No HOA No Mello Roos

You would have to look in the older areas... Northwood, El Camino etc.

Newer homes that don't have HOAs and low Mello Roos are in West Irvine.
 
Actually... there are many older places in Irvine that aren't "low income" and don't have HOA/MRs.

Some of those no HOA/no MR homes in Northwood are 3-car wide garage 2500sft houses that sell for $800k+... not exactly a low income price point.
 
irvinehomeowner thank you for the info

I am not very familiar with the Irvine communities.

Is there a website that list which communities do not have HOA and MR?
 
just be careful what you ask for...  rough calc, we figured we could spend an extra $100K on a house in irvine absent mello and hoa and be in the same position, so we started looking.  what we found were a lot of potential houses that weren't all that aesthetically appealing with dated floorplans and horrible looking fire places...  old electric/ plumbing/ etc also came into the picture.  this search extended out of irvine to the reaches of n. tustin and orange/villa park...    if you are looking for shelter, than you are fine, if you want a nice place than just be prepared with your checkbook for repairs and improvements.

Further, we realized after living in irvine for so long, we are in love with all the little amenties and benefits that hoa's and mello provide...  pocket parks, great schools, infrastructure, etc...  as much as i hate to say it, i have totally bought into and am sold on the irvine lifestyle. 
 
i dont mean to disaqualfy a home w/out hoa and mello...  all im saying is understand what you are buying.  some of the n tustin houses are beautiful and are on big lots.  but then you look up and your house is on powerline-lined streets and the side of the road has a monstrous drainage ditch...  also, a lot of the streets are REALLY dark at night.  Compare this to the well manicured, well lighted streets in some newer neighboorhoods and you can justify that your money is at least going towards something value added...  the market will dictate and normalize pricing in these different areas.  why can you buy good sq footage on a large lot in old tustin for the same price as a smaller house on a smaller lot in a newer part of irvine?  lastly, all the asians/ indians moving in the area see the same reports of all the irvine/tustin schools at the the top of the list year after year after year
 
I lived in Greentree HOA house for 15 years.  It had HOA which was not strict and had a fee of $63 a month and provided junior olympic sized pool, basketball court, volleyball court, private park, tot lot, and other amenities.  However, one of the big advantage was that the neighborhood was kept very clean and all the homes were kept up very well for 40 year old homes.  Right next to our community is called "Willows", and it does not have association.  I drove my kids through "willows" every morning to drop them off at their school.  Even though Willows consisted with about the same age and same size houses as Greentree, the house prices are always lower.  There are many houses with over grown grass with full of weeds.  There is a house that I passed everyday that has a old junk car on jacks with wheels off, and it has been like that for over a year.  There is a house with aluminum foil on the windows to reflect sunlight.  None of these would be allowed in Greentree homes because of the association.  Once again, Greentree and Willows are right next to each other, were built around the same time in early 70's, and are about the same size.  Actually, Greentree homes have zero lot lines and the Willows homes are true SFR.  However, the Willows neighborhood as a whole is just ugly and you would not think that you are in Irvine.  As I said earlier, Greentree commands a premium over Willows.

Sometimes, there's a benefit of having a HOA beyond just having extra amenties.
 
Irvine2Irvine,
Since you live in Irvine, I encourage you visit the West Irvine neighborhood I live in.
Circle around the street Linhaven, you will note most of the people take care of their houses very well; most of them hire gardeners to maintain the landscape.  Right now IT IS A SPECIAL TREAT to tour this street at evening, it seems like there is a XMAS Lightening Contest going on!!!!
There is no HOA in this neighborhood, and by saving the HOA fees I can see people put the money in better use - private gardeners. You will also notice high concentration of BMWs, Lexuses here...as saving of hundreds of monthly HOA fees can probably upgrade your car from Toyotas to Lexuses...

Lastly, I have been living here for 6 years.  It is as charming as 6 years ago today.

So, you don' really need HOA to maintain a good neighborhood.
 
I remember driving around an area of West Irvine and there were a couple of houses that didn't look very kept up. I'm sure this is rare and maybe those are bank-owned or rented but not EVERY house is well-maintained (as could be the case even in HOA areas).

Maybe I'm wrong as AZDavid claims I have Alzheimer's but one of these days I'll drive by there and take pictures. Which streets are the non-HOA areas of West Irvine?
 
I know West Irvine very well and looked at houses there earlier this year when I was house shopping.  West Irvine is fairly new, so it should be OK for a while.  It's usually when a neighborhood gets older, there will be more "neglected" houses that stand out.

