Newer Irvine listings with crazy WTF asking prices from equity sellers

[USCTrojanCPA]

You guys will get a kick out of this.  So I stopped by Maricopa with one of buyers this afternoon to look at the models and decided to play dumb with one of the sales people.  I ask..."so are you offering any broker co-op?"   Their response was almost word-word as the response I got from the sales person at San Marino..."Not at the moment, but if you give me your business card we will contact you as soon as we begin to offer one."   TIC brainwashes...errrr trains their sales people well.  haha  A broker co-op and/or buyer incentives are coming sooner rather than later.

In terms of floor plans, I like Plan 2 (for the upstairs laundry) followed by Plan 3 (for the upstairs loft/bonus room).  The home management/downstairs laundry of Plan 1 weren't my thing at all and the downstairs didn't seem to flow all that well.  All the backyards felt small and tight, but that's the norm with these iPac homes.

[akim997]

On the flip side, this house http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/23-Woodhaven-Ln-92620/home/4790132 was sooo oddly remodeled, that the wife and I *HAD* to see the open house yesterday.

Redfin had the prior listing when owners bought still available (click on the price/listing history area) and the house used to look quite normal with nicely painted walls, carpet, fireplace and all...

The realtor tried her best to convince us that the floors were very expensive european hardwood.  Uhh.. but she couldn't explain why they painted it white and then rustic sanded it. 

Way overpriced in my opinion.

We didn't even want to see that house because from the pictures on redfin it looked like the owner was high on something.  Plus, I agree it is REALLY overpriced.  I find it funny when a realtor tries to convince potential buyers that a certain upgrade or design choice was "very expensive."  Do we really look that naive?   

I've only seen one house in my life where I thought, "you know, this house is perfect, I wouldn't change a thing"...  it was a nicely remodeled house in North Tustin that was selling for $1.1M.   I've been looking for so long to realize that opinions on home design are never the same.   So personally, I'd rather buy a home that NEEDS to be updated and hope to negotiate from there.   A lot of sellers thow on ugly pre-fab granite which comes with a standard ugly bull-nose edge and say "highly upgraded with granite countertops" and expect a higher price.   I would have preferred it if they left it with whatever was there before.    So yeah, the Northwood Pointe homes need updating, but so do most.   Otherwise you might end up with this...

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/23-Straw-Flower-92620/home/4789395

Just curious which house you liked as far as design in North Tustin.  The reason why I ask is because I think overall, the Americanized Asian-Americans have somewhat similar tastes as far as home design and upgrades.  For instance, the 25 Torrey Pine is a good example.  We also bid on that property (which in hindsight we strongly regret after realizing how shady those realtors were and are) because it already had all of the upgrades that were tasteful.  (That saves a lot of time, fighting with the spouse, etc.)  I couldn't have made better decisions on design myself. 

So, in the most perfect universe I think we're waiting for a home in Northwood Pointe that has an owner who has similar tastes as that Torrey Pine type of home and has upgraded accordingly.  But wishful thinking, right?  That Strawflower house was upgraded with modern design choices that we felt looked cheap but were meant to look expensive.  The broker there tried to convince us that the upgrades were expensive.  Again, I feel like if you have to sit there and tell all of the potential buyers that the upgrades were "very expensive," then you've done something wrong somewhere.  Plus, it backs to a street. 

I agree that in that regard it's better to just get a Northwood Pointe home with NOTHING upgraded so that you're not paying for it, but that's the thing about these owners.  They list the homes as if they're already upgraded but they're not.

I HEART Northwood Pointe.  Believe me.  It gives me warm and fuzzy feelings but then there are some really lame things going on there.  Take a look at this house.   

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/15-Candlewood-92620/home/4790470

We saw 15 Candlewood and we are familiar enough with Northwood Pointe (we've studied all of the floorplans closely enough) to know that this house is NOT 2,350 sq ft.  It doesn't even hit 2,200.  The price per sq ft on this house would be north of $500/sq ft using the actual square footage.  Are we in a new construction in Newport Beach?  This is what kills me and chills our desire to buy in Northwood Pointe.  The artificial inflation on sale prices, plus overstated SQ FT of lot and home on redfin and MLS make it really unappealing to do business there.     

Nothwood Pointe for us has a classic neighborhood feel.  The mature trees and the largeer lots are nice.  We loved the trail too.  We actually like having a formal dining room and living room for the extra space and love the spiral staircases.  The problem is that the houes we saw all require work andcwhen buying at the top of your range....new starts to make more sense.  We have decided that irvine is a compromise no mattervwhich home you buy.  A least with new we can be happy about the new home feel. We are seriously consideringMaricopa.  The good news is thatbit doesn't seem to be selling quickly!

 
As much as I love Northwood Pointe, we are now considering Maricopa too.  We like Plan 2 the most but Plan 1 is appetizing since the base price is so low.  However, I am wary about why Maricopa is not selling well.  I feel like I've been so trigger-shy for so long now that I am beginning to OVERTHINK the home purchase.  I'm wondering whether Maricopa would be a hard sell in the resale market because the designs are not popular or if it's presently just the economic climate that's making them hard to sell.   

We'll probably end up buying Maricopa Plan 2 unless a reasonable Northwood Pointe seller comes onto the redfin scene. 

 
 
 

 

 

I wish I could find the flyer, I have it in my den somewhere...   We saved it because my wife said if we ever had a chance to work on a house, that's what she'd use as a base.   Stylewise, Id have to call it a modern and elegant take on french country.   not the french country with all the blues and whites, but whites, reds and golds with dark accents.   ill look for the listing to share.   different from torrey pine, but yes we liked the house. 

