Irvine Housing Blog

Happy Thanksgiving, IHB. 

It will be very interesting to see what this actually sells for, because it looks like a decent but very middle class house. I thought that $300k was about right ... then noted that this was the 1999 price, not current asking. Of course in most of the rest of the country it would be a $200k house if it had more land around it, but there can be some California and Irvine premium. I’m glad that right now I can comfortably sit and watch (and learn).

Stopped by a good friends place for Thanksgiving desert. The friend’s wife’s dad is a RE agent. Told him I am waiting to buy because prices will most likely fall further.

He said I am out of my mind and in fact I should not wait. I pointed out waiting has served me well the last 2 years. His response: buying a year or two ago would have been fine because of all the money I would save on rent and with the tax write off the government would be paying for the house.

At that point I stopped talking. I did not know how to respond.

Walter, I feel your pain.  I have learned in social settings that in Irvine discussing real estate is as difficult a topic as religion and politics.  I just steer very, very clear.

Lot Size: 4,628 Sq. Ft.

People still cannot see how crazy it is asking $839,000.

The Zillow comps are all in the mid 600’s.  Price seems quite high based on that.

Am I the only one who noticed they turned their front living room into a billiards room?! At first I thought that room was an extra room with a side entrance or something, but looking at the front elevation of the house and the view out the window, it’s now clear that the “billiards room” is actually the home’s living room!

How on earth do people show this setup with a straight face? Can you imagine walking in at the open house and finding the 1990’s pool table setup in the front room? How very, very odd.

These prices make me sad.  I make about the same money I did in 1998 as an IT consultant.  Indian labor has pushed rates down and just last week I found out my IT consulting contract will end in December.

So when I look at this home for $839K I wonder who is able to afford this home?  Most people I know make about 100K year, maybe a little more.  How do you afford a ~$5000 month payment?  Where does the money come from?  I am being serious?

This is not a middle class home that people can afford on the average wage in OC.  $300K is about right, maybe $350K.

That’s why I find this sad.  If homes were priced correctly (CHEAPER) then more people could afford them and we could enjoy and spend the left over money on other things in life. (Food, family, friends.)

$85000 medium household income for Irvine.  Say $100000 for those looking to buy.
8830000 saking 8.3 x yearly income.

Any way you slice it, after the monthly payments, there’s almost nothing left for anything else.

I have been reading this blog for about a year now (and renting) but am interested in buying in Irvine at the end of 2009.  Does anyone have recs on good realtors just to check out whats out there.  It seems tough to try and find open houses and we dont know the various areas of Irvine well.

I noticed the price dropped to 800k.