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Irvine_native, We were interested in Plan4 as well. Nothing fancy or luxurious but nice floorplan and good value for the price. I remember the salesperson said the same thing back in Dec when they're selling phase 1 (8 units), and they ended up releasing phase 2A (6 units) in Jan...

GrewUp - I think you are referring to Cantara Plan3 with that $294 per sqft price. First of all it is in VoC, not Woodbury or PS. Secondly, I think that particular Plan3 unit has bigger discount because it's an inventory home that just came back to the market. btw - sounds like the BMW's...

graphrix, Dont worry about being harsh. As I said I enjoy reading this blog maybe too much lately. Many bears in this blog obviously have the knowledge and experience to speak out and educate people. Some of the comments sound a bit over-pessimistic sometimes and I may need to clarify...

graphrix, Thanks for the break down. I was actually asking about the monthly cost comparison. Since we do have 20% down and plan on staying at least 10 year, it seems that renting a comparable unit would cost us as about the same monthly. I guess our goal is a bit different...

oc_fliptrack - I simplified the math it was a ballpark number. I was assuming you can write off interest (~$2200) + property tax (~$500) and your tax bracket is 28%. I guess you might say there's standard deduction but on the other hand you may also have medical, donation that can't be itemized...

IrvineRenter - I dont think AMT disallow mortgage interest deduction. It disallows property tax deduction but I heard that they are about to change the AMT rules to ensure only the 'really' high-income tax payers get hit. It seems to me that your calculation is very conservative...

Bigmoney - Vientos Plan2X is a 2-story DETACH townhome (with studio and half bath downstair) while the Portola Place plan with the same sqft you pointed out is attached flat (with someone above or below you I suppose). So they are not really comparable IMO. I think there's a 2-bedroom...

BTW - I am curious why do you guys keep saying the cost of ownership is double the market rent? Do you really mean this or is it a hyperbole just to scare people off from buying? Using Vientos Plan2 at $450k, with 10% down, 10/1 ARM IO payment is ~$2200. Tax/Mello Roos/HOA is ~$1000. Tax...

Graphrix, Yes I have heard that if you stay in the same TIC unit for years you will definitely get a much better rate. Also yes, you can find good rental deals when vacancy rate is higher than normal. But to some degree this is also true with home searching, sometimes you can find a good...

<em></em>graphrix, It seems that rent in TIC apartments in IRVINE has increased more than 6% in last few years. I dont have the data unfortunately. But as an example: a 3 bedroom townhome in a Oak Creek is $2800-2900 now. What was the rent in 2000? Yes, I agree there's some...

IrvineRenter, That's why some people insist that 'housing bubble' is a myth. But they believe in housing price correction. Just semantics I guess. <a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070205/25947_id.html?.v=1">Why There's No Such Thing As a Housing Bubble</a> from...

irvinesinglemom - I agree there are 'bubble sitters' who would wait for further price drop before jumping in. But I am not so sure 'bubble sitters' are the majority buyers. I think after 15% price drop in the new home market, and with the prevalance of IO -only loan, and the high rental...

TIC also owns most rental apts in Irvine, and I guess we can argue the same about price fixing on the rental units. But like IrvineRenter points, the price is what the market can bear. Slightly off-topic, I also notice that in newer mater-planned community (QH, Woodburry, PS) TIC also...

<em>"Some blame for the rapid appreciation is placed on speculators but I didn’t notice anything mentioning the suicide loans."</em> Even now, most poeple/economists still think that the subprime foreclosure resulted from suicide loan will be limited to certain communities but not...

Ck - I think they are also offering almost 40k incentive on these homes which can be applied towards pricing. I initially didn't like them mainly because the exterior style and the side yard seem odd. But after recent price reduction, they defintely look more desirable . I am curious as...

IIIrvine, My personal observation is limited mostly to new home market. We have some experience with resale homes recently, and what we found is the ones that are priced right i.e 10% less are sold fairly quickly. Back to new home. I think in Nov, sales started to pick up in VoC as...

fk123 - I have heard stories of single buying places like Vientos, and then rent out the other room/studio. I guess that's probably how they can cover $1000 Mello Roos and HOA???

IrvineRenter, Thanks for the pointer to the Piggington's blog BTW. Good reading. It seems that we can just watch what happens to SD this summer as a preview to OC next year.

bigmoney - the thing about buying a home is people in general are thinking "in the long run" the value will go up. So I am pretty sure if you do a survey right now, most people including myself believe that in 10 year their home value will be more than today. This is unlike buying a Plasma TV...

Skeptic, You dont find many brand-new homes at $450k in Irvine. So for me personally, if I am making $90k and have to buy a house now, I would probably go outside Irvine. Or you might consider taking some risk using 7/1 or 10/1 IO-only loan. Regarding the Mello Roos and HOA, I...