$850k-$1.3mill house wanted, but WHERE??

Laguna21 said:
We have lived in both the OC and L.A and I can tell you right now, that commute from Irvine, or anywhere in Orange County will wear on you, especially with 1 child, and 1 on the way.

L.A traffic is insane, and so unpredictable, sometimes it can take an hour to get home (Which is on the good side) and other times it can take 3 hours to get home.

Depending on what time of day you are working, expect hellish commute times.

If I were you, and given your budget, I would be looking at a home in either La Ca?ada Flintridge or San Marino - they are not close to the beach, but the schools are A+ in that area, San Marino has some of the top ranked schools in California.

The homes are in your budget, and you won't be dealing with the long commute from Orange County.

Just speaking from experience, if we had to do it all over again, we would NOT commute from OC to L.A or vice versa. I can't even stand going up there for a weekend trip let alone a daily commute. But everyone has varying tolerance for traffic, and our tolerance level for traffic and congestion is practical nil.;)

Another thing you could try is renting before buying - if you are dead set on the OC, rent for 6 months, and see how your commute is. If you end up hating it, at least you didn't purchase a house before fully knowing just how bad that traffic can be.
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My hubby took significantly less $ and no stock options to work in the OC rather than LA back in 1998..... the commute time/stress was THAT bad. After several years his company was sold and he had to take the train to Sand Diego. When that assignment was done he had to take the train to Burbank. The economy went down the rabbit hole or he would have taken even less to get a job in the OC. Unfortunately after all that time he got older..... not good in the tech world. Fortunately one of the people from his last job wanted him and he finally got that job in the OC...... right down Von Karman.

He can't believe he put up with that God Awful commute for so long.

Buy near your job.
 
Laguna21 said:
We have lived in both the OC and L.A and I can tell you right now, that commute from Irvine, or anywhere in Orange County will wear on you, especially with 1 child, and 1 on the way.

L.A traffic is insane, and so unpredictable, sometimes it can take an hour to get home (Which is on the good side) and other times it can take 3 hours to get home.

Depending on what time of day you are working, expect hellish commute times.

If I were you, and given your budget, I would be looking at a home in either La Ca?ada Flintridge or San Marino - they are not close to the beach, but the schools are A+ in that area, San Marino has some of the top ranked schools in California.

The homes are in your budget, and you won't be dealing with the long commute from Orange County.

Just speaking from experience, if we had to do it all over again, we would NOT commute from OC to L.A or vice versa. I can't even stand going up there for a weekend trip let alone a daily commute. But everyone has varying tolerance for traffic, and our tolerance level for traffic and congestion is practical nil.;)

Another thing you could try is renting before buying - if you are dead set on the OC, rent for 6 months, and see how your commute is. If you end up hating it, at least you didn't purchase a house before fully knowing just how bad that traffic can be.
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The renting advice is the best advice given....rent a home in the Irvine area and see what you think of the commute.  If it's killing you, then you know you should be looking for a home closer to work.
 
USCTrojanCPA said:
The renting advice is the best advice given....rent a home in the Irvine area and see what you think of the commute.  If it's killing you, then you know you should be looking for a home closer to work.
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I disagree.  Why would you go through all the hassles of moving just to find out how bad the traffic is?  You could rent a hotel room in Irvine for a day and do the same.

It's at least 2 hours from Irvine to LA if you leave at 6am.  Then coming back is another 2 hours so that's 4 hours and that's if there's no accidents.  I'm not exaggerating.  It really is 2 hours one way.  No sane person thinks that's acceptable.  Let's not forget gas, insurance, and maintenance cost between both of you which is going to add up to about $800/mo.  Financially it makes no sense either. 
 
SoclosetoIrvine said:
lnc said:
Oh come on guys, OP has his eye on Irvine and sounds like you guys are trying to talk him out of it.  :)
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HAHA my bad! Irvine is the best!
Who cares about the commute when you have the best schools and neighborhood?!

Here's your solution: Go buy a Irvine house and get a tesla.  I just went on a test drive event at costa mesa and I'm sold on the autopilot!! It won't be much of a commute when you put it on autopilot mode.  Just sit tight and let it do its thing and relax in your Irvine home  >:D
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Make sure you buy a good life insurance policy before using the Autopilot feature.
 
collected said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
The renting advice is the best advice given....rent a home in the Irvine area and see what you think of the commute.  If it's killing you, then you know you should be looking for a home closer to work.
Click to expand...

I disagree.  Why would you go through all the hassles of moving just to find out how bad the traffic is?  You could rent a hotel room in Irvine for a day and do the same.

