Relocating from SD to OC

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sd2oc_IHB

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hello all,



this is a great forum! i just discovered it today, and already it's been a wealth of information. my husband and i currently live in san diego, but he recently started working in irvine and now we're grappling with a few real estate questions. we'd love some input from the folks on this forum--thanks in advance!



here's the deal: we purchased our home in SD two years ago, and thinking we'd be staying for quite some time (great schools, lovely neighborhood, 5 minute drive to my husband's then-office), made a large downpayment, got a 15 year fixed at 5.25% for the rest, and didn't worry too much about the state of the market. as fate would have it, my husband was then offered a career opportunity too good to pass up--but in irvine! he loves his new job, but the commute is tiring and we now need to decide whether to:



1) sell our current home in SD and buy in OC,

2) sell in SD and rent in OC, or

3) stay in SD and commute to OC for the time being (and if so, for how long?).



although SD has been hit hard by the housing bust (or "readjustment" as some like to call it ;), our specific area has been cushioned somewhat thus far, and if we listed our home now, we would likely break even on the deal after commissions and closing costs. of course, i have no idea whether this will the case 6 months from now, 1 year from now, etc. given our situation, do you have any advice for us?



thanks again!
 
I'm no expert, but if it were me, I would sell the house in SD (assuming I could break even) and rent in OC...the RE market has some ways to fall here.
 
Either option 1 or 2 depending on how the purchase transaction would pencil out for your personal finances. Likely #2 would make the best financial sense and allow you to learn the OC area better with an eye toward future purchase...
 
SD sounds nice. I'd stay where you are. Personally I am looking at moving to SD as a future option.



My cousin commutes from Escondido to San Clemente every day no problem. Just find somebody to carpool with and try to work out a deal where you can work from home 1-2 days per week.
 
I would be vary wary of a commute like that..unless as POIT guy said you can work from home a couple days a week and the job would allow you to take the train - the drive from San Clemente to Irvine alone can be pretty horrible.
 
thanks for the replies thus far! we really love san diego and would love to stay, but do think we'll have to move eventually in order to preserve some semblance of work-life balance. telecommuting on fridays might be a possibility in the future, but i don't know if that'll be enough. if we *have* to move at some point anyway, does it make sense to hold out as long as my husband can stand the commute and then move or should we just move now? also, the general consensus here seems to be that if we do move to OC, we should rent rather than buy. ipoplaya, could you give me a scenario where buying might be the better decision based on our personal finances? thank you!
 
<p>There probably wouldn't be many situations where buying right now would be better financially. Maybe if you happened to like a new home and the builder was offering a good price AND a 30-year fixed mortgage well below current market. If for example, you loved something in the Village of Columbus (although no rationale person would!) and the builder was offering up 5% on a 30-year jumbo. Depending on your equity and savings, buying now in that case could actually be cheaper than renting after taxes on a monthly basis... Not very likely though and being new to the area it would make more sense to rent and watch the market.</p>

<p>I'd say sell now, I mean very soon.</p>

<p> </p>
 
Sell in SD, rent in OC



I remember reading here that OC's bubble topped out a year after SD's did. Thus, if you sold your SD house and bought in OC now for the next year you would have to re-live the YOY loss you just got in SD.
 
If you rent out the SD house, could you break even?





Does your husband have telecommuting options from work?





Would your husband consider renting a bedroom in Irvine and just stay in Irvine 4 days out of the week?
 
thank you all again for your helpful comments! i know everyone is suggesting we rent rather than buy when we move to OC, but rental prices in irvine appear to be really high! it's also quite tempting to avoid the hassle of moving twice, and of course it's just nice to have a house of one's own (plus the tax deduction). that said, we really would rather not have the OC market tank just after we buy like what happened in SD. aaah, so much to take into consideration!
 
momopi, good questions! we would actually *make* money renting out the SD house (our mortgage payment is really low), but we have a lot of equity tied up in there (hence the low mortgage payment) and wouldn't be able to buy an equivalent house in OC unless we sold or refinanced (in which case our mortgage payment would be a lot higher, etc. etc.). and yes, my husband may be able to telecommute from work on fridays in the future, but since he is new to the firm, he wants the extra face-time for the time being. there actually is a corporate house in newport beach that he can use if he wanted to stay up there a few nights a week, but my husband doesn't care for that option (he says he would miss me and our baby too much!).
 
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