[quote author="ScubaSteve" date=1207830301][quote author="hs_teacher" date=1207829845]I have many friends who are planning to go straight from living with their parents to buying their own home. I think that's a bad idea. If you can rent for 2K and buy for 3k, I suggest you rent for a year together first. With the RE market the way it is, there is no rush to buy. I have lived in so many different cities in Orange County that I am now ready to settle down. Personally, I think it's important to live close to a freeway for commuting/traveling purposes. I don't like the 22, the 5, or the 55. I live in Tustin now, but hopefully will move to HB, FV, or IR by the 405 within the next few years. I guess my only point is... are you VERY certain you want to live in AV? You can rent a place for a year or more, but it is much too costly to own a place for less than 5 years. And 5 years is a long time to live in a place you don't like... especially when you're trying to establish some roots. Don't be too quick to be excited by the amenities of the property. Location really is the most important thing. And unless you have lived in an area before, it's very hard to know ahead of time if you would like it. Just from your comment, I can see that you prefer living in Irvine. Have you ever tried living in AV before? Maybe you should rent there first.</blockquote>
I have been renting from a buddy of mine in Ladera for the last 5 years commuting to Irvine (about 40 minutes during rush; 15 minutes on Crown Valley), so AV seems like heaven for me (commute-wise), since both of our jobs are near the 73. I'm not too familiar with AV but it seems like a nice scenic place whenever I drive by. I definitely prefer Irvine over everything of course (but who doesn't?). Yea its a tough decision. <strong>Both our families think we should do it but</strong>, co-workers and forums are so anti-buy! Again I do plan on staying at least 7 years.</blockquote>
If by "families" you mean parents <em>inter alia</em>, then here is my 2 cents. The baby boomer generation largely does not understand what's happening in the OC (especially if they live elsewhere -- my folks are on the East Coast in a non-bubble market). For example, I've had to explain to my own father (a college-educated, very rationale man) MANY times why my wife and I are still renting. He just couldn't wrap his head around why his son and daughter-in-law (both with professional degrees) are not "building equity." I realized that my dad was making two primary (but understandable) mistakes. He was relying on the coventional wisdom of his time: (1) that owning is better than throwing money away on rent; and (2) you must be some kind of f*ck up if you don't own a place by 30. These 2 gems of conventional wisdom used to make sense, but exotic financing, crazy-low interest rates, and irrational exuberance changed all that. As we all know, anybody with a pulse could buy an $800,000 house during the bubble. Because of that, owning a home was no longer a litmus test for adulthood. My dad finally "gets it" now -- largely because my brother bought near the peak in Tampa, had to move for a job, let his wife list the condo for too much (despite my pleas to list below all comps and get the hell out) and is now paying a mortgage on a depreciating, vacant condo 100 miles away. So my advice to you is this -- rage, rage against the conventional wisdom offered by parents, but don't get angry about it because it used to make sense. "Now you know and knowing is half the battle" (thank you GI Joe cartoons).
