FlyerInHi, I am in similar situation as kev374 that I am also looking in buying a house in Irvine, but have not pulled the trigger.
The difference is that I did rush to buy at the bottom in Temecula, as we were living there at that time. So in theory, we could just “upgrade” but I couldn’t convince myself to sell a high rental-yield property to trade for a low rental-yield property even it is for my family’s use. In addition, I am a good saver so I can again afford the 20% down so I see no point selling my rental property.
We shopped last year after moving to Irvine, but I find that buying costs maybe $500-$1000 more each month even after 20%, which makes it really hard for me to part my money into a property. Like kev374 said, not everyone has rich Chinese parents that they can care nothing about ROI in face of biggest purchase one can make in life.
For us, Irvine is primarily because we have school age kids…and it has one of the best public school district.
My investment strategy is different than kev374. I DCA my extra “savings” each month into stocks (primarily mid-cap growth stocks, hoping they will yield more in a possible “melt-up” market), but I leave the down payment in CDs waiting for possible “melt-down” market (either in stock or house, but I don’t see it happen anytime soon).
