Monthly Archives: September 2012

Closed Sales from 9/6/2012 to 9/12/2012

Date Sold Address Zip Tract Sold Price Beds Sq Ft
Columbus Grove
9/8/12 428 Silk Tree 92606 Savannah Neighbor Village $360,000 2 1056
El Camino Real
9/7/12 4302 Vale St 92604 Greentree $530,000 3 1448
9/10/12 8 Swallowtail 92604 Irvine Groves $475,000 4 1897
Northpark
9/7/12 15 Stonegate 92602 Rutherford $825,000 3 2000
9/7/12 1402 Terra Bella 92602 Terra Bella $441,000 3 1614
9/11/12 58 Burlingame 92602 Brisbane $455,000 2 1475
9/12/12 23 Vacaville 92602 Mendocino $830,000 3 2300
9/12/12 18 Sunnyvale 92602 Saratoga $980,000 4 2800
Northwood
9/6/12 103 Streamwood 92620 Irvine Springs $224,900 2 808
9/7/12 21 New Dawn 92620 RoseGate $1,225,000 4 3350
9/7/12 9 Longstreet 92620 Shadow Run $668,000 4 1900
9/10/12 22 Shadowplay 92620 Other $505,000 3 1562
9/12/12 11 Urbino 92620 Windstream $888,000 4 2494
Oak Creek
9/6/12 7 Kelsey 92618 Kelsey Lane $749,000 4 2100
9/7/12 1302 Elk Grove 92618 Oak Park $272,000 1 900
9/10/12 2601 Cherrywood 92618 Oak Park $400,000 3 1375
Portola Springs
9/11/12 51 Bell Chime 92618 Decada $525,000 3 1437
Quail Hill
9/11/12 243 Terra Cotta 92603 Soltice $745,000 3 2100
Turtle Ridge
9/6/12 56 Shady Ln 92603 Bontanica $1,408,000 4 2778
9/7/12 33 Shady Ln 92603 Ledges $1,500,000 4 3400
9/10/12 23 Trumpet Vine 92603 Bontanica $2,600,000 5 4180
9/11/12 213 Danbrook 92603 Ashton Green $457,000 2 1330
Turtle Rock
9/7/12 32 Golden Eagle 92603 Custom $4,030,000 4 5700
University Park
9/6/12 16 Norton St 92612 Chancellor $685,000 5 2300
9/6/12 9 Angell St 92612 Chancellor $780,000 5 2800
9/7/12 1 Lassen 92612 Park Crest $515,000 2 1540
9/10/12 118 Sequoia Tree Ln 92612 Garden Homes $535,000 3 1708
Walnut
9/10/12 21 Georgia 92606 Revere $694,000 5 2280
West Irvine
9/7/12 165 Church Pl 92602 Liberty $621,000 4 1755
Westpark
9/7/12 104 Costero Aisle 290 92614 Tiempo $292,000 2 1002
Woodbridge
9/7/12 9 Cedarlake 92614 Lakeside $590,000 3 2038
9/7/12 86 Greenmoor 43 92614 Stonegate $430,000 3 1368
9/11/12 21 Summerfield 71 92614 Seasons $515,000 3 1471
Woodbury
9/7/12 168 Vintage 92620 Cachette $655,000 4 2000
9/12/12 89 Canal 92620 Cortile $465,000 2 1145

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3100.0.html

Open House Review: 170 Garden Gate Lane

I was talking to a friend recently about investment properties, so I thought I’d take a look at a smaller home and see what it had to offer. I had heard that the Lane’s End neighborhood in Northwood Pointe had cute, detached townhomes, so I visited 170 Garden Gate Lane.

The basics:

Asking Price: $498,000

Bedrooms: 2

Bathrooms: 2

Square Footage: 1,039

Lot Size: 1,742

$/Sq Ft: $479

Days on Market: 40

Property Type: Single Family Home

Year Built: 1998

Community: Lane’s End, Northwood Pointe

HOA dues are $134 per month and there are Mello Roos taxes.

To get to this home, you take a walkway between two other homes and enter into a small courtyard area. I could imagine forming a close community with the neighbors and liked that aspect of the house. From the front, 170 Garden Gate Lane is cute, with a white picket fence and small courtyard. As the house lacks a backyard, this is really the only outside space it has. The garage is off an alley at the back of the house, so it doesn’t have a driveway.

This house has a small, tiled entry way that feeds into the living room. Featuring laminate flooring, a tiled fireplace, a built in bookcase/cabinet, and large French doors leading to the courtyard, the room is bright and cozy. It’s somewhat small and limited in how it can be arranged, but I found myself liking the feeling I got in the room. It was definitely my favorite part of the house.

The kitchen is behind the living room, with a small breakfast nook tucked up against the staircase. The nook, like many other areas in the home, has small cutouts in the wall that make cute display areas for vases, photos, or other home décor. The kitchen has white Whirlpool appliances and tiled counters. One side has white paneled cabinets and the other has glass paneled cabinets and an overhead rack for wine glasses. Counter space is limited but there is a lot of storage. It also has a sliding door that goes out to a small side yard.

