Coto De Caza

T

Terran

New member
Anyone has experience living in Coto de Caza?  Very nice homes with good size lots, many have views.  Price per sq/ft is in the mid $200.  Local schools have pretty good ratings from GreatSchools.com and low students to teacher ratios.  Location wise, it will take some time to get to freeways. Is this one of those communities the FCB have not found yet?

Here?s an examples:http://www.redfin.com/CA/Coto-De-Caza/16-Vela-Ct-92679/home/5013702
$799,000
46 VELA Ct
Coto de Caza, CA 92679
Beds:  4 
Baths:  4.5 
Sq. Ft.:  3,300 
$/Sq. Ft.: $242 
Lot Size:  6,777 Sq. Ft. 
Property Type: Residential, Single Family
Style: Two Level, Other
View: Trees/Woods
Year Built: 2000 
Community: Coto De Caza 
County: Orange 
MLS#:  P772081 
Source: SoCalMLS 
Status: ActiveThis listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.     
Active 
This listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
more info 
On Redfin: 98 days 
 
I've made the rounds out to Coto De Caza with a few buyers.  Put a few offers on homes out there but nothing panned out, only of my buyers did close on a home in Dove Canyon (right next door to Coto just the smaller version of Coto).  Anyhow, the drive out there does take a little time.  Coto is actually very large (not sure how many square miles).  Prices are very reasonable and I like the guarded gated entrances.  The common areas look nice once inside and the homes do tend to be on larger pieces of land.  There are older homes there and newer ones (built in the late 90s/early 2000s).  Summers do a get a bit toasty out there but a good number of homes have pools.  From the research that my buyers did, the schools are actually fairly good.  Let me know if you have anymore specific questions.
 
Have you checked out www.cotohousingblog.com?  I have friends who live in CDC and friends who live right below in Wagon Wheel.  They love it out there and feel like its much more quiet and peaceful than central Irvine where I live.  They have all their stores right nearby, spectrum is 15-20 minutes away, and its a really nice area.  The cons are its far from the job corridor (think 30 minutes each way), services like gardeners are more expensive, not much in terms of walking distance, and overall away from it all. 

I think historically, Irvine has always been more expensive than CDC but not sure on the ratio.  I dont think FCBs have not found out about it.  Its just a personal preference.  Anaheim Hills has big lots and similar priced homes as well.
 
Yeah, you know, we went over there few months ago to check it out. Amazing value, a LOT of house for the dollar. Larger floorplans, a decent yard, and the quality of construction was up to par too. However, we also drove around everywhere within it and noticed that not all enclaves within Coto are great. Some better than the others design wise, and neighborhood design wise. I would say 20% of the little neighborhoods within it we really liked and the rest were not so ideal and some we didnt like at all. The deal breaker really was the fact that there was nothing around or within  it. The plaza outside the North gate in RSM was dismal to say the least. The huge strip mall was devoid of character. Probably will be able to buy anything you need and get things done, but not a place I would enjoy hanging out in as the default place. Felt large, stressful, unsophisticated, very much unlike Coto.

Generally it took us a long time to get there,and once there, felt like it takes extra effort and momentum to find a place for dinner or some variety, or a place to hang out other than the one big strip mall. I did like the idea of the recreational club memberships you can get into, however, and I can probably live with this lifestyle for a while. But sometimes, I just want to drive out and go wherever my mood takes me without much effort. And for this, I need inviting commercial centers, variety, access to other older cities with more variety either through the freeway or local streets, access to my workplace in 20 min or less, and a plethora of local parks and trails that I can choose from without much effort - be it playgrounds, real jogging hiking trails, or just flat athletic fields. I did love the jogging  trails in Coto, wonderful, but for some reason, after touring around and seeing about 5-10 properties, the general feeling I got from it was a kind of claustrophobia.

Irvine has for me, the character of a very developed suburb and the conveniences of a small city. It feels active, healthy, vibrant and mentally alive. Yes, I will be living in a smaller house, but mentally I am everywhere and stimulated, and perhaps thats what counts. It also felt like there were more people out and about in Irvine, which I think matters for us when bringing up children. Would like our child to have a more stimulating environment that way. I think Irvine is physically an almost perfect and fully developed suburb, but mentally an active functional city.

I know FCBer's have heard of the place. Yes, I do believe its personal preference, so I would choose anything that feels right by instinct.
Amazing value, Coto, for sure


 
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