[Morrigoon]

In 5 years you'll have equity in your home, but there's no telling what real estate here will have done in the mean time. Keep an eye on the markets, if everything starts moving upward, be prepared to make your move sooner.

Remember: if you're going from a less expensive home to a more expensive one, and prices rise 10% on everything, you'll be better off to have sold and bought on the bottom end of the market than after the rise, because any increase in your current home's value will still be outpaced (dollar for dollar) in what you could have done owning the more expensive home while prices were rising.

So my first advice is to keep your schedule flexible and be prepared to move sooner if necessary. But you'll need a couple years where you are to recover from the current market and build some equity in your new home.

I'm not sure I'd tell you to avoid the IE, since really, it would be an easier transition, financially. Mostly it depends on the job thing. If R's job is a deciding factor, then he should come out first and try to land a position, so that you know where you're going. If it's somewhere that allows you access to a less expensive place to live, lucky you.

In OC some areas are cheaper than others, and some areas you wouldn't live in for any price. I'm obviously partial to Lake Forest, as it's a relatively affordable area, but sandwiched in between two of the safest cities in America (Mission Viejo and Irvine often hit the top ten), there's also Laguna Hills, or if these areas are still a bit much you can look at Anaheim and Fullerton, where single family houses can now be found in the mid-$400s with relative ease.

If you need to go cheaper, you're going to have to go inland, to areas like Corona, Hemet, Riverside, etc. The problem is that living there means a long commute. If you get lucky enough to find employment out that way, it can work out well though.

Most of all though: if you're going to do it, do it.