It's at least 2 hours from Irvine to LA if you leave at 6am.  Then coming back is another 2 hours so that's 4 hours and that's if there's no accidents.  I'm not exaggerating.  It really is 2 hours one way.  No sane person thinks that's acceptable.  Let's not forget gas, insurance, and maintenance cost between both of you which is going to add up to about $800/mo.  Financially it makes no sense either.
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AT LEAST two hours from either Burbank of Santa Monica to Irvine/Tustin leaving at 5 or 6 pm. There were many days it took my hubby nearly 4 hours to get home. Salary/Stock Options were great from the first job but the time to get there and home wasn't worth it.
 
SoclosetoIrvine said:
lnc said:
Oh come on guys, OP has his eye on Irvine and sounds like you guys are trying to talk him out of it.  :)
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HAHA my bad! Irvine is the best!
Who cares about the commute when you have the best schools and neighborhood?!

Here's your solution: Go buy a Irvine house and get a tesla.  I just went on a test drive event at costa mesa and I'm sold on the autopilot!! It won't be much of a commute when you put it on autopilot mode.  Just sit tight and let it do its thing and relax in your Irvine home  >:D
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I have a Tesla with autopilot and while it's much better than cruise control, it ain't self driving and I still avoid LA/traffic like the plague. I don't think traffic will be bearable until cars are fully autonomous level 4 or 5 and you can nap or work or watch TV while the car drives you.
 
Pasadena or San Marino is probably your best bet for decent commutes to downtown LA and Commerce with nice homes and good schools. I would not get a place in OC, you'll hate the commute for sure and hardly have family time.
When we moved to OC I made sure we got a home with a 10-15 min MAX commute on surface streets to my work place. My husband works remotely so he's home all day. It's a huge advantage to enhance our quality of life and spending time with our children. We've both done the 3 hour daily commutes in LA and refuse to ever go back to "that" situation EVER.
 
Paris said:
Pasadena or San Marino is probably your best bet for decent commutes to downtown LA and Commerce with nice homes and good schools. I would not get a place in OC, you'll hate the commute for sure and hardly have family time.
When we moved to OC I made sure we got a home with a 10-15 min MAX commute on surface streets to my work place. My husband works remotely so he's home all day. It's a huge advantage to enhance our quality of life and spending time with our children. We've both done the 3 hour daily commutes in LA and refuse to ever go back to "that" situation EVER.
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Good suggestion, however I would choose South Pas > Pasadena. I would throw in Arcadia.

Also, you can ride the gold line light rail to downtown la. (20 minute ride?) There are stations in South Pas, Pas, Arcadia

 
eyephone said:
Paris said:
Pasadena or San Marino is probably your best bet for decent commutes to downtown LA and Commerce with nice homes and good schools. I would not get a place in OC, you'll hate the commute for sure and hardly have family time.
When we moved to OC I made sure we got a home with a 10-15 min MAX commute on surface streets to my work place. My husband works remotely so he's home all day. It's a huge advantage to enhance our quality of life and spending time with our children. We've both done the 3 hour daily commutes in LA and refuse to ever go back to "that" situation EVER.
Click to expand...

Good suggestion, however I would choose South Pas > Pasadena. I would throw in Arcadia.

Also, you can ride the gold line light rail to downtown la. (20 minute ride?) There are stations in South Pas, Pas, Arcadia
Click to expand...

Pasadena does not have good schools. South Pas does, but the homes are VERY exorbitant there.

For the price range they are looking at, La Ca?ada Flintridge & San Marino are the best bets. San Marino has some of the highest ranked public schools in California along with La Ca?ada.

The traffic is horrid - do not do it, trust me, you will regret it 1 week in.

L.A has some nice suburban areas you can live in that aren't close to the city. La Ca?ada still gives you that suburban feel while still having all the amenities of living in L.A. San Marino is also very pretty, and they both have nice homes. Plus you can avoid that cookie cutter feel of Orange County, but be prepared to fix up your home unless the work has been done.

Also a side note - some of the homes in La Ca?ada are not all connected to city sewer - so make sure to double check listings as the area is so old, there are still some homes using septic systems! #Gross
 
Ugh I had to train from Irvine for work twice in 1 week and it sucked. 1 day luckily I was able to count my commute time in my 8 hour day, I was literally in DTLA office from 9:30-2:45 working. The next day was a long day. It took like 1.5-1.75 hours each way once you gotta shuttle to your building then home.

We made the choice of living in South OC to be close to work (5 min for him, 20 for me). We just travel further on weekends to see family and friends in North/Central OC, LA, and Cerritos. Better to make your daily commute short then travel where needed on weekends IMO.
 
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