Buy or rent at Monticello in Northpark Square

28 Taquitz is a 3bd/3ba 1,826 sq. ft. attached condo in the Monticello tract in Northpark Square. Monticello is located across from Beckman High and is bounded by Bryan, Rubicon, Rosenblum, and Montellena. The streets inside Monticello are: Taquitz, Leucadia, Cosentino, Cabazon, and Idyllwild.

Monticella has 4 main floorplans:

Plan 1 – 2 Bed / 2 Bath 1211-1289 square feet

Plan 2 – 2 Bed / 2 Bath 1398 square feet

Plan 3 – 2 Bed / 2 Bath 1471-1663 square feet

Plan 4 – 3 Bed / 3 Bath 1826 square feet

28 Taquitz is a Plan 4 and is listed at $499,000

There is one other Plan 4 that is active and that is 27 Leucadia which is listed at $509,900.

And there is one Plan 4 that is Pending Sale: 9 Cabazon which is a short sale listed at $425,000.

A quick search revealed 3 Plan 4's sold in the last year:

10/20/2011 9 Leucadia $430,000
9/16/2011 10 Taquitz $470,000
6/27/2011 28 Taquitz $481,000

Yes, 28 Taquitz was purchased just about 6 or so months ago. It looks like it was bought for cash and the agent is the owner – not sure why they are selling now.

Seems like the sales prices have a pretty wide range. I'll use an average of the closed and pending sales for the analysis – $451,500

Here's what the numbers might look like if purchased by someone with excellent credit and 20% down:

Purchase Price $451,500
Closing costs $13,545 3%
Total price $465,045
Down payment $103,845 20%
Loan Amount / Percentage Of Price $361,200 80%
Interest Rate / Period (months) 4.00% 360
Monthly Yearly
Mortgage Payment $1,724 $20,693
Interest Component $1,204 $14,448
Property Tax $399 $4,784 1.06%
Special Assessments $107 $1,285 0.28%
Effective Tax rate 1.34%
Insurance $50 $600
HOA 1 $227 $2,724
HOA 2 $74 $888
Cash Out $2,581 $30,973

There are some possible adjustments that may apply to your situation. Be sure to also consider how long you may own the property (average is around 6 years), what kind of financing you actually qualify for, how much you put down, the effect of giving up the standard deduction, potential price declines, costs to sell the property, etc. The NY Times Buy or Rent calculator is a great tool that helps with some of these.

Possible Adjustments
Interest paid $14,448
Property tax $4,784
Total deductible $19,232
Tax benefit $401 $4,808 25%
Opportunity cost of down payment -$173 -$2,077 2%
Principal paid in mortgage payment $520 -$6,245

So, what do these Plan 4s rent for? I didn't find much in terms of closed leases but 43 Leucadia is listed at $2550/month.

Based on this info, would you buy 28 Taquitz for $451k or rent it for $2550/month? If you wouldn't buy it fo $451k, what price would you pay for it?

5 thoughts on “Buy or rent at Monticello in Northpark Square

  1. AZDavidSanJose

    By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
    January 18, 2012

    Real estate investors made up a record chunk of Southern California’s housing market in December, but their presence was not enough to curb a sales slump.

    With the heavy presence of speculators, low-cost homes reigned. That helped push the region’s median home price down to its lowest level in 12 months, according to San Diego real estate firm DataQuick.

  2. Brian Gray

    Rent for $2550 a month or put down/spend (on closing costs) over $117,000, (13,000 of which is permanently gone)? Pay for all the repairs the place needs, or none?

    Gee, not a tough one to answer. RENT!

    What would be a reasonable price to buy at? $110,000 lower. Then you have TRUE rental parity.

    After all, how much do you put down when you rent? Something like $5000 – security deposit and last month’s rent…

    Therefore, how can it be a fair comparison of rental parity to compare a rental to a home where you put down $117,000? It simply isn’t. Take $100,000 off the purchase price and then things are basically equal.

  3. Mortgages By Mark

    Nice place, but still too steep a price in my opinion. I saw Peter Schiff speak not that long ago, and while there are widely varying opinions on what the future holds, he’s a firm believer that home prices in OC have much farther to fall. That was my thinking before I saw him speak, and that remains my opinion today. The stuff that’s already cheap will hold up better, it’s the more expensive properties that seem vulnerable to more declines – especially when rates start really climbing.

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