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    COVID-19 Retail Openings and Closures

    La Sirena Grill in the Orchard Hills shopping center closed. I?m sad, really liked their fish tacos, enchiladas, and chips and guacamole. Covid really took a toll on their business and I noticed they never really recovered even after everything opened back up.
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    How Portola High compares to Uni or NHS

    Hi there! I'm in Woodbury (so we are also zoned to PHS--at least for now) but my kids are only in elementary school (so take this with a grain of salt). However, I've seen parents asking this question on NextDoor and I've never seen any negative comments from parents of current PHS students...
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    IVA or Traditional School?

    Well, this isn't good. LA Times reporting that an entire elementary school class in Hollywood is in quarantine due to an outbreak (7 children in one class infected). https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-08-25/l-a-unified-first-coronavirus-outbreak-grant-elementary Los Angeles school...
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    IVA or Traditional School?

    We did IVA last year (for our 2nd grader). It was...not good. The teachers stuck to that awful Florida Virtual curriculum until about mid-winter, then finally switched over to the California common care workbooks (Journeys, GoMath, etc). They didn't really hit their stride until the Spring. I...
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    Deleted post

    Hi there! Take my advice with a grain of salt?I?ve owned 2 homes in Irvine (since 2009) and have lived here even longer, but I?m solidly middle class and posting from an Irvine shoebox (i.e., a detached condo). With those caveats, I?d say a couple of things. Northpark is a really nice...
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    Observations from the front lines of the Irvine housing market?

    @zovall, tell me more! I'm totally with you--so hard to focus on anything but the cons. Are you still in Irvine? What have you settled on--do the pros of being in Irvine outweigh the cons?
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    Observations from the front lines of the Irvine housing market?

    @moc, thank you for the solidarity. My kids are 3 and 7 and it's hard feeling so cramped (being at home 24/7 during COVID I'm sure has amplified those feelings). Yes, we love that we have a ton of parks and trails to go to, but the tiny bedrooms means our "great room" looks like a daycare with...
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    Observations from the front lines of the Irvine housing market?

    These OC housing trends are depressing. I work hard and make an okay salary, and would love to be able to move up from my Irvine detached condo to a modest home with a driveway and yard. Now I feel stuck. Irvine will be out of reach for first-time buyers and middle class move up buyers. I am...
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    Insulation upgrade

    I don't have first hand experience with this, but my brother rents in Orchard Hills Reserve (in Vivo, an Irvine Pacific home), and he always complains about how poorly done the insulation is in the home and is fairly certain the owner did NOT do the upgrade. Hopefully other owners will chime in.
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    2 Irvine Unified School District Students Test Positive For Coronavirus, Under Q

    Just checked the dashboard, more positive student cases: Cypress Village Elementary Jeffrey Trail Middle School Portola High School
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    New Pocket Listing - Mandeville Plan 4 condo in West Irvine (53 Sapphire)

    Congrats! Our first home in Irvine was in Mandeville, it?s a very nice, quiet, underrated neighborhood. Plus low HOA and low Mello. I?m sure your buyer will be happy.
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    Irvine Virtual Academy IVA

    @marie, hoping for the best for you. Hopefully that teacher receives a bit of gentle feedback and adjusts accordingly. @qwerty, glad to hear in-person is going well for your daughter. Mine is highly sensitive and keeps saying she doesn?t want to go back to school because she doesn?t want to...
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    Irvine Virtual Academy IVA

    Hi! We are in IVA too, but my daughter is only in 2nd grade so I'm not sure how helpful I will be. Not sure if this is an IVA issue or an individual teacher issue, but yes I've noticed that during the live Zoom lessons, there is an awful lot of chit chat, sharing news, procedural stuff, etc...
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    Mello-Roos of Irvine

    I believe the tax bills are broken out into two sections. One section is taxes and the rest, including MR, are "Special Assessment User Fees". Exactly--this is the section I was referring to. Mello Roos are not taxes but do appear on the property tax bill. :)
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    Mello-Roos of Irvine

    It's definitely worth calling that number next to the CFD on the tax bill to see why it went up. I was very unpleasantly surprised when we bought our Woodbury condo that CFD 04-2A also goes up 2% per year. I thought only the Mello Roos in Great Park went up, but apparently there are CFDs in...
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    Distance learning?

    I?m already burned out from Day 1 with my 2nd grader (IVA). I didn?t have any Zoom calls of my own for work today, but it will be a mess when I do tomorrow.
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    Distance learning?

    Parents of children in elementary school--are you opting for the Virtual Academy? Looks like the emails are suggesting that the advantage to choosing the Traditional or Hybrid option is that, if school reopens at any point, then students can immediately go back to school and to their assigned...
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    How many years is the mello roos in Portola Springs

    The best way to get accurate info on this is through the OC Property Tax webpage. Look up the property tax bill using an address, then there is a link to something that says "Click Here to See Detailed Information on the Tax Bill" or something to that effect, and that will list each Mello Roos...
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    Should we get refunds from HOA?

    Just received notice--Woodbury's HOA is going up from $125/month to $140/month starting in June. I wasn't expecting any refunds, but I'm pretty bummed about an increase right now. They said the increase is due to landscape and tree maintenance costs. Anybody else's HOA dues going up?
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    New Listing - Delano Plan 1 condo @ Eastwood (109 Henson)

    Looks great! I posted in the other thread, but what staging company do you use? They do a great job. Wondering if they also do residential interior design in addition to staging? Looking to do a remodel soon.
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