cliffords

Hi there
I have been offered a job in Aliso Veijo in southern California and had my visa accepted etc etc - I am due to move in a month or so from London.
I was hoping someone may be able to provide me with some information on cost of living, rentals propertys, advice on where to live.
I have been looking online at areas to live - such as Carlsbad, San Clemente as I am a keen surfer - does anyone have any good advice?
Thanks

Bob

Welcome to BE

Have a search, there's probably a bit of info on the wiki, and there's certainly been some info on Cali in the forums...

Though it'll depend on if your on your own or have a family, how long your willing to commute, that kind of stuff...

Edit to add: search realtor.com craigslist and if your on facebook, the marketing section will have info on places to live etc.

DollyLlama

Hello and welcome to BE

cliffords

Thanks for the suggestions!

I would be happy with an 45 min to hour commute to Aliso Veijo, close to ocean for surf. It will be my wife and I - so perhaps a 2bedroom place - does anyone have any suggestions on areas to look at? or alternative websites? A good indication of cost of a 2br in areas would be good!
I have had a look on craigslist - and it appears to vary quite a bit!!

Any advice would be greatly appareciated!

penguinsix

http://www.city-data.com/forum would also be a good place to post a message.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

General rule -- closer you live to coast -- the higher the expenses. In considering Carlsbad, also consider Oceanside [housing is depressed because a lot of Jarheads are deployed in Iraq]. Do note that if you are considering the "North County" area of San Diego, that big area between Oceanside and San Clemente is the Marine Corps base of Camp Pendleton. There are only two ways to transit the military base -- Interstate 5 or train. The train service is quite good and I've known people to commute using it.

Also, consider going north a tad. Huntington Beach considers itself "Surf City".

You don't say what type of housing you like. Orange County tends to have new developments and might be described as either 'condo-land' or 'townhouse-land.' However, parts of Costa Mesa have older single family detached housing. [And "older" in the O.C. sense is 50's & 60's].

If you live further north in O.C., do note that there is an alternative toll road.

On prices, I can't help you -- I live in Los Angeles. You might want to consider looking into some type of long-term hotel place intitially until you get the lay of the land. [e.g. Oakwood].

On prices, please note that many things are large flux right now due to the sub-prime financial problems.

Alan17

I'm in San Marcos (next town inland from Calsbad if you ignore Visa, which is a good idea :-) ).

My wife surfs at various beaches from Solana Beach up to Carlsbad, theres plenty of variety depending on what you want. The housing can be expensive depending what you're looking for, but theres several apartment complexes up and down the coast. I'd recommend renting for 6 months until you find what you want. As someone said theres plenty of Marines deployed so the rental market is a buyers market right now, although I'd avoid Oceanside. If you want to commute try to find somewhere near the beach as its close to I-5, and also thats where the train runs. If you want to commute up north probably Carlsbad or Encinitas is best.

Traffic on the 5 is usually OK, it clams up around the Del Mar fairgrounds so stay north of there. The commute all the way up to Irvine is usually OK in the mornings - takes me 50 minutes to get from San Marcos to Newport Beach (only slightly faster than I should.....)

Socal Local

If you are considering living a fair distance from work, you will definitely want to try out the commute at busy times before committing to any kind of longer term lease - parts of the I-5 can be a nightmare. I have a colleague that commutes from Ocenside to just south of Del Mar and it frequently takes him 1.5 hours. Having said that the toll road might help, but the costs add up.

In addition to craigslist, www.sdreader.com has quite a lot of listings for rentals in the Carlsbad/Oceanside area. I am in San Diego and down here if you want to be anywhere near the beach you would be looking at around $1800 - $2000 pcm for a reasonable sized 2 bed place - you do see listings for less but there is usually a reason why! The alternative to searching classifieds is to move into an apartment building - if you are interested in doing this I found this site very useful for getting reviews of different buildings: http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/CA.html

You haven't said anything about the logistics of your move over here, but if at all possible I would definitely try to do a visit over in advance to suss out different areas and have a look at some apartment complexes, or alternatively find some short term accomodation (like a suite hotel) when you first get here so you have time to have a look around. The last thing you want to do is be committed to a one year lease only to find you could have got something much better.

