Villages of Columbus - Columbus Square - Meriwether

so you are saying that shared walls are better then shaking walls?





i use to live next to a rail track and i mean less then 20 feet away up in the bay area and my whole apt use to shake. the good thing about it.....





1) you can tell time just by the schedule of the train.


2) you can put coins on the rail and get super flat pieces of metal.


3) after a while you just get use to it and not notice it at all.











shared walls..... also use to live in a townhouse that was poorly built..... and the good things about it was.....





1) the wall are so thin i could hear the neighbor talking at night about their problems. juicy gossip. hahahahaaa


2) i had cool neighbors.... their kids would "get stuff for cheap" and sell it to me for cheap. hahahahaa i am thinking stolen property but i will give them the benefit of the doubt.


3) there were soooooo much parking space that i would drive around the block to park just so that i can get some excerise.








IMO i would rather pick the SFR.
 
verandas are right at the train AND edinger ave (50+ mph)... and the layout sucks... i don't get the SFR thing with a tiny little backyard locking at walls (and trains), but i guess each their own...



it all comes down to personal choice... pick what you like best
 
Real estate is all about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Verandas is the worst LOCATION in Columbus Square. Even Cambridge Lane is a better buy than Verandas, and the price reflects that.
 
if location is so important then why are people buying in columbus square and not in columbus grove? Isn't an irvine zip code better then a tustin zip code? example.... Savannah vs Cambridge lane? same type of build.
 
columbis grove has not much for sale right now and is overall priced higher with a lot of SFR homes and some don't care about the zip that much.



yes zip is part of location, but so is noise, traffic etc... and at a certain point yes money does play a role too... i don't think there is much below 600k in the grove
 
There is a foreclosure property Plan3 on Montgomery St. Great house with upgrades its a shame that it did not sell even on a short sale. They were asking 569 for it.

I think there is one plan3 available for 599K. Not sure about the other incentives. They used to give ~35K in incentives (HOA, Interest rate buydown etc). They are giving 4.88% APR for 30 years though.
 
i wonder how much the bank would put up that unit for once they take it back. 599k is alot of money plus you have to pay 1200 bucks on top of that for hoa/mello/tax. so if you put down 150k your monthly will be 2400 + 1200 = 3600 bucks a month. that is alot for a townhome with share walls.
 
Yikes, didn't realize that was a foreclosure, i think i've jogged by and peaked in and hadn't seen any furniture, was it ever occupied? Attempted flip or did the tenants simply realize they couldn't afford?
 
<p>jbatzmaru,</p>

<p>Savannah is right next to the concrete factory, and right along side the ditch. It is truly the worst location in all of Columbus Grove. Whereas Meriwether is in the best location in Columbus Square, second only to the Gables.</p>

<p> </p>
 
Look at the fine print on that low interest rate. Offered in Florida, but you have to close by the end of the month. . .virtually impossible. Also, you need 10% down, which is reasonable, except how many have it?
 
Construction on the remaining land in Meriweather is temporarily on hold because of soil issues. We were told this a couple weeks ago by one of the neighboring offices. I don't think Lennar wants buyers to know that.
 
Apparently, that particularly area of land used to be a wash station. I'm not exactly sure what the implications may be. Someone should call Lennar and find out. :)
 
i don't think lennar would even tell you... and if they did, they would probably lie. maybe lennar is trying to find a loop hole to get out of building the rest of the place out.....
 
<p>wow, that sounds scary. this info may be outdated from the current situation, but i did some research on the soil conditions before purchasing in Camden last year. you can probably find more here (taken from my post in Camden's thread b/c i'm too lazy to re-write it):</p>



<p>Regarding the ground water comment, I did my homework when it came to Camden place. Being a technical guy and extremely attentive to detail, I researched the SNA flight paths, FEMA flood map, earthquake liquification map, and even read all related Navy reports regarding the cleanup of waste/ground water and such (VERY BORING!). All plumes and areas of concern have been cleaned and have been deemed "NFA" - "No further action required". In fact, most of the plumes and areas of concern are not within the boundaries of Camden Place. UST 268 was the only area that concerned me. I don't plan on growing fruits/vegetables on my land nor do I plan on drinking from a well dug deeper than 6ft underground, so I've come to the personal decision that i'm okay with the level of risk involved.</p>

<p>Here are some important links I found during my research. They may be of interest to any Camden residents or prospective residents.





