Cypress village vs Orchard Hills

[Perspective]

How big of a factor is CV's proximity to the 5? When you're on the Jefferey Trail in CV, the noise from the freeway is very loud. I could hear it touring the Laurel models too.

 

[test]

Although CV doesn't have scenic avocado orchard, CV does have a huge open area form by trios of park and elementary school which is quite nice.

The biggest park at the center is the Cypress Grove Park.  See it for yourself. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi9cg07grNc

The orchards are nice because it's greenery in hills that will remain this way - very scenic; but you omitted the fact that OH is in the hills. This gives OH an isolated feel and makes the streets more interesting. It's not laid-out in the typical straight grid pattern you see in CV, Woodbury, Stonegate, etc. (less so in Pavilion Park).

Do you think a substantially similar home in OH should sell for a premium relative to CV, and if so, how much of a premium?

That isolated feel is an extra mile you have to drive every time you go to and from home every day 365 days a year every year.  It gets old real fast. 

 

[deedardee]

We also toured Laurel.  We really like it's central location to schools, fwys, shopping, etc.  However the freeway noise turned us off.  We can hear it in the daytime and we are afraid it's going to be even more noticeable at night.

 

[iacrenter]

How big of a factor is CV's proximity to the 5? When you're on the Jefferey Trail in CV, the noise from the freeway is very loud. I could hear it touring the Laurel models too.

The white noise and pollution is a free upgrade in CV.

 

[Perspective]

We also toured Laurel.  We really like it's central location to schools, fwys, shopping, etc.  However the freeway noise turned us off.  We can hear it in the daytime and we are afraid it's going to be even more noticeable at night.

We live in a rental house that is about a mile from the 5 and a half mile from the 261. We don't notice the noise during the day, but at night and in the mornings, it's very loud. We wouldn't buy in the neighborhood where we're renting due primarily to the proximity to the highways.

 

[viobruin]

New homeowner in CV here. Love the place-- close to good Chinese food, Woodbury Town Center, CV plaza and JOST. But let's not kid anyone here. OH >>>>>>>>>>> CV. And that's the truth.

If we're leaving The Groves out of it, I respectfully disagree. (*If a buyer is seriously looking to buy at The Groves, given the prices of the homes there, that buyer is probably not seriously interested in buying at CV. Also, by mere virtue of the fact that The Groves decided to distinguish themselves as "The Groves" as opposed to just sticking with plain OH, the people at The Groves seem to make a distinction between OH and The Groves too.)

I recently decided to purchase a home in CV and, at the end of the day, it came down to CV and OH. Here are the factors I considered and my personal take on them, all of which led me to buy in CV (again, leaving The Groves out of the analysis).

Location. I personally felt like OH was a bit too detached from everyday life; felt like I was in the boonies. While I understand how that can be a very big selling feature for OH, for my lifestyle I would prefer to be near the freeways and just that much closer to Newport and the 405 (and just that much further away from the Landfill).

Schools. I'm not from OC, so I can't comment with personal knowledge on how Irvine HS compares to Northwood/Beckman HS in everyday life. But here's how I viewed it. Northwood HS seems to have better name recognition and definitely has better API scores than Irvine HS, so that is worth a bit of a premium. On the other hand, I am a recent transplant from LA where I couldn't have sent my child to public school, period. So, when I saw on GreatSchools.org that Irvine HS was still ranked 10/10 (I believe Beckman HS was 9/10), I didn't think I could really go "wrong" with any of those HS. In other words, I think my child has more than a decent shot to do well in life and get into a good college regardless of whether he goes to Northwood, Irvine, or Beckman. (Also, my son isn't even 2 yet, so I don't know how the schools will compare in 12 years when he starts attending.)

Community Feel. When I toured OH, I didn't feel like it was a community. Instead, I felt like I drove up one main, somewhat twisty road, and then drove into little offshoots that were very isolated from each other. CV, on the other hand, had a much more open feel and, therefore, a different energy to it. I can see the virtues of both community feels, but for me I liked the open-ness of CV as compared to OH.

