Elderberry should I a buy?

heverlee

New member
Hello:

I am relocating to Irvine and just signed an agreement to buy a home at Elderberry for ~$460/sqft.  Saw this forum yesterday and see quite some negative on Elderberry regarding it's location and slow appreciation.

I like the house and driving is ok for us coming from other states but now estimating will take some loss when selling it in 5-7 yrs. Should I just exit the contract and look elsewhere? Would like to get a worst case estimate.

thanks for any feedback!
 
Don't buy a house for appreciation..buy it because it fits your needs and your budget.

Irvine as a whole will be great for home prices going forward.
 
thanks.
coming from a mid west state where home price didn't appreciate as crazy as in Irvine, appreciation wasn't our first goal. We want to buy a home that lives comfortably and we also like the hill drive. It is just that location might be  an issue for local Irvine folks which might affect resale.
 
Can you be specific about your issues regarding "location"?

heverlee said:
thanks.
coming from a mid west state where home price didn't appreciate as crazy as in Irvine, appreciation wasn't our first goal. We want to buy a home that lives comfortably and we also like the hill drive. It is just that location might be  an issue for local Irvine folks which might affect resale.
 
heverlee said:
I got the impression that local Irvine folks think it is a bit far from highway, shopping, etc.

I would say go for a home that suits your needs and personal situation the best.  Appreciation is a factor, but I would say it is a bigger factor if you are moving into a starter home vs a longer-term home.  Given the size of Elderberry, I?m guessing you intend to stay put in your new home for awhile?
 
Jantoven said:
heverlee said:
I got the impression that local Irvine folks think it is a bit far from highway, shopping, etc.

I would say go for a home that suits your needs and personal situation the best.  Appreciation is a factor, but I would say it is a bigger factor if you are moving into a starter home vs a longer-term home. 

+1  As I tell all my Irvine buyers, if you buy a home with the intent to live there for the longer term (7-10+ years) you should have no worry about the price of the home being lower than what you bought it for.
 
thank you all for the kind reply.

Yes, I am buying that for a long term home as long as I don't have to move because of job.
We really like Irvine and hope to stay as long as possible.
 
During the Great Recession, Irvine area homes values did decline, but not as deep as similar premium areas. As long as industry remains in Irvine, and the schools keep their high standards, in 5-7 years even in a trough in prices you should still be protected.

Let's say things continue to fall beyond expectations... retain the home as a rental. Let someone else pay off your mortgage. If in 5 to 7 years you're relocated, most relo companies will buy you out. During the crash, some even covered a portion of the missing equity simply because the employee was a valuable asset worth the expense.

It's wise to plan for many future possibilities - both good and bad. This is a good place to bounce your ideas so keep them flowing.

My .02c

 
heverlee said:
I got the impression that local Irvine folks think it is a bit far from highway, shopping, etc.

Portola Springs in general is a little far away from everything compare to other villages.
Usually people who live in Irvine are used to close access to freeways and shopping centers within less than 5min driving, but PS does not have that advantage so far. Many were saying it would get better once the retail comes in the village, but that hasn't happened within 10+ years yet. Great Park villages which is near PS are planning to open some retails coming years so that could potentially help, but everything is in unknown so far.

On the good side, you do get more square footage on homes since they do tend to give discount for those disadvantages I've mentioned above. 5 Bed SFR in $1.2m is out of question in other villages. People are concerned about PS not appreciating as much, but if you think about it, it just seems like it is not appreciating as much because you bought it cheaper. The pace of the appreciation should be the same, just not really comparable since you had discounts in the beginning.

If you don't mind driving extra 5-10 min, then you should go for it.


And there are some hazardous concerns..... but the sale office should let you know all those.

 
Mety said:
heverlee said:
I got the impression that local Irvine folks think it is a bit far from highway, shopping, etc.

Portola Springs in general is a little far away from everything compare to other villages.
Usually people who live in Irvine are used to close access to freeways and shopping centers within less than 5min driving, but PS does not have that advantage so far. Many were saying it would get better once the retail comes in the village, but that hasn't happened within 10+ years yet. Great Park villages which is near PS are planning to open some retails coming years so that could potentially help, but everything is in unknown so far.

On the good side, you do get more square footage on homes since they do tend to give discount for those disadvantages I've mentioned above. 5 Bed SFR in $1.2m is out of question in other villages. People are concerned about PS not appreciating as much, but if you think about it, it just seems like it is not appreciating as much because you bought it cheaper. The pace of the appreciation should be the same, just not really comparable since you had discounts in the beginning.

If you don't mind driving extra 5-10 min, then you should go for it.


And there are some hazardous concerns..... but the sale office should let you know all those.

+1, great response.
 
appreciate the infor.

