Foothill Ranch

[SoOCOwner_IHB]

^^ Where do you live again?? (Memory loss.)

(For what it's worth, several of the homes I looked at this weekend in north Tustin Ranch did have spectacular views.)

We live in the Trabuco Canyon area. I realize this is farther than most of the bloggers seem to like, but we choose to live there for the close proximity to the wilderness and the beautiful scenery. We love the outdoors and hiking. I regularly see deer when I go on walks. I expect that I will see snow on Saddleback in the next couple days. We are also within 30 minutes of our remote cabin (a hidden jewel of the O.C.). Definitely do not rule out Foothill Ranch because of the drive. Trust me, you get used to it - it's not that big of a deal. I also love the No. Tustin area. I have family there and you can see all the way to the ocean (even the boats on the ocean at times!) from their home. Can't afford that kind of view myself, but if you can, you will never leave it.

 

[WALLOFIRON_IHB]

^^ Where do you live again?? (Memory loss.)

(For what it's worth, several of the homes I looked at this weekend in north Tustin Ranch did have spectacular views.)

We live in the Trabuco Canyon area. I realize this is farther than most of the bloggers seem to like, but we choose to live there for the close proximity to the wilderness and the beautiful scenery. We love the outdoors and hiking. I regularly see deer when I go on walks. I expect that I will see snow on Saddleback in the next couple days. We are also within 30 minutes of our remote cabin (a hidden jewel of the O.C.). Definitely do not rule out Foothill Ranch because of the drive. Trust me, you get used to it - it's not that big of a deal. I also love the No. Tustin area. I have family there and you can see all the way to the ocean (even the boats on the ocean at times!) from their home. Can't afford that kind of view myself, but if you can, you will never leave it.

thanks for the great info!!

any special section of N Tustin?

 

[ipoplaya_IHB]

I decided to spend some time in Foothill Ranch this weekend to check it out so more. Did that yesterday. It's o.k. No shortage of shopping so that's always nice.

BUT...

Today we went to Tustin Ranch... far north up Jamboree... up there near Peters Canyon. OMG! Beautiful!!

I looked up info on the Peters Canyon Elementary and Pioneer Middle School. They sound awesome. We drove by and the campuses are beautiful. We went to a couple open-houses. I really like what I see. There doesn't seem to be a better value in terms of price per square foot compared to Irvine... but there is in terms of lot sizes. We stopped at some of the parks there. Very kid-friendly with newer play equipment, water splash pads, volleyball, etc. The hills and hiking trails are gorgeous. I think Tustin Ranch may very well have moved to my #1 favorite spot.

El Dorado, across from Peters Canyon elementary, is a nice tract. It's one of the few in Tustin Ranch with its own small park and pool. Cedar Grove and Pioneer Park are both great facilities.

 

[SoCal78_IHB]

Ipop: You know what's funny. After you gave me that info, I did a Google search on the El Dorado tract looking for more info. Here is one of the first results I was given.It's your post about how poor the quality is. LOL. How's that for a coincidence? ;-)

 

[bkshopr_IHB]

As lot sizes continue to shrink due to density. Developers and builders will always device a better mouse trap in creating an illusion of a grander house on a postage stamp lot. There are compromises for buying a brand new house such as privacy, absence of a backyard, No driveways, no white picket fence, and no freedom to personalize ones unique curb appeal. Surrounding the area of a highly desirable Irvine location there are places often overlooked.

99% of OC houses are garage dominant. Putting aesthetic as a least priority it is so much easier to decide a community that offers the best value for the money. Proximity to Irvine is still a major premise for my evaluation.

Foothill Ranch is by far the best pick of the peripheral locations. Due to its location at the end of the destination route it is extremely private. The under-utilized and over priced toll road has no impact to its serenity. It topography rose 700’ above the Irvine Valley which allowed some homes with horizon view toward the ocean during the winter months. A community conceived in the early 80’s and did not get into full swing while the last recession halted its ambition.

