Monterey @ Woodbury East

Release 2 - Homesites 12-24 - February 20th 2010

Residence One
$474,000
$281.31/sq ft

Residence Two
$537,000 - $542,100
$301.06/sq ft

Residence Three
$563,000 - $571,600
$301.57/sq ft

Average Price/Sq Ft: $294.33

Associations: $134 + $207

Base Property Tax: 1.05%
AD Tax: $1,100/year
CFD Tax: $1,700/year
other Taxes: $149/year
Overall Effective Tax Rate: 1.6%

Just got back with the kid from WB East... we went into Monterey and a couple of Santa Rosa plans. Plan 3 does give you a head fake that it is a attached unit. I do like these plans better than Treo. Then it just hit me; these tri-plexes are the ones BK told us about 2 years ago!

Plan 3 is comfortable, and if I'm not wrong, there are no attached walls, except for you garage; and plan 1 can't really see into your patio. At a little over $300/sq foot, the price is, dare I say fair. These units will bring down Treo prices, and plan 1 will be great investment for FCB parents who's children are starting UCI.

Plan 2 is just the same as 3, but no den, just a wide hallway for a couple of terminals.

I need to check these places out. Eventually, I want to tour the entire 2010 Hong Kong Collection.

well IHO, you got to get on the Asian tour bus; yes BK is right again, the "Recovery Tour" is in full effect...! Bus loads of Asians, I heard some Taiwanese mixed in there...

We liked the plan 3 and put ourselves on the list about 2 weeks ago. Figured that we were very low on the list since we signed up recently, but we actually already got a call. We are no longer interested in the Montereys so declined but they seemed to really want us to reconsider...So if anyone is interested in these, it would probably be easy to get them even if you sign up on the interest list now...

[quote author="kayochan"]We liked the plan 3 and put ourselves on the list about 2 weeks ago. Figured that we were very low on the list since we signed up recently, but we actually already got a call. We are no longer interested in the Montereys so declined but they seemed to really want us to reconsider...So if anyone is interested in these, it would probably be easy to get them even if you sign up on the interest list now...[/quote]
What made you change your mind?

We finally made it to Monterey this morning --- and were really shocked at how much we liked it. Agree with bones...Plan 2 and 3 were both great. I liked Plan 3 better, my wife Plan 2. Of course the price is still high, but Monterey seems to be the best value we have seen yet. This is the first place that actually gave us a moment of pause --- the "well, this isn't such a bad place for the price".

Only 2 plans really made the BK list. Monterey plan 2 and 3. Coronado due to voyeuristic Master down I took it off my list. Sorry Scuba.

Does anyone have any pics of the Monterey Plan 3 model?

question for BK: I would have thought that having a fireplace would have been an important overall factor in home design. even without a fireplace in the great room do you give your seal of approval for monterey?

even in my humble 1500 sq ft townhome we have a decent switch-on-the-wall fireplace that we use ALL the time!!! many have said they hate doing this, but to conserve room we put our tv above the mantle... as much as i hated doing this, it does save space, and you get used to it... and no my neck does not hurt... that being said, i am disappointed that this space saving feature led to me not using my sound system which is hidden idly in our storage closet...

I am not a fan of fireplace in condo/townhomes. It reminds me of the fancy spinning alloy wheels installed on a Hyundai. I like the plans because both does not have a floor and wall space waster. In my home I do have a real masonry wood burning fireplace with a brick flue chimney. However, my house is old.

How lazy is our society getting when everything is on a switch. The romance is all about carrying the wood, curl up some paper, and strike some matches, and getting the fire going.

It is like giving a wife a toy and have her enjoy herelf because we are too lazy. Let the switch do all the magic.

So here is my take on Fireplace. I just hate fake stuff from facade to concrete tiles , vinyl windows, non operable shutters and gas (no wood buring) fireplaces.

I would rather have nothing than to have a fake.

ok, let me change my question... do you think a fireplace is an important factor that many sheeple look for in a place? i understand the romance with the traditional, but let's be honest, there are no wood burning fireplaces in any irvine home built after 1998... (or very few)...

[quote author="akim997"]ok, let me change my question... do you think a fireplace is an important factor that many sheeple look for in a place? [/quote]

I was just in Monterey yesterday, and didn't even notice there was no fireplace until you mentioned it here.

i've seen so many houses, i am now the king of nitpicking... my wife hates it, but i have something to say about EVERYTHING... in a perfect world:

1) i would like an island with seating for at least 3...

2) i hate islands with cooktops and range hoods in the middle of the room...

3) i prefer the cooktop/ wall oven over the all-in-one range... it reminds me of the apt units that we rent out...

4) i like the cooktop + double oven places. i also like the cooktop with wall oven underneath and a separate 2nd oven/ microwave elsewhere...

5) i like white kitchen cabinets, but despise the thermafoil ones. they always discolor to a yellow tone... some parts stay white, and some parts look yellow... i'd pay extra for painted white wood cabinets.

6) i hate the one piece fiberglass tub-shower all in one units... i have one now... that's fine, i have a small townhome... i would expect that an $850K house have a tub/shower with real tiles...