Bob

blimey...california is suddenly not looking to expensive...

BritGuyTN

WTF?!

cliffords

Hi All

Thanks for all the advice. I will check out those websites mentioned.

Excuse my naivity but there is alot of mention of 'condo's, townhouse etc' - can anyone explain these terms to me! I am more familiar with victorian terrace, semi, detached!! :-)

I have some relatives in Corona and San Diego - so I am planning on staying with relatives in Corona and commuting to Aliso Veijo until I can find somewhere near the water! Does anyone know approx commute?

I was thinking of $2000 a month max for rental - and looking into possibly buying a property after a period of time - I guess this requires a credit score? I was reading on the forum this, all sounds quite complicated. For instance I will need a car - would I qualify for a loan/finance for a car?? I guess where I am at now I will have to suck it and see as the move is happening quite soon!

Anymore suggestions would be great! Thanks again!!

Bob

I'm living way out in the suburbs of no where and I'm paying only slightly less than that, for a 1 bed apartment in a nice block across town is $1900...anything with half decent parking in a decent place like Cambridge is $2500 easy...sure you can find cheaper, for a reason, but anything semi nice...and forget about a place with waterside views

Bob

The wiki explains how to get credit quite well, and getting a loan on a car ain't to hard, it's just a matter of getting a decent rate, anyway, quite a few threads on how to improve things there.

And a condo is a block of flats.

USBound

hey bob... i pay $1400 for a 3000sqrft house in the burbs of Chicago (Naperville, the most expensive)... you're getting screwed up there man.

RoadWarriorFromLP

A "condo(minium)" is, most strictly speaking, a form of ownership, but for your purposes, it probably means renting an attached flat that is owned by a private individual. It is also sometimes used as a form of puffery in rental ads, because renters presume that condos are superior to typical apartments, so be sure that you don't allow anyone to fool you with the jargon.

A "townhouse" is an apartment or condo that has more than one floor. (Usually, the living room and kitchen would be below, the bedrooms above.) The implication here is that no one lives above or below you, so this benefit often results in higher rent.

Your commute from Corona will not be fun. You will not want to be doing that for very long, it will make you nostalgic for the M25 in no time, as if you ever believed that to be possible...

Most of Orange County is suburbia. You will need a car (or two, in the case of your wife.) Commuting to Carlsbad would put you with peak traffic (tends to be heavier northbound in the AM, southbound in the PM, although both directions can be difficult at either time), and I wouldn't suggest it unless the thought of staring at taillights turns you on.

In proximity to your work, all of the beach areas are decent but expensive in comparison to the rest of the area, and in many instances not in line with your budget. Newport Beach is snooty but blessed with the pretty people and the botox crowd, Corona del Mar is just expensive, Laguna has a gay and artsy element that makes it a tiny semi-liberal pocket in a very conservative area, and Huntington touts itself as surfer's paradise. For something a bit sleepier, consider San Clemente or Dana Point.

The areas around your office may be a good place to consider to begin looking for housing. It's blandtastic suburbia and not particularly cheap, but it should be pleasant enough, with most of the housing still relatively new. Keep in mind, though, that it could save you money by allowing you to get away with owning just one car (presuming the wife carts you around or you carpool with a co-worker -- mass transit is not optimal there), plus it could save you the money that you'd otherwise be paying for tolls.

You could save a bit of money while being in reasonable proximity (via car) to the beach by looking at Costa Mesa as an alternative. As a general rule, being east of Newport Blvd. is considered to be better than being west of it, where you can find pockets of barrio (not good). It also can be a bit funkier and somewhat more liberal than the rest of OC, if that turns you on.

Given the latest mortgage crisis, if renting from a private individual, I'd suggest that you do a bit more research to make sure that you aren't renting from some two-bit small-time speculator who is about to default on his mortgage. I don't wish to overstate this, but it's something to consider.