The master bedroom is right at the top of the stairs. It has several windows, including one that could be used as a window seat or have a storage box built into it. There are two small mirrored closets and a small bathroom. While the shower is a nice size, it lacks a bathtub and only has one sink.

The other bedroom is fairly small and doesn’t have room for much beyond a bed and one other piece of furniture. The current owners removed the closet doors and put a desk in the closet area to create more space.

The other bathroom upstairs has a shower/tub combo and a single sink. Because there isn’t a bathroom downstairs, this would have to serve as the bathroom guests use whenever they visit the house. For me, this is a big negative and would deter me from buying this property.

This house would work well for a couple without children or for someone single. It’s too small to be comfortable for a bigger family. It is in excellent condition, needing only new paint and carpet upstairs.

The pros: I really liked the design of the house, with the cutouts for décor and the window seat option in the master bedroom. I also liked the feel of the living room and all of the windows throughout the house. The potential to form a close-knit community with the neighbors is also attractive to me.

The cons: No downstairs bathroom, limited counter space in the kitchen, a small secondary bedroom and the smaller closets and bathroom in the master.

The price, however, is the major problem in this house. At $479 per square foot, it is grossly overpriced and much higher than others in the area. Comparable homes have sold at an average of $312 per square foot over the last three months and current similar listings average $365 per square foot. If we were to price this one at $350/SqFt, it would bring the asking price down to $363,650. The realtor actually encouraged me to make an offer that was more in line with the comps, rather than even coming to close to the owner’s asking price. The house has been on the market for 40 days, has zero offers, and has open houses scheduled again for each of the next two weekends.

While I do think it’s a cute house in a nice neighborhood, for me, the negatives outweigh the positives.

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3095.0.html

New Features in the Works for the Orange County Great Park

“In addition to expanding the Great Park’s current footprint by 15 percent, the construction of the South Lawn will generate more than 50 full-time equivalent construction jobs for the Orange County economy.

‘The Great Park is proud to move forward with latest phase of the Park, but also proud to contribute to the local economy,’ said Mike Ellzey, Chief Executive Officer, Orange County Great Park Corporation. ‘The development will substantially increase our active space at the Great Park and create badly-needed construction jobs, which will have an important positive economic impact in Orange County.’”—Orange County Great Park

In June, the Orange County Great Park announced the plans for the next building phase at the park. Allocated for this phase of development is $22.8 million of the $200 million in developer fees paid by Lennar in 2005. Beginning construction for this stage of the project was scheduled for July and is expected to take 12 to 18 months.

Here is a breakdown of the planned expansion features.

South Lawn

  • Four tournament-quality soccer fields (two will be synthetic grass and lighted for evening use)

  • Four full-size basketball courts

  • A new restroom and operations facility building

  • Jogging and exercise trail

  • More than 400 tree plantings

Replace the Temporary Visitors Center with a Permanent Visitors Center Pavilion

  • New 5,000-square-foot Visitors Center Pavilion (This will be the Great Park’s first new permanent building and will be located near the Great Park Balloon.)

  • A larger lobby

  • Restroom facilities

  • Concession area

  • Exhibition areas

  • Office space

Walkable Historical Timeline (currently includes a 750-foot walk through history)

  • Timeline expanded to 2,604 feet

  • An additional 100 historical details

  • Timeline will act as a natural connection between the existing Great Park Balloon and the South Lawn.

Water features

  • Six new ponds (the first Great Park water features)

  • A connection from one of the ponds to the Walkable Historical Timeline

  • A viewing pier near the entrance to the Great Park

Community Garden (adjacent to the existing Farm + Food Lab)

  • Ninety-nine plots including six Americans with Disability Act-compliant plots

  • A community gathering area (consists of an open turf area with a large shade tree and picnic tables)

Storm Water Collection System: (state-of-the-art storm water management system designed to offset up to 40 percent of the South Lawn’s irrigation needs)

  • Storm water captured, filtered, and stored in the new South Lawn ponds

  • Storm water mixed with reclaimed water from the Irvine Ranch Water District

Infrastructure: (These construction features will enable future Great Park development.)

  • Underground utilities

  • Electrical equipment and lighting

  • Drainage improvements, irrigation systems

  • Asphalt and concrete

  • Fencing and landscaping

  • The foundational backbone for the future electronic security system

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3091.0.html

Open House Review: 21 Whitewood Way

Parkside Find in University Park

21 Whitewood Way, $525,000 Sale Pending

This home is a surprise on many levels. The minute you approach the home you know a gardener lives here. Thriving plants line the walkway, and accent the inside/outside garden spots throughout the home. This is topped off with the lush greenbelt that is just over the wall from the back patio. I am sure the owners chose this single family home with this location in mind. As you step out the back gate, the park is yours to enjoy.

