Who wanted to buy a 2010 Collection, but didn't?

When TIC originally announced these new homes, I was seriously considering buying. We were looking at Woodbury and although a bit dense... we like the Elementary school, the parks and the shopping center.

We were primarily looking at the SFRs, which meant the Montecito/Sonoma/Carmel trio. The original prices had us hopeful:

2 - Montecito
Brookfield Homes
2,156 - 2,336 Sq. Ft.
From the High $600,000's

3 - Sonoma
TRI Pointe Homes
2,350 - 2,622 Sq. Ft.
From the High $700,000's

4 - Carmel
The New Home Company
2,616 - 3,046 Sq. Ft.
From the High $800,000's

Click to expand...

We liked the size of Carmel but the location and price point of Sonoma was better for us. No plans had 3-car garages which saddened us. We weren't really interested in Montecito but would check them out for $600k+.

But once TIC raised their pricing $50-100k around the same time they announced the Pre-Reg list, we became less enthused.

Just from the floorplans online, Sonoma looked pretty good and once Carmel finally put theirs online... the prices just favored Sonoma.

Prior to the grand opening, we were able to tour the model homes for Sonoma and were impressed by the interior layout, the features and the sizes of some of the rooms. But the prices for the 4br plans were over $800 and that just did not make sense for the size.

We finally saw Carmel and Montecito on the Grand Opening and have been back to see Sonoma. It was very tempting, especially for my wife... but what it finally came down to was price. To us, our current home mortgage is much cheaper than any of the new ones and although not as big... just as serviceable. The home we sold was as big, had a 3-car garage and was on a cul-de-sac and cost less than the Carmels so we couldn't justify buying any of those.

They're very nice homes... just overpriced. And it looks like we probably won't be buying in Irvine in the future if they continue with this "luxury" pricing for non-luxury products.

"Sato... is that same wood we find on beach that day"

"SAME" (I agree w/ your comments)

I liked the montecito floor plans when they first came out and in the 600's gave it some serious thought, but once they jacked up the price it no longer made sense. If you considered how much additional principal you could afford based on the mello-roos tax it translated to about 100K of additional principal value, so essentially it was starting off in the 700's to begin with. The price increase was the final straw.

We were very close to buying the coronado but we decided to wait till fall this year to decide. I think there is potential drop in prices and a slight increase in interest but the lower price attracts me more. I am waiting on the sideline to purchase.

We were thinking of buying Carmel at first. We really liked the Conservatory/California Room idea and the great room vs the traditional separate living and family room. While it was priced slight lower than the existing resale home, once you factor in your landscape, flooring (we like hard flooring), and upgraded countertops in the bathrooms, the price is no different than existing homes....which means that these homes are overpriced in general in today's market.

After much consideration, these were the reasons why we didn't buy Carmel.
1. Location was probably the worst of all the Woodbury neighborhoods (no park nearby at all). Woodbury was originally built with the concept of having a park at or near all the different neighborhoods. It gives an open feel...which Carmel doesn't provide because they rather sell another 4-5 homes than to built a park for free.
2. Lot is small. I know this is typical of Irvine, but I do think this is the smallest that I've seen given the size of the home. Why bother having a large size home if you are just going to have a tiny yard space?
3. No expanded garage. Again, if you have a large size home, you most likely will have a lot of things to store in the garage. But these homes don't give you much room to store things in your garage. And as a result, owners will park their cars on the street and end up using their garage as a storage space.

I feel everyone is overpaying for these homes and in another year or two, you would be able to buy these homes at resale for much less.

Just my thoughts.

loveirvine:

Thanks for your post. Especially number 3. <!-- s --><!-- s -->

[quote author="irvinehomeowner"]loveirvine:

Thanks for your post. Especially number 3. <!-- s --><!-- s -->[/quote]
You have a 3CWG follwer IHO. haha

I had two buyers that bought into Monetico and two that passed on the new homes (one on Carmel and Sonoma). Both had issues on the lot sizes and location of the tracts (by Sand Canyon/Trabuco for Sonoma and in the same tract as Monetico for Carmel).