just wondering what other people's experiences have been, and if i'm just a one off bad experience.
having just completed the buying/building process in an irvine pacific community recently, i have a caveat emptor/buyer beware for irvine pacific. we did it, but MAN was it a slog and a struggle from the get go, and definitely decreased our excitement and happiness of buying a new home. the following is just my own personal two cents; i know others may disagree and that's perfectly ok.
if you have a busy job, or are doing this on your own without a spouse or partner, just know that the IP design center is not that flexible. they have limited appointments from 9-4, which means you'll probably be rearranging your entire schedule around design appointments. they are very resistant regarding weekend appointments. my limited schedule isn't their problem or fault, obviously - but what I *do* wish they had just told me before I bought was the limited design center availability; that would definitely have played into my decision. the designer (at least the one i have) makes you feel incredibly guilty for any changes I made after the initial appointment for a phase, even if it was before the phase deadline - as though he/she was doing me a massive favor that was incredibly inconvenient. they also don't let you come in at off hours to just browse and get a sense of what you like. when you're paying upwards of 1M for a home, you want to make it right, and it's preferable not to make decisions under pressure. the design consultants at least in my opinion pressure you to get things done in the same appointment, even though they tell you some people take multiple appointments. it didn't feel like they were really vested in making sure you are really satisfied in what you get.
also, another important thing to know. you don't really get a written estimate for a phase until you've selected and absolutely finalized ALL your things for that phase. your running costs don't show up on the online design tool, AND they remove all your prior selections when a new phase starts. you also can't try to mix and match different combos of options on the online design tool to see what the prices would be. it's not ideal when you're trying to budget, and it's very hard to get the designers there to mix and match different options and quote prices for different combos in just a 2 hour appointment.
selection is not quite what you would get from other builders. we were seriously contemplating buying from another builder, and i truly wish i had. irvine company backsplash and counter selection is more or less what you might see in an irvine company apartment - nothing terribly special. KB seems to have upscale, luxury materials at reasonable prices.
the selection schedule is so tight, and i really wish we had been given more notice about this when the sales office sold the house to us. we turned in our deposit, and after our deposit went through we were told the next selection stage deadline was literally within a few days. i had to drop everything and figure out what i wanted. had i been informed how close the deadlines were prior to submitting my deposit, i might have seriously reconsidered buying at all from IP. it also wasn't disclosed to us at the time of purchase that the deadline for stage 1 selections had already passed- another material fact i'd have wanted disclosed as it would have influenced my decision. also, know that depending on the community, you may not be able to get a induction cooktop - you may have to go with a gas range.
there are multiple other things that happened during my purchasing process, including a whole extra 100K being added to our purchase agreement and me having to catch the error. there are multiple other facets to this that occurred that felt really wrong, so DM me if you want some tips on things to look out for.
i genuinely hope it hasn't been like that for everyone and that others have had much better experiences. this whole thing has been incredibly stressful and i really honestly regret buying through IP.
having just completed the buying/building process in an irvine pacific community recently, i have a caveat emptor/buyer beware for irvine pacific. we did it, but MAN was it a slog and a struggle from the get go, and definitely decreased our excitement and happiness of buying a new home. the following is just my own personal two cents; i know others may disagree and that's perfectly ok.
if you have a busy job, or are doing this on your own without a spouse or partner, just know that the IP design center is not that flexible. they have limited appointments from 9-4, which means you'll probably be rearranging your entire schedule around design appointments. they are very resistant regarding weekend appointments. my limited schedule isn't their problem or fault, obviously - but what I *do* wish they had just told me before I bought was the limited design center availability; that would definitely have played into my decision. the designer (at least the one i have) makes you feel incredibly guilty for any changes I made after the initial appointment for a phase, even if it was before the phase deadline - as though he/she was doing me a massive favor that was incredibly inconvenient. they also don't let you come in at off hours to just browse and get a sense of what you like. when you're paying upwards of 1M for a home, you want to make it right, and it's preferable not to make decisions under pressure. the design consultants at least in my opinion pressure you to get things done in the same appointment, even though they tell you some people take multiple appointments. it didn't feel like they were really vested in making sure you are really satisfied in what you get.
also, another important thing to know. you don't really get a written estimate for a phase until you've selected and absolutely finalized ALL your things for that phase. your running costs don't show up on the online design tool, AND they remove all your prior selections when a new phase starts. you also can't try to mix and match different combos of options on the online design tool to see what the prices would be. it's not ideal when you're trying to budget, and it's very hard to get the designers there to mix and match different options and quote prices for different combos in just a 2 hour appointment.
selection is not quite what you would get from other builders. we were seriously contemplating buying from another builder, and i truly wish i had. irvine company backsplash and counter selection is more or less what you might see in an irvine company apartment - nothing terribly special. KB seems to have upscale, luxury materials at reasonable prices.
the selection schedule is so tight, and i really wish we had been given more notice about this when the sales office sold the house to us. we turned in our deposit, and after our deposit went through we were told the next selection stage deadline was literally within a few days. i had to drop everything and figure out what i wanted. had i been informed how close the deadlines were prior to submitting my deposit, i might have seriously reconsidered buying at all from IP. it also wasn't disclosed to us at the time of purchase that the deadline for stage 1 selections had already passed- another material fact i'd have wanted disclosed as it would have influenced my decision. also, know that depending on the community, you may not be able to get a induction cooktop - you may have to go with a gas range.
there are multiple other things that happened during my purchasing process, including a whole extra 100K being added to our purchase agreement and me having to catch the error. there are multiple other facets to this that occurred that felt really wrong, so DM me if you want some tips on things to look out for.
i genuinely hope it hasn't been like that for everyone and that others have had much better experiences. this whole thing has been incredibly stressful and i really honestly regret buying through IP.