Decison - Eastwood - Marin 2x or Piedmont

T

tesla

New member
Need help from TI members.

Marin 2X OR Piedmont 2

Marin 2x:
Pros:  Corner lot
        Driveway with decent yard (11ft from dinning room and 20ft from back of great room, 8ft on one side. Total 54 ft wide though)

        Better great room and kitchen layout.
        Looks like SFR from outside

Cons: Termed as condo
        No loft
        3 bathrooms (Shared bath for Kids. Boy and girl)


Piedmont 2:
Pros: SFR
      Loft
      4b4b
      Close to Eastwood elementary school (in future)
      Close to Park and swimming pool
      Kids bedroom has walk-in closet

Cons:
      Small backyard (11ft from dinning room and 20ft from California room. Total 38 ft wide)
      Look of the house from outside. Is that a con though?
      Not corner lot


SAME PRICE for both....Which one would you choose guys?

I work from home, so loft is good to have (instead of using bedrooms as office) and yard is good to have too.








     
     


 
I would go with Marin.  You will be living there for awhile, (I assume) and you will enjoy a bigger backyard.  That means, a better view from the inside of your home, more privacy with a bigger setback.  Also, a big backyard is becoming more and more of a premium. 
 
  • Hi there Tesla, I faced a similar decision about a year ago, so maybe I can be helpful.

    The short answer is... it depends on what your priorities are. 


    Do you see yourself finding a lot of enjoyment out of a larger yard space?
    • When you look at the yards, think about the space you'll see from inside the house and the space you'll use for entertaining/gardening/storing trashcans/kid stuff/etc.
    • A bigger yard can mean more upfront cost to landscape and more maintenance costs.  But they are becoming a premium around Irvine.
    • Is there a better yard/lot coming to market in a soon upcoming phase?  If you wait for this, the sales people will say it could to be more expensive, *buy asap*, because that's what they're trained to do.  And they could certainly be right.  But they aren't the ones who will be paying $1M and living in the house, they're just the ones who are compensated for moving units.


    How important is it for you to have a driveway?  For your neighbors to have a driveway? 

    • Maybe your Marin 2X is unique, but it looks like the driveway is actually the end of an alley load.  Are you absolutely sure you're allowed to park a car there? It might be technically against HOA rules to park there.  How will your across the alley neighbor (if there is one) get out of his/her garage if your car is parked there?.
    • Some people do park at the end of alleys with smaller "driveways" than the Marin 2X without issue.  Their neighbors don't care and there's no HOA police patrolling.  That's not always the case though. 

    • You might not notice when walking through the models, but when homeowners have driveways, they usually park a car on them.  When they don't have driveways, they often park a car or two on the street, which means the streets are packed full of cars since people seem to load up their garages with stuff or their cars are too big to fit two comfortably in the garage.


    How much do you value privacy, or as some TI'ers refer to it, "underwear space" (literally the area in your home where your neighbors cannot look into)?

    • Check out the actual lots in person. Notice where your neighbors will be.  Notice how high the retaining walls are (if they're built).  Notice if your neighbors will be on higher or lower ground.  Check out a completed section with as similar home placement as possible to the ones you're considering.  Notice where their windows are vs where yours will be.
    • How much of the "non-underwear space" can be mitigated with landscaping features?

    Do you have any preferences on how the sunlight shines in the various rooms of your house?
    • Compare the orientation of the lot you're interested in to the model.  The builders generally orient the models in the most "favorable" light directions, though this is also a matter of personal preference.

    As for the exterior...
    • I'm assuming when you say you don't like the exterior of the Piedmont you actually looked at the elevation on the particular lot you're interested in.  If so, good, that's what you should have looked at.  If not, remember the exterior (or "Elevation" as the sales people may call it) varies across the houses.  The house you're interested in may not match the exterior of the model of the same plan.


    Do you anticipate having overnight guests who will have trouble with the stairs?


    Do you anticipate your different gender kids needing their own bathrooms soon?


    Piedmont is arguably intended to be a superior product to Marin. 

    1)  I believe there are no zero lot lines in Piedmont.  Zero lot line = house structure is right on that dividing line of the lot.  Being without zero lot lines means a less cramped feel and potentially more direct sunlight.  I don't think your Marin 2X has a zero lot line, but other plans in that community might.  Don't take my word for that on Marin though.

    2) Every Piedmont has a *real* driveway. 

    3)  I think you're going to see wider streets, taller ceilings/houses, and slightly larger rooms in Piedmont (I wonder if the garages are larger in Piedmont?).  The taller house and wider streets (along with cars in driveway vs streets) can give the neighborhood a less crowded feel.

    4) There's about 200 extra sqft of space, which means a bit more space for you to live in.  Some people also think a lot about "price per sqft" when purchasing/reselling a house.  That ratio varies based on all sorts of factors, but if that ratio is held constant and one product has a higher sqft, then that product will be priced higher.

    5) If you want to get an idea of a slightly more mature neighborhood of similar product to Marin and Piedmont, check out the neighborhoods of Terazza and Corte Bella in Orchard Hills.  Then imagine Terazza with driveways and a bit more sqft.  That's essentially a Piedmont.  Corte Bella ~ Marin.  That might give you a better idea of how the neighborhood will "feel" once complete with people moved in.

    6) There is some added value (be it resale and/or utility) in a 4th full bathroom instead of only 3.

    7) There is some added value (be it resale and/or utility) in a loft vs no loft


    Anyway, if you're still reading, thanks for listening.


    At the end of the day, I think the key is to figure out which features are most important to you and pick the product that meets the most of them.  And honestly congrats, they're both fantastic products, how nice to be in a position to choose between the two.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top