I am trying to trade off a bit of driving for more space for now.

thanks again!

Mety said:
heverlee said:
I got the impression that local Irvine folks think it is a bit far from highway, shopping, etc.

Portola Springs in general is a little far away from everything compare to other villages.
Usually people who live in Irvine are used to close access to freeways and shopping centers within less than 5min driving, but PS does not have that advantage so far. Many were saying it would get better once the retail comes in the village, but that hasn't happened within 10+ years yet. Great Park villages which is near PS are planning to open some retails coming years so that could potentially help, but everything is in unknown so far.

On the good side, you do get more square footage on homes since they do tend to give discount for those disadvantages I've mentioned above. 5 Bed SFR in $1.2m is out of question in other villages. People are concerned about PS not appreciating as much, but if you think about it, it just seems like it is not appreciating as much because you bought it cheaper. The pace of the appreciation should be the same, just not really comparable since you had discounts in the beginning.

If you don't mind driving extra 5-10 min, then you should go for it.


And there are some hazardous concerns..... but the sale office should let you know all those.
 
heverlee said:
appreciate the infor.

I am trying to trade off a bit of driving for more space for now.

thanks again!

Mety said:
heverlee said:
I got the impression that local Irvine folks think it is a bit far from highway, shopping, etc.

Portola Springs in general is a little far away from everything compare to other villages.
Usually people who live in Irvine are used to close access to freeways and shopping centers within less than 5min driving, but PS does not have that advantage so far. Many were saying it would get better once the retail comes in the village, but that hasn't happened within 10+ years yet. Great Park villages which is near PS are planning to open some retails coming years so that could potentially help, but everything is in unknown so far.

On the good side, you do get more square footage on homes since they do tend to give discount for those disadvantages I've mentioned above. 5 Bed SFR in $1.2m is out of question in other villages. People are concerned about PS not appreciating as much, but if you think about it, it just seems like it is not appreciating as much because you bought it cheaper. The pace of the appreciation should be the same, just not really comparable since you had discounts in the beginning.

If you don't mind driving extra 5-10 min, then you should go for it.


And there are some hazardous concerns..... but the sale office should let you know all those.


I think EB is located at best location within PS and is cheapest true new single family home in Irvine. Very peaceful and quite at the top.

I wouldn't be concerned about appreciation or location, look next door, Juniper and Legado, both are detached condos and are selling close to 1.2M. If you like the floorplan and its affordable, go for it. If you want to spend 20% more , buy similar size home elsewhere. We had a condo in PS, which we sold few months ago and got close to 200K in appreciation.

One friend of mine just bought at EB and is very happy, we have been to his place few times, its very nice location. 
 
If you're from the midwest, be ready for a incredibly small lot at Elderberry for the home.  There's an unknown developer with view lots hopefully in the near future with bigger lots for those with the view in the same area, probably priced higher, may be worth looking into if you like that area.  IMHO Elderberry lots are too small to be comfortable, no privacy.
 
akkord said:
If you're from the midwest, be ready for a incredibly small lot at Elderberry for the home.  There's an unknown developer with view lots hopefully in the near future with bigger lots for those with the view in the same area, probably priced higher, may be worth looking into if you like that area.  IMHO Elderberry lots are too small to be comfortable, no privacy.


Avila at Eastwood, and several homes in CV have similar size lots.
 
thanks
one thing we also noticed is that there is almost no traffic noise compared to many homes we see in cypress village, pavallion park etc. I think it is due to its remoteness and we are happy about this.

Indeed, we liked Richmond home at the beginning and wanted to buy there but figured EB in close proximity has a better value being SFH with drive way and larger space.
 
akkord said:
If you're from the midwest, be ready for a incredibly small lot at Elderberry for the home.  There's an unknown developer with view lots hopefully in the near future with bigger lots for those with the view in the same area, probably priced higher, may be worth looking into if you like that area.  IMHO Elderberry lots are too small to be comfortable, no privacy.

fully agree on that, my midwest home is 3600sqft single level inside. I feel embarrassed to tell friends the new home in Irvine sits on a lot of that size. ;-<

Given the huge price difference btw states, I have to give up the lot size while getting a home not significantly smaller inside. will try to use the community park as much as possible. For privacy, guess will try to plant more trees.
 
And I would never buy there either. 

the.irvine said:
akkord said:
If you're from the midwest, be ready for a incredibly small lot at Elderberry for the home.  There's an unknown developer with view lots hopefully in the near future with bigger lots for those with the view in the same area, probably priced higher, may be worth looking into if you like that area.  IMHO Elderberry lots are too small to be comfortable, no privacy.


Avila at Eastwood, and several homes in CV have similar size lots.
 
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