New to the market, this home is now listed as “sale pending, with backup offers accepted.” When I attended the open house, there were a lot of lookers and I thought the property might move quickly.

As you enter the home, overhead a sparkling chandelier shines down on polished wood floors that lead you to the rest of the home. There soaring ceilings, a towering fireplace and clerestory windows move this house beyond the ordinary.

You can sense the owner’s pride and enjoyment of their home. In the living room, the wood is carefully stacked in a fireplace niche, ready for a winter evening. On the patio, all is ready for a relaxing barbeque.

This three bedroom, one and three quarter bath home makes the most of its 1,493 square feet, utilizing space to the best advantage. The inside/outside views, immaculate condition and natural light make it seem larger than it is.

I could see a family happily navigating through daily tasks and special weekend events using this home as their base. The home is well planned and ready to handle a family’s busy schedule.

Off of the main hall there is a special little garden room that can be reached from one of the bedrooms too. The remodeled kitchen is compact and efficient with granite counters and a greenhouse window. A nice sized, light filled dining room sits between the kitchen and the living room, off of the main hall. There are double vanities and skylights in the bathrooms and the living room fireplace is set up for gas or wood.

Specifics:

Bedrooms: 3

Baths: 1.75

Square Ft.: 1493

$/Sq.Ft.: $352

Lot Size: 3200 sq.ft.

HOA Dues: $179/month

Property: Residential, Single Family

Year Built: 1968

Double Garage

One common wall attached

No Mello Roos Tax

Community: University Park

County: Orange

Considerations and Comparisons: Very new to the market, a sale pending is now listed for the property. The smart use of space, and desirable location on the greenbelt in a top flight community has made this a winner. The immaculate condition and landscaping add points too. The mural wallpapers in the bedrooms could be updated, and the atrium off of the bedroom could be filled with more low light plants and a fountain for an even more dramatic inside garden room.

Who will move into 21 Whitewood Way? With a sale pending we will soon see. It could be a young family who will love having a park right outside their gate and benefit from the community’s excellent schools might settle here. Professionals who work in or near Irvine, and appreciate the immaculate condition and appealing landscaping might see this as the perfect home retreat. A mature couple with older family members or visitors who need bedrooms on the first floor will appreciate the details of this home and the convenience.

Nearby homes recently sold and new listings: 27 Meadowsweet Way sold for $520,000; and 57 Alder sold for $525,000. 32 Mayapple Way is currently listed at $550,000 and 10 Senisa is listed at $599,000.

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3088.0.html

The Village and the Budget

You know you want to buy in Irvine, and you know how big of a house you want. But what you pay for the property, and what kind of property it will be depends on the village you will buy in. Today, I searched for a Single Family Residence between 2000 SF and 2250 SF in Irvine, on the other side of Freeway 5, away from the beach.

Here are the results:

North Park: 15 River Oaks, Irvine CA 92602

Listing price: $859,000

Beds/ Bath: 3 Beds/ 2.5 Bath

Area: 2,200 SF

Lot Size: 5,076

Price/ SF: $390

Mortgage(3.625%): $3,134

HOA Dues: $217

Tax + Mello Roos: $12,119 Annually

Tax+ Mello Roos Monthly: $1010

Monthly Cost of Owning in North Park: $4,361

Northwood: 34 Mount Vernon, Irvine CA 92620

Listing price: $815,000

Beds/ Bath: 4 Beds/ 2.5 Bath

Area: 2,173 SF

Lot Size: 3,000

Price/ SF: $375

Mortgage(3.625%): $2,973

HOA Dues: $133

Tax + Mello Roos: $10,706 Annually

Tax+ Mello Roos Monthly: $892

Monthly Cost of Owning in Northwood: $3,998

Portola Springs: 95 Keepsake, Irvine CA 92618

Listing price: $625,000

Beds/ Bath: 4 Beds/ 3 Bath

Area: 2,056 SF

Lot Size: Not listed

Price/ SF: $304

Mortgage(3.625%): $2,280

HOA Dues: $232

Tax + Mello Roos: $10,871 Annually

Tax+ Mello Roos Monthly: $906

Monthly Cost of Owning in Portola Springs: $3,418

(I have a feeling this is a detached condominium, but the MLS says it’s a Single Family Residence)

West Irvine: 9 Carriage Dr, Irvine CA 92602

Listing price: $735,000

Beds/ Bath: 4 Beds/ 2.5 Bath

Area: 2,237 SF

Lot Size: 3,740 SF

Price/ SF: $329

Mortgage(3.625%): $2,682

HOA Dues: $0

Tax + Mello Roos: $9096 Annually

Tax+ Mello Roos Monthly: $758

Monthly Cost of Owning in West Irvine: $3,440

Which one would you buy?

Will the age of the home matter more, or the real estate conditions in the area?

Do HOA Dues and Mello Roos influence your decision?

Discuss on Talk Irvine.