Development: Villages of Columbus

Village: Columbus Square

Tract: The Gables (84 single family detached homes) in the City of Tustin

Builder: Lennar

Schools: Tustin School District (TUSD): Marjorie Veeh Elementary, A.G. Currie Middle, Tustin High

Tax Rate: The anticipated total effective tax rate is approximately 1.8%, which is inclusive of all Community Facilities District (CFD) rates.

HOA Dues: Estimated HOA Dues are approximately $220.  Lennar to pay association due through December 2007.  Association fees at build-out to be approximately $110/month.

Plans:

Residence 1 - 3bd/2.5ba - 2125-2540 sq. ft.

Residence 2 - 4bd/3.5ba - 2957-2968 sq. ft.

Residence 3 - 4bd/3.5ba - 3227-3241 sq. ft.

Residence 4 - 5bd/4.5ba - 4191 sq. ft.

<u>PRICING</u>

Prices as of 10/15/2006

Res 1: from $934,000 (w/ Bonus Room)

Res 2: from $1,119,500

Res 3: from $1,157,000

Res 4: from $1,399,000

Prices as of 12/30/2006

Res 1: from $899,000

Res 2: from $1,059,000

Res 3: from $1,099,000

Res 4: from $1,249,000

Residence 1 - From $869,000 (with Bonus Room)

Residence 2 - From $949,000

Residence 3 - From $989,000

Residence 4 - From $1,139,000

Phase as of 2/10/2007

Residence 1 ~ from 829k (prob without bonus room)

Residence 2 ~ from 939k

Residence 3 ~ from 970k

Residence 4 ~ sold out until phase 6 (currently phase 4)

Prices as of 3/31/2007

Res 1: from $830,000

Res 2: from $966,500

Res 3: from $1,009,000

Res 4: from Sold Out Until Phase 6

Prices as of 5/19/2007

Res 1: from $862,000

Res 2: from $968,500

Res 3: from $1,080,000

Res 4: from $1,270,000

Prices as of 11/04/2007

Residence 1- $895,000

Residence 2- $998,000

Residence 3- $1,084,000

Residence 4- SOLD OUT UNTIL PHASE 8 (JUNE 2008 MOVE IN)

Prices as of 2/23/2008

Residence 1 - $938,000

Residence 2 - $998,000

Residence 3 - $1,084,000

Residence 4 - $1,300,000
Prices as of 4/02/08

Residence 1: from $944,000 (w/ Bonus Room)

Residence 2: from $999,000

Residence 3: from $1,088,000

Residence 4: from $1,325,000
Prices as of 4/21/08 Phase 8
Plan 1 - $889K
Plan 2 - $949K
Plan 3 - $999K
Plan 4 - unchanged at $1.325M

Here are some pics of the model homes. Residence 1 is not modeled so there is not a pic.
Residence 2

Residence 3

Residence 4

Troll alert

I should have looked here earlier.  We popped in here today after hitting up Verandas today, and all I can say is "Oh my!"  They put out new pricing yesterday as follows:

Plan 1:  $869,000

Plan 2:  $949,000

Plan 3:  $969,000 ($20K price reduction)

Plan 4:  $1,139,000

We hadn’t looked at these in awhile, because when we did, Plans 2, 3, and 4 were all over $1M and Plan 1 was around $950,000.  How the mighty are falling.  There is one Plan 1 (w/bonus room) from Phase 3 currently available with all the upgraded flooring, etc. for $869,000.  Interestingly, two other Plan 1s are available in Phase 4 - one w/o bonus room for $849,000 and one w/ bonus room for $859,000.  On the Phase 4 homes, I’m not sure how far along they are, but I know they don’t have flooring and you might have to buy that (rather than getting an incentive).  A few nice things: all the front landscaping is done by the builder, so that’s one less thing to pay for, and also Lennar is paying the HOAs through Nov. 2007. 

And no, I’m not a Lennar shill.  We hadn’t looked at these in forever because they were out of our price range and I was very pleasantly surprised to see that they had come down about $100K.  I also think that you get more and better in terms of "included" features with Lennar than you do with other builders (**cough** Lyon **cough**).  I think Brookfield  (at least based on Paloma) is comparable with Lennar in that respect.

EvaLSeraphim -
Thanks for posting the new (and especially older pricing).  Do you have any info on whether there were any non-durable incentives? (eg. interest rate buy downs sponsored by the builder and preferred lender, etc.)

Hmm… I didn’t get that far, but I recall that they would pay up to $6K in non-recurring closing costs.  Is that even worth mentioning?

They will pay 6k in closing costs - that is if you use their financing.
We had looked at these guys in the past too, and never went back, again primarily because of the price.
I agree about the whole ‘included’ thing versus needing to upgrade to ‘normal’ quality.

