Moorpark, buying townhouse, near college? (Los Angeles, Oxnard: for sale, real estate, rental)

[robnorth]

We're in Camarillo (Ventura County) right now, and thinking about buying a house. Right now, the best balance between affordability and keeping a short commute looks like townhouses in Moorpark. There are some "downtown", but I think I'd prefer to live closer to the College.

There are a bunch of townhouses that we could squeeze into that are in the $200-250k range in that area. Looks like they were mostly built in the 1970's.

Does anyone have any experience with that area? What kind of shape are those townhouses in, how are the HOA's, etc.?


(Background: I've been living and working in Camarillo for almost 2 years, and my family (wife, 4 teen/preteen daughters) joined me a year ago April. We moved here from Canada.)

(We're starting to think we might stay here, especially if I get an H-1B visa (instead of the TN I have now) in the next few months. But on my income alone (wife can't work until we get green cards, which is 3-5 years down the road), we can't afford much of anything in Camarillo.)

(For reference, we're currently renting a half-duplex in Camarillo: $1750/mo., 3 br/2 ba, 1281 sq.ft. It looks like a townhouse in the $250k range, 5% downpayment with FHA, 30 yr mortgage, plus HOA fees would work out to be a similar amount per month. We can't really afford much more than that right now.)

[Charles]

Originally Posted by robnorth

Does anyone have any experience with that area?

Welcome to the club - I have four daughters too, 10, 8, 6, and 2. Hey, at least we'll never need nursing home insurance - we're raising our own skilled nursing facility.

I used to live in the homes behind the little mini-mall off Princeton. Moorpark High School is very good and has won Academic Decathlon(s). Moorpark College is an excellent school in a pretty and comfortable environment. The area is quiet and family oriented. Very convenient to the 118 freeway east though the drive to Camarillo is either using 118 highway west or the longer 23/101 route. I used the 23/101 route to get out to Point Mugu even though it was a longer drive. The 118 is dangerous and nerve wracking.
Easy access to Simi and Thousand Oaks amenities though Moorpark has added amenities since I moved away in 1997. Excellent place if you like cycling.

The schools are all good except, very, very surprisingly, Campus Canyon Elementary (I vaguely remember that getting built????). CCES only scores a Great Schools 6 out of 10 but the middle and high schools in Moorpark are 8 and up.

California School Performance Maps

Finally, one other big advantage of Moorpark (vs. Camarillo) is "Plan B" jobs potential. If you ever have to find another job, Moorpark is less than one hour from Ventura and Burbank and even downtown Los Angeles using the train or commuting off hours.

Since I haven't been there in several years, I recommend you drive around. When I left there were a few homes that "looked" like they housed more than one family. This may be in some of the older SFR (probably low rent) homes which are adjacent to the freeway.

[robnorth]

Originally Posted by Charles

I used to live in the homes behind the little mini-mall off Princeton.

Since I haven't been there in several years, I recommend you drive around. When I left there were a few homes that "looked" like they housed more than one family. This may be in some of the older SFR (probably low rent) homes which are adjacent to the freeway.

Thanks! Which part of Princeton? N. Princeton north of the 118? The bit in the curve of the 23/118 around Virginia Colony Park/Avenida Colonia? Or the bit west of the 23 before it turns into High St? My girls are getting close enough to graduating that I like the idea of being near the College, in case they don't want to run away to university right away.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by robnorth

Thanks! Which part of Princeton? N. Princeton north of the 118? The bit in the curve of the 23/118 around Virginia Colony Park/Avenida Colonia? Or the bit west of the 23 before it turns into High St? My girls are getting close enough to graduating that I like the idea of being near the College, in case they don't want to run away to university right away.

Yes, north of the 118 on Westwood Street.

[robnorth]

Originally Posted by Charles

Yes, north of the 118 on Westwood Street.

Nice looking area. Sadly, the houses there that are for sale right now are all in the $350-400k range, which is a bit beyond us.

Although ... I wonder if any of those houses have granny suites for renting out to students?

(When we bought our house in Surrey BC in 2005, we couldn't have afforded to buy it but for the two "basement suites" we rented out.)

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Have you considered River Park in Oxnard? They have 4 bed 2 bath town homes in the mid 200 range. Also these places are new. We have 2 sons at the middle school at River Park, they also have a K - 5th grade school. Not sure on test scores though, although my kids do well within the school. It is much cooler in Oxnard than Moorpark or Camarillo, cooling will be less of an issue.