Air Traffic Map (no planes fly directly over Camden):


<a href="http://www4.passur.com/sna.html">http://www4.passur.com/sna.html</a></p>

<p>Environmental Reports:


<a href="http://www.tustinlegacy.com/images/Tustin/pdfs/eis_eir_vol1/vol1_ch3_11.pdf">http://www.tustinlegacy.com/images/Tustin/pdfs/eis_eir_vol1/vol1_ch3_11.pdf</a>


<a href="http://www.tustinlegacy.com/images/Tustin/articles/42/1-12-05RABmap.pdf">http://www.tustinlegacy.com/images/Tustin/articles/42/1-12-05RABmap.pdf</a>


<a href="http://www.envirostor.dtsc.ca.gov/public/profile_report.asp?global_id=30970002&site_id=2004589">http://www.envirostor.dtsc.ca.gov/public/profile_report.asp?global_id=30970002&site_id=2004589</a>





Earthquake Map (Liquefication):


<a href="http://gmw.consrv.ca.gov/shmp/MapProcessor.asp?MapNavAction=IMapRefresh&Action=IMap&Location=SoCal&FClass=City&FID=Irvine&Liq=true&Land=true&Bore=false&Road=true&City=false&x1=417909.4815213265&y1=3734611.3332448946&x2=432110.89183867344&y2=3722776.8246471053">http://gmw.consrv.ca.gov/shmp/MapProcessor.asp?MapNavAction=IMapRefresh&Action=IMap&Location=SoCal&FClass=City&FID=Irvine&Liq=true&Land=true&Bore=false&Road=true&City=false&x1=417909.4815213265&y1=3734611.3332448946&x2=432110.89183867344&y2=3722776.8246471053</a></p>

<p>FEMA Flood Map:


<a href="https://hazards.fema.gov/femaportal/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd44PMATJmMUbxBub6keiijjCBXw98nNT9YOAEpHmQAlDIz_9qJzU9MTkSv1gfW_9AP2C3NCIcm9HRwDVE8eE/delta/base64xml/L0lJSk03dWlDU1lKSi9vQXd3QUFNWWdBQ0VJUWhDRUVJaEZLQSEvNEZHZ2RZbktKMEZSb1hmckNIZGgvN18wXzEyTi84My9zYS52aWV3ZXIuc3VibWl0TWFw#7_0_12N">https://hazards.fema.gov/femaportal/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd44PMATJmMUbxBub6keiijjCBXw98nNT9YOAEpHmQAlDIz_9qJzU9MTkSv1gfW_9AP2C3NCIcm9HRwDVE8eE/delta/base64xml/L0lJSk03dWlDU1lKSi9vQXd3QUFNWWdBQ0VJUWhDRUVJaEZLQSEvNEZHZ2RZbktKMEZSb1hmckNIZGgvN18wXzEyTi84My9zYS52aWV3ZXIuc3VibWl0TWFw#7_0_12N</a></p>

<p>Definitions of acronyms I didn't understand:


<strong>VOC</strong> - Volatile organic compounds, petroleum substances used as the vehicles for many printing inks.


<strong>PAH</strong> - polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon. PAHs are the most common smaller and more volatile compounds found in oil.


<strong>PCB</strong> - Polychlorinated biphenyl, a synthetic, organic chemical once widely used in electrical equipment, specialized hydraulic systems, heat transfer systems, and other industrial products. Highly toxic and a potent carcinogen. Any hazardous wastes that contain more than 50 parts per million of PCBs are subject to regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act.


<strong>TCE</strong> - Trichloroethene or trichloroethylene. A contaminant that is a component of cleaning solvents. TCE is a commonly found contaminant at Air Force bases resulting from the cleaning of aircraft and equipment.


<strong>NFA</strong> - No Further Action</p>
 
I heard that bad water issue was resolved and the construction of the next phase (8) will begin in March. Bad water area for Meriwether is Phase 8 & 9.



If you look at Meriwether site map from last year, they used to have Phase 8 as three lots around the model. In the most recent site map dated 1/28/08, Phase 8 & 9 are continued area of Phase 6 & 7 and now the lots around the model is labeld as Phase 10.



I'm rather surprised that Lennar is able to sell in the current market, but it seems they are pulling it off somehow.
 
Was it bad water issues or soil issues? I could imagine there were soil compaction or erosion issues due to rain, which would have delayed construction, but water pollution? Is there even a monitoring well out there? Can someone clarify?



Unfortunately, 100's of jets fly over Columbus square, they are just private, but definitely no big commercial airliners.
 
<p>Sounds like someone is just bad-mouthing Lennar. I spoke to the construction manager and Lennar is delaying construction because the market is bad not because of soil issues, lol.</p>

<p> </p>
 
The issue of bad water/soil is real. As KD_B says, there used to be a wash station in the area and the soil is still contaminated from multiple chemicals used in those days. A friend of mine is an engineer who works for the military, and he knows all about it. They still measure water quality periodically on the other side of Severyns, which is outside the boundary of Columbus Square. But, as myfirsthome says, you are fine unless you drink water harvested from that soil or grow fruits or vegetables on that soil.



I'm not surprised that Lennar won't tell you such a thing.
 
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