[akim997]

i know the house on candelwood, its near our old daycare lady's house.   i like that street that sits across from canyon view elementary.   

[akim997]

Torrey Pines part II?

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/28-Secret-Gdn-92620/home/5931498

Nicely appointed house in Camelia...  they will definitely try to leverage off the $865K sale price of Torrey Pine to gouge a buyer on this property...  $367 per foot....   The housing market in Irvine is

[USCTrojanCPA]

Torrey Pines part II?

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/28-Secret-Gdn-92620/home/5931498

Nicely appointed house in Camelia...  they will definitely try to leverage off the $865K sale price of Torrey Pine to gouge a buyer on this property...  $367 per foot....   The housing market in Irvine is

Don't you love the end of the description..."Only ONE at this Price! *"   On the bright side, they will have free food (Jalapenos)  at their broker open tomorrow from 11am to 2pm.  My buyers who were runner-ups on Torrey Pine might drop by and say hello.  haha

[SecretGarden]

Definitely didn't like the way the realtors for Torrey Pine dealt with the buyers for that deal.  Heard about what they were doing and as a bidder in that deal, those realtors were real shady.  Namely, what's up with disclosing to the potential buyers the highest bid as they were rolling in, so that they could start a bidding war.  Naughty, naughty.     

I wouldn't want to do business with those realtors, they would bring bad karma to any deal they're involved with.     

I thought it was so funny how they cut and pasted the description for the Torrey Pine house for the Secret Garden listing.  I don't think this Secret Garden Camelia house is as desirable a location because even though it backs up to a greenbelt, the greenbelt backs up to Trabuco. 

 

[USCTrojanCPA]

Definitely didn't like the way the realtors for Torrey Pine dealt with the buyers for that deal.  Heard about what they were doing and as a bidder in that deal, those realtors were real shady.  Namely, what's up with disclosing to the potential buyers the highest bid as they were rolling in, so that they could start a bidding war.  Naughty, naughty.     

I wouldn't want to do business with those realtors, they would bring bad karma to any deal they're involved with.     

I thought it was so funny how they cut and pasted the description for the Torrey Pine house for the Secret Garden listing.  I don't think this Secret Garden Camelia house is as desirable a location because even though it backs up to a greenbelt, the greenbelt backs up to Trabuco. 

 

Her and Mike Dunn should team up...they would become the shadiest team in the industry.  Then you'd see the square footage of the Secret Garden home being 2,600sf on a 5,000sf lot.  haha

[ucla bruin]

Maybe I'll stop by, eat some free food, use the restroom.

[irvinehomeowner]

... use the restroom.

Number TWO!!! I double-dog dare ya.

[ucla bruin]

[Soylent Green Is People]

At least drop a Baby Ruth in each bathrooms bowl. Make sure to hide the wrappers properly.

[irvinehomeowner]

At least drop a Baby Ruth in each bathrooms bowl. Make sure to hide the wrappers properly.

Caddyshack tech!!!

[uciguy]

Sorry to post on topic, but I overheard the following conversation while walking through the stonegate models last week.

Ponzi 1: Hey, long time no see.  You looking to buy one of these?
Ponzi 2: Nah, just scoping out the competition.  Our house was on the market for a while, but you just can't compete when [the Irvine company] is selling these way under market.
Ponzi 1: Same here.  Guess we'll try again later this year.

Seems to me like the owners of the type of houses many of us are actually looking for (4br/3ba) are still totally convinced that their houses are worth 2006 prices.  Since they aren't going to be as squeezed for space as those of us looking to get into something bigger, they can just remain blissfully ignorant and wait for a sucker to come along and buy their house for way too much.  In the meantime, the rest of us end up scrambling for the few that come to market at reasonable prices, or contemplating living by a landfill and freeway.  This sucks.

[USCTrojanCPA]

Sorry to post on topic, but I overheard the following conversation while walking through the stonegate models last week.

Ponzi 1: Hey, long time no see.  You looking to buy one of these?
Ponzi 2: Nah, just scoping out the competition.  Our house was on the market for a while, but you just can't compete when [the Irvine company] is selling these way under market.
Ponzi 1: Same here.  Guess we'll try again later this year.

Seems to me like the owners of the type of houses many of us are actually looking for (4br/3ba) are still totally convinced that their houses are worth 2006 prices.  Since they aren't going to be as squeezed for space as those of us looking to get into something bigger, they can just remain blissfully ignorant and wait for a sucker to come along and buy their house for way too much.  In the meantime, the rest of us end up scrambling for the few that come to market at reasonable prices, or contemplating living by a landfill and freeway.  This sucks.

Under market?  haha  Not after you add in upgrades and landscaping.  Those Stonegate homes are priced for perfection. 

[shadax]

Sorry to post on topic, but I overheard the following conversation while walking through the stonegate models last week.

Ponzi 1: Hey, long time no see.  You looking to buy one of these?
Ponzi 2: Nah, just scoping out the competition.  Our house was on the market for a while, but you just can't compete when [the Irvine company] is selling these way under market.
Ponzi 1: Same here.  Guess we'll try again later this year.

Seems to me like the owners of the type of houses many of us are actually looking for (4br/3ba) are still totally convinced that their houses are worth 2006 prices.  Since they aren't going to be as squeezed for space as those of us looking to get into something bigger, they can just remain blissfully ignorant and wait for a sucker to come along and buy their house for way too much.  In the meantime, the rest of us end up scrambling for the few that come to market at reasonable prices, or contemplating living by a landfill and freeway.  This sucks.

I love it when people say "market value".  If TIC thought they could get more, they'd charge more.  In fact,  does anyone know if the subsequent phases of the Stonegate went up in price?  Apples to Apples maybe not available I know, since I heard they had some forced upgrades.