Investor · Southern California · Member since 2011 · 155 posts · 13 votes
Hi, everyone, I will be moving to Orange county in 2018, and have been looking for nice neighbourhoods for both residence and investment. My preference is single family houses anywhere from 500k to 2m. Any recommendations will be high appreciated. And I will be more than happy to get connected with local investors, contractors and mortgage specialists. Thanks in advance for any recommendations and look forward to making local connections!
You’re farther from Los Angeles the more south you go.
You’ll want to be in central OC which is Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. North OC is nice as well. You have Tustin, Anaheim Hills and Yorba Linda. All great areas.
South OC is Dana Point/Laguna Niguel. Kinda far but houses are very nice down there.
Hey Aaron Xie, I personally like what they are doing in South Orange County, specifically Dana Point.
The city is revamping the Lantern District and Harbor, with the plan of adding numerous restaurants and shops.
The Dana Strand has properties for $20+ mill which is bringing a new energy and money to the beach town.
PM me and I can send you some links on new mixed use developments and harbor renovations that has been recently passed by the city. They should be completed within 2-5 years.
You’re farther from Los Angeles the more south you go.
You’ll want to be in central OC which is Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. North OC is nice as well. You have Tustin, Anaheim Hills and Yorba Linda. All great areas.
South OC is Dana Point/Laguna Niguel. Kinda far but houses are very nice down there.
@Aaron Xie We just moved from OC to Oregon. While we were in Orange County we lived in Newport Beach, Irvine and Lake Forest, and built spec houses in Lake Forest, Dana Point (Capistrano Beach) and in San Clemente. We also built a duplex in San Clemente. All of those areas are great areas. The closer to the ocean you are, the more expensive the homes. I love it down there, and may do some more projects there if we find anything that makes sense.
Go on Realtor.com and check out the houses in the different areas. Anytime you are on the west side of the freeway the properties are going to be more expensive. Will you be working there? If so, what area?
As far as investment, are you looking for properties where you will have long term tenants or wanting Vacation Rentals? Many areas are very good for VR, however; some areas have restrictions and aren't allowing any more permits. Are you interested in fixers or turn key?
If you see anything on realtor.com etc. message me and I'd be happy to give you my thoughts. You can see what we did down there by clicking onto my website, and look at sold properties.
I'm looking at a few 14-15% ROI deals in Apple Valley MN right now for the $140-$150k price point. My wife and I have done 450 tenant placement deals and 100 or so real estate transactions. Let me know if this interests you!
Thanks to all the replies and willingness to help!
@Karen Margrave I checked your website. Very beautiful properties. These would be perfect properties as family residences.
@Dani Sung I am looking for appreciation. I plan to live in the property for 3-5 years and sell it.
Someone suggests me to check out the Northwood neighbourhood, where foreign buyers especially those from Asian have been purchasing. Any thought or comment on that and surrounding areas? Thanks.
@Aaron Xie Irvine has a few different areas that fall into the demographic you're interested in, Northwood isn't my favorite part of Irvine, I like the part of Irvine closer to the beach. When I'm done with my current work assignment in Washington DC I'll be moving back home to the Newport Beach/Irvine area.
Northwood = 39% Asian
Northwood Point = 54% Asian
Lower Peter's Canyon = 47% Asian
The areas on the other side of the 405 Freeway closer to the beach are:
University Town Center = 45% Asian
Shady Canyon = 41% Asian
Quail Hill = 41% Asian
Have lived in Newport Beach for 6 years and confirm you can't go wrong for appreciation if you can afford a house there. As for Irvine, it's perfect for living, Northwood or elsewhere, it's very clean, safe, with great schools perfect for families. You just need to be careful in terms of value. You need to understand Irvine literally belongs to the Irvine Company for at least 50% of it's assets/communities/buildings both commercial and residential. So they make long term decisions and decide the price. As amazing as it may appear this is what they do. Giving details would require a book. For instance during post 2007 they managed to keep appreciations artificially high, by keeping unsold houses vacant. Consequence is they didn't enjoy the post 2012 boom (unlike Newport). So by buying in Irvine you are buying a piece of The Irvine Company. Appreciation would not be in line with "free market", it could be better or worse.
And obviously 100% of Irvine houses are within communities with HOA, with all the restrictions you can imagine. Paperwise they are all kinda condos. I don't like paying $1.5M for big condos. But you may not care.
For everything else @Karen Margrave said it all. Agree totally.
I like Los Alamitos. We just picked up 2 in Rossmoor (Los Alamitos), I love this area and it's friendly to McMansions. That said, we are taking them down from 2k sq ft and raising up to 4500-4800 sq ft. We paid about 1m each. Our rehab is 700k for as new construction with an expected exit price of $2.5m. I know it sounds like you are doing the buy and hold, but this area is very nice. If you decide to do some flips or if you find some good distressed deals that aren't a fit for you, send them my way.