Noise. When I went to CV, I never heard the freeway. Then, I kept reading people complain about the noise so I drove to CV and parked my car there with my window open. When I listened specifically for the noise, I could hear it. But the key was that I had to actually make myself listen for it. On a day to day basis, just living life normally, I would never hear it. So, for me, the noise was a non-issue. Understandably, others could generally be more sensitive to noise than me.

Price. When I looked at comparable homes from CV ad OH, the OH homes seemed to be tens of thousands of dollars more expensive. Also, for the reasons set forth above, I thought OH was a worse location than CV for my lifestyle, so I couldn't understand why I would opt to pay more money for OH than CV. With that said, now that I've lived in OC for a bit longer, I can see that, as a whole, people seem to hold OH in higher regard than CV, so I can see why there would be a bit of a premium. But hey, since I still prefer the location of CV to OH, and as long as my ego is ok with living in CV as opposed to OH, I'm happy to pocket that money.

HOA/Community fees. One of the biggest selling points of CV was that, if you bought from Irvine Pacific, they would waive one of the HOA/Community fees so that you only had to pay one of the fees (I forget if they waived the neighborhood or community fee). On the other hand, in OH, I didn't see any opportunity for me to only have to pay one HOA/Community fee; even the Irvine Pacific homes made you pay both fees. It's a minor nit, but that $1200 minimum saved in fees each year will add up over time. (*Correction, apparently some of the OH homes do not charge the two community fees.)

 

[Legit949]

There's only 1 HOA in Orchard Hills = $196

 

[BruinRevolution]

New homeowner in CV here. Love the place-- close to good Chinese food, Woodbury Town Center, CV plaza and JOST. But let's not kid anyone here. OH >>>>>>>>>>> CV. And that's the truth.

Oh baybeeeeeee, that is a good analysis. ;D
If we're leaving The Groves out of it, I respectfully disagree. (*If a buyer is seriously looking to buy at The Groves, given the prices of the homes there, that buyer is probably not seriously interested in buying at CV. Also, by mere virtue of the fact that The Groves decided to distinguish themselves as "The Groves" as opposed to just sticking with plain OH, the people at The Groves seem to make a distinction between OH and The Groves too.)

I recently decided to purchase a home in CV and, at the end of the day, it came down to CV and OH. Here are the factors I considered and my personal take on them, all of which led me to buy in CV (again, leaving The Groves out of the analysis).

Location. I personally felt like OH was a bit too detached from everyday life; felt like I was in the boonies. While I understand how that can be a very big selling feature for OH, for my lifestyle I would prefer to be near the freeways and just that much closer to Newport and the 405 (and just that much further away from the Landfill).

Schools. I'm not from OC, so I can't comment with personal knowledge on how Irvine HS compares to Northwood/Beckman HS in everyday life. But here's how I viewed it. Northwood HS seems to have better name recognition and definitely has better API scores than Irvine HS, so that is worth a bit of a premium. On the other hand, I am a recent transplant from LA where I couldn't have sent my child to public school, period. So, when I saw on GreatSchools.org that Irvine HS was still ranked 10/10 (I believe Beckman HS was 9/10), I didn't think I could really go "wrong" with any of those HS. In other words, I think my child has more than a decent shot to do well in life and get into a good college regardless of whether he goes to Northwood, Irvine, or Beckman. (Also, my son isn't even 2 yet, so I don't know how the schools will compare in 12 years when he starts attending.)

Community Feel. When I toured OH, I didn't feel like it was a community. Instead, I felt like I drove up one main, somewhat twisty road, and then drove into little offshoots that were very isolated from each other. CV, on the other hand, had a much more open feel and, therefore, a different energy to it. I can see the virtues of both community feels, but for me I liked the open-ness of CV as compared to OH.

Noise. When I went to CV, I never heard the freeway. Then, I kept reading people complain about the noise so I drove to CV and parked my car there with my window open. When I listened specifically for the noise, I could hear it. But the key was that I had to actually make myself listen for it. On a day to day basis, just living life normally, I would never hear it. So, for me, the noise was a non-issue. Understandably, others could generally be more sensitive to noise than me.

