-6 at the Fuji Grill if you need one. And the Saddleback Valley school district is tops.
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Old 01-25-2008, 01:15 PM
 
Location: Virginia
242 posts, read 827,344 times
Reputation: 69
Ok now is lake forest near laguna nigel?...Just trying to get a sence of geography! But I will deffinetly start looking into these two areas! I guess I just picked Tustin, because its next to Irvine (assuming most IT work) and have a good foothill school system. I have been there and really its location but deff open to new areas! Thanks
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Old 01-25-2008, 03:13 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,708 posts, read 79,810,729 times
Reputation: 39453
When you get into south county, everything is pretty much exactly the same. It is all nice. It is all bland. Everything matches everything else. You really cannot tell one city from another and it is unclear when you leave one city and enter another, they all blend together.

Mission Viejo has a man made "lake" (really a pond). Irvine also has some lakes (ponds). Huntington beach, Newport Beach and Laguna beach have beaches, but when you get away from the little beach community part, they are about the same as the other communities. San Juan Capistrano is pretty different downtown. By the way Lake forest has neither a lake nor a forest. At least I have not seen a pond/lake there. Definitely no forest unless you count a forest of similar looking homes then it is all forest.
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Old 01-25-2008, 03:25 PM
 
Location: Virginia
242 posts, read 827,344 times
Reputation: 69
Hmmm interesting, so I wonder why homes are cheaper in Mission Viejo! Do I got it right?...Out of all the good citys Mission Viejo seems to be lower cost of living?
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Old 01-25-2008, 05:04 PM
 
Location: Mission Viejo, CA
2,498 posts, read 11,438,813 times
Reputation: 1619
Mission Viejo is largely a single family home city. Thus the inventory of detached housing in the city of 100,000 people is much higher than the percentage of housing that is apartments or condos. Many of the homes that are priced so low are bank owned or the seller is desperate too. Don't worry about the area not being nice, it is just as nice, if not nicer than Tustin and is also central to Irvine. The southern border of Irvine is a fifteen to twenty minute drive from Mission Viejo and there are many IT jobs in the Spectrum area down there. You could also work at Mission Hospital or Saddleback Hospital, which are the two largest in South Orange County. Schools are very good (a few exceptions like Glen Yermo Elementary or Viejo Elementary), and all three high school that serve MV are nice, unlike Tustin High School. Here are some pics of the area:




City Library

Jeronimo Open Space in the middle of the city, with Oso Creek running through it.
http://cityofmissionviejo.org/depts/rcs/parkpics/images/52.jpg (broken link)
Outstanding city parks such as the large Youth Athletic Park
http://cityofmissionviejo.org/depts/rcs/parkpics/images/facility_k.jpg (broken link)
Recreation Centers Spread Throughout
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Old 01-25-2008, 05:18 PM
 
Location: Virginia
242 posts, read 827,344 times
Reputation: 69
AWSOME!!! thanks a tun for the great pictures!! You have really been so helpful!! I tried to give you a positive post but it only lets me give you one!! lol. It is a beautiful area! Now Mission Viejo is on my want list...lol
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Old 01-26-2008, 11:00 PM
 
112 posts, read 406,191 times
Reputation: 55
Being that Tustin is so centrally located, it's equally far to everything the county has to offer. As for the high schools, only Tustin High is in Tustin. Foothill and Beckman are actually in Santa Ana and Irvine, respectively.
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Old 01-27-2008, 06:50 AM
 
Location: Virginia
242 posts, read 827,344 times
Reputation: 69
Oh I see, and Tustin High is not a very good school?
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Old 02-10-2008, 11:56 PM
 
112 posts, read 406,191 times
Reputation: 55
NOPE. I hate Tustin. I seriously think it's in the middle of nowhere. Big cities in the OC are:

Santa Ana yuck. even the paper say it's rough to live there.
Anaheim yuck. unless you're a tourist hanging out at Disneyland.
Irvine great place if you have kids
Huntington Beach great location, crappy old apartments.
Garden Grove cheap.
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