I am not saying a non HOA neighborhood is bad.  What I am saying is that there's always a chance that a non HOA neighborhood can degrade faster than a HOA neighborhood.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
I remember driving around an area of West Irvine and there were a couple of houses that didn't look very kept up. I'm sure this is rare and maybe those are bank-owned or rented but not EVERY house is well-maintained (as could be the case even in HOA areas).

Maybe I'm wrong as AZDavid claims I have Alzheimer's but one of these days I'll drive by there and take pictures. Which streets are the non-HOA areas of West Irvine?

The section of West Irvine sans HOA is appropriately named "Independence." 
Independence is bordered by Jamboree, Portola, the 261, and Trevino.

-IrvineRealtor
 
IrvineRealtor said:
irvinehomeowner said:
I remember driving around an area of West Irvine and there were a couple of houses that didn't look very kept up. I'm sure this is rare and maybe those are bank-owned or rented but not EVERY house is well-maintained (as could be the case even in HOA areas).

Maybe I'm wrong as AZDavid claims I have Alzheimer's but one of these days I'll drive by there and take pictures. Which streets are the non-HOA areas of West Irvine?

The section of West Irvine sans HOA is appropriately named "Independence." 
Independence is bordered by Jamboree, Portola, the 261, and Trevino.

-IrvineRealtor

Independence has no curbs to make it easier to park  on the lawn.
 
IrvinePilot said:
Independence has no curbs to make it easier to park  on the lawn.

Is it safe to say that they have no "curb" appeal?  :D

But seriously, those false curbs do make it easier for cars to creep up on to the sidewalk when they park.  Either intentionally or unintentionally, the wheels and the right side of the car end up on the sidewalk and that never looks good.
 
I was one of the builders preferred lenders when they were selling Independence new. The homes do have Mello Roos if I'm not mistaken. It's been a few years, but from what I recall it had a small bond in place.

My .02c

Soylent Green Is People
 
Irvine2Irvine said:
I lived in Greentree HOA house for 15 years.  It had HOA which was not strict and had a fee of $63 a month and provided junior olympic sized pool, basketball court, volleyball court, private park, tot lot, and other amenities.  However, one of the big advantage was that the neighborhood was kept very clean and all the homes were kept up very well for 40 year old homes.  Right next to our community is called "Willows", and it does not have association.  I drove my kids through "willows" every morning to drop them off at their school.  Even though Willows consisted with about the same age and same size houses as Greentree, the house prices are always lower.  There are many houses with over grown grass with full of weeds.  There is a house that I passed everyday that has a old junk car on jacks with wheels off, and it has been like that for over a year.  There is a house with aluminum foil on the windows to reflect sunlight.  None of these would be allowed in Greentree homes because of the association.  Once again, Greentree and Willows are right next to each other, were built around the same time in early 70's, and are about the same size.  Actually, Greentree homes have zero lot lines and the Willows homes are true SFR.  However, the Willows neighborhood as a whole is just ugly and you would not think that you are in Irvine.  As I said earlier, Greentree commands a premium over Willows.

Sometimes, there's a benefit of having a HOA beyond just having extra amenties.

I live in the Willows and I love it. :)  The neighborhood looks exactly the same as GreenTree.  The house that you are referring to is now in the process of being sold.  From what I understand, the owner had health issues and had to move into another neighbors house and that is why the house was neglected. 

HOA is not fun. Previously was in one and I couldn't paint my house a different color, or even put up a satellite without having to ask for permission.  Now, if I wanted to, I could knock my house down and build a nice 2 story house without any issues from HOA.  That sort of flexibility is more important to me than a neighborhood that has clean cut grass.  I want to be able to feel like I own my home instead of having the HOA over my head constantly.

If you drive around GreenTree and Willows, you can hardly tell the difference between the two.  Both have houses that are 2 stories. The ones that have not been rebuilt look exactly the same.  If I wanted to I could easily walk to GreenTrees park and have my dog shyt all over it if I wanted to. :)  The only thing I'll give GreenTree credit for is, it's name. :)

I'm gonna be real, Willows gets all the perks of being in Irvine, but without the associated cost.  Right across the street from Irvine High, plenty of parks and pools nearby.  All without HOA or Mello Roos.  If you can find a decent house in the Willows at a decent price, I would totally go for it.  There have been several foreclosures that have affected the value of the homes in the neighborhood; however, the people who are taking over are fixing up the homes that should bring back the lost value.
 
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