cupcakeIrvine
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- Thread starter cupcakeIrvine
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winterblues
Member
Hi there! Take my advice with a grain of salt?I?ve owned 2 homes in Irvine (since 2009) and have lived here even longer, but I?m solidly middle class and posting from an Irvine shoebox (i.e., a detached condo).
With those caveats, I?d say a couple of things. Northpark is a really nice neighborhood, guard gated, great location in North Irvine, zoned to fantastic Tustin schools, etc. But at that price range (unless you need that kind of square footage) I?d personally go for a hills view home in Quail Hill, Turtle Ridge, or Turtle Rock. You will get the privacy you are looking for and a view lot in Irvine will always do well.
However, if you?ve fallen in love with the home and with the neighborhood, you should do what feels right to you. Best of luck!
With those caveats, I?d say a couple of things. Northpark is a really nice neighborhood, guard gated, great location in North Irvine, zoned to fantastic Tustin schools, etc. But at that price range (unless you need that kind of square footage) I?d personally go for a hills view home in Quail Hill, Turtle Ridge, or Turtle Rock. You will get the privacy you are looking for and a view lot in Irvine will always do well.
However, if you?ve fallen in love with the home and with the neighborhood, you should do what feels right to you. Best of luck!
usctrojancpa
Well-known member
Welcome to TI Tsuksiro. As Winterblues stated, Northpak is a great community in a good location. As for the home, I seems overpriced to me especially given the need to renovate the home. The floor tiles, kitchen, and bathrooms could really use some updating. The seller paid $2.18m back in July 2017 and that's probably closer to what the home is probably worth. I also agree that you can buy a newer property in a more desirable location (Orchard Hills, Quail Hill, Turtle Ridge, Altair, etc) if your budget is around $2.5m
irviniteeee
Active member
Completely agree with Winterblues. Northpark is a very nice community, but at that price I don't think I would buy there. If you are fine with a home that size for that price, I would look into the Turtles, Quail Hill, or Orchard Hills.
sleepy5136
Well-known member
eyephone said:
Not a financial advisor but I do agree that stocks is the way to go. Unless you really need a ~2m house, I would put ~1m on a house and the other ~1m in stocks.
usctrojancpa
Well-known member
I think a lot of people keep forgetting is that a home is a place to live first (aka a commodity because you need to live somewhere) and a distant second a long term investment. Investment/rental properties are more comparable to other investments like stocks and bonds. Timing the real estate market can be just as futile as trying to time the stock market but just as well stocks if you buy in a good location for the longer term your home will appreciate.
GoatGeneral
New member
sleepy5136 said:
What if you already have plenty invested in stocks? Why not invest more into a home that you are actually going to live in and benefit from every day?
usctrojancpa
Well-known member
GoatGeneral said:
I'd be much more comfortable investing in a larger home than putting more money in stocks given where both markets are. You can get a 10% stock market correction in the blink of an eye but you'll never see that kind of rapid home price drop. And like you said, I'll be able to enjoy the home every day that I live in it.
I lived in Northpark for over 10 years (I no longer do). This is definitely my opinion and I know others' will differ, but of all the neighborhoods on this side of Irvine, Northpark is my favorite (Northwood is a tie for me as well).
-The neighborhood is smaller than most, with streets that are easier to navigate. I know it seems trivial, but compared with the street layout of Woodbury, Stonegate, Great Park, etc., I feel it's worth something.
-It's guard gated, but has three major entry points: Irvine Blvd, Culver, and Portola. It makes access easy. Again, compare that to the other neighborhoods.
-I mentioned it's a smaller community compared to others. Despite this, it still has four pools plus a host of other amenities (playgrounds, green space, etc.). Even with all that, the HOA is relatively low at ~$200.
-If you like to walk around the neighborhood or be outdoors around home for any reason, Northpark is my favorite. The neighborhood is mostly flat, so it's an easy walk/run. Walking in Orchard Hills is not as easy, for example.
-My favorite part of Northpark is the Green Belt through the middle of the neighborhood. I find it to be so unique, and perfect for walks. Since it runs through the neighborhood, you're not surrounded by car noise. It's a very spacious walkway. Compare it to the Jeffrey Open Space Trail where you're right on a busy street with no peace and quiet.
-It's unlikely most people care about this, but you can actually walk to the Orchard Hills Shopping Plaza (Pavilions, Mcdonalds, etc.), and even the Northpark Plaza. Aside from Woodbury, most villages are not walkable to shopping.
-It's closer to the Market Place shopping, and it's (a bit) faster to get to the freeway compared to Orchard Hills, Stonegate, and Altair.
Northwood has very similar attributes. These neighborhoods were built 20-30 years ago and have the advantage of larger lots and better spacing overall in my opinion.
Now with that all being said...this particular house is expensive. We all can agree it needs some upgrades. Even though it is a premium lot with only one direct neighbor, the privacy is somewhat limited with the open backyard fence that has a sidewalk on the other side. It gets a lot of foot traffic and lookey-loos. Most importantly, the little park that's adjacent to the property...the other side of that little park is the Culver entry gate (just slightly offset). There will be a decent amount of vehicle traffic and noise resulting from that.
I love almost everything about the neighborhood, but I don't think it's worth the premium this house is charging. Hope that was at least somewhat helpful.
-The neighborhood is smaller than most, with streets that are easier to navigate. I know it seems trivial, but compared with the street layout of Woodbury, Stonegate, Great Park, etc., I feel it's worth something.
