5 Canyonwood in Northwood Pointe just came on the market last week and it is a beautiful home. From the outside, the home has a three car garage, covered front porch and a nice lawn. On the inside, while I don’t particularly like the current décor, I could tell that the home was attractive, spacious, and warm.

The basics:

Asking Price: $959,000

Bedrooms: 4 + loft

Bathrooms: 4

Square Footage: 2600

Lot Size: 4,458

$/Sq Ft: $369

Days on Market: 3

Property Type: Single Family Home

Year Built: 1997

Community: Northwood Pointe

HOA dues are $185 per month and there are Mello Roos taxes.

When I walked into the house, I was in a tiled entryway. To the right, was a bedroom and bathroom. Ahead of me, I could see the living room and dining room.

The downstairs bedroom has large windows facing the street and a small closet with sliding doors. Directly across the hall is a full bathroom (no tub).

The living room features soaring ceilings and tall windows providing a lot of light. It also has high ledges that could be used for an interesting display area. The room flows right into the dining room, which also has several windows, as well as French doors leading out to the backyard. Both rooms have beige carpeting that is in pretty good condition.

I entered the kitchen through the dining room. It has granite countertops, a small island and double ovens. All of the appliances are black and the stove has five burners. There is a breakfast nook with bay windows looking out to the backyard. I really liked the color scheme of the kitchen, though I do think it would look better with stainless steel appliances.

The kitchen overlooks the family room, which has a fireplace in one corner and white built-ins on the adjacent wall. It has a ceiling fan and, like the other rooms, crown molding and many windows.

Upstairs, there are three additional bedrooms and a loft. The loft is right at the top of the stairs and makes a great extra space in this house. Whether your use it as an office, playroom, or home gym, it has plenty of space for your needs.

The first bedroom is actually quite large and is much bigger than the other two secondary bedrooms in the house. It has a walk in closet and a private bath, featuring a shower/tub combo.

The other bedroom upstairs is fairly small and has just a standard closet. The secondary bathroom (not attached) has two sinks and a shower/tub combo.

The master is a pretty room with several windows overlooking the backyard. It has a small sitting area and a standard closet in the room. The master bathroom is huge, with a separate shower and tub, split sinks, a vanity area and a large walk-in closet.

Overall, I really liked the layout of the house and, with different furnishings, can picture it as a very warm and friendly place. It has the nice touches of a new home, such as crown molding, rounded corners, built-ins, and recessed lighting without feeling ostentatious. The only things I really didn’t like are that one of the upstairs bedrooms and the backyard are both very small. While the yard does have a built-in barbecue, a patio and a grassy area, it isn’t really big enough to entertain or to play out there. As is the case of so many new homes in Irvine, the house is big but the lot is tiny.

I think the house is overpriced, especially in relation to recent sales, but I really liked the property and think it’s worth checking out if you’re in the market for a home this size. I would definitely offer less than they are asking.

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3168.0.html

If you are interested in 31 Iceberg Rose, you’d better move fast. While I was there for today’s open house, I saw two different people writing offers. This former model is a short sale and, with a reduced price, it is finally seeing some seriously interested buyers.

The basics:

Asking Price: $460,000

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 2.5

Square Footage: 1750

Lot Size: n/a

$/Sq Ft: $263

Days on Market: 110

Property Type: Condominium, End Unit

Year Built: 2006

Community: Woodbury

HOA dues are $325 per month and there are Mello Roos taxes.

31 Iceberg Rose is a short sale that the owners originally tried to sell on their own. With an asking price of $570,000, there weren’t any offers. The price has since been reduced to $460,000, bringing it in line with recent comps.

While this is an end unit, I found it awkwardly situated. Instead of facing either the street or another row of homes, the front door of this unit faces the garages from a perpendicular row of homes. When you enter through the front door, the garage door is to your left and a staircase immediately in front of you takes you up to the actual home, which is all on one level. A coat closet is situated partway up the staircase.