Price. When I looked at comparable homes from CV ad OH, the OH homes seemed to be tens of thousands of dollars more expensive. Also, for the reasons set forth above, I thought OH was a worse location than CV for my lifestyle, so I couldn't understand why I would opt to pay more money for OH than CV. With that said, now that I've lived in OC for a bit longer, I can see that, as a whole, people seem to hold OH in higher regard than CV, so I can see why there would be a bit of a premium. But hey, since I still prefer the location of CV to OH, and as long as my ego is ok with living in CV as opposed to OH, I'm happy to pocket that money.

HOA/Community fees. One of the biggest selling points of CV was that, if you bought from Irvine Pacific, they would waive one of the HOA/Community fees so that you only had to pay one of the fees (I forget if they waived the neighborhood or community fee). On the other hand, in OH, I didn't see any opportunity for me to only have to pay one HOA/Community fee; even the Irvine Pacific homes made you pay both fees. It's a minor nit, but that $1200 minimum saved in fees each year will add up over time.

 

[viobruin]

There's only 1 HOA in Orchard Hills = $196

Didn't realize you could get a place with only one HOA. When I toured Vista Scena, I was told $189 to the Vista Scena Neighborhood Association, and then another $196 to the Orchard Hills II Community Association, for a total of $385. I asked them if there were any developments in OH where I could only pay one fee, and they replied "no."

 

[SubSolar]

Moved into Jasmine @ CV last year which is the closest to the freeway. I can't hear the freeway noise at all from inside. The insulation is really good on new homes. I can blast my home theater all night and get no complaints. I've tried listening from my backyard and can't hear the movies playing inside.

 

[iacrenter]

Moved into Jasmine @ CV last year which is the closest to the freeway. I can't hear the freeway noise at all from inside. The insulation is really good on new homes. I can blast my home theater all night and get no complaints. I've tried listening from my backyard and can't hear the movies playing inside.

Unfortunately it is not just a noise issue. You need to consider the toxins spewing from all those vehicle along the 5.
http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3958.msg233931.html#msg233931

 

[SubSolar]

Moved into Jasmine @ CV last year which is the closest to the freeway. I can't hear the freeway noise at all from inside. The insulation is really good on new homes. I can blast my home theater all night and get no complaints. I've tried listening from my backyard and can't hear the movies playing inside.

Unfortunately it is not just a noise issue. You need to consider the toxins spewing from all those vehicle along the 5.
http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3958.msg233931.html#msg233931

Yeah, I'm aware of it. I was just talking about the noise. I have an air filtration system, not sure if it does anything. For what it's worth the elementary school is a block away from me and the kids run around all day breathing the air in, hope the freeway pollution isn't that bad!

 

[iacrenter]

Moved into Jasmine @ CV last year which is the closest to the freeway. I can't hear the freeway noise at all from inside. The insulation is really good on new homes. I can blast my home theater all night and get no complaints. I've tried listening from my backyard and can't hear the movies playing inside.

Unfortunately it is not just a noise issue. You need to consider the toxins spewing from all those vehicle along the 5.
http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3958.msg233931.html#msg233931

Yeah, I'm aware of it. I was just talking about the noise. I have an air filtration system, not sure if it does anything. For what it's worth the elementary school is a block away from me and the kids run around all day breathing the air in, hope the freeway pollution isn't that bad!

I'm kind of surprised there isn't more parental protesting about the proximity of a new school to a major freeway. But like most things in life, people underestimate the danger of things they can't see. That is why the proximity of Irvine's 5th HS to the Musick Jail (in addition to the pollution issue) garnered so much attention.

 

[OC troll]

Moved into Jasmine @ CV last year which is the closest to the freeway. I can't hear the freeway noise at all from inside. The insulation is really good on new homes. I can blast my home theater all night and get no complaints. I've tried listening from my backyard and can't hear the movies playing inside.

