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I asked scott and he went on and on about fuel prices, trucks does not come from irvine and do not go to tustin ranch after the move, reduced min 3 hours to 2 hours....etc etc., I left it at that. I just hope I can finish my move in less than 2 hours. Will let you know how their service is.

Great post. Highly analytical and gives insight into trends and patterns amongst home buyers. I fall in group#3 and paid very similar price per sq ft for detached - but in Tustin Ranch.

My move distance is 1.8 miles. However, scott emailed agreeing with 2 hour min (instead of their standard 3 hr min) and fuel charge is also mentioned. I will reply back today to see if he can waive that fuel charge, since its less than 2 miles. If he agrees - I could pay that money as tips for...

I am not sure of Train frequency there. If you are mostly inside, there is no issue. If you are thinking about resale value, you dont need to worry about that since you are just buying it now. And remember, there are many communities along train line and you are in irvine side of train track!!

All the best for your escrow. Been around that area (Royal Victoria), but not inside. It is nice area. Do you have enough parking inside?

I have made reservation with Scott of "3 Guys Moving Company" this weekend. Its $70 per hour and $24 fuel surcharge. Typically they are 3 hour min, but since mine is least furnished apt to home - I asked for 2 hr min. And yes, they come in with truck. Lets see how they do.

I am moving from irvine to tustin ranch, called them and was shocked by their "double drive" cost - its $130 bucks flat for moving between locations 10 miles apart. This is on the top of 4 hours min at $100 per hour. Total to move (from IRV to TR) would be ($100 * 4) + $130 = $530. There goes my...

Its that time again...we plan to move this week. Any suggestions? Does above recommendations still stand good? At joels, they do not have truck even now. Their hourly is also not cheaper $125 for first 2 hours and $55 an hour after that. Not sure of the costs of truck/insurance.

moonchild, Welcome! IMHO - SFRs will maintain their value compared to condos and you own that piece of land. By the looks of it, you are ready to pull trigger for ~$700K - why not get SFR?

We found that range hoods are of 3 types depending on exhaust type: vented/ducted (has an outlet with duct pipe), non-vented/duct-free/recirculating (has no outlet but charcoal filter that can be replaced every 6 months) and convertible (serves both and offers flexibility). To avoid downdraft -...

Sure, the rental agreement needs to be understood before sub-renting. We are on MTM before we move-in.

Shouldn't that be .02$ :-)

That (less efficiency) is another reason - flavours/spices in air goes up and downdraft have to pull them down. We wanted 30'' stainless steel cooktop with steel knobs on the side. We could not find any brands other than Jenn-Air. GE has a telescopic vent that does downdraft (with flat cooktop...

There is room (of may be 2 ft) above the stove, above which there are 2 cabinets. The wall against our stove is separating wall (between kitchen and great room). Existing downdraft goes below stove into the floor (not in to the separating wall, unless it twists after it goes into the floor)...

Thanks IR2! Not sure what you mean by " uneven temp on an oven.". Microwave oven and regular oven are stacked and they are separately located in kitchen side below one of those cabinets. So, cooktop is on its own - with nothing above or below it (other than downdraft duct pipe below it). Hood...

Not sure who AZDave is. In Irvine and Tustin Ranch, it is known fact that FCB (per IHO - Foreign Cash Buyers) are prevalent. Equity buyers are also as prevalant as FCB. So, first time home buyers - be ware and be prepared to go 20% down. When you see the house you like, you want to go all guns...

Conventional Uninsured (Jumbo). To make monthly payments affordable, we went 20% down - hence uninsured (no mortgage insurance). I wish we could go 40% down to reduce it even more, but remember we are first time home buyers (and also not foreign cash buyers) - so no equity from earlier houses...

11. Fees, Fees : You are likely to be caught by surprise (atleast I was), that you are asked to pay for various fees during closing that you dont know the reason they exist. It goes back to that one word - ASK. Question all the fees and make sure to understand what they are for. There may be...

6. Home Warranty and Home owners insurance (also called hazard insurance) : Make sure seller buys you home warranty (that covers any repairs that come-up after taking possession (there could be some exceptions in the policy). That should be good for one year, renewable after that. HO Insurance...

I wanted to start this thread, since we were first time home buyers and closing tomorrow. There were few lessons learnt, that could be helpful to others in the same boat. Please chip in your lessons as well, so that entire community will benefit from it: 1. Affordability : Calculate on what is...