[quote=birmingplumb]Thanks OCRENTER for such a wise and detailed reply.
Only reason considering Laguna Woods is the used to be 40k 700 sf 1 bedrooms now 60k and the now 75k 2 br 1000 sf units. What has me stopped is the wife not too crazy about condo living. I want to putz around some plumbing jobs in that area and just got licensed in California. I would drive a van and want to have advertising on it. For this reason I look outside those gates. I will visit the area in January and will drive east on Laguna Canyon Rd and look. Just looking for a decent quality of life. I really love San Clement after staying at the Days Inn and walking to the ocean and pier daily. Maybe I will just rent a room for 2100 per month whenever I want a taste of a beautiful way of life. Lord knows it would never pay to plop down 500k to own a 2 br condo in pier bowl or small house west of El Camino Real. Any advice would be appreciated.[/quote]
Not too familiar with San Clemente except it is quite far from the center of OC and there’s always some serious bottle neck where the I-5 twists from the coast into Saddleback Valley. But it should be cheaper beach alternative compared to the rest of south OC, and certainly a viable alternative if you don’t need to venture north too frequently.