Unfortunately it is not just a noise issue. You need to consider the toxins spewing from all those vehicle along the 5.
http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3958.msg233931.html#msg233931

Yeah, I'm aware of it. I was just talking about the noise. I have an air filtration system, not sure if it does anything. For what it's worth the elementary school is a block away from me and the kids run around all day breathing the air in, hope the freeway pollution isn't that bad!

I'm kind of surprised there isn't more parental protesting about the proximity of a new school to a major freeway. But like most things in life, people underestimate the danger of things they can't see. That is why the proximity of Irvine's 5th HS to the Musick Jail (in addition to the pollution issue) garnered so much attention.

I live somewhere in CV and as much as I like where I live, I had a couple of similar concerns. The noise (which I can't hear, unless I open my windows, and listen carefully, but then again, I worry about the smog coming from the frwy. Next, I have kids that will be going to school soon and the proximity to the frwy and pollution for the kids also worry me as well. I've been contemplating on making the move to OH. I'm a big fan. I've interviewed a few realtors, and they've mentioned some of these negatives to me that i need to consider when pricing the home  (Thats one thing I hate, when  you buy they have nothing but good things to say about a house, but when you sell, they point out all the flaws that other potential buyers will complain about). And lastly, I actually like the separation that viobruin mentioned about OH. My opinion, I feel like its too cramped. I get this congested feeling.

 

[qwerty]

I've interviewed a few realtors, and they've mentioned some of these negatives to me that i need to consider when pricing the home  (Thats one thing I hate, when  you buy they have nothing but good things to say about a house, but when you sell, they point out all the flaws that other potential buyers will complain about).

if you price it aggressively you will probably sell fast - look at USC's last listings, they go into escrow within a couple of weeks. if you get greedy, well...

 

[whome]

There's only 1 HOA in Orchard Hills = $196

Didn't realize you could get a place with only one HOA. When I toured Vista Scena, I was told $189 to the Vista Scena Neighborhood Association, and then another $196 to the Orchard Hills II Community Association, for a total of $385. I asked them if there were any developments in OH where I could only pay one fee, and they replied "no."

Vista Scena is an attached home which is why there are 2 HOA fees. That was one of the reasons we ruled out Vista Scena (the HOA fees were too high). Detached condos and Single family residences will have only 1 HOA.

 

[Paris167]

There's only 1 HOA in Orchard Hills = $196

Didn't realize you could get a place with only one HOA. When I toured Vista Scena, I was told $189 to the Vista Scena Neighborhood Association, and then another $196 to the Orchard Hills II Community Association, for a total of $385. I asked them if there were any developments in OH where I could only pay one fee, and they replied "no."

Wow then $279 hoa for the groves sounds like a steal of a deal - although at some point in the future I know that will be going up 

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Detached condos and Single family residences will have only 1 HOA.

I believe most detached condos have a sub-HOA too. It just depends on the tract.

SFRs can also have a sub-HOA... but that's more rare.

 

[Paris167]

Detached condos and Single family residences will have only 1 HOA.

I believe most detached condos have a sub-HOA too. It just depends on the tract.

SFRs can also have a sub-HOA... but that's more rare.

So does that higher hoa fee cover additional items for the homeowner like trash or front landscaping maintenance etc? That sounds like a lot - $385?

 

[bones]

There's only 1 HOA in Orchard Hills = $196

Didn't realize you could get a place with only one HOA. When I toured Vista Scena, I was told $189 to the Vista Scena Neighborhood Association, and then another $196 to the Orchard Hills II Community Association, for a total of $385. I asked them if there were any developments in OH where I could only pay one fee, and they replied "no."

Wow then $279 hoa for the groves sounds like a steal of a deal - although at some point in the future I know that will be going up 

Not apples to apples.  A sub-HOA covers more than the stuff the master HOA covers.  When I had a sub-HOA, they were responsible for everything on the exterior of my house - stucco, roof, side gates, front yard landscaping, etc.  A good sub-HOA builds up reserves using those hefty payments and uses the reserves to do scheduled maintenance/repairs on the homes.  The responsibilities of sub-HOAs vary widely though so you need to read the documents to be sure what is covered and what isn't.