Homeowners knew that its adjacency to Irvine will somewhat influence and bring up home value when the first wave of owners purchased there in 1988. Foothill Ranch has 4 quadrants: 2 of the 4 are residential communities while the remainders are Research and development industrial complexes and Retail Town Center. Its privacy has drawbacks. Successful retails required high exposure to vehicular traffic but its secluded location handicapped and eventually drove many even the big box national tenants into the red such as Home Base, Good Guys, Mervyns, and numerous restaurant chains. Residents of Foothill Ranch are very opposite of the Irvine stereotype. They are not pretentious and spend their money very carefully and calculatedly due to a single income household. There are a lot of stay home moms and children in Foothill Ranch.

Financial and fiscal management are taught in numerous LDS churches. Mormons are known to be extremely frugal and it is not surprising to see Walmart is successful in Foothill Ranch while Target is doing average sales. Home schooling is also practiced in many neighborhoods in Foothill Ranch. Number of children per household is one of the highest among the South County. Perhaps its location and proximity to Saddleback Church and other large congregation the residents tend to be morally and religiously conservative.

The first residential community was built during the mid 80’s on the first hill along a “U” shape loop road connecting Bake and Lake Forest. The homes were entry level and very ugly priced from $140,000 for a detached home. Homes were about 1250-1800sf. Rental apartments and school were also built there as well. Due to the transient housing mixture this neighborhood this community is perceived as the inferior of the two located to the east side of Whiting Ranch a superb bike trails along a natural park into the wilderness. Bikers are known to drive to the market locations and leave their parked cars there while they took an all day journey into the trails. Bikers have been killed by mountain lions also known as frequent Chihuahua and cat diners at residents’ backyards. Backing against the mountain allowed the sound of nature and darkness lending a natural ambiance at night. It is beautiful there without a Shady Canyon price tag. On the other hand Natural beauty also includes the anger of Mother Nature as Santa Ana swift its high howling wind down the path of the hills and causing numerous fires that came dangerously close to homes many times but none was lost so far. Residents have always kept a luggage ready to go at a short moment notice. The swimming club facility was the last development and the only shared HOA facility in the entire Foothill Ranch. Although there are 2 small passive parks Foothill Ranch is not known to have great amenities like many Irvine villages. The up side is minimal HOA dues and big lots so kids can actually play in the backyard. William Lyon and Richmond American were the early builders there.

While the first phase met its success the second neighborhood between Alton and Paloma was caught in its bad timing as the recession hit. Bramalea was an innovative builder with numerous projects and its homes were well executed. Its sister project was built in Ocean Ridge at Newport Coast 2 years earlier that escalated its reputation. JM Peters also built in neighborhood 2 as well. The homes were much larger and much more creative sold for $400,000 prior to the recession. This was known as the 3 cars neighborhoods while the first was modestly equipped with 2 car garage. During the recession land inventories was sold to several vultures such as Vintage Homes, (a luxury brand of Kaufman and Broad) and Fieldstone Homes. Both builders built smaller homes 1800 sf – 2400 sf for quick absorption on lots previously planned for 3,000+ sf homes. As a result the homes have huge backyards and 25’ between homes instead of the 10’ industry standard sold for $180,000-$280,000. The hillside topography also required slope between homes which also benefitted residents with additional privacy distance. Both Fieldstone and Vintage homes has view of the distant Catalina Island during 2 weeks of the winter months.

The distance to the free freeways is about 7 miles each way and for many it is the distance for decompression of thought. Cops are known to hide along Bake for the gravity inspired speeders. The R&D industrial complexes have the best views from it loading docks. Its view is the best of OC. The land would have been perfect for residential but it was not possible during the El Toro controversy during the 90’s. The land was zoned as industrial under the air path of the closed air base. Nothing was allowed there other than industrial park. The international airport debate also shut all possibilities of residential along Bake. EIR also prevented residential on this prime land due to its neighboring Musick low security jail.

Avoid the south side of Portola. KB and John Laing Homes built their craps there for $135,000. The density was high between 12 units -15 units per acre and the quality was cheap.