-It's guard gated, but has three major entry points: Irvine Blvd, Culver, and Portola. It makes access easy. Again, compare that to the other neighborhoods.
-I mentioned it's a smaller community compared to others. Despite this, it still has four pools plus a host of other amenities (playgrounds, green space, etc.). Even with all that, the HOA is relatively low at ~$200.
-If you like to walk around the neighborhood or be outdoors around home for any reason, Northpark is my favorite. The neighborhood is mostly flat, so it's an easy walk/run. Walking in Orchard Hills is not as easy, for example.
-My favorite part of Northpark is the Green Belt through the middle of the neighborhood. I find it to be so unique, and perfect for walks. Since it runs through the neighborhood, you're not surrounded by car noise. It's a very spacious walkway. Compare it to the Jeffrey Open Space Trail where you're right on a busy street with no peace and quiet.
-It's unlikely most people care about this, but you can actually walk to the Orchard Hills Shopping Plaza (Pavilions, Mcdonalds, etc.), and even the Northpark Plaza. Aside from Woodbury, most villages are not walkable to shopping.
-It's closer to the Market Place shopping, and it's (a bit) faster to get to the freeway compared to Orchard Hills, Stonegate, and Altair.
Northwood has very similar attributes. These neighborhoods were built 20-30 years ago and have the advantage of larger lots and better spacing overall in my opinion.
Now with that all being said...this particular house is expensive. We all can agree it needs some upgrades. Even though it is a premium lot with only one direct neighbor, the privacy is somewhat limited with the open backyard fence that has a sidewalk on the other side. It gets a lot of foot traffic and lookey-loos. Most importantly, the little park that's adjacent to the property...the other side of that little park is the Culver entry gate (just slightly offset). There will be a decent amount of vehicle traffic and noise resulting from that.
I love almost everything about the neighborhood, but I don't think it's worth the premium this house is charging. Hope that was at least somewhat helpful.
sleepy5136
Well-known member
USCTrojanCPA said:
I think it really depends if this is a primary or investment property. If its a primary residence, my question would be do you even need 4k worth of space? I mean realistically speaking, that is way too much for a family of 4-5. The cleaning itself will be a nightmare and even if you ask someone else to clean it for you, that is money I can use towards other investments and that doesn't even include the amount of property taxes you'll need to pay. I could be wrong but I have never seen a ~2m property up for rent before so I suspect this is definitely for primary residence.
If it was an investment property and you're using it to collect monthly rental income, that is definitely worth considering since not only do you get cash flow, but you also get a lot of room to reduce your taxable income. But bear in mind that you need to have sufficient emergency funds to cover the mortgage in the event you do not have renters. And if you have many properties, that is even more $ you'll need to have stashed on the side. Also, home values generally appreciate at a modest 3% which basically offsets inflation if you do not include 2020. The stock market can easily get you 7% each year and you also have compound interest which people forget how powerful that is. You don't even need to actively manage it either, simply dollar cost average each month in the S&P 500 ETF and you're set. You don't ever need to pay taxes until you sell and if you're investing in the long term, you generally don't touch it. If you ever need the $, liquidation is quick compared to a home and the chances of you losing money is slim. Regardless of stocks/real estate, the general idea is you never put money into stocks/real estate if you need the money near term, so timing the market isn't really a factor.
sleepy5136
Well-known member
GoatGeneral said:
It depends. If you have 4k of space in the home, how often are you using each sq. ft of space? Do you feel like you have to work from a different living area to justify the premium that you will pay for that extra space? What about cost of cleaning and higher utility bills? Property taxes? HOA? Maintenance? Renovations? Maybe I have a different philosophy when it comes to home purchasing, but I generally feel like if one does not make use of the available space the home has, why even buy such a big place? The idea that "I have the money, so let me buy a big home because I can" is fine for some people if you're Jay Z or Beyonce, but most of us do not have that kind of money. And sometimes sitting back and thinking whether or not that big home is needed is something worth considering. But of course, everyone has different needs. I'm simply speaking about myself and how I think.
sleepy5136
Well-known member
USCTrojanCPA said:
My personal investing philosophy is you don't put money in stocks/real estate if you need the money in the near future. Look at 2020, we had a 50% correction and it ended up being +33%. You do not lose money until you sell.
usctrojancpa
Well-known member
eyephone said:
Homes shouldn't be bought and sold like stocks because the transaction fees are high. I told my current buyers, if you aren't going to live in the home for the intermediate-term then you shouldn't be buying. Like I said, a home is a place to live first and a possible appreciating asset second.
GoatGeneral
New member
sleepy5136 said:
It is a good point that everyone has their own prefernces. For some 4000 sq ft might be too much and for others it might not be enough. Someone considering this home likely prefers having additional space. I think at this price range, I'd also consider the Turtles, Quail Hill instead. The low number of neighbors makes this home pretty unique but is there a trail on the side of the home between the park?
I'll throw in my 2 cents on investing too since Real Estate investment is what I do. If you're buying this home for $2.2M+ as a pure investment, it's a bad investment. There are many philosophies on how to invest in real estate, but I strongly believe you should be cash flow positive from the start of your investment and making at least 3% cash-on-cash (i.e for every $100k down, you should be making at least $3k/year profit). Appreciation is a maybe, so don't count on it...that should be bonus money if you sell one day or refinance to buy another rental.
If appreciation is the game you want to play, buy something near the beach.
If appreciation is the game you want to play, buy something near the beach.