Burn That Belly
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Barcelona at Los Olivos Village
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Burn That Belly
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aquabliss
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Went to the opening around 2:30p, not as crowded as I thought but still a good amount of people. The secondary bedrooms were much bigger than I remember from similar layouts which was good, but man that zero lot line was a killer. At least on the plan 1 and plan 2 models. You walk in the house and you?re greeted with a huge light blocking stucco wall of your neighbors a few feet in front of you.
Both of the Plan 1 and Plan 2 models had these huge accent walls built 1ft in front of the stucco so buyers don?t notice it. I even heard a guy in one of the models ask the rep if the accent wall is standard. She smiled and said ?no but that?s something you can easily add after closing?. Sure but I bet it costs $7k to build it. Other weird thing is they are building 2 big parking structures right across the street from this. Office buildings to come I presume?
I still think they will sell well, location is good and MR is very low. Not sure I?d want to live there but may not be a bad investment. I?d much rather get that OH reserve Vivo for 1.3.
Both of the Plan 1 and Plan 2 models had these huge accent walls built 1ft in front of the stucco so buyers don?t notice it. I even heard a guy in one of the models ask the rep if the accent wall is standard. She smiled and said ?no but that?s something you can easily add after closing?. Sure but I bet it costs $7k to build it. Other weird thing is they are building 2 big parking structures right across the street from this. Office buildings to come I presume?
I still think they will sell well, location is good and MR is very low. Not sure I?d want to live there but may not be a bad investment. I?d much rather get that OH reserve Vivo for 1.3.
aquabliss said:
Totally agree. The accent wall takes up a huge amount of space and made the small yard feel even smaller.
It?s going to be a while before any ROI on these homes. Once you add upgrades and landscaping it?ll easily be $1.6M+. That?s SFR price in QH territory.
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/160-Treehouse-92603/home/5902153
The biggest saving grace is it?s location for those who want to walk to nearby dining and shopping.
Burn That Belly
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Burn That Belly
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Burn That Belly
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paperboyNC
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Burn That Belly said:
Paying another $400,000 for the home will cost you $80,000 now in downpayment, plus a lot more once you pay it off in 30 years:
$80,000 downpayment would be worth $800,000 in 30 years at 8% annual compounding in the stock market.
A 30yr mortgage at 4.5% interest will cost you a 82.5% in total interest
The additional $320,000 borrowed will therefore cost $583,704
If you compare property taxes:
1.8% of $1,000,000 increasing 2% YOY
1.2% of $1,400,000 with 1.1% increase 2% YOY
The difference is negligible.
Overall, the $1.4mm home with low mello-roos and HOA will cost way, way more than the $1mm home with high mello-roos and HOA.
Burn That Belly
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Burn That Belly
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Visited yesterday. Although I could hear some freeway noise, I really liked the location.
Being close to Los Olivos plaza, Irvine Spectrum, Laguna Beach and 5/405 freeways are surely going to sell it like hot cakes. Also low HOA and MR? No brainer.
One thing I didn't like (and it's a personal taste) was it seemed like there was too much upgrades done on models. I mean who's really gonna have that much upgrades and always open to yards on their home? Even though I like TIC products better than others in Irvine, I think CalPac kinda does their model homes in a realistic sense. I didn't like weird orange-ish color accents, but these are just preferences.
Overall great homes on a great location. I think the majority people were millennials, either children of FCB or young startup business owners I assume.
Being close to Los Olivos plaza, Irvine Spectrum, Laguna Beach and 5/405 freeways are surely going to sell it like hot cakes. Also low HOA and MR? No brainer.
One thing I didn't like (and it's a personal taste) was it seemed like there was too much upgrades done on models. I mean who's really gonna have that much upgrades and always open to yards on their home? Even though I like TIC products better than others in Irvine, I think CalPac kinda does their model homes in a realistic sense. I didn't like weird orange-ish color accents, but these are just preferences.
Overall great homes on a great location. I think the majority people were millennials, either children of FCB or young startup business owners I assume.
