Once you decide to cross Culver and give a chance to the Irvine schools of Tustin Unified School District, the question is, West Irvine or Northpark? Both have very good schools. Both have a mix of condominiums and single family residences. Northpark is a guard gated community where as West Irvine isn’t. Whether or not anyone needs a guard and a gate when they live in the safest city of America is another debate, but a general opinion is that Northpark condos cost more than the others in area because of the ‘guard gate’. Is the tax of the guard gate true? Let’s compare two properties today, one in West Irvine and one in Northpark, and see if it’s true.
76 Burlingame Irvine, CA 92602
Listing Price: $475,000
Beds: 2
Baths: 2.5
Sq. Ft.: 1,670
$/Sq. Ft.: $284
Property Type: Residential Condominium
Style: Two Level, Other
Year Built: 2000
Community: Northpark
Builders Tract Name: Brisbane
Builders Tract Code: BRIB
Builders Model Code: B
Monthly expenses:
HOA Dues: $358/month ($203+$155)
Property Tax ( 1.0595%): $5,032 Annually
Mello Roos: $1,388 Annually
Monthly Property Tax+ Mello Roos: $535
Monthly Mortgage (30 YR Fixed, 3.625%): $1,733
Pricing History:
Jun 12, 2012 Price Changed $475,000
May 21, 2012 Price Changed $469,000
May 03, 2012 Listed (Active) $475,000
Dec 07, 2005 Sold (Public Records) $660,000
Monthly Fixed Expenses: $2,626
Monthly Fixed Expense/ SF: $1.57/SF
Listing Price: $499,000
Beds: 2
Baths: 2.5
Sq. Ft.: 1,640
$/Sq. Ft.: $305
Property Type: Residential Condominium
Style: Two Level
Year Built: 2001
Community: West Irvine
Builders Tract Name: Summerplace
Builders Tract Code: SUMP
Builders Model Code: 1
Monthly expenses:
HOA Dues: $350/month ($295+$55)
Property Tax ( 1.0595%): $5,286 Annually
Mello Roos: $1,170 Annually
Monthly Property Tax+ Mello Roos: $538
Monthly Mortgage (30 YR Fixed, 3.625%): $1,824
Pricing History:
May 27, 2012 (Listing price change) $499,900
Apr 21, 2012 (Listing price change) $525,000
Mar 19, 2012 Relisted (Active)
Mar 19, 2012 Listed (Active) $549,000
Mar 14, 2005 Sold (Public Records) $580,000
Monthly Fixed Expenses: $2,712
Monthly Fixed Expense/ SF: $1.65
Condominium home owner’s dues are around $350 per month for both properties. They both fall under the property tax rate of 1.0595%. Price/ SF for the West Irvine condo is more than the Price/SF for the Northpark condo. Since our West Irvine condo’s monthly expenses are more than the Northpark condo’s monthly expenses, it’s clear that there is no guard gate tax, at least for these two properties.
Which one would you buy? Irvine has a lot of areas with exorbitant HOA dues. Would you buy a property with a HOA more than $300 per month? Or would you go for a property that hasn’t seen significant correction from the peak of 2005/2006 prices?
Discuss below or on Talk Irvine.