Okay, since I am a former Amgen employee, I’ll take a guess too….I’ll guess that you’re going to Baxter, which isn’t a bad place to be.
We lived in Moorpark and loved it, but if you can swing it, I’d probably stay in Thousand Oaks for all the conveniences it has to offer. School system in TO is also known to be a bit better.
Ventura County is more expensive. Since we sold in early ’06 house prices have inched downward. So I would say that any decline started a year after it did here in San Diego.
Although the immediate Ventura cty. area doesn’t have a ton of job growth, many people commute into LA from there. So you get all the LA jobs (that pay higher) feeding the demand for housing as well. Living in Moorpark, there were many people I met working at different studios (burbank and la area). Point is, this tends to prop up the housing market even if the local economy (ie. amgen and countrywide) are laying off. I’m sure it will go down like all, but I don’t think it will as much as SD.
Also, I’d say half my coworkers lived in Camarillo and loved it. If you are used to a more coastal climate, than you may want to consider it. I should mention that Oxnard is just like Oceanside here…gangs in the area (probably not for you if you are going to be sending your kid to school). People were moving there because it was quite a bit cheaper 5 years ago, but now alot of the Santa Barbara priced out couples have moved in. From what we saw this demand has brought pricing inline with the area. I wouldn’t think it would be worth looking at.
I’m going to save you a ton of time finding a rental (it took me awhile after selling our home to find these obscure sources)…look at
Also, you can check out the Thousand oaks Acorn (a local paper), or Newbury Park Realty (however I found most their properties to be a bit cheaper, but you get what you pay for).
