Irvine to Santa Clarita - Looking for Insights

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Lanelgn

Lanelgn

Member
Considering a Move to Santa Clarita .......

In the past few months, several of my friends have either moved to or are planning to relocate to Santa Clarita. Naturally, it got me curious about what life is really like in the area.

For those of you who are familiar with Santa Clarita, I would love to hear more about your experiences. How would you describe the community and lifestyle there? Are there any hidden gems or challenges newcomers should know about?

Additionally, I'd like to learn more about the local economy:

  • What is the job market like? Are there certain industries that are thriving, or ones to avoid?
  • How affordable is housing? Are there any tips for finding a good place to live, or neighborhoods that are more family-friendly?
  • What is the potential for future growth in the area? Is the city expanding, or do you see it maintaining its current size and pace?
Any insights, tips, or personal stories would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your help!
 
Lanelgn said:
Considering a Move to Santa Clarita .......

In the past few months, several of my friends have either moved to or are planning to relocate to Santa Clarita. Naturally, it got me curious about what life is really like in the area.

For those of you who are familiar with Santa Clarita, I would love to hear more about your experiences. How would you describe the community and lifestyle there? Are there any hidden gems or challenges newcomers should know about?

Additionally, I'd like to learn more about the local economy:

  • What is the job market like? Are there certain industries that are thriving, or ones to avoid?
  • How affordable is housing? Are there any tips for finding a good place to live, or neighborhoods that are more family-friendly?
  • What is the potential for future growth in the area? Is the city expanding, or do you see it maintaining its current size and pace?
Any insights, tips, or personal stories would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your help!
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One thing I will say is to be prepared for the weather in the summer or during a heatwave. Just recently, it was like 115 out there during one of the heatwaves. Today it's over 100 degrees with humidity in the teens.
 
irviniteeee said:
One thing I will say is to be prepared for the weather in the summer or during a heatwave. Just recently, it was like 115 out there during one of the heatwaves. Today it's over 100 degrees with humidity in the teens.
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115？！？！？！？？！？！That's dangerous! Will the school ban all outdoor activities at that time?
 
Article in the WSJ last week about a couple there trying to sell their home after insurance went up to $7K due to judged fire risk
 
A neighbor of mine in RSM had his insurance cancelled for the same reason. His new policy is a mix of CalFair Plan and private insurance overlays to cover any gaps..... All this for $7,000 as well! YOW
 
OCtoSV said:
Article in the WSJ last week about a couple there trying to sell their home after insurance went up to $7K due to judged fire risk
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I read a Reddit post saying their insurance surged 40% this year to 8.5k
Their house is valued at 1.5-2M
 
Lanelgn said:
I read a Reddit post saying their insurance surged 40% this year to 8.5k
Their house is valued at 1.5-2M
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Just a note, home value has absolutely nothing to do with insurance premium. It's the replacement costs that determine the premium. Basically, a 2600 sf home in Irvine would cost less than a 3300 sf home in Riverside, for example.

Before I moved to Irvine, the premium for my 3309 sf home in Eastvale was $800+, but when I bought the Bluffs 2 home (2606 sf), I paid less than $600 for it. And I'm paying $616 for my Cielo 1 home right now, which is 3225 sf. All with Mercury Insurance.

My advice is to work with an agency. They will find the best rates for you.
 
CalBears96 said:
Just a note, home value has absolutely nothing to do with insurance premium. It's the replacement costs that determine the premium. Basically, a 2600 sf home in Irvine would cost less than a 3300 sf home in Riverside, for example.

Before I moved to Irvine, the premium for my 3309 sf home in Eastvale was $800+, but when I bought the Bluffs 2 home (2606 sf), I paid less than $600 for it. And I'm paying $616 for my Cielo 1 home right now, which is 3225 sf. All with Mercury Insurance.

My advice is to work with an agency. They will find the best rates for you.
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Please pay attention to your dwelling cost. Mercury seems to underinsure properties. They keep the dwelling cost well under $1M. Any property with a dwelling cost over a million dollar require special approval by underwriting. At least have the 50% extra replacement cost instead of 25%. You need to have around $400+/sf to rebuild in Irvine based what I keep hearing. So that's about $1,290,000 for your home. If you have $850k dwelling value and 25% replacement cost, you're underinsured.
 
coder77 said:
Please pay attention to your dwelling cost. Mercury seems to underinsure properties. They keep the dwelling cost well under $1M. Any property with a dwelling cost over a million dollar require special approval by underwriting. At least have the 50% extra replacement cost instead of 25%. You need to have around $400+/sf to rebuild in Irvine based what I keep hearing. So that's about $1,290,000 for your home. If you have $850k dwelling value and 25% replacement cost, you're underinsured.
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I have two home one with Mercury another with StateFarm.
Both of them are around same size. The dwelling estimates are similar. The SF is 47% more, because it has a 700k personal property insurance. I have no idea why and my agent refused to help me to change it...
 
