Irvine Housing Blog

Irvine Council Members Differ on Inclusion of Set-Aside in Housing Element

My name is Sylvia Walker, and I am the writer and publisher of the Sweet Orange Housing blog. I grew up in Orange County; however, at the age of twenty I decided to venture out and see what the rest of the world looked like. Eventually, I ended up in the Silicon Valley area and spent many years there. While in the Silicon Valley, I worked as a freelance writer for high-tech companies such as Applied Materials, National Semiconductor, Applied Biosystems, and Oracle Corporation.

I enjoyed my time in the San Francisco Bay Area and working in the high-tech industry; however, fate intervened, and I returned to Orange County. Currently, I am pursuing freelancing, but I am shifting my focus to public policy, sustainability, cleantech and land use issues.

There is this thing out there called the California housing element. This document plays a decisive role in determining what gets built in California cities and counties. Since this document is so influential in shaping local housing policies, understanding how the housing element works is worthwhile. Therefore, I will give a more in-depth description in an upcoming post. At this time, knowing it is out there is enough. Now on to Irvine’s latest encounter with the housing element.

Closed Sales from 1/26/2012 to 2/01/2012

Closed Sales from 1/19/2012 to 1/25/2012

Closed Sales from 1/12/2012 to 1/18/2012

Here are the closed sales in Irvine over the last week (1/12/2012 - 1/18/2012).  See anything interesting?  Did you visit any of these homes?

43 Copper Creek and 27 Vernal Springs are actually in Shady Canyon. For such a difference in size, it is interesting that the price is so similar. Any ideas why that may be the case?

The house on Doheny seems to be a low price for a detached SFR (that what it seems to be to me). The listing shows that it definitely needed some work. It is on a 6,000 square foot lot though.  

Open House - 18711 Paseo Picasso in Turtle Rock

It’s difficult to critique a pre-owned house, because for so many years it wasn’t just a house, it was a home to a family. It’s almost like shell-shock reviewing an older house since up until now I’ve been focused on new developments. I often think well-loved properties have more charm and individuality and I’d say that I’m personally inclined to purchase an older residence, rather than a cookie cutter home. 18711 Paseo Picasso was an eye opener for me.

Here’s the 411 on 18711 Paseo Picasso:
Purchase price:   $675,000
Bedrooms:  3
Bathrooms:  1.75
Square footage:  1710 Sq. Ft.
$/Sq. Ft.:  $395
Property Type:  SFR
Year built:  1973
Community:  Turtle Rock

The HOA dues are $150 per month and there are no Mello Roos.

Brochure

Closed Sales from 1/5/2012 to 1/11/2012

Based on feedback from last week, it sounded like this was a helpful post so I'll continue.  The sales listed here are those that have closed in the 7 days between 1/5/2012 and 1/11/2012.

Closed Sales from 12/29/2011 to 1/4/2012

Today, I'd like to post a list of all closed sales in Irvine from 12/29/2011 to 1/4/2012.  As a kid, I remember reading the newspaper to see what homes in town sold recently - yes, I've been interested in RE for far too long.  Over the past few years, I've seen some sites that have posted weekly sales and I think I recall Erika Chavez's blog at the OC Register also doing so a while back.  When reading these lists of addresses and prices of sold homes, I'm always wondering what neighborhood the home belongs to or how many bedrooms it has or how many square feet it has.  All the data is out there but it is a challenge presenting it in a helpful way.  I have some grand ideas on how I want to address that in the future.

But for now, I've compiled the list with a few columns I find helpful.  The list is ordered by Area (MLS term that kinda sorta is like a village but not really) and then by the Date Sold.  I've tried to clean up some data such as incorrect tract or area names.  Redfin offers an awesome feature where they let you view the listing information for homes that have sold - most other sites do not provide this.  So, I've added Redfin links to the sold properties so you can easily get even more detailed data on one of these sold homes.  Instead of reading 123 Main St sold for $450,000 on 12/12/2011, you'll get a few columns of more info and a link to the actual listing on Redfin.  Hope you think it is helpful - it sure was tedious!