Q about the area?? Maybe getting transferred there soon.

[noschmo]

Why not get into the car and make the short trip to the area and visit, talk with real estate people etc. There is no subsitute for doing the foot work yourself. I recently bought a ranch in Tucson. Did a lot of reading and made 9 visits before I purchased. I spoke with local people and did not post on a forum for my info. Try it out! I remain in Socal as I have a business here. I fly home every other weekend on Southworst Airlines!

 

[golfish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7711663#post7711663 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mr James

Golfish, $450k does not sound very affordable for my checkbook. I hope the regular housing is somewhat affordable.

This was about two years back, prices were on the rise but better then now...I'm talking huge house, maybe 3500sf plus 10 acres. I think he paid 469K for it but that included a pool, jacuzzi, large Kennel, huge barn with living area plus a few other fun things.

 

[Wilafur]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7711435#post7711435 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NicoleC
Earthquake insurance is available through the state at set rates. Rates are high and coverage is slight, but if you own a home, you want it.

the CEA lowered rates as of july 1st to a more reasonable rate. obviously if you live on or near a fault line, don't expect to see much savings.

 

[Mr James]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7713983#post7713983 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by noschmo
Why not get into the car and make the short trip to the area and visit, talk with real estate people etc. There is no subsitute for doing the foot work yourself. I recently bought a ranch in Tucson. Did a lot of reading and made 9 visits before I purchased. I spoke with local people and did not post on a forum for my info. Try it out! I remain in Socal as I have a business here. I fly home every other weekend on Southworst Airlines!

But you didn't answer my question.

Why not jump in the car and drive 1800 miles one way?? I may just do that, but first I am going to gather some opinions about the area.

 

[JenDub]

hehe I think he thought you were already at the base in Ca, Florida is a looooong haul, it would be cheaper to fly with gas, car rental & time involved =)

I love this thread- glad that I'm not the only Cali native who's depressed & bitter about getting run out of my homestate by housing prices :lol:

 

[jjirsa78]

Seriously, I want to be positive. I want to say it's a great place to live. I think it's a lie.

Personally, you couldn't pay me to live near Edwards. The weather is horrible, and the crime is off the charts. Check it - violent crime in lancaster/palmdale is as common as compton or watts, and there are fewer LA Sherriffs officers per person than in any other area of the county. You can get away from some of it by moving south/west towards canyon country, but that puts you closer to the valley, which has its own set of problems.

If it were me, and I had young children, I wouldn't make the move. The only real advantage to LA is the salary, which may not carry over if you're on an FL based contract, and even if it did, it's usually eaten up by CA housing costs

But yes, I'm depressed and bitter. And on my way out ...

 

[®eefer]

I am so bitter, making very close to 6 figures, 10-99'd and I can barely afford a fixer-upper. More like a small condo on an interest only ARM. Need to get back home, but it's just as bad and much harder to make a living.

 

[jjirsa78]

cooltank - over 6 figures, and in the same boat We passed on a decent 2 bedroom condo in Laguna Niguel in 2004 at $370, now very much regretting that decision as it's back on the market for $520.

 

[NicoleC]

You guys are looking in the wrong places. You can get a 1200 sq ft condo in a nice section of Orange for $400k, with HOA < $200. Or at least you could have, but the last one sold last weekend.

Is $400k a lot of money for a condo? Yep. But you aren't flushing your money away on rent. Granted, no one drives a $60,000 Beamer in my complex, and the only amentity we have is the pool and the clubhouse, but that's just setting priorities.

Of course, you could go to Irvine for new construction and fork over $450k for a 550 sq ft single in a high rise with undeclared HOA dues and Mello Roos that you can't move into for 6 months. I don't even want to think of what those new condos in Anaheim are going to cost!

 

[bergzy]

as i have lived in various parts of the country in my younger years (school etc)...

i have observed some things that seem to be 'normal'...

- 'almost' all housing along the west coast and southeast/northeast coast is disproportionally higher (much higher) than the rest of the country...barring of course larger metropoliton areas in the midwest like chicago and select 'elite' communities like big sky in montana.
- high priced real estate has a reason...people intentionally choose to live here for whatever reasons...climate, ammenities, political climate etc. each has their own plus and minuses.

i am not an east coast person so i never lived there. i have visited several times but i never called it home so i am not qualified to have an opinion in this area.

the midwest was where most of my upper education occured. great place to raise a family with better 'values' (subjective) but on a whole...it was hard for those who lived there all their lives to expand their world.

the pacific nothwest was where i was born and raised. a very liberal place (in general) to live imo. i dont know if every university was like my undergrad one but the pacific northwest one i attended almost always had some protest rally going on (nuclear, save the trees, dolphins, stop logging etc). i just wanted to go to school...not endlessly sign my name on some petition about saving some new worm that is indigenous to an old growth forest.

so, it comes down to southern california...

i know a lot of people will not agree with me but southern california is actually the most balanced and sane place i have ever lived. there is a balance of conservative and liberal. again, i dont expect a lot of people to agree with me on that one as well.

yes, there are problems here but there were 'problems' with every place i lived. nowhere is 'perfect'. what do i like about socal? the weather, the diversity, the food, the amount of surrounding recreation facilities, mountains/oceans moments away and the list goes on. i really cant think of any other place in the us with what we have here.

yes, housing is through the roof (hahaha) and energy costs are outrageous but how many of us really HEAT our homes like those poor guys in northwest, midwest and northeast?

the rest of the nation thinks we have nothing but earthquakes and while they do occur, we dont have earthquake season like florida et al does with hurricanes. funny that not a whole lot of people mention that the pacific northwest in recent history had a huge earthquake and is still waiting for the really BIG one!

with every area...there will be good places to live and lesser areas. the best thing is, if it were me, is to check out the area's/cities demographics (pleasantly linked ala me!) and then contact a local real estate agent to start asking questions as you become more serious.

if i were moving to a new area and asking the 'locals', chances are, while important, you may get a biased response and not a full representation of the area. ask around for a good real estate agent who you feel comfortable with and ask questions (i did this each time even though i just rented. if you are polite, chances are good that someone will take a few minutes and help you out).

just my 2 cents and that is exactly how much it is worth.

