Lake Elsinore to Irvine commute, is it worth it?

I'm looking to buy a house, first time buyer. I'm afraid if I don't buy now the areas housing market will keep rising making rent progressively more exoensive. When I can lock it in. I can afford either a condo in OC that essentially will be more monthly due to property taxes and HOA fees. Or a really nice new community, 2 story 4 bedroom house with a huge yard in the Inland Empire. Does anyone commute this? What's your average time to get to and from work? Was it worth it? What time would I need to leave on average if I wanted to be to work by 9am? Is it better to suck it up in Irvine and pay a 400-500 HOA and 200-300 dollar property taxes? And any other insights you want to share. Thanks, I appreciate any insights y'all can provide.

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Oath Atinlay Mar 18, 2019

That’s something only you can decide

Activision Blizzard Rawr! OP Mar 18, 2019

Of course, but I'd like to make an informed decision so I can properly weigh the pros and cons. And hearing from experience helps 😁

Oath Atinlay Mar 18, 2019

I’d suggest test driving the commute at the same time of day you’d be going to/from work

Core Digital Media sjsidbsj Mar 18, 2019

I have a condo in Irvine and I pay hoa and mella-roos tax and I commute to play Vista every day to work but I love my home. Advantage of home in Irvine is it's easy to rent out or sell in the future if you decide to move. I am not sure how easy it will be for lake Elsinore area. But if you have a job in Irvine saving commute time and getting better standard of leaving and more security about future sounds like a better deal. Also Irvine has one of the best public schools not sure if you are married or planning to have kids.

Google mksee May 16, 2019

I would love to live in Irvine (I used to live there but I'm in Switzerland now) but it's hard to transfer there and LA has more positions. How is your commute like? I didn't think it was possible to live in Irvine and commute to West LA every day...

Panasonic Avionics JiFf68 Mar 18, 2019

I work with ppl that do it but i dont know how they do it. Its a soul killer imo.

Google sh@llow Mar 18, 2019

Is this where the Poppy Nightmare is currently?

Activision Blizzard Rawr! OP Mar 18, 2019

Yuuuuup

Amazon amazons Mar 18, 2019

No chance I’d make that commute. What about a townhouse in the cheaper OC neighborhoods like Lake Forest or Mission Viejo? Even corona would be easier than LE

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jimdang Mar 18, 2019

Just don’t. Don’t do lake Elsinore.

The Trade Desk adsadsads Mar 18, 2019

This. Yuck.

The Trade Desk adsadsads Mar 18, 2019

Buy somewhere like Fullerton and take the train to Irvine.

Activision Blizzard Rawr! OP Mar 18, 2019

That's the thing even Fullerton is absurdly overpriced right now. It speaks volumes that Mission Viejo houses cost the same as Santa Ana houses. It's become Bay area 2.0 and Irvine is San Fran.

The Trade Desk adsadsads Mar 18, 2019

Then you should probably rent and see if real estate prices drop.

Indeed ralf Mar 18, 2019

I drove over the Ortega from Temecula to Irvine for a few years. It was soul crushing

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jay10 Mar 18, 2019

Have you thought about Chino Hills - it’s pretty nice and has good schools, restaurants, and is nice/safe. Yea there is traffic to OC/Irvine but it is more affordable.