First time homebuyer in Irvine

Hi TalkIrvine,

My wife and I have been house hunting for some time. Mainly looking for a 2 story 3 bed home under 800k that's less than 10 year old. We found a couple properties that we like but they seem generally overpriced. (e.g. san mateo in stonegate, jasmine in cypress village) 

And while I know I'm not supposed to time the market. It does seem like the housing prices are slowly tapering.
So should we hold and wait till winter or just bite the bullet while interest rate is low?

Thanks.

Timing the market is the smart thing to do.  Prices are down about 2% YoY in Irvine.  Most real estate downturns last 4-5 years in SoCal, with the heaviest losses front loaded in the first few years.

The best thing you could do is wait for the home & deal that you feel most satisfied with.  With home prices, rents, and mortgage rates all showing signs of decline this year, there's no reason to compromise on what you want out of a home.

Rental rate have been increase YoY. Ask anybody that renting if that is NOT true.

If you think the market is tanking, looks at current interest rates. Housing prices have not increase much but the stability is there and lower rates have been pushing homes prices side way to remain flat. In the meantime if you are renting how long have you been waiting? And how have prices been doing while you continue to rent? Have the seller been lowering prices? My bid on a couples of homes has gotten no where for price reductions in the targeted area. I would not buy outside of Irvine.

Timing the market has not works for me in the past. Rather, focus on affordability and stick with Irvine for a sounds long term investing.

We are around that same budget and also check out basically every area in irvine in that price range. I agree they seemed overpriced, but reading on here it seems like those areas are extra desirable in Irvine so people are willing to overpay a bit for the house because of the area.

We?re leaning towards a new build now. We also have similar wants, 2 story, 3 bed, side by side garage.

The plan 3 at Brisa/Carissa is what we?ve been thinking about. It?s a small 3 bed at like 1470?, but it?s 2 stories, 3 bedrooms upstairs. One shared wall which is mostly just the stairs and upstairs hallway. I think they start at 715-725k before upgrades. I think it?s a bit overpriced, but we haven?t been able to find a similar style condo that was recently built that we thought was priced well. They are end units which is nice so I guess some of the price is due to that.

HOA is like $350 and with MR I think the taxes are around 1.45%. So not ideal by any means.

Irvine's Median Sales Price for single family residences was $1,177,500 in August 2018 and was $1,195,000 in August of 2019 which is a 1.5% increase.  Properties are receiving approx 95.3% of asking price. Interest rates are still historically low and there are plenty of cash buyers still shopping. Many buyers waited and thought the market would flat line and they ended up being priced out of the market. If you're not finding your ideal home, then I recommend locating something that is functional and will increase in value in the interim and set yourself up with a three to five year plan. The longer you wait, the more money you lose. Start gaining some equity now and use that as a stepping stone. You also need an assertive and EXPERIENCED Realtor shopping on your behalf and hunting down exactly what you want. I do that for my Buyers. I just located a property off-market and the owners agreed to sell - my buyers obtained an off-market property for significantly less than market value. It doesn't happen everyday, but if you have an Agent in your corner, working for you, it can! Feel free to message me... I am also offering closing rebates/incentives where allowed, to help with buyer fees. It costs a Buyer ZERO to have an agent working for you. We get paid by the seller or the builder.

Try 2bed + den. They could potentially be used as a 3rd room but the price is usually a bit lower than a full 3-bed home.

Liar Loan said:

Prices are down about 2% YoY in Irvine.

Click to expand...

Is that worth waiting for? What happened to The Great Slowdown? Volume was down much more, why aren't prices falling as much?

OCRebateQueen said:

Irvine's Median Sales Price for single family residences was $1,177,500 in August 2018 and was $1,195,000 in August of 2019 which is a 1.5% increase.

Click to expand...

So SFRs are up 1.5% but overall prices are down 2%?

Prices look like they are going down again... who is making their bold predictions?

OCRebateQueen said:

Irvine's Median Sales Price for single family residences was $1,177,500 in August 2018 and was $1,195,000 in August of 2019 which is a 1.5% increase.

