Last week, I reviewed 7 Aldea, a three bedroom home in Northwood’s Windstream community. Today, I will review 31 Entrada West, another three bedroom home in Northwood. This one is in the Park Paseo neighborhood, about half a mile away from 7 Aldea, and zoned for all the same schools.
The basics:
Asking Price: $649,000
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2.5
Square Footage: 1910
Lot Size: 3,645
$/Sq Ft: $340
Property Type: Single Family Home
Year Built: 1979
Community: Northwood, Park Paseo
HOA dues are $83 per month and there are no Mello Roos.
Both homes have a lot in common. They were both built in 1979 and neither has remodeled the kitchen or bathrooms. They have similar prices per square foot and both have associations with pools and tennis courts. 7 Aldea is a bigger house on a bigger lot, and is in a gated community. 31 Entrada West offers a much lower HOA ($83/month vs. $174/month) and the lower asking price makes it more affordable for many families. While 7 Aldea is located on a corner, 31 Entrada West is near the end of a quiet Cul de Sac.
When I entered this home, the living room was immediately to my right, down one step, and the dining room was to my left. Both rooms have hardwood floors and vaulted ceilings.
The family room has a small wet bar at one end and a brick fireplace in the middle. It’s somewhat dark, since it only has windows on one side and it only has one small set of old track lighting. It is long and narrow and doesn’t really flow into any other rooms, so it feels very closed in.
The kitchen is also long and narrow. One half has several pantry-height cupboards, a large window and breakfast nook. The rest of the kitchen is pretty small, with one long tile counter and one smaller one. There are newer stainless steel appliances but original counters, cabinets, and fluorescent panel lighting. While it is in good condition, overall it feels outdated and small.
Upstairs, there are three bedrooms and two baths. The two secondary bedrooms are on the smaller side, both with windows facing the front of the house and standard closets. Their shared bathroom only has one sink, despite having a counter long enough to fit two.
The master bedroom’s nicest feature is vaulted ceilings. Otherwise, there is nothing remarkable about the room. The bathroom has a stall shower and double sinks with newer fixtures, but everything else is original.
Overall, 31 Entrada has a lot of room for improvement. However, it is smaller than most homes in the neighborhood, resulting in a lower asking price (though its price per square foot is comparable to others). For a family with a lower budget, this may be their chance to get a more affordable house in a great neighborhood. Upgrades can come later, if desired.
Discuss below or on Talk Irvine.
$340 / sq foot to live like sardines jammed in a tin. I guess I will never understand the draw…
This house also smelled very badly of curry, which is probably hard to get rid of. It is the exact opposite of an open floorplan and it feels claustrophobic. The backyard is a wreak and the whole house is a definite fixer upper. This website seems to work for real estate agents now that IrvineRenter is gone. Everything is sugar coated and it is a disappointment to see that the truth is gilded. This has become a website for agents rather than for home buyers in Irvine. Sad.
I’ll be going to ochousingnews.com from now on for some news in Irvine. Karen, next time, take your glasses before going to an open house. This cannot be an accurate review. The only good thing about this place is the location. Pls don’t compare this dump with the homes in Windstream.
Steve, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the home and the review and the site. The Open House reviews here are written by writers who are simply giving their thoughts on the home. Karen, SMS, CubicZirconia, Sylvia and nilam are not agents. Surely you’ve read the other posts by Karen including those reviewing the Lambert Ranch model homes. I enjoy the posts as they give me details about the home that I do not get from only the Redfin listing. I hope others find these posts valuable. If there are other topics you’d like to see covered, let us know.
Steve, while Karen may not have mentioned the curry smell, she did mention several times that the house was small and that some rooms felt very closed in. Never did she refer to it as an open floorplan. She also referred to it as “outdated.” Not really sure what you think she sugar coated. Perhaps we read different reviews?
I think I must have read the review that Steve read as I agree with Steve. I visited the home and it was a smelly rat maze. The review by Karen was definitely sugar coated as if someone was trying his or her best to get this property (that has been on the market for a relatively long period of time) sold. Also, why is IHB in its changed listing format now indicating when a home has an open house and is no longer indicating how long a house has been on the market and how many houses are on the market in a particular neighborhood? Is IHB more interested in selling homes than in keeping consumers informed?
The writers can choose any open house they want to review. The writers have no stake in whether the home sells or not. The post reflects their opinions on the home that they chose to visit. The link to the listing in this post takes the user to Redfin.
The focus of the site for the last 8 months has been to provide information on Irvine housing. This consists of sales info, open house reviews (like this one), model home reviews, rent vs buy analyses, etc.
If you are looking for the blog posts that Irvine Renter was writing, he can be found at his site: ochousingnews.com
I noticed zovall that none of Patricia’s questions were answered as I was wondering the same thing. I also noticed some posts to be rather defensive.
Don’t worry, I won’t be visiting this site anymore as I have noticed that it does not help to have reviews that only talk about the good things of a house and give analyses that my real estate agent gives. I come to this blog for real advice from real people who want to buy in Irvine. This is no longer the case. That is my opinion and looking at the lack of responses on this site, I am not the only one who feels this way.
Steve, if you are looking for advice from real people who want to buy in Irvine, you might want to check out http://www.talkirvine.com (Disclosure: I own that site as well)
Let me attempt to answer the specific questions that you and Patricia are asking.
Q1: “Also, why is IHB in its changed listing format now indicating when a home has an open house and is no longer indicating how long a house has been on the market and how many houses are on the market in a particular neighborhood?”
A1: There is no set format for each blog post. Each author can add whatever detail they choose to. This post, reviewing 31 Entrada, was written by Karen and she included certain data about the property. The post a couple days prior, 17 Heron, was written by SMS and included content that SMS chose too (in this case DOM was part of her post). Sometimes the author will mention other properties in the market that are nearby; sometimes they don’t.
Q2: “Is IHB more interested in selling homes than in keeping consumers informed?”
A2: No. The posts are meant to inform readers. The Open House reviews give readers more detail about the home than they would find on a listings site. The Closed Sales each week show what homes have closed for in the various neighborhoods in Irvine.
I’d really like to know what about the last 8 months of posts makes you feel like this site is more interested in selling homes than in keeping consumers informed. I’ve removed pretty much all advertising from the blog. If it is mainly the Open House reviews that you dislike, what topics would you suggest we feature here instead?