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usctrojancpa
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Burn That Belly said:
They looked yummy but did not look low-carb friendly so I passed unfortunately. haha
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They offered me Plan 3 in phase 1 and I said No ;D
Here is little bit about us: We were in the market for a 4br+ Detached or SFR in Irvine specifically in CW, EW, or SG. Then, I heard about Barcelona and started following the development since the beginning of this year. We were preapproved up to 1.6M but we wanted to keep it as low as possible so we don't have to worry about making ends meet. From our side, Barcelona had some pros and cons:
Pros:
- Location, location, location
- Low MR, and HOA
- Brand new development
- Brand new Park and school. Depending on your homesite, they are walking distance though the location of Phase 1 would make it harder
Cons:
- Motor Court
- Tiny backyard
- Plan was Ok, not our favorite. I'm not sure about Loft area and if the parents would be able to use it in any way. It is destined to be the play area for the kids which is not a bad thing for some people but it was not our favorite. Also it had one single window. Depending on which homesite you pick, you might not get much sunlight.
- No upgrade is included. Their flyer is misleading. I confirmed that with two different associates
- Mortgage rates are rising and they will even be higher by the time you close escrow
- There will be construction noise around you for at least one year for Phase 1 buyers. Pool and other amenities are on the other side of the community and they told me that those amenities won't be ready by Phase 1 move-in date.
- There will be parking problems
- First phase is close to the gate which means there will be constant noise from people who are trying to get in or leave, lose their gate openers, phone calls about what the code is, etc.
- And all this is just for $1.55M+ for the base price? Are you serious?
At the end, I really wanted Pros to outweigh Cons but it just didn't work for us. We'll see in couple of years whether we made a wise choice or not.
Here is little bit about us: We were in the market for a 4br+ Detached or SFR in Irvine specifically in CW, EW, or SG. Then, I heard about Barcelona and started following the development since the beginning of this year. We were preapproved up to 1.6M but we wanted to keep it as low as possible so we don't have to worry about making ends meet. From our side, Barcelona had some pros and cons:
Pros:
- Location, location, location
- Low MR, and HOA
- Brand new development
- Brand new Park and school. Depending on your homesite, they are walking distance though the location of Phase 1 would make it harder
Cons:
- Motor Court
- Tiny backyard
- Plan was Ok, not our favorite. I'm not sure about Loft area and if the parents would be able to use it in any way. It is destined to be the play area for the kids which is not a bad thing for some people but it was not our favorite. Also it had one single window. Depending on which homesite you pick, you might not get much sunlight.
- No upgrade is included. Their flyer is misleading. I confirmed that with two different associates
- Mortgage rates are rising and they will even be higher by the time you close escrow
- There will be construction noise around you for at least one year for Phase 1 buyers. Pool and other amenities are on the other side of the community and they told me that those amenities won't be ready by Phase 1 move-in date.
- There will be parking problems
- First phase is close to the gate which means there will be constant noise from people who are trying to get in or leave, lose their gate openers, phone calls about what the code is, etc.
- And all this is just for $1.55M+ for the base price? Are you serious?
At the end, I really wanted Pros to outweigh Cons but it just didn't work for us. We'll see in couple of years whether we made a wise choice or not.
paperboyNC
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Burn That Belly said:Let's play fair again. Do the math on a $1.4M GP home vs $1.4M Barcelona.
And I think Barcelona is far, far closer to Spectrum this time than GP. There is also the time value of money too. Maybe people work nearby in technology and pharma business and would prefer to live only 5 minutes away from home. Sitting in traffic, even on Sand Canyon for 15-20 minutes everyday during rush hour is more than 3 times the time. Irvine Ctr and Sand Canyon really gets clogged during those times. You also have to consider that person then has to drive to WTC, (more traffic) to buy grocery, then drive back into GP. If he's working nearby Spectrum, he has convenient access to Whole Foods and also Target nearby. It's the price of convenience.
I thought you were the one that brought up the $1.0M GP home. While the location of Barcelona is nice, I think it's way too expensive. Given the very limited supply, I'm sure they'll have no problem selling them.
Personally, if I were to spend $1.6M on a home (after upgrades, landscaping, etc.) I'd want the following:
- Driveway
- 3,200sqft minimum ($500/sqft)
- Views
- Large lot