 

[jjirsa78]

Nicole - not to thread-jack, but cross streets?

 

[®eefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7718987#post7718987 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NicoleC
You guys are looking in the wrong places. You can get a 1200 sq ft condo in a nice section of Orange for $400k, with HOA < $200. Or at least you could have, but the last one sold last weekend.

Is $400k a lot of money for a condo? Yep. But you aren't flushing your money away on rent. Granted, no one drives a $60,000 Beamer in my complex, and the only amentity we have is the pool and the clubhouse, but that's just setting priorities.

Of course, you could go to Irvine for new construction and fork over $450k for a 550 sq ft single in a high rise with undeclared HOA dues and Mello Roos that you can't move into for 6 months. I don't even want to think of what those new condos in Anaheim are going to cost!

last one just sold...
hahahaha kinda like getting handed a hot beer with a comment like "It was cold yesterday!!"

Serious those places in Irvine are ridiculous. Unless you have a few hundred k to throw down, it's retarded
to spend $5k+ a month for a crappy one bedroom.

 

[JenDub]

Condos in my complex are going for $373K; single level, 1000sqft. We have a pool & clubhouse like most of the other 60 year old complexes =)

My neighbor is moving out in August to a retirement community- you guys better come quick =) They sell usually in a week or less...

 

[thing1]

400k gets you 2bd 2ba condo w/attached garage in old Tustin. Everything is close to here.

 

[reefpeep2004]

My son is a Sargeant in the Air Force. He was just stationed at Edwards 6 weeks ago. It's hot as hades (think 105 as a normal temp almost all summer long) and there's nowhere "close" that you'd want to live. He commutes from Valencia and it's an hour and 20 minutes out to the base. Better buy a cheap good mileage car (he did). His truck gets about 14 miles to the gallon, so it stays parked most of the time. :lol: Housing allowance sucks at Edwards since they use some geographic radius that somehow doesn't include Lancaster. Therefore it's somewhere around $900 a month. You can barely find a one bedroom apartment for that. Good luck. You'll need it.

 

[bromion]

I agree, Canyon Country and Valencia are good choices for where to live. Both sparse suburban areas. Canyon Country is really lovely, with rolling hills and canyons everywhere in sight (with vegetation -- not desert style). Valencia is OK as suburbs go. It's a booming housing-development area catering to LA commuters. Even more supply in housing should be available in the next few months/years if the Magic Mountain site is converted into a housing zone. Not that it'll help prices much....

 

[NicoleC]

Well, I agree with you, Ben. A few years back I got a wild hair about how LA was horrible and I had to move. Shortly thereafter I was sitting in gridlock on my way to work wondering, "I moved out of LA for this?!"

After college I did the same thing. I didn't even have the truck packed before I realized I had made a horrible mistake.

The grass is always greener, I know. Anyway, my complex is at Tustin and Meats. If you lookup the crime rates it looks about average, but we're in a shopping district and across from the mall, so the shoplifting drives up the statistics.

The big two bedrooms rarely go up for sale. We have a small two bedroom (~1050? ~1100?) listed a $395, but it's been on the market for months and months, so I suspect it's a dog. Also an 800 sq ft 1 bedroom for $335, which is not selling because it's listed too high although they'll get it eventually. A completely gutted/remodelled 1 bedroom went for $330 just a month or two ago and there's no way the unit for sale right now is as clean and nice. 1 bedroom HOA is $157. All units have a single garage plus a parking spot. We had a gang of places go up at once and these are the last two. I think a lot of buyers got scared off thinking something bad was happening to force these sales all at once, but it was just coincidence.

As others have noted, there are options around. There are a lot of 30-40-50 year old condo complexes tucked away in places you wouldn't expect. They aren't swanky and trendy so they don't show up on the casual shopper's radar. You just have to be sure ot check out the fiscal health of the complex.

 

[BonsaiNut]

FWIW...

Housing market in Southern Cal is really starting to soften. Last contraction saw some housing prices drop 40%. I wouldn't buy in this market - rent is the way to go. Once prices start to fall, condos and high-end ($2 million +) properties fall first. Condos turn more frequently than detached homes, so when market goes soft there is often a glut of inventory on the market and prices drop fast (especially since many condos are owned by real estate investors who rent them out).

Edwards is in the middle of nowhere but the land is cheap. Problem is that if you want to get close to good schooling and retail centers the cost goes up fast because you have to move toward the Valley or Inland Empire. Boy does it get hot up there during the Summer - we're talking Arizona hot without cheap electricity. Winters are nice though - I go camping up in the area at least once a year when it is cool. Skies at night are crystal clear - I can see stars I forgot were out there

Went to the air show at Edwards a few years ago. Saw an SR-71 fly. You should have seen that thing dump fuel at some ungodly altitude - it was going mach 2+ and actually was throwing off two sonic booms - one from its nose and one from its tail. Crazy.