Irvine Housing Blog

I’ve been renting since 2005 and thinking of buying a SFR in Irvine now (need it for our growing family)and a bit tired of renting.  But afraid that I’ll have waited for 6 years and screwed up by not waiting another year.  What are your thoughts and how much per sq. ft should it go, generally speaking in Northwood?

Funny, I looked at the price first and thought, “This must have some nice views of Catlina, but why didn’t they include any pics of that in the listing?”

Surely, for $2.5 million, you at least have a view of the Pacific, right?

We toured this house in 2008, when it was listed around $3M.  We never seriously considered it at that price, but were wondering whether we were interested in the low to mid-2s if it got to that price point.  We weren’t, and it didn’t.  It’s a nice house—great by Turtle Ridge standards (excluding La Cima).  But Turtle Ridge was a little too cramped and artificial for our tastes.  That being said, the backyard is fantastic.  No views, but very private, enormous and well done.  The floor plan is OK.  It has a detached casita, which I hate.  Casitas are NOT family friendly, unless you turn the casita into a jail for your delinquent teenage son. 

We thought the buyer in 2008 overpaid by a couple hundred grand.  It is amusing to me that this house is now back on the market for the third time since we started our home-buying process.  We still haven’t bought anything, but we’ve saved around a million dollars by waiting. 

I suspect the next buyer might actually pay something close to a “bottom” price.  I think fair value for this home is probably in the 1.9-2.2 range.  Still not for us, though.

I disagree, because I know someone who is enjoying having bought an REO.  The joy comes from the lower cost.  The husband works construction, and with the dramatic downturn has time to fix up their home.  I imagine that they are not the only people in that situation.

I would say that the combination of higher down payments needed, low prices on REO’s and low rates makes now as good a time as ever for those homes to be bought by first-time buyers.

short and REO are similar on the surface, but not one in the same.  I’d certainly consider buying an REO but don’t really know how involved I’d get with a short sale just to have it all fall apart 6 months (or more) down the road, unless it were absolutely my dream home and was in absolutely no hurry to close.  between the two REO is definitely the way to go for many many more buyers.

Excellent point.

That’s a fact.

The average down payment in Irvine = ~30% and the average Irvine home buyer has paid down $40,000 of the loan in that time.

“None” must mean a very large number.

Right, but we’re chasing our home’s value downward right now, at about a $700 monthly principal reduction pace.

“This statement is just not true, “none of the buyers over the last 5 years have any equity””

You didn’t copy the qualifying word “almost.” I changed the post to say “few.”

I am not usually so careless with my limiting qualifiers. I should not have used the word “none” even if preceded by the qualifier “almost.”

To you point, you are correct. There are people who bought during the bubble who have equity because they either put a large amount down or they paid down their mortgages.

What exactly makes a floorplan “great for young kids?”

My wife and I are currently in the market and drag our little one to open houses pretty frequently.  I can’t tell you the number of times we get the stink eye and third degree from realtors (and we are in the market for a home well below the $2.5 million here).  It’s like the realtors take a look at a fairly young couple/family and don’t think that we can afford the home that is in a “family” neighborhood.  Who do they think is their target buyer if it isn’t us.

It’s always about the children isn’t it?  Sounds a lot better than “Great floorplan to show up the Joneses with”.

It’s not even going to only be first timers.  Think about it this way.  The boomers enjoyed years of falling interest rates that caused prices to sky rocket.  The current generation will not be so fortunate.

Even if interest rates remain flat, anyone with a 30YFRM is going to have little equity by year 7 when many will want to “trade up”.  They will be in the exact same boat as first timers entering the market for the first time.

I’m not thinking investment, I’m thinking vacation.  Think Canadians vacationing in South Florida.  If you are used to spending 5-20k/yr on rentals, and then you can buy comparable properties which reduce your per-year payments for those vacations why not do it?

Remember that people were buying RE at inflated prices, 100% financing, using exotic option-arm mortgages…as an investment.

Laura - I don’t know if you can really compare Irvine to Rancho Mirage.  They are very different and have a very different demographic.

To get a comparable to Irvine you need to find a town with the top school district far superior to surrounding towns.  Also you need proximity to high paying jobs.  These areas tend to cost double or triple surrounding suburbs.  In Irvines case it’s 20% more than nice towns within 30 minutes and 2-3 X towns that are an hour or more away.

Investors selling to investors.  Sound familiar?

Sorry not this post.  I meant the post with 27 reserve in it.

Asking prices aren’t sales, so we’ll see where they end up.

As for asking prices, the price history of my in-laws neighboring home is
7/02   485k sold-new
9/06   846k peak-pricing
12/08   478k panic-pricing
current 590k

It is priced $250k over comparable recent sales in the neighborhood, and there are lower priced homes available.

waiting-in-Irvine, I prefer to discuss contract details in person whenever possible, it normally takes at least 30 minutes.

The standard CAR (California Association of Realtors) RPA (Residential Purchase Agreement), includes a 17-day contingency period, however, most REO’s will have long addendums and may change this, trustee sale sellers may counter this or have an addendum, etc.. The contingency period normally includes specific contingencies, ie. appraisal, loan, and the inspection contingency which is relatively broad.

  Ultimately it comes down to the the agreed upon contract between the buyer and the seller. There are many other terms in most contracts that are important to understand, please feel free to contact me at; shevy@idealhomebrokers.com and we can review a standard RPA in person.