Wait for new developments in Tustin Legacy or buy in Orchard Hills/Columbus Sq?

R

rvmhn

New member
Hi all -

Long time lurker.  I work in the South Coast Metro area in Costa Mesa.  The wife and I are looking for a SFR or detached condo, and our price point is a self-imposed $1.25 MM max budget.  Our goals are not too lavish, given my diligence on redfin nearly every day for the past few months.  We would love a 3 car garage (or two car with tandem) and a driveway.  Sq. footage of 2000 or better.  We'd also prefer a home built in 2005 or newer.  We saw homes as noted below:

Columbus Square

The few homes we saw are huge, but they have huge mello-roos as well.  These homes were in the $1M to $1.25MM range.  Some had 3-car tandem spots, and some unique plans.  Our worry is the price competition going forward, considering that Tustin Legacy has newer homes in Crawford/Stafford etc.  Meaning, the upward growth may be capped because these are older properties.  Does anyone have any thoughts here? 

The only pro is that we are confident we can get a good deal on the front end for these homes, compared to other portions of OC.  Consequently, the hit via Mello-Roos is less impactful.  Also, the location is great to get to work.

Tustin Legacy (newer stuff)

We totally missed the boat on Crawford/Greenwood, and are just slightly priced out of Stafford.  We're debating on just waiting for a home to come up for sale there... but unsure how long that will take considering how new the development is. 

Also, we spoke with some sales people in that area and they mentioned that future developments there will be more dense, and perhaps not to the size/scale we want.

Orchard Hills

There's a few homes for sale in this area that have caught our interest.  However, they are generally smaller, and we worry about isolation in that area compared to the rest of OC.  We do like the prestige and overall aesthetic, however.  3-Car/driveways etc. appear to be out of our price range in this area.

We would appreciate any advice or commentary as I'm still relatively new to OC, and trying to make a wise decision on the housing front.  We don't care about the school district (tustin/irvine) since we do not have children.  The factors that matter to us are i) location to the office; ii) the size/garage issues listed above; and iii) short-term and long-term "safety" of our money, considering that we are re-entering the RE market at this stage of the game.

Thanks!!
 
I'm waiting for development in Tustin Legacy also primarily because my work place is next to fashion island so coming down Jamboree will be easier than coming from OH. Currently own a condo in Turtle Rock so i'm not in a hurry and can sit back and wait 2, 3 years to see what happens.

Columbus Square:
I had a friend that bought the same time i bought my condo in 2010 the things i noticed when i went there are its a nice neighborhood but many houses face edinger/train track. Also there are some aircraft that pass over it as they are landing in John Wayne Airport. At that time he said the area will build out quick and you look 7 years later its still barren land. The values of my condo have gone up more % than his house and i don't have mello roos. But I really like the area and will consider buying a SFR there when more things are developed but i would say you wont see much for i would say at least 2-3 years. For you easy access to 55 might be good for you.

Tustin Legacy (newer stuff)
I don't really like the location of the new Tustin Legacy because of the proximity to Jamboree which is more like a freeway. I would say Traffic around that area is pretty bad caused by the district. Overall, the houses and the community are nice and prices were pretty attractive. They are planning to develop more houses north of the current area but they might take some time to develop. I believe in the future this area might be very nice...... but looking at how they designed the district makes me wonder if some of these people in the City know what they are doing.
Orchard Hill
Personally i think that OH could do very well because like you mention the prestige of being on a hill. It gave me the feeling i had when i visited Laguna Altura back in the day when it was brand new and selling starting less than 700k. Although i already bought my condo i really liked the area its very exclusive. I think OH will demand that premium in the future but for me it isn't convenient to my work i'm not sure about your commute. Also, don't overlook the fact that your address has Irvine CA compared to Tustin CA. In general i would say Irvine housing prices have gone up % wise faster than Tustin area.

Overall, i think long term safety would probably be buy in Irvine. Only reason tustin houses are getting some traction is for people looking for a short term deal compared to Irvine. But, at least if things follow what has happened in the past. Irvine will be a safer investment without knowing how that Tustin area will shape up.
 
Does it have to me new?  Sounds like Tustin Ranch might be a good fit. Great schools in TUSD on that side.
 
Burn That Belly said:
I'll let jmoney chime in on this one before I get accused again of being YF/BF.  ;D
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Shall I make a RedFever account and have some fun trolling TI?
Naah...too lazy to fuck with TI that much.  YF always had a lot of references to his postings.  I don't wanna work that hard.
 
Rvmhn - stafford is listing their last homes at high 1,300,000s or low 1,400,000s however you can get them for 1,275,000.

You probably have already seen the Augusta plan 3 on Lexington for 1,130,000 in Columbus square, that has a 3 car garage and over 3,000 sq ft. 

Good Luck
 
Thanks all.  I really appreciate the comments thus far.  QWERTY (first of all, nice name) - I've seen the home you've mentioned.  Thanks!

