house hunting... in advance

[OCADA]

Hey wes,

I'm in a similar situation and am on trulia.com all the time looking around. It might be tough to find a single family home under $300k, but it can be done. You mentioned you don't mind living in more adventurous places. Fortunately, you can't really go that wrong out here in OC. There are some rough neighborhoods, but few that I would consider truly dangerous. It might take some digging and you'll likely be in a place that needs work but I bet it could be done in OC.

If you are looking in Townhomes and Condos as well then you should have tons of options near CHOC. There are lots of suitable places in Orange, Tustin, parts of Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and even Irvine that you could look into around that price.

[Wesleytf]

Originally Posted by OCADA

Hey wes,

I'm in a similar situation and am on trulia.com all the time looking around. It might be tough to find a single family home under $300k, but it can be done. You mentioned you don't mind living in more adventurous places. Fortunately, you can't really go that wrong out here in OC. There are some rough neighborhoods, but few that I would consider truly dangerous. It might take some digging and you'll likely be in a place that needs work but I bet it could be done in OC.

If you are looking in Townhomes and Condos as well then you should have tons of options near CHOC. There are lots of suitable places in Orange, Tustin, parts of Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and even Irvine that you could look into around that price.

That's helpful information. We used to live in some of the sketchy parts of St.Paul/Mpls, but with common sense precautions I never felt in danger. I've got a uncle who's a contractor in SLO and I've worked with him as well as for a non-profit home rebuild project in MPLS, so I can tackle most projects without intimidation, but being in code scares me... Ideally a cosmetically ugly house that's otherwise sound in a decent neighborhood is what we'd hope for.

I think just going into neighborhoods is what will wind up helping me the most.

[Wesleytf]

If I extend the search to ~30min from CHOC, what other options pop up? Is San Pedro a reasonable thought? What about the La Mirada Area?

[EscapeCalifornia]

San Pedro is too far. The nice areas are expensive. The cheap areas are crap.

[Wesleytf]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

San Pedro is too far. The nice areas are expensive. The cheap areas are crap.

gee, thanks. If you can't be helpful, just be absent.

Here's an example of a non condescending, helpful comment. It's true, too, as far as I can tell...
"At least with more inland areas the comparative school ratings go up relative to the price of housing. "

[EscapeCalifornia]

Have you ever been to San Pedro? My wife is from that area so she knows it well and I stand by my post.

[Wesleytf]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Have you ever been to San Pedro? My wife is from that area so she knows it well and I stand by my post.

ah, I thought you were talking more generally and your post was taken as an implied "your search is futile"

[RobE]

Wesley, My mom used to work at CHOC as an RN and we lived about half a mile from it at one point. That was 30 years ago, though.

But FWIW, the main areas to stay out of in Orange are Lemon and Olive streets north of Almond (gang activity), El Modena (gangs and it is rundown), Walnut west of Glassell (the area to the east of Shaffer after Orange High should be okay,though), the area immediately around Portola Junior High (Main and Sycamore), which has a bit of a gang problem, Cypress St (gangs)., and the areas around the apartment complexes on Wilson east of Tustin. I would also stay away from the neighborhoods immediately intersecting with Taft east of Tustin due to a buddy of mine having lived there and gotten his house burgled twice.

I used to like the areas up and down Cambridge St. North of La Veta a lot. If you can find anything there please look into it. I also liked the neighborhoods east of Glassell around Maple St.

Just as a side note, I think that there are apartment complexes on La Veta that have gone condo. Avoid them. There are problems with parking, bad management and car break ins aren't unheard of.

Car theft has really become a problem in Orange the last few years. So keeping your ride in the garage would be a good idea.

Generally, though, if you can stay east of Glassell South of Katella you will be okay. The neighborhoods adjacent to the Orange Mall (well, it's called The Village Now) were also nice. I don't know what shape they are in now. There used to be a junior high right there, Peralta, but it was closed in the 1980's.

I hope this gives you a clearer picture (and I hope my information is still true after all these years). Good luck.

[flo2900]

Originally Posted by Charles

Yep. It is sort of nice living someplace that has had no housing depreciation, no traffic, and 10,000 high tech jobs relocating to it by 2011.

Private jobs to soar because of BRAC - al.com

Why Alabama, there are other affordable places in the South....i.e. Texas with better economy

[Charles]

Originally Posted by flo2900

Why Alabama, there are other affordable places in the South....i.e. Texas with better economy

Jobs. The unemployment rate for engineers with degrees in Huntsville is 0.2%, that's 2 out of 1000. Also, my company has a big presence here. With 10,000 more jobs coming here due to BRAC, the demand for my services is expected to be high - a good thing these days.

Texas is also an option. It's just that the way things panned out, Huntsville is working out for us now.

Huntsville (Madison County, AL) was rated by Forbes the number 1 place in the US to deal with this recession:


Huntsville, Alabama Top Affordable Place to Weather the Economic Downturn