7) i want the master walk in closet to be attached to the bathroom... it makes more sense to me, personally. i hate walking after a shower to the walk in closet to change... it's not a big deal, just a preference.

8) i like walk-in pantries compared to closets/cabinets. that's where i store my kirkland water, costco pack of vitamin water, and bags of rice...

9) personally, i could care less for formal living/dining rooms. they've always been dead space for me. even for thxgiving and xmas, we'd prefer the dining space next to the kitchen... i do realize that many people PREFER having these areas. while touring the NHC, i've heard countless "where's the formal living room" comments... we entertain guests quite often, and maybe it's just us, but people like to buzz around the food, alchohol and the entertainment... that's why the newer great room/kitchen concepts work for us (also why i like large islands)...

10) i love fireplaces... i would like one with a low mantle, so i can place my television above it. even more, i would like a fireplace + a large media niche big enough for a 52" tv + speakers in a built-in. i hate really small media niches and really tall narrow fireplaces.

i'd like to add... i really like the way the plan3 monterey flows... but i really think it could have used the standard fireplace + media niche used throughout irvine. as much as some have said they disliked this feature, i think it's great. you can put your tv above the fireplace, and then create a built in shelf in the media niche

[quote author="akim997"]ok, let me change my question... do you think a fireplace is an important factor that many sheeple look for in a place? i understand the romance with the traditional, but let's be honest, there are no wood burning fireplaces in any irvine home built after 1998... (or very few)... [/quote]

Thanks for rephrasing the question so I can give you a direct answer. Most Asians and not based on my stereotype do not use fireplace. Fireplace in their existing homes rarely get used. If the fireplace is taking up furnishing wall and cost $8K more reflected on the selling price they would rather not have it. When a fireplace was offered to the buyers only 4 out of 120 buyers took the fireplace option and they were all Caucasians. Go to Wisteria, SanSimeon, Aldea, and Sage and count how many homes actually have a chimney and you will find less than 10 out of each entire project.

The answer is no most people don't even know when it is not there until you pointed it out. But most would notice if the TV is in an awkward location with the fireplace.

Brookfield did put a bag of rice in the pantry but I ate all the chips and left the empty bags back on the top of the pantry shelves.

[quote author="akim997"]i've seen so many houses, i am now the king of nitpicking... my wife hates it, but i have something to say about EVERYTHING... in a perfect world:

1) i would like an island with seating for at least 3...

2) i hate islands with cooktops and range hoods in the middle of the room...

3) i prefer the cooktop/ wall oven over the all-in-one range... it reminds me of the apt units that we rent out...

4) i like the cooktop + double oven places. i also like the cooktop with wall oven underneath and a separate 2nd oven/ microwave elsewhere...

5) i like white kitchen cabinets, but despise the thermafoil ones. they always discolor to a yellow tone... some parts stay white, and some parts look yellow... i'd pay extra for painted white wood cabinets.

6) i hate the one piece fiberglass tub-shower all in one units... i have one now... that's fine, i have a small townhome... i would expect that an $850K house have a tub/shower with real tiles...

7) i want the master walk in closet to be attached to the bathroom... it makes more sense to me, personally. i hate walking after a shower to the walk in closet to change... it's not a big deal, just a preference.

8) i like walk-in pantries compared to closets/cabinets. that's where i store my kirkland water, costco pack of vitamin water, and bags of rice...

9) personally, i could care less for formal living/dining rooms. they've always been dead space for me. even for thxgiving and xmas, we'd prefer the dining space next to the kitchen... i do realize that many people PREFER having these areas. while touring the NHC, i've heard countless "where's the formal living room" comments... we entertain guests quite often, and maybe it's just us, but people like to buzz around the food, alchohol and the entertainment... that's why the newer great room/kitchen concepts work for us (also why i like large islands)...

10) i love fireplaces... i would like one with a low mantle, so i can place my television above it. even more, i would like a fireplace + a large media niche big enough for a 52" tv + speakers in a built-in. i hate really small media niches and really tall narrow fireplaces.
[/quote]

I love this post. I want to go model home touring with you, BK, and IHO.

oops. made a mistake.. what i was trying to say was... i actually really like the monterey plans 2 and 3...

i like plan 3 because: nice kitchen island, nice nook/ dining area that opens to courtyard. i like the extra storage space in the garage. it's a nice open floor plan. i like the fact that it has a den/ extra space.. for example in somona plan 1, you only get 3 bedrooms period in a 2400 sq ft space... i like the deck attached to the master (i dont really like/get the deck attached to BR 2 or 3)

my downsides to plan 3 are: downstairs laundry (used to hate it, but now i love upstairs laundry room), location of walk in closet in master, and the fact that it has no fireplace.

i also give credit to the fact they have a mini foyer so you dont walk into the middle of the great room right away...

even though i'm in 1500 sq ft now, plan 3 felt more open than my place now to the point that we may consider buying this as a place for the next 7-10 yrs with the hope we can afford a larger home in the future... and if that doesnt happen, then this is a place we'd be happy with for the longer term...

hey BK... so I guess you are a huge fan of the the built in wooden tv frames in the new home collection, eh?