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Old 03-06-2007, 09:58 PM
 
Location: Lexington, SC
17 posts, read 50,579 times
Reputation: 20

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Ok, so here is the deal. My husband was transferred to HB from Houston where we had a huge house. But Houston pretty much sucks. We are 3 days from moving and now I am totally stress that are paying 1.1 mil for a 3000 sq ft house, which in houston is only $400K....my question is - are we buying high or is this normal for Irvine? are the prices going up, down, or flat? Also I have a 3 and 4 yr old so we want to know if Irvine is cool for the family but then on date night, is the nightlife hot or boring...???

Thanks,
D
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Old 03-06-2007, 11:41 PM
 
3,853 posts, read 12,863,253 times
Reputation: 2529
Right now OC seems to be rather stable. Depends on how you look at the market though. Lots of people say that CA is on a housing bubble. Not sure how valid that is though, you need to research it. The median home price in OC is around 600k so it seems you are buying in the high range. Should be in a good neighborhood though.
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Old 03-07-2007, 05:31 AM
 
989 posts, read 5,923,606 times
Reputation: 867
Irvine has several blue ribbon schools and is one of the best cities in America to raise a family. Nightlife is laid-back, and the options are plentiful. A move from Houston will be unregretable.
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Old 03-07-2007, 02:01 PM
 
Location: Central 858
601 posts, read 1,450,915 times
Reputation: 589
There's a big disparity in price from houses in TX to OC. 400K will get you an apartment sized condo here as compared to a 3000 sq ft mini mansion in the lone star state. You can expect to pay at least double what you paid in TX for the same sized house. Also, the nicer the neighborhood (schools, crime rate) the higher the price.

bd5
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Old 03-07-2007, 03:30 PM
 
Location: Parkville, MO
20 posts, read 118,870 times
Reputation: 22
You will LOVE Irvine...it's 'masterplanned' with raising families high on the list.
Lots of outdoor activities, biking trails, parks, community centers. The restaurants are fabulous...multi-cultural. Some of the BEST schools in the state by the way. The off road streets were masterfully planned 'roomy' and you won't experience the worst of rush hour traffic if you can travel on them rather than the freeways. Lot's of movie theatres and of course Trader Joe's which is a non-negotiable for me as being a valid point for any relocation I would EVER make!
I'm not sure about the so-called Bubble...sure the real estate is pricey, but everyone has to live somewhere...it's a little slower now, also more foreclosures. (I attribute those to people who were taking their equity out to pay their charge cards??? and floating loan rates that bit them you know where!) I would still try to buy as low as possible with the thought that you will be staying in Irvine for some time with the kids going to school. You will not regret at all a long term real estate investment in CA ...especially Irvine!
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Old 03-07-2007, 09:51 PM
 
Location: Lexington, SC
17 posts, read 50,579 times
Reputation: 20
Default Thanks for the info

Thanks all for the info. I do feel a bit better now, guess I don't have a choice as the movers load tomorrow! In Houston for $400K you can get a 4,200 sq ft house - granite, tile, big yard so I was in shock with the prices in Irvine, but Houston is pretty disgusting and Irvine seems to be a wonderful city! We are moving to a neighborhood called Northpark - I hope it is nice for the area - especially for what we paid..LOL
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Old 03-08-2007, 05:46 AM
 
989 posts, read 5,923,606 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by murphydonna1 View Post
We are moving to a neighborhood called Northpark - I hope it is nice for the area - especially for what we paid..LOL
Northpark is nice. Last year, cousin planned on moving into the Woodbury neighborhood for two weeks from Texas(Houston Area). Needless to say, she's still there and loves it!
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Old 03-08-2007, 05:53 PM
 
Location: Sandpoint, ID
3,109 posts, read 10,835,426 times
Reputation: 2628
You will love it. Seriously. If you like suburbia, Irvine is paradise. Kids stuff, sports, shopping/dining, schools, you name it, it's good. If you want more night life, you're only 10-30 min from everything you and your husband could want, clubs, bars, theaters, music, cinemas, etc.
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Old 03-08-2007, 08:25 PM
 
41 posts, read 260,715 times
Reputation: 40
Default I disagree about Irvine!!!!

Why move from Houston to Irvine? We are doing the opposite next month and thank GOD! I work in a big company in Irvine and during the past 5 years everything has gone downhills for Irvine - congestion, everything is expensive, lots of high rises that make Irvine look ridiculous - com'on, they wanna make it look like NY???

Buying at $1.1mil? Good for you if you can afford it but don't count on it going up any time soon and don't forget you have to pay 9.3 percent CA taxes (even if you don't get anything from the state)

Trust me, after sticking around SoCal for a decade and cashed out our condo, we are leaving CA for good forever. There is nothing here for an honest middle class family (who by the way makes over 200k annual)!
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Old 03-09-2007, 06:24 PM
 
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,836,889 times
Reputation: 3672
Quote:
Originally Posted by onyx View Post
Why move from Houston to Irvine? We are doing the opposite next month and thank GOD! I work in a big company in Irvine and during the past 5 years everything has gone downhills for Irvine - congestion, everything is expensive, lots of high rises that make Irvine look ridiculous - com'on, they wanna make it look like NY???

Buying at $1.1mil? Good for you if you can afford it but don't count on it going up any time soon and don't forget you have to pay 9.3 percent CA taxes (even if you don't get anything from the state)

Trust me, after sticking around SoCal for a decade and cashed out our condo, we are leaving CA for good forever. There is nothing here for an honest middle class family (who by the way makes over 200k annual)!
Plus, Houston has lots of master-planned communities that give just this kind of family oriented lifestyle being described, parks, everything looks nice, etc... and there's nothing "disgusting" about it, maybe she was just in some bad area of Houston. Fort Bend County I think, has more master-planned communities than any other county. Very nice, and Sugar Land (in that county) was ranked the #3 place to live in the U.S. this year.
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