Baker ranch lake forest vs older home irvine

Hello fellow talk Irvine-inians.


I have a dilemma and require any input good or bad.

We want to live in Irvine but our budget seems to only allow us to have an older home with an older floor plan layout.

It's just my wife, dog, and I. The wife works in Long Beach and I work in Irvine.

We want a nice, quiet, safe place to live and would love a new home with a backyard, driveway, open floor plan, and great community.

We are debating between living in baker ranch in a single family home and sucking it up knowing that everything we do and want is in Irvine.

Or get an older home in Irvine and slowly remodel it, break down walls, etc to create an open floor plan and a model home type layout.

What would you guys do?

We visited baker ranch and love it. But it's so far from everything. But if it's worth getting our dream home then maybe? I digress.

If you don't have kids, BR is great. For me, I prioritize living in new or newer over everything else so I would go BR. Homes there have appreciated quite well over the past few years, so I wouldn't necessarily say that you'd see significantly less ROI.

Why pay a high premium for highly rated schools when you won't be taking advantage of it?

Also, remodel while you are living there is no fun.

Your situation sounds like the opposite of mine before - we lived in Long Beach for years, and had the backyard, driveway, open floor plan, etc, but my wife did the horrible commute down the 405 to Irvine during those years.  We ended up moving to Irvine finally and accepted having no private driveway even though it's detached.  I would say this - you really need to break it down apples to apples.  If you are comparing older Irvine property to new Baker Ranch property, make sure there's no Mello Roos on the Irvine home.  Even older homes still have considerable MR unless you're talking pre-1990's era homes.  If you could swing it in your budget, then I think Northwood is a nice area.  I've also toured a lot of nice remodels in El Camino, but I sure wouldn't choose to live there over Baker Ranch (even with the extra distance).  We also considered Baker Ranch in our home search and I like the area, and you said yourself you love it - I think you already know the answer. 

Baker Ranch prices are nearing that of Irvine lately.  Curious what track in Baker Ranch you're looking at?

You should consider Oak Creek area on Alton between Sand Canyon and Jeffrey.  Especially if your wife has to drive to Long Beach, easy access to 405N from there. 

Before you decide either way, have her drive down Alton or Bake in the morning from Baker Ranch area to 405N, I would bet it's 15-20 min in the morning just to get to the fwy.

Always choose Irvine.

I like older homes, esp if they don't have MRs but do have a driveway... and more importantly, a 3CWG.

I love it here at Baker Ranch.  You've seen it in person.  It's very similar in Irvine in many ways, better in some worse in others.  Much more amenities I think for the price.  Better pools, more parks, lots of playgrounds, and the clubhouse is a nice touch.  Negatives are definitely the lack of Irvine schools and the commute to Irvine.  However, it's definitely the closest neighborhood to Irvine right now that is newly built.  Depending on where you need to go, it's an added 10-15 min commute from Irvine.  You can get there from Irvine blvd or just go straight on Alton to 5 freeway near Irvine spectrum.  If you work in Irvine or Lake forest, it's a no brainer

About the schools, most people go to Irvine for the schools.  If you have no kids or out of age, there's definitely more incentive on moving out of Irvine. 

Like aquabliss said, try the drive one day and see what you think about the drive.  I would try both going both towards the Irvine spectrum and taking the 405 there or going through Irvine blvd and left on sand canyon to see. 

Good luck!  8)

What SoclosetoIrvine said. Baker Ranch is awesome - close to Irvine, great neighborhood feel and amenities, lots of floor plan options and a great value.

I love Baker Ranch, but have chosen Irvine so we are closer to family. I do make the daily drive on Alton and although it moves, it does feel like you are far away. You can always jump on the 241 at Alton and Towne Center as a compromise. Either way Long Beach is really far from BR/Foothill Ranch.

If your wife can handle the commute, then BR is definitely the better option.  Also, how about all those newer homes in the Tustin Legacy area?  I tend to shy away from older homes for several reasons. 

Thank you everyone for your opinions!!!  ;D ;D ;D ;D


What it comes down to is resale value as well as distance. I personally would love to live in Lake Forest. It's nice to be away from the crowd but close enough to be able to enjoy Irvine. I also feel like in a few years, Irvine would leak into that part of lake forest and would increase the value of the home over time.

However, Irvine is Irvine.

We want to be able to walk outside and feel safe in the neighborhood. Go on our daily walks with the dog. Tustin seems like it's just homes and nowhere to walk.

I love the Northpark community but the homes are older therefore the layouts are not open. Stonegate has been on the top of the list but the homes are a bit pricey. We just sold a home in Cupertino so our range is in the low 1 Mill. It seems like to get what we want in Irvine we have to pay 1.2-1.3 which is too much.

We've been looking for a few months now and have had maybe 2 or 3 good homes but either they have no yard, or no downstairs bedroom.

I was speaking to a realtor and he told me that you will probably move again in 10-15 years. IN that time, you want your home to increase in value as much as it can so that when you move again, to your permanent housing forever, you can choose a nicer home with the resale value of your current home in Irvine.

If anyone is familiar with Northern California, my parents lived in Gilroy when everything we did, work, school, job was in San Jose. It was a 45 min commute and I didn't like it at all. Also the house did not appreciate as good as it should have even though it's like going to a retreat every day at home.

You are all right in the sense that Lake Forest Baker Ranch is an amazing area. But, you are also correct that it is a bit far and can get tiring after a while.

We may end up looking for an Irvine home and attempt to remodel the interior to create a more open floor plan.  .

Regardless, I am grateful and lucky to be in this predicament haha.

From an appreciation perspective, BR is definitely not Gilroy. BR will continue to do well because of the community, distance to Irvine, and the fact there's no Mello-Roos. Take a look at this one, $140k increase in a year (https://www.redfin.com/CA/Lake-Forest/14-Goldenrod-92610/home/59454216). Of course, not every home has seen a 20% increase in 12 months, but bottom line is BR owners have done quite well.

Your commute is a definite challenge. I actually currently live in SJ and used to commute to SF 3-4 days a week, so I'm familiar with where you came from. The traffic in the Bay is so shitty that I'm now a remote employee and work from home. My company was fine with it since we're short of desk space. It also allows me to visit my family in Irvine and be here about half the month.

I'm moving down permanently in May and strongly considered BR before buying at Eastwood Village. I could've gotten a nice 3bd in BR for the price I'm paying for a 2bd - but I value being 5 mins away from my family's home.

Good luck. Good news is there's no shortage of contractors willing to do your flip/renovation. Also, there are way more cheap Chinese countertop and flooring suppliers down here as compared to the small selection in the Bay.