Got some housing email spam from Lennar today
      Unwrap Homeownership Opportunities

New homes are priced to sell for November 21, 2007 closings.
Luxury townhomes are now available for November move-in at Meriwether at Columbus Square.
  Excellent location within the master-planned

   community of the Villages of Columbus 

  Included GE  stainless steel kitchen appliances

   and refrigerator, slab granite countertops,

   upgraded European wood cabinetry, and more

  Visit today! Homes are priced to sell!

Plan 2

Priced from the $500s

1,706 Square Feet

3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Bathrooms

2-Bay Garage

Plan 3

Priced from the $600s

1,922 Square Feet

3 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms

2-Bay Garage

 
For information on available inventory at Meriwether, please call 714-259-0478 or

Chat Now with an Internet New Home Consultant on Lennar.com.

 Meriwether at Columbus Square

Welcome Home Center

15229 Columbus Square

Tustin, CA 92782

714-259-0478

That is Meriwether, not Camden Place.
Zovall, can you relocate the post?
SCHB

VOC has crazy HOAs. . . must factor that in when purchasing.   Also the Tustin homes have bad schools.    If we were to get something in VOC, it would have to be on the Irvine side. 
As always consult with your realtor as all real estate is local.

I think the HOA for what I saw for the SFR in VOC are only slated to be $110. As the schools go, this should improve  when the new Tustin High School is built.

They are building 2 new elementary/middle schools and 1 new high school.

VOC has some things going for it (e.g., lower pricing), but has crazy Mello Roos that increase by 2% every year.  That’s the dispositive no go for me.

When we looked at Clarendon, the HOA was somewhere around $400.

I can’t remember where I saw the $110 HOA dues but I think it was either William Lyons Astoria or Lennars Gables.

Detached HOAs will always be lower than HOAs for attached product (absent some unique circumstances).  The HOAs for the attached product need to pay for insuring and upkeep of the structure, HOA specific landscaping, and any common area amenities.

Camben Place: - Botton of price sheet

“The base property tax rate is approximately 1.04% of the purchase price, plus Community
Facilities District (CFD) and Special Assessments which total approximately $2,700 per year.
Estimated Homewoner’s Association Dues are approximately $300 per month at build-out (includes
both Master and Sub HOA’s)”

So if we take the last price listed for plan 2 $434,000; total Mello Roos and HOAs would be: $376.12+$225+$300=$901.12

Prices as of 11/3/2007
Plan 1) SOLD OUT
Plan 2) $464,000
Plan 3) SOLD OUT
 

I took the dive and bought the last Plan 1 of Phase 10. It was listed at $434,000, with $20,000 in incentives and $6,000 off closing costs. While deciding what to do with the $20,000 (buy down interest rate or use for flooring) the rep finally suggested that I could use the $20,000 to buy down the purchase price, which I quickly did.

I do like the location, with the greenbelt in front, however I am cautious of the water quality situation since it is built on an existing air field. Overall, $414,000 for a 3 story townhome, I’m extremely satisfied considering it was going for over $100K more less than a year ago.

A few more things, I had to go with UAMC their preferred lender, even though they are horrible at returning calls/emails or even following up with your loan situation. Worst service i’ve seen.

And to go with flooring using their design center, is a simple rip off. They must tack on at least 50% for pure profit. I took the basic carpet and tile and will do it myself using a contract and probably saving myself thousands of dollars.

Not to mention putting the 20K on flooring adds to your property tax valuation.
Also, what are your HOA and mello roos going to be?
Good for you Shooby. . .good luck with your new place!

HOA’s are $350/month until build out when it will drop to $300. My estimated annual prop taxes will be $7400.

Thanks, I hope the prices don’t drop too much after this..

"Thanks, I hope the prices don’t drop too much after this.. "
Oh Shooby…..   congrats, but I don’t think this is the case…..

Trooper,
All the new communities have stopped building and they probably won’t startup again until prices go back up.
Shooby,
Smart buy.  Congrats.

Congrats Shooby! My wife and I recently bought in VOC also so we will be neighbors!

"nearly every new-home sale made in the area these days is being made at a loss"
http://realestatetalk.org/real-estate/lennar-halts-condo-construction-and-sales-of-central-park-west-in-irvine/

jp,
what about the glut of resales?  The foreclosures?  Did I misunderstand you ?

>>All the new communities have stopped building and they probably won’t startup again until prices go back up.
So if you’re a homebuilder and you’re not building and selling any homes, how do you generate any revenue to pay your holding costs?

Congrats Shooby. I also bought from Lennar and I’m dealing with UAMC right now. Very slow indeed. I do agree the flooring is a ripoff, but I decided to overpay for piece of mind(warranty) and having it done before I move in.

“Not to mention putting the 20K on flooring adds to your property tax valuation.”

Actually IrvineC, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Lennar did not add my upgrades to the purchase price.

I do agree with JP about builders slowing down construction. In fact, that was one of the reasons why I jumped off the fence and bought. I wanted a brand new SFH with own driveway in VOC, and I noticed they were slowing down construction and supply would start to drop once builders got rid of the ready to move homes. I’ve noticed that Lennar has been very successful in moving their sitting inventory in VOC this past month with their aggressive pricing and incentives - unlike William Lyon. All the homes for Nov move-ins in my community sold within a week.

Eva, my guess is, builders would rather sit on land and lose the carrying cost, than build and risk even steeper losses. Alternatively, builders might build 2-3 homes per phase instead of 6 and trying to stay afloat with the revenues generated.

To add to what rtlguru said, the carrying costs are paid for by the high HOA fees.  That’s why the HOA fees gradually come down as you get closer to build out.  So the builders are not really losing anything by not building.
 

It was my understanding that bulding costs dropped by 10% (don’t ask where I read that though). That would allow price to drop by 10% more.

Builders can’t sit on land they started to build homes to, it’s to expensive, so they have to lower the price and sell homes.  However, they don’t have to pay TIC until they start digging.

Foreclosures will keep the prices down, not the fact that builders stop building.

Shooby, With all this, I still think you got a bad deal.  I thought about it to, but figured I could wait 2 years and be better off.  But for someone who really wanted to own, I think you got one of the best deal on the market 9at least for new homes/condos). Enjoy!!!

Recently booked a Plan-3 in Phase-10. I am hoping i made right choice by buying in this market, as this is my first home. Any ideas when the new schools will be coming to this neighbourhood.