@Aaron Xie When in 2018 are you going to be moving? Thank you for the compliments on our homes. We are now in Bend, OR, but may be going back down to OC later in the year to do something down there. We love the area, style of homes we can build etc.
As a previous poster noted, Irvine is a great place to live. It's always very clean, and well cared for. Wide sidewalks. Safe. We loved it when we lived there. We lived in a large Irvine Company complex. There are many Asian families that call Irvine home, as well as others from all over the world.
It all depends on what you're looking for. If you want cookie cutter, HOA, low maintenance, good schools, etc. you can't beat the Irvine Company communities. If you want a custom built, one of a kind home, then you'll have to go where there is the potential to find a vacant lot, which isn't easy in the coastal areas, but it is possible. That's what we focused on.
Let me know if there's anything I can help you with.
I've lived in Irvine through peek and crisis. I know all the rich Asian just keep purchasing, specially those property around UC Irvine. All rich international student around with their Bentley, Ferrari....
I still remember one of the most fancy mall Fashion Island, one of the biggest mall in USA, SouthCoast Plaza, and one of the best medical school UCI, there's Johnwayne airport, And many many medical manufacturing surround there, Christmas boat parade,......
@Aaron Xie - I've lived in Irvine four years and love it here. They're building new homes like crazy in the "Great Park" neighborhood in your price range. Lots of amenities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, ect. Let me know if I can help in any way.
@Aaron Xie, I'm a California real estate attorney, broker, and investor in Orange County and have lived in the OC for almost 15 years. Where you might want to live depends on what you're looking for and your life stage. For instance, if you have kids or a family, I would suggest Ladera Ranch, Rancho Santa Margarita, or Mission Viejo (where I live with my family), which is perhaps one of the most family-friendly cities in Orange County. If you love the beach, I would suggest Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, or parts of Costa Mesa. If you want slightly older homes that could be rehabbed, I would suggest Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, or surrounding cities. If you want some older homes close to the beach, I would suggest Dana Point, San Clemente, or parts of San Juan Capistrano. If you want large, sprawling homes, I would suggest Laguna Niguel, parts of Irvine, the Nellie Gail neighborhood of Laguna Hills, and the Covenant Hills neighborhood of Ladera Ranch. Lots of choices, all dependent on your preferences.
Welcome to OC. Happy to assist and network. I am sure you will so happy to leave that wheather behind however dynamic city to live in.i was visiting with my friend from Toronto last night and she explaining to how -2 is pretty good wheather!
There are a LOT of Real Estate Agents here on Bigger Pockets in Orange County, CA and most are very professional. Including me. I am an agent at First Team Real Estate in Seal Beach, Orange County, CA. I first got my license in 1982. As for investing in "The OC", I have done very well with appreciation but the rental income is very poor. A Million dollar house rents for $3,000 to $4,000 a month. I can take that same million dollars elsewhere and get $10,000 a month, or more. So if you want to bank on appreciation, go for it, but if you want cash flow, other markets might be more lucrative. I own 25 rentals but most of them are not in orange county because I am looking for cash flow.
Hi Aaron Xie and fellow Torontonian!
I moved to Orange County from Toronto several years back a loving it here!!
Don’t miss the shovels and salt one bit...happy to help you with your search as I am a local Realtor. I live in Irvine and can help you understand the different areas in OC and get to understand your needs and wants.
Let’s connect, send me a PM.
Thomas
Hello all. I too am looking into OC for my possible future investment/house hack. Unlike the OP though I'm hoping to find a nice duplex, triplex, or 4-plex. I'd like the best of both worlds with positive cash flow and appreciation, but if I have to choose I'll need the cash flow. However, as Mike McKinzie said, cash flow is not great. His figures are spot on at $1M = $3-$4k/month or even lower. I looked at a few properties in Anaheim Hills, Huntington Beach, and Irvine and was shocked at the low rents to cost ratio.
The other factor is that many of the newer areas have that expensive additional property tax of Mello Roos. I couldn't believe that in Irvine where there is much new development buzz, an $800k townhouse will pay upwards of 1.8% in addition to the regular CA tax. That's about $24k in PT alone, not to mention the HOA fees. YIKES! But still most of the properties I saw in one development were sold out.
@Gary F. sorry, i know I'm super late to this post, but where I've been finding better cash flow is real estate in Riverside with more properties in the 5-7% yield range.
In some cases, I've also found some positive cash flow in commercial residential in OC, however, the yield on these tend to be awful due to the large downpayment one has to throw in. Personally, I don't think in terms of market cycle, that now is the time to be buying for cash flow in OC.
$500000 single family is not in Orange County CA. Starting point inland is $650000 - coastal a million.
Irvine is generally 20% more expensive than any city because the schools are blue ribbon and High Schools highly rated. If you don't have children of school age, perhaps not useful to pay more per square foot.
As to comment on the ethnicity of Northwood - with trade war coming I expect we will see less Chinese buyers as they may be limited, sanctioned, or stopped from buying- only time will tell