I have a great insurance broker who got the buyer of my 6 Ceramica listing a policy at around $2,000/yr....I was shocked when I saw the quote.
 
I am from SCV and currently live here.

I can’t comment on the job market as my work has always been primarily based in the Bay Area but most people I know commute to more well-known employers closer to LA (e.g., work for the studios) or have/had their own businesses. I think there are quite a few large companies with large satellite offices here though.

It is definitely cheaper than Irvine by a large margin. You can get a new Toll Brothers house with over 4,000 SQFT and a pool sized lot for less than $2M but there also houses in the older, more established communities in similar size anywhere from $1M to over $2M. And definitely plenty of stuff available for $1M that’s smaller.

I have seen it built out over the years but most of the new construction is in the Five Points neighborhood behind Six Flags. Construction there has only started in the past few years but they are anticipating building something like 20,000 homes (maybe more)…it is supposed to span all the way down the 126. So it is definitely growing but the city itself is already pretty large and spans a much bigger footprint than Irvine when you consider other areas like Saugus and Canyon Country.

I would reccomend anywhere that is closer to the 5 freeway (91354, 91355, and 91381 - Valencia proper and Stevenson Ranch). Other areas are also nice but are a bit out of the way IMO.

EDIT: It does get hot here in the summer for a couple months but weather is similar to Irvine most of the year.
 
scratch72 said:
I am from SCV and currently live here.

I can’t comment on the job market as my work has always been primarily based in the Bay Area but most people I know commute to more well-known employers closer to LA (e.g., work for the studios) or have/had their own businesses. I think there are quite a few large companies with large satellite offices here though.

It is definitely cheaper than Irvine by a large margin. You can get a new Toll Brothers house with over 4,000 SQFT and a pool sized lot for less than $2M but there also houses in the older, more established communities in similar size anywhere from $1M to over $2M. And definitely plenty of stuff available for $1M that’s smaller.

I have seen it built out over the years but most of the new construction is in the Five Points neighborhood behind Six Flags. Construction there has only started in the past few years but they are anticipating building something like 20,000 homes (maybe more)…it is supposed to span all the way down the 126. So it is definitely growing but the city itself is already pretty large and spans a much bigger footprint than Irvine when you consider other areas like Saugus and Canyon Country.

I would reccomend anywhere that is closer to the 5 freeway (91354, 91355, and 91381 - Valencia proper and Stevenson Ranch). Other areas are also nice but are a bit out of the way IMO.

EDIT: It does get hot here in the summer for a couple months but weather is similar to Irvine most of the year.
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Thank you for the insights.
 
coder77 said:
Please pay attention to your dwelling cost. Mercury seems to underinsure properties. They keep the dwelling cost well under $1M. Any property with a dwelling cost over a million dollar require special approval by underwriting. At least have the 50% extra replacement cost instead of 25%. You need to have around $400+/sf to rebuild in Irvine based what I keep hearing. So that's about $1,290,000 for your home. If you have $850k dwelling value and 25% replacement cost, you're underinsured.
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Any insight into what is sufficient dwelling cost coverage for attached condos?
It appears to be ~$200k limit with my current State Farm homeowners policy.

IMG_0026.jpeg
 
GrowthStateofMind said:
Any insight into what is sufficient dwelling cost coverage for attached condos?
It appears to be ~$200k limit with my current State Farm homeowners policy.

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I know this sounds like asking the server which dish to order at a restaurant, but you might want to start by asking your State Farm agent for input. My SF agent & their team were very helpful in assessing the estimated rebuild cost for my SFH. They asked a lot of questions about the house, ran it through their system, and gave me a range in $/sqft. It's still an estimate though, no one can really know the future. Personally I'd rather be over insured. The extra coverage isn't that much more premium and there's an emotional benefit to the peace of mind, at least for me. If for some reason they're not giving you the service you expect, PM me & I'll share my agent's info with you.

Insuring an attached condo is more complicated than a SFH. Typically you only own the interior part of your unit and you can't really rebuild that if other parts of the condo have been destroyed.

Typically the HOA owns most things outside of the walls of your unit. I don't know much past that though or exactly where the walls of your unit start (i.e. at the inside of the exterior wall of the building - so you own the framing, electrical, and plumbing? What about the framing, electrical, and plumbing between a shared attached wall? Or do you own the everything starting inside of the interior walls?) This stuff must be pretty standard knowledge in the insurance world.

Perhaps there's some documentation in your HOA documents that discusses what the HOA owns. Perhaps your insurance agent or HOA property manager might be able to tell you where to look. It might even be helpful to request a copy of your HOA's insurance policy to share with your agent - you will be responsible for everything the HOA's policy doesn't cover, so it's important to ensure everything is covered.

I would be curious to ask the question of what happens if the entire unit burns down but your neighbor doesn't rebuild - what are your options with your insurance at that point?

Anyway, a good insurance agent should be able to guide you well, but there's nothing wrong with double checking their work and making sure you have an amount of coverage your comfortable with.

Good luck!
 
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