At the top of the stairs, the bedrooms are all to the right and the great room is to the left. The great room has tiled floors throughout the living room, kitchen and breakfast nook. A large wall of built-ins anchors the living room. The house isn’t currently furnished and I had a hard time imagining it as a cozy room. A balcony off the living room has space for a small table and a couple of chairs, but the view is of the neighbors’ garages.

The kitchen is narrow, with an island separating it from the living room. It has granite counters, stainless steel appliances that include a four-burner stove, and attractive mocha-stained cabinets. While it does seem to have ample cabinet space, the counter space is limited. Because it is so narrow and not really a separate room, it feels very small. There is a breakfast nook off to the side that serves as the home’s only dining area. Down a short hallway, I found a laundry room, half bath, and a pantry.

The first bedroom off the top of the stairs is the master, though I didn’t realize that when I first walked in. The room itself is comparable in size to most secondary bedrooms and it wasn’t until I saw the bathroom that I realized it was the master. The bath features a separate shower and tub, two sinks, and two walk-in closets. The bedroom has a view of a park and pool.

The other two bedrooms are average sized. One has a walk in closet; the other has a standard closet and a small balcony. They share a bathroom with two sinks and a shower/tub combo. All of the bedrooms are carpeted. The bathrooms have tile floors and counters.

This home is in good condition and clearly has interested buyers, but the small master bedroom and kitchen and the cold-feeling living room were big turnoffs for me. However, if it suits your style, I would get all of your paperwork in order and call the realtor ASAP.

UPDATE: 31 Iceberg Rose is now pending.

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3142.0.html

Today’s open house search took me to 1 Ticonderoga, a J.M. Peters home in the Woodside II neighborhood. This house is the biggest floor plan in the neighborhood, featuring four bedrooms (one downstairs), three full baths, a large bonus room and a three car garage. It is on a corner lot, so the yard is slightly bigger than average, and the street it borders isn’t too busy.

The basics:

Asking Price: $929,000

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 3

Square Footage: 3,112

Lot Size: 5,800

$/Sq Ft: $299

Days on Market: 237*

Property Type: Single Family Home

Year Built: 1980

Community: Woodside II

There are no HOA dues or Mello Roos taxes.

*The days on the market number is slightly misleading. It was previously listed and had a buyer, but subsequently fell out of escrow. It was taken off for awhile and upgraded, then put back on approximately six weeks ago.

There is a covered walkway leading up to the house. The entryway has vaulted ceilings and the staircase is right in front of you. The downstairs is a combination of travertine floors and carpet, both put in about a year ago, and the same carpet was installed throughout the entire second floor.

To the left, there is a sunken living room with several windows. The dining room is behind the living room, but two steps higher. Both rooms are a good size. To the right of the entry, there is a closet, a full bathroom with new granite counters (but old cabinets), and a small laundry room (no sink or counters) that leads to the garage.

The downstairs bedroom has a small closet and a set of built in shelves. It would work well as a bedroom but, with the darker wood used for the built-ins, I like it better as an office.

Past the bedroom is the family room, featuring two side-by-side fireplaces and a wetbar. I don’t really see the point of the dual fireplaces and, apparently neither does the current owner, because the couches are set up in front of them. The family room has travertine floors, which always feel cold and impersonal to me, but is a popular look these days. The family room can be accessed from the hallway in two different places – one near the downstairs bedroom and another around the back of the stairs – as well as through the kitchen. Like the living room, the family room is two steps lower than the other rooms.

The kitchen overlooks the family room. It has a breakfast nook surrounded by windows and new granite counters. The appliances are a mixture of black and stainless steel and a variety of brands. The cabinets are painted white and haven’t been updated, creating a strange contrast with the new counters and new backsplash, so a buyer might want to upgrade the cabinets as well.

The backyard has a saltwater pool and spa, with patios on each side providing space for lounge chairs, a bbq and a casual dining table. The side yard is grassy and slightly wider than in most houses, so it could be used as a small play area for young kids.

Upstairs, there are three bedrooms and a huge bonus room. The two secondary bedrooms have mirrored closets and are an average size. They share a bathroom that is covered in tiles and looks very outdated.