Most of the homes in OC were flipped several times. The margin is what is causing the WTF pricings we see. Foothill Ranch was not a target of flippers therefore the resale IMO should be much more reasonable as most original owners have a greater equity cushion.

The best view of Foothill Ranch is from the drive thru window of In and Out Burger.

 

[eclipxe_IHB]

What an amazing post bk...wow. Have you considered a blog of your own where you can post your insight and knowledge on different areas? This is valuable stuff that I think could help many folks...

 

[25inIrvine_IHB]

Thanks Bk. I will be coming back to this post when I am ready to buy. Foothill Ranch is a close third behind Tustin Ranch and Irvine to me and seems like its really getting affordable out there

Do you happen to know if anyone is looking into filling those soon to be vacant Circuit City and Mervyns. Those are big spots to fill.

I do love that area though. Outback and Islands. 2 of my favorite places!

Cops are known to hide along Bake for the gravity inspired speeders.

Surprisingly I have seen few cops there (thought I was getting ticketed last weekend), but I can imagine how many people they get on weekdays. I know I hate keeping my foot on the brakes down that whole hill so I usually let it roll and even if I start at 45 at the top (the speed limit is 50 I think) I'm up to 65 in no time at all without any gas.

 

[graphrix_IHB]

Wow! I am thinking we need to collect the best of BK's long winded but extremely insightful posts and make them a sticky, or have a separate category of their own. You know... kinda like how CR has the Compleat UberNerd for Tanta's greatest hits. BK is the equivalent to Tanta, and IHBers look forward to reading a BK post and read it in its entirety. What say ye IHBers?

BK, do you have info on who were the original builders there, and who was taken over by whom in the 90s downturn? I thought the Baldwin Bros. built there too, as well as Paisley. I also thought that Lennar took over a lot of projects in south OC, but maybe FH was not part of it.

Also, if you do live out there, then don't be surprised if you run into Lansner there. That is where he bought his William Lyon home in 93.

 

[WINEX_IHB]

Do you happen to know if anyone is looking into filling those soon to be vacant Circuit City and Mervyns. Those are big spots to fill.

I just read on the weekend that Kohl's and Forever 21 are going to buy a lot of the closed Mervyn's locations. I'm not sure if the FR Mervyn's is one of them, but it's a good possibility that they are.

 

[irvinesinglemom_IHB]

Wow bk, that was awesome! Thank you!

I also had FR on my radar screen but after doing a lot of digging, came up with the following thoughts:

1. None of the homes I drove by really did anything for me, although there are a few that I like that I've seen on the MLS but they are WAY out of my price range.

2. I think the area would be a lot more attractive if/when Alton Parkway ever opens up to go through to Irvine

3. The proximity to Saddleback Church is a HUGE negative for me. Every single person I spoke to in the shopping center there one Saturday morning was a member. Along with bk's assessment of the higher than average religiosity of the area, complete with higher than average number of home-schooled children and stay-at-home moms, makes me think that I would feel like an outcast in this neighborhood.

On the other hand, I owned a SFH very briefly (2004-2005) in Tustin Ranch, right across from Peters Cyn Elementary School. Here were my impressions:

1. No pool. That really sucked.

2. Very close to the free side entrance to Peters Cyn hiking.

3. No views. You gotta live in the million-dollar plus neighborhoods for a view.

4. Used to walk to Cedar Grove park with my then-baby, and was always freaked out by the high speeds that the cars (actually, mostly SUVs) took that sharp bend by the park.

5. Huge Asian population, moms sitting in their cars for what seemed to be miles on-end, every morning and every afternoon, at the elementary and junior high schools, waiting to drop off/pick up kids. That was when I vowed that the next home I purchased would be within walking distance to elementary and biking distance to high school. (Well, we rent a 10-minute walk away from Woodbury and as you all know, my heart is set on living on the Northwood HS side of OH).

