Hi everyone,

I have been watching this board for many months and really enjoy the comments and feedback. I sold my home back in April, 2006 and have been waiting on the sidelines to re-enter the market. I visited the Astoria tract in Columbus Square this past Sunday. I really like the plan 1 with the master bedroom downstairs. It has good square footage (2800) and a nice, flexible floor plan. The lot I’m looking at is different than most as it is buffered more from neighbors than most of the other homes. I also like the alley and garages at the back of the house. It reminds me of the way many older homes are built near the beach communities.

Like I said, I am ready to re-enter the market. I know that prices might come down more but I am not getting a mortgage and I am ready to get settled and get on with my life. This home has been highly upgraded and is ready to move into. Hardwood floors, upgraded granite, tile, marble, etc. Astoria just did an aggressive price cut on Friday, Jan. 20th. The bottom line price after taking the “incentives” as a cash discount is $757,990. On top of that, my Realtor (mother) gets a 3% commission. I’m very close to making a deal on this house. I have not seen a new, 2800 sf single family home in a decent neighborhood for this price in a very long time.

Comments and feedback are appreciated.

Here they come.

Homeless, if you have more than 2 cars it can be a problem later on since Astoria doesn’t have driveways.  I was told that current HOA policy doesn’t let cars parked on the street but they are not enforcing it yet.  I liked Plans 2 & 3 but didn’t pull the trigger because I think they’ll drop another 20% in 12 to 24 months.

Taking your specific input into consideration, if you’re OK with seeing future phases selling for less, $271/sq. ft. including upgrades at this time is pretty reasonable for VoC properties.  Good luck!

Homeless… Did you by chance see what the Plan 2 was selling for?

Lot 126. Plan 2DR, $786,990 net.

wow that is a huge reduction of like $200K from the prices back in the summer, it sounds like a great price for the great floorplan.  of course in these times what sounds great now might not be so great later, but $750k for a brand new house with a lot of bells and whistles and one of the nicest floorplans I’ve seen lately seems reasonable. 

At those prices I’d buy 2.  In the long run price will only go up.
 

that’s good news to hear that these new houses are finally coming down in prices a little more.  any updates on the other similarly sized models such as Madison, Lantana, Gables?  haven’t had a chance to head down there recently, anyone has the latest pricing info on other models?

“but 750K for a brand new house with a lot of bells and whistles and one of the nicest floorplans I’ve seen lately seems reasonable”. 

WAIT !!!  It’s just beginning !

I agree with Troop.  At least another $100k to go. 
SCHB

"At those prices I’d buy 2.  In the long run price will only go up."

The Troll who works for William Lyon has spoken.

Housing prices to free fall in 2008. According to a Merrill Lynch report, home prices will drop 15 percent this year, and declines will continue in 2009.
By David Goldman, CNNMoney.com staff writer, January 23 2008: 5:24 PM EST

Asianinvasian could be wrong anyway lol. How does he/she know what the market’s going to be…

btw it seems I’d make a pretty bad knifecatcher; I looked back at the earlier entries and feel kind of embarassed to find my July 29 entry in which I wrote $865K seemed like a good deal for the Astoria Plan 1.   Well it would be interesting to see what the Astoria Plan 1 eventually bottoms out at ...  I’m really waiting for Orchard Hills to start reducing their price points in the next year or two. 

Thanks for the comments and feedback.
I’ve decided to wait a bit longer to purchase. I think the Plan 1 at $758,900 is a good price. Will prices come down further? Probably, but that is not the main reason that I decided to wait. This specific home has a few issues that will cause it to be a challenging resale in the future and the tract is experiencing major changes due to future phases being sold off to another developer. I might get interested again in this plan in the next phase and in a better location if the price stays flat or declines.
BTW… an interesting, (weird), amusing story. I was in the sales office on Wednesday afternoon and went to the models. On the sidewalk as you walk towards the models were two dead field rats. I don’t know if someone put them there but it was strange how two rats died right in front of the plan 2 steps. Anyway, as you can imagine the sales rep freaked out. A dozen crows were perched on the models waiting to feast on the rats. It reminded me of the buyers waiting on the sidelines waiting to feast on the builders.

homeless, what issues of the home were you concerned aboout that might make it hard to resell?  i always like to get people’s views of what makes for an easy/hard resale.

Are you saying that William Lyons is selling the last few phases on that development to another builder? If so, Is that what the sales office told you?

The house is positioned on a “T” intersection where a small, two block long interior street ends directly in front of the house. I’m not much into feng shui but many of my prospective buyers might be when I’m ready to sell.

The sales office told me that William Lyons has sold off the lots for the next phases. As part of the deal Lyons will serve as the sales and marketing team for the new owners.

Interesting… I wonder if that means they will be using the same housing plans or the new buyer will be designing their own.

Same plan… same models…and will still be marketed and sold under the Astoria / William Lyon name. The only difference is that the homes will be built on lots owned by another company . Lyon needed to raise cash and sold the lots for 45 cents on the dollar.

Homeless
I would pay lots of attention to  feng shui in Irvine.  Houses at "T"s often get headlights in the living room windows and if it has a front loaded masterbedroom you get lights all night.
Regards

I don’t completely discount feng shui principles…but, I think some are rooted in antiquated ways of living and must be viewed in a more modern way. The formal rooms are at the front of this house and the master is at the back. The view looking up the tree lined “T” street is actually nice and I prefer the view to having another house across the street looking back at me. Also, the house is elevated from street level maybe 5-6 feet which I think will soften any glare from headlights. Lastly, the street that it “T’s” with is a small interior street that is only 2 blocks long.
While the “T” is not a big deal to me, I am very aware that it is probably a big deal to many people and will attract a much smaller pool of buyers when I am ready to sell.

homeless, I know exactly what lot you are talking about, I was thinking about that lot too, it is a very small interior street that goes towards the house, and if I remember correctly, you have a small park across the street diagonally to the left if you are looking out the front door.  I suggested that to my wife and she said no way, even though I pointed out it was just a small interior street.  So you are right, you would lose part of the potential buyer pool upon resale.  Plus another potential problem I had was with the small park across the way, sometimes people might find it easier to just turn right and park their car in front of the house and walk across to the park, instead of making a U-turn to park in front of the park.  People who park in front of a house that they are not visiting, annoy me, it’s just a pet peeve of mine.

Just get one of these and you can let them know how you feel…

Yes fumbling, that’s the house.
There is already a neighbor who parks his extra car (complete with blue car cover) in front of the house next door. I don’t think cars parked on the street would bug me too much. It’s a beautiful home at a great price. I wish I wasn’t so picky! ...and I wouldn’t be so picky if houses were cheaper