The master bedroom has vaulted ceilings, a fireplace and many windows. There are two closets with mirrored doors, but they are actually walk-ins (one larger than the other). The bathroom has been partially remodeled, with new granite counters and new tile in the shower and bathtub, but the cabinets are still old. I thought the shower was a little too small and didn’t like the wide tile ledge in front of it.

The bonus room stretches the length of the three car garage. It has vaulted ceilings and two ceiling fans (most rooms in the house have at least one fan). The room can easily be divided into different areas and used for multiple purposes.

Overall, I like the general layout of the house, but I dislike how the downstairs has all the different levels. I also don’t like the travertine floors, but I did like the carpet in the rest of the house. There is a big open area under the stairs that could be closed in to create storage and to give the house a more modern feel. All of the windows have attractive plantation shutters and the ceiling fans throughout are a nice touch. I wish that the cabinets had been upgraded along with the counters to give the rooms a more uniform feel, instead of the contrast of old and new.

At $929,000, the price sounds high but it is in line with recent sales for comparable homes.

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3122.0.html

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

Holiday weekends generally don’t have as many open houses, so after driving around for awhile, I found myself at 34 Olivehurst in Northpark.

The basics:

Asking Price: $580,000

Bedrooms: 2 + loft

Bathrooms: 2.5

Square Footage: 1,500

Lot Size: not listed

$/Sq Ft: $387

Days on Market: 6

Property Type: Single Family Home

Year Built: 2001

Community: Northpark

HOA dues are $271.40 per month and there are Mello Roos taxes.

This house is situated on a corner lot, which the realtors refer to as a “prime location.” However, it is on the corner of Spring Valley, one of the main streets that run through the community of Northpark, so it will be busy. The lot is also tiny. I can’t actually find the lot size listed anywhere, but the fully hardscaped backyard of this house contains a small table and chairs and there really isn’t room for anything else. The garage is on the side of the house and has no driveway.

Downstairs, everything is very compartmentalized. The small living room is to the right of the entryway. The current owners have one couch and a large entertainment unit and it doesn’t really seem like there is much room to put in a second couch or loveseat. The highlight of the room, and the downstairs in general, are the nice hardwood floors.

The dining room is to the left of the entryway. It has windows on two sides and is bordered by the staircase on a third side. Like the living room, it has attractive wood floors.

The kitchen is on the other side of the stairway, so it doesn’t connect or flow into the dining room. It is a good size, but lacks an island or breakfast nook. The cabinets and appliances are all white (with the exception of a stainless steel fridge) and even the counters are a very light shade of gray, creating a very monochromatic and somewhat boring look. There isn’t really a place to put a table, so the only option is to eat in the formal dining room for every meal. The only access to the backyard is through a sliding door in the kitchen.

Moving upstairs, there is an open loft overlooking the staircase. It is a good-sized room with windows on two walls and a cutout area that could be converted into a closet. It would be fairly easy to convert it into a third bedroom, but makes a nice office space the way it is now. The secondary bedroom also has windows on two walls and a standard two-door sliding closet. While the loft has hardwood floors, the bedrooms, staircase and common areas upstairs have a bluish-gray carpet. It’s in fairly good condition, but I don’t care for the color. The upstairs bathroom has tile floors, one sink and a shower/tub combo. Like the kitchen, it is mostly white.

The master bedroom is also unremarkable. It is on the smaller side for a master, especially in a newer home and doesn’t have space for a sitting area. It has one large walk-in closet. The bathroom counters are oddly high and you have to step over a very high wall to get into the shower/tub combo. This bathroom is also all white.

The house is in good shape with everything well maintained. However, that is not enough to sell this house. I really dislike the floor plan. The downstairs is too closed off and the living room is too small. The lack of anywhere to eat in the kitchen is a big turnoff. The corner location isn’t good and the lot is tiny. The price per square foot is much too high (higher than most other homes I’ve looked at), especially when you consider that Northpark has high association dues and Mello Roos taxes. And, because it’s in Northpark, you don’t even get the benefit of Irvine schools. I can usually see an upside to most of the houses I visit. This time, I cannot. I’ll be very interested to see what happens with 34 Olivehurst.

Discuss on Talk Irvine.