Because of some of the comments on this post, I checked out The Gables.  The "hangar’s view" right smack in my face is not for me, no matter how nice the homes.  IMO.  Or, the Tustin school district.  Yikes, double whammy.

I was struck by the proximity to the train tracks running North-South on Edinger (I had totally forgotten that they were even there!)... The tracks can’t be 50 (direct) yards from the Gables… so I guess I get to listen to trains traveleing by 30x a day?  Hmmm.

IIRC, going up along Edinger and backing to street and train tracks will be Verandas homes.  So Verandas will somewhat insulate The Gables from the train and street noise.  That said, if/when the whistles blow you will likely hear them.  I’m a mile away from some of the tracks in Irvine (with the 5 fwy in between) and I can hear the whistles. 

An acquaintance of mine purchased a Plan 3, closing soon.  Original buyer dropped out and he made a lowball offer at $890, and the house included far more upgrades than the standard.  Builder accepted.

So even with the price reduction listed, you could probably offer another 50k less and the builder will take it!

2/10/2007 price sheet
1 ~ from 829k (prob without bonus room)
2 ~ from 939k
3 ~ from 970k
4 ~ sold out until phase 6 (currently phase 4)
Has anyone heard about the "toxic plume" of groundwater I found out about, that lies underneath the air base?
Is that just cover your butt mumbo jumbo or is it real? Supposedly you aren’t supposed to drink the water or eat fruit grown from trees.
That plus the railroad and the wonderific view of the hangars deflates whatever interest I might have had in their homes.
My friend who used to work in SJCapistrano said the hangars are supposed to be replaced with ?arches to commemorate their presence, just not quite as ... ugly

Yeah they are going to be arches as far as i know.

train noise is definitely an issue that affects plenty of cities in OC.  And your’e right, it’s not the noise of the actual train or train wheels (well, not unless you’re right next to the track), but the train horn, which engineers do use zealously.

  I couldn’t imagine living that close to the tracks.  They lay on that horn every day.  We are a mile from the tracks and the horn is still loud enough to wake the baby.

anybody know if double and/or triple paned windows would block train horn noise?

I used to live in Placentia, about 1/2 block away from the train tracks.  The trains don’t blow their horns at night.  We had double paned windows and during day time, you can hardly hear the train at all with the window closed.  At night, when everything is dead quiet, you can hear the train running by in a faint rumbling noise.  It didn’t really bother me.

I went to see some new homes being built here couple weeks ago:

http://www.zillow.com/search/Search.htm?addrstrthood=east santa fe ave&citystatezip=placentia, ca

The satellite image is a bit old.  Those warehouse next to train yard at E. Santa Fe Ave are gone and replaced by new homes, smacked right next to the railroad.  They built tall walls on both sides and the windows are double-double paned (2 layers of double paned glass?).  With the window closed, you could hardly hear the train roll by.  I suspect they prolly put in additional noise reduction features in the construction of the walls itself as well.

View with area flattened out:

http://www.zillow.com/HomeDetails.htm?zprop=25380635

We Live close to the tracks right now and it really doesn’t bother us all that much. We got used to it. I heard that Irvine is trying to make a horn limit to reduce the horn noise.

Residence 1- 895,000

2- 998,000

3- 1,084,000

4- SOLD OUT UNTIL PHASE 8 (JUNE 2008 MOVE IN)

Inflation must be taking effect…prices are going up!!

Weakening dollar.

Prices as of 2/23/2008
Res 1)  $938,000
Res 2)  $998,000
Res 3)  $1,084,000
Res 4)  $1,300,000

digged up some old price sheets. 

Prices as of 10/15/2006
Res 1: from $934,000 (w/ Bonus Room)
Res 2: from $1,119,500
Res 3: from $1,157,000
Res 4: from $1,399,000

Prices as of 12/30/2006
Res 1: from $899,000
Res 2: from $1,059,000
Res 3: from $1,099,000
Res 4: from $1,249,000

Prices as of 3/31/2007
Res 1: from $830,000
Res 2: from $966,500
Res 3: from $1,009,000
Res 4: from Sold Out Until Phase 6

Prices as of 5/19/2007
Res 1: from $862,000
Res 2: from $968,500
Res 3: from $1,080,000
Res 4: from $1,270,000

checked out the gables a few weeks ago.  nice big houses, but too bad it’s in the tustin school district which sucks (would’ve been better if it’s a different high school other than tustin high).  anyway, i believe they are also offering $100k incentive in addition to the lennar special 30-year fixed interest rate.  the $100k incentive would’ve been great if they had kept the current prices at the same level as 3/31/2007.  but simply jacking up the prices by $100k then offering the $100k discount, yeah right…  good luck selling these homes at today’s market.

I’m renting in the Gables.  Train noise is really a non-issue.  I probably hear the train go by once a day and it’s not loud.

how much are you renting for uppercuts? What plan?