Colony Park in Anaheim (Irvine, Orange: HOA fees, townhomes, safe neighborhood)

[sahm42gm]

My hubby, 2 year old, and I are looking into buying a townhome this year. My husband works in Anaheim and I'm a SAHM. What do you all think of The Townhomes at Colony Park located in Anaheim? I have heard that Anaheim is eh. I'm concerned because I would like to live in a good area for my 2 year old. I'm drawn to it a lot because of no mello roos and it's within our price range (no more than $400,000). Your opinions are appreciated. Thanks!

[EscapeCalifornia]

Two words: Private School.

[Joe Van Fossen]

The homes at Colony Park are nice, but as the other poster mentioned, if quality of public schools are important to your family, you may want to look elsewhere. $400K is actually a very reasonable budget, even in OC. You may want to look at Anaheim Hills, Yorba Linda or Fullerton as other options.

[sahm42gm]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Two words: Private School.

Thanks for the input We don't want to put our daughter in private school because of the cost. We want a safe neighborhood. I grew up in an area with gangs but went to a private school. From experience, I didn't like private schools and it didn't stop the gangs from hanging around the neighborhood.

We've been looking around for the past couple of months. If there are mello roos and high HOA fees, we do not want to spend no more than $350k. $400k is our ultimate max if there are no mellos roos and low HOA fees. We tried looking in Orange, Placentia, Yorba Linda, Brea, Anaheim Hills, Ladera Ranch, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, HB, and Irvine but the properties we want either sells fast or it's competitive with other buyers. I guess it's because of the low interest rates or something.

[Joe Van Fossen]

Originally Posted by sahm42gm

We've been looking around for the past couple of months. If there are mello roos and high HOA fees, we do not want to spend no more than $350k. $400k is our ultimate max if there are no mellos roos and low HOA fees. We tried looking in Orange, Placentia, Yorba Linda, Brea, Anaheim Hills, Ladera Ranch, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, HB, and Irvine but the properties we want either sells fast or it's competitive with other buyers. I guess it's because of the low interest rates or something.

That's going to be the case pretty much everywhere in Orange County. You're correct, there's a lot of buyer competition due to the low interest rates and prices that are much lower than their pre-bust highs. It's also due to the lack of inventory. As I'm sure your agent has advised, if you want to buy in today's market you have to be prepared to act quickly.

[lowry075]

I totally agree with the other posters' comments about the schools. The neighborhood isn't super. I'd look elsewhere. Don't give up in the cities you mentioned. Try the 92831 area of Fullerton or ( I forget the zip code) the Sunny Hills area of Fullerton.

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by lowry075

I totally agree with the other posters' comments about the schools. The neighborhood isn't super. I'd look elsewhere. Don't give up in the cities you mentioned. Try the 92831 area of Fullerton or ( I forget the zip code) the Sunny Hills area of Fullerton.

To the OP:

Sunny Hills High (though actually in the Coyote Hills development) is in the northern part of 92833. Sunny Hills area is 92835. Southern part of 92833 (which is not as affluent) provides students for Sunny Hills High but no biggie.

As for Anaheim, if it wasn't for your kids I would recommend the Colony. There are rough edges just outside of it but it's the middle of a fairly large city, so....