[DowntownVentura]

I am fairly familiar with those condos (Varsity Park et al). Each little group is a separate HOA and one in particular is not that great of an HOA. I put in an offer a few months ago (short sale) and waiting for it to run its course. My intent is to use it for a rental.

You are right in that they are better than the ones downtown. Much better. Even better yet are the ones near Tierra Rejada and Mountain Trail (Villagio and Traditions) but I think they are going to start around mid $300's.

My suggestion is to consider houses in the Campus Park area (where the condo is that you checked). You may find it close to the mid 200's you were going to spend and with the $400 or so HOA fee saved, it may be a wash.

Moorpark is a great area, good choice of a town.

[robnorth]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Have you considered River Park in Oxnard? They have 4 bed 2 bath town homes in the mid 200 range. Also these places are new. We have 2 sons at the middle school at River Park, they also have a K - 5th grade school. Not sure on test scores though, although my kids do well within the school. It is much cooler in Oxnard than Moorpark or Camarillo, cooling will be less of an issue.

Yes, I've looked at those. For example, I just found one 4+4 online for $250k in the area where the property tax is only $3995/yr. $1186 mtge payment, $220 HOA, $333/mo property tax, total $1739. That we could manage.

For a lot of those new ones, though, when I looked at the details, the taxes are a killer. $8,000/yr? That's over $650/mo. Puts them way out of reach.

Details: I'm paying $1750/mo. now for rent, plus utilities. I can afford to pay about that much for buying. The tax benefit of being able to deduct mortgage interest here (we ain't got that in Canada) will roughly balance out the FHA premiums we'll have to pay ('cause there's no WAY we'll have a 20% downpayment; 5% is probably the best we can manage). And I'm not getting an ARM at some ridiculously low rate, 'cause five years from now you KNOW the interest rates will be higher, and then we'll be hosed.

[robnorth]

Originally Posted by DowntownVentura

My suggestion is to consider houses in the Campus Park area (where the condo is that you checked). You may find it close to the mid 200's you were going to spend and with the $400 or so HOA fee saved, it may be a wash.

Looking quickly online now, the cheapest 3-br detached houses in the area are in the $330k range. Taxes look ugly, though; the one I'm looking at says $5469/yr. Add that $456/mo. to a $1565/mo. mortgage payment, and it might be a tad out of reach.

On the other hand, that one's a 4-br, and we could always rent one room to a student. (We've done that kind of thing before.) And prices could always come down further in the next year or so. (We might not make the final decision on yes-we're-staying-let's-buy-now until after New Year's.) So we'll see. Thanks!

[DowntownVentura]

Originally Posted by robnorth

Looking quickly online now, the cheapest 3-br detached houses in the area are in the $330k range. Taxes look ugly, though; the one I'm looking at says $5469/yr. Add that $456/mo. to a $1565/mo. mortgage payment, and it might be a tad out of reach.

On the other hand, that one's a 4-br, and we could always rent one room to a student. (We've done that kind of thing before.) And prices could always come down further in the next year or so. (We might not make the final decision on yes-we're-staying-let's-buy-now until after New Year's.) So we'll see. Thanks!

The property taxes you see is what the current rates are. Yours will likely adjust down to match your purchase price.

Go here WebTax and put in the address. There you will see how much the house is currently assessed for and how the property tax is calculated. On the Property Tax detail link, you will see the line "Prop 13 Tax Maximum 1%". Use your purchase price on that line.



I went through this on a rental I bought last year. I bought a property at $200,000 less than the current assessed value. The first year I had to pay the full tax. Then they finally got around to adjusting it and I received a refund check from the county for $2,000 and my new bill going forward reflects my purchase price as the assessed value. It took about one year to adjust.

You results may be different but I am pretty sure Ventura County is doing this automatically. If not, you can always appeal the assessed value. I don't think it will be necessary.

What are you using to find properties? Real Estate Search | Redfin works pretty well. I set the map to the approximate section you are looking.

If you are looking for houses, the area around the college (northeast of Campus Park & Collins) is better. They are priced a little higher but recently a couple went through in the mid $300's.

The area bound by Princeton/Campus Park/Collins/Highway-118 is the lower end in that section. (not low end overall, just of the campus park area) and you are likely to find the lowest prices there. If you can find something outside of that section at your price, you would have scored a good deal.