Click to expand...

The California Association of Realtors, with which you presumably affiliate yourself, says that existing SFR's in Irvine are DOWN -4.6% from last year. (July 2019 SFR median)
https://car.sharefile.com/share/view/s87956575e4e49c1b

Yet here you are, trying to convince this poor buyer to be the next sucker that overpays for a home.  Then you follow it up with an advertisement for your business, which should be a giant red flag for everybody.

irvinehomeowner said:

Liar Loan said:

Prices are down about 2% YoY in Irvine.

Click to expand...

Is that worth waiting for? What happened to The Great Slowdown? Volume was down much more, why aren't prices falling as much?

OCRebateQueen said:

Irvine's Median Sales Price for single family residences was $1,177,500 in August 2018 and was $1,195,000 in August of 2019 which is a 1.5% increase.

Click to expand...

So SFRs are up 1.5% but overall prices are down 2%?

Prices look like they are going down again... who is making their bold predictions?

Click to expand...

The -2% number was based on our previous discussion using Trulia numbers. 

Now CAR is saying existing Irvine SFR's are down -4.6% and the current median is $1.17M.  That means the hypothetical buyer that waited when things started slowing down last July 2018 has saved $56,000 on the cost of an Irvine home. 

I don't know IHO... is that worth waiting for?

Liar Loan said:

The -2% number was based on our previous discussion using Trulia numbers. 

Now CAR is saying existing Irvine SFR's are down -4.6% and the current median is $1.17M.  That means the hypothetical buyer that waited when things started slowing down last July 2018 has saved $56,000 on the cost of an Irvine home. 

I don't know IHO... is that worth waiting for?

Click to expand...

Depends. Location? Floorplan? Neighborhood? Tired of renting? Want to settle in? Selling your previous home?

$1.17m isn't a first time buyer so your sage advice may not apply here. If you're financing, that's about a $10k difference on a 20% down payment so some may not wait. I paid way more than that because I waited.

Once you are into the SFR range, to me, it's about affordability and getting the house you want.

Hi there!

It does seem like a tough market right now in this price range. Irvine is overpriced, no doubt about it. For the money, you're not going to get much space or privacy. But the trade off of course is an amazingly well-kept city with excellent amenities, parks, schools, and a central OC location.

What do you think about this place?
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/62-Knollwood-92602/home/5884502

You can probably find some attached new build products in your price range, but I do suggest detached if possible, which is why I recommended the above home. We owned a condo in West Irvine Pointe years ago and it's a nice neighborhood. You have access to the HOA pool, there's a nice city park, and a walkable elementary school. It's nice and quiet too. The toll road is fairly close, yes, but it's elevated relative to the neighborhood so you don't hear any road noise unless your home is right next to the sound wall.

Liar Loan said:

irvinehomeowner said:

Liar Loan said:

Prices are down about 2% YoY in Irvine.

Click to expand...

Is that worth waiting for? What happened to The Great Slowdown? Volume was down much more, why aren't prices falling as much?

OCRebateQueen said:

Irvine's Median Sales Price for single family residences was $1,177,500 in August 2018 and was $1,195,000 in August of 2019 which is a 1.5% increase.

Click to expand...

So SFRs are up 1.5% but overall prices are down 2%?

Prices look like they are going down again... who is making their bold predictions?

Click to expand...

The -2% number was based on our previous discussion using Trulia numbers. 

Now CAR is saying existing Irvine SFR's are down -4.6% and the current median is $1.17M.  That means the hypothetical buyer that waited when things started slowing down last July 2018 has saved $56,000 on the cost of an Irvine home. 

I don't know IHO... is that worth waiting for?

Click to expand...

Dont forget that prices are down 4.6% in the midst of a tremendous drop in rates.  Rates are down greater than 1% compared to the year before.  As I explained before a 1% rate difference is an affordability difference of 11%.  For those that waited, you can now buy 16% more home than you could have last year for the same money.  Also you have hundreds more homes to choose from.