Recent content by mikebruin

Apologies for the double post - I think the first was under the general real estate forum but I specifically wanted thoughts from the Irvine Real Estate forum, since the landfill in question is in Irvine. Is anyone concerned about the application to approve food waste and manure? I'm afraid...

I wanted to get the opinions and feedback of experts here. Just received a letter that OC Waste & Recycling is seeking to revise their permit from purely green composting to now including food waste and manure. If people thought the landfill was smelly before, they haven't seen anything yet...

I'd like some advice from some knowledgeable neighbors.  I happen to live close to a busy street, and on the busy street is a large tree.  I love the shade that it provides. My issue is, I think the tree's roots are growing underneath my yard and shifting some of my pavers.  Is there anything...

Not an emergency, but do you work with the city of Irvine at all?  If I had a complaint about a specific tree, any idea who I could reach out to if that tree was owned by the city of Irvine?

Thank you for that, I totally missed that.  It definitely doesn't show as a paired home in the artist rendering attached to the email I received.  Absolutely makes sense now.

Anyone know what the co-op is at Legado in Portola Springs?  I got an email from Zillow showing a price drop of $93k on their base model, so $865k for a new detached condo.  Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.  Assuming a $40k co-op, with agent taking 50% and me taking 50%, I'm under $850k for...

I realize I'm posting my question on TalkIrvine, so I expect answers to be biased towards Irvine.  But I respect the opinions of several people on this forum, so thought I'd throw this question out there. I enjoy living in Irvine.  But the job I envision as my last job will be in San Diego. ...

Thanks for educating me.  I had no idea it extended to Woodbridge.  I thought it was just Great Parks / Portola.

You make a good point.  A lot of it is dependent on your direct neighbors.  Maybe it makes more sense to ask them their thoughts of their own neighborhood.

So for some us with smaller budgets who still aspire to live in the great community of Irvine, where would you be looking for homes if your budget was under a million dollars? I think older parts of Irvine offer more bang for buck in terms of $/sq ft (Woodbridge, West Irvine, etc.), but one of...

I have a question I'd like to run by the TI experts here.  If you live in an attached product (condo/townhome), I imagine earthquake insurance is not necessarily worth it, but I wanted expert opinions. My own uninformed opinion is that in order for it to be worth it, all of your neighbors need...

I have a question that I'm asking on behalf of a friend (also just curious myself). Are there any rebates being offered for Brisa and Carissa by California Pacific Homes?  How much is the rebate usually?  These are both in Portola Springs, I think identical builds but in different areas.  I'm...

I am not an estate planner but I know enough about them that I am usually able to give some good general guidelines.  It comes down to what the estate is worth. The good news is, the new tax bill is generous to estates.  Previously, individuals could exclude up to $5MM from estate tax, and...

I think your friend may be out of luck.  My read on this is the loan has to be in place before December 15, 2017, and a loan is not considered outstanding until escrow closes. The good news is the change in the law is not as bad as it could have been.  The original House bill proposed a loan...

Unfortunately, my read on this is, a realtor is a service provider and will not qualify for the 20% passthrough deduction.  This may not be an issue for some, as I believe the disqualification only applies to individuals making over 150k or married taxpayers making over 300k.  At that point I...