I went to go see Stafford again today.  For the final homes available at the end of this year, I'm certain they will also give $50-75k in designer credits.  I'm still on the fence due to the overall pricing, because the models have probably 500k in upgrades installed, and the final homes have really small lots.

Jmoney, we'd prefer a newer build.  :)

Any thoughts on Orchard Hills, especially the Corte Bella /non-gated neighborhoods?  If we get something in that price range, perhaps we will just rent the property we currently own in Anaheim (Colony Park area). 

Just on the fence about how much to spend, etc. etc... and perhaps giving up at this stage on finding a higher priced place just to park more cars (I'm a car fanatic)... if we sell our current home, then we can scale the budget even higher.  I'd just prefer some diversification on the real estate front with more than one property.  Would appreciate insight on this point.  Cool group of peeps!!
 
rvmhn said:
Thanks all.  I really appreciate the comments thus far.  QWERTY (first of all, nice name) - I've seen the home you've mentioned.  Thanks!

I went to go see Stafford again today.  For the final homes available at the end of this year, I'm certain they will also give $50-75k in designer credits.  I'm still on the fence due to the overall pricing, because the models have probably 500k in upgrades installed, and the final homes have really small lots.

Jmoney, we'd prefer a newer build.  :)

Any thoughts on Orchard Hills, especially the Corte Bella /non-gated neighborhoods?  If we get something in that price range, perhaps we will just rent the property we currently own in Anaheim (Colony Park area). 

Just on the fence about how much to spend, etc. etc... and perhaps giving up at this stage on finding a higher priced place just to park more cars (I'm a car fanatic)... if we sell our current home, then we can scale the budget even higher.  I'd just prefer some diversification on the real estate front with more than one property.  Would appreciate insight on this point.  Cool group of peeps!!
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Can you get new with three car garage?
 
The remaining Stafford homes will be the last of the larger homes in TL. Newer homes are higher density or smaller.

I seem to remember someone saying a while back that after the current TL homes, newer homes have another bond attached to them as well.

You can probably get a good deal on the Stafford homes. Some were preplotted with upgrades and the builder installed hard wood flooring too. I bet you can back out all upgrades.

Traffic is great for me but I don't go down Jamboree or Von Karman at rush hour.

As for the District, TL homes have quick in and out access if you know where to go. Drive from TL on Park, turn right into the entrance for Lowes (one past the Costco entrance to avoid all the Costco drivers looking for the one close spot or walkers with their carts loaded up. Park in front of Lowes. It's only a few steps past the typical Costco parking spots.

To exit the District from those fantastically quick to park in spots, exit between Costco and Lowes, turn right u r practically home in under 5 min. flat.

I don't shop at Target but when I do I usually either park closer to Lowes or in the lot across the street that has petsmart in it. There used to be an Office Depot there but it's been vacant since they left and no one parks there. Walk across the lot to Target.

To go to Michaels or TJ Maxx, park in the spots furthest from Lowes in the Lowes lot and walk across the street with all those drivers wondering why Tustin decided to have the same stupid issues as they did when they designed Tustin Marketplace 20 years before building the District.

I don't shop many of the other stores, so you're on your own to find spots to park for those places.
 
Ouch?

They bought for 761k. The listing price was way too high to begin with. USC and both had this closing between 1,080,000 and 1,100,000.

Either the agent didn?t know what she was doing with the original list price or the owner was greedy.
 
qwerty said:
Ouch?

They bought for 761k. The listing price was way too high to begin with. USC and both had this closing between 1,080,000 and 1,100,000.

Either the agent didn?t know what she was doing with the original list price or the owner was greedy.
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Yup, their original asking price was beyond optimistic.  I would have listed that home for $1,099,900 OR $1,088,888.  haha
 
qwerty said:
Either the agent didn?t know what she was doing with the original list price or the owner was greedy.
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Fair enough. I've seen this agent's name in Columbus Square frequently, so I would be surprised if the former were the case. However, popularity does not equal competence, and you have seen a lot more in this area than I have!
 
I know qwertustin and Homie are happy that these 3CWG Augusta models are going for over $1m.

I really should have bought one back when they were new at $700k but was afraid of the teenage mutant limes.
 
HMart said:
qwerty said:
Either the agent didn?t know what she was doing with the original list price or the owner was greedy.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I've seen this agent's name in Columbus Square frequently, so I would be surprised if the former were the case. However, popularity does not equal competence, and you have seen a lot more in this area than I have!
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You are right. she dominates Columbus Square. Her houses generally stay on the market several months, with that said, this isn?t irvine and we dont have the same demand, but she does tend to price on the higher side, this one was just too high. She could benefit from USC?s approach.

The last comp for this plan was 1,040,000, I would have priced it at 1,050,000 from day one, hopefully get multiple offers and ideally get to the 1,080,000 within he first month.
 
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