6. My house had a very nice backyard but I hated the floorplan. Four bedrooms upstairs, three of them tiny tiny tiny, couldn't whisper or tiptoe without hearing it in every bedroom. Master bedroom had no door to its bathroom so my then-husband, who was up and out the door for work much earlier than I was, used to use the tiny tiny little bathroom downstairs to get ready for work each day so he wouldn't bother me. He hated that. Kitchen was okay but there was NO room for a kitchen table. We really had just barely enough room to sit down and eat with the three of us so I can't imagine how a larger family could have done it. And this was in a 2000 sq foot house! Very poorly designed.

SoCal, PM me if you want to discuss more details. We can even get together and I can show you my old house!

 

[SoOCOwner_IHB]

^^ Where do you live again?? (Memory loss.)

(For what it's worth, several of the homes I looked at this weekend in north Tustin Ranch did have spectacular views.)

We live in the Trabuco Canyon area. I realize this is farther than most of the bloggers seem to like, but we choose to live there for the close proximity to the wilderness and the beautiful scenery. We love the outdoors and hiking. I regularly see deer when I go on walks. I expect that I will see snow on Saddleback in the next couple days. We are also within 30 minutes of our remote cabin (a hidden jewel of the O.C.). Definitely do not rule out Foothill Ranch because of the drive. Trust me, you get used to it - it's not that big of a deal. I also love the No. Tustin area. I have family there and you can see all the way to the ocean (even the boats on the ocean at times!) from their home. Can't afford that kind of view myself, but if you can, you will never leave it.

thanks for the great info!!

any special section of N Tustin?

If you drive up Browning and head into the hills, there are so many cute streets. Off of Browning are the steets Omega and Theta, which are some of my favorites. Homes rarely come on the market on these streets, however. Further on up the hill, you will get to the homes by the Tustin Raquet Club. I love this area, but it is expensive. If you are not into the views, there are some very cute streets off of La Colina - Singing Wood, Bubbling Well, Country Lane, Ranchview, etc. Also Eveningside, Redberry. I happen to be partial to the re-vamped ranch homes with the larger lots. I would stay away from the Panorama streets. The views are great, but kind of scary to drive on the streets and you don't get much yard. Some of the homes on/around Barratt have soil issues, but I wouldn't discount that entire area - just ask questions. Cowen Heights is also very nice.

Note: If you have kids, you may want to stay in the Foothill High School District. For the most part, La Colina is the dividing line. Homes on one side are Foothill High, the other side are Tustin High.

 

[SoCal78_IHB]

BK: Thank you! I would like to know if you have a post like that for Tustin Ranch. I tried the search bar but didn't come up with one. If you do, can you link me to it? Thank you again for the great post!

 

[SoCal78_IHB]

Wow! I am thinking we need to collect the best of BK's long winded but extremely insightful posts and make them a sticky, or have a separate category of their own.

I second that!! It would be very helpful for quick reference.

 

[Meatball_IHB]

I also considered about Foothill Ranch as my job is close by. But we decided to pick Mission Viejo because we like older houses with bigger space.

For me Foothill Ranch is similar to RSM. The houses are newer and the locations are a little bit remote for my husband as he needs to use I-5 and doesn't like to pay toll.

Talking about mountain views, I know Trabuco Canyon, RSM, Foothill Ranch all have great mountain views which I like too. But Mission Viejo has some very nice communities like Stone Ridge, Pacific Hills and the area between MV lake and RSM thatl have magnificent mountain views. My favorite one is the intersection of La Paz and Olympiad where you can see the whole canyon and the surrounded mountains. I drove by everyday on the way to office and it's just so enjoyable. I hope the commute can be longer with this kind of view. Today I was surprised to see the beautiful snow capped Saddleback and the surrounding mountains. Many people just couldn't help but stop and take pictures. I am actually going out now to take pictures as I was too rush to have the time stopping. If you happen to live close to this area don't miss the chance. It's finally feeling like Christmas.

 

[irvine_home_owner_IHB]

Wow! I am thinking we need to collect the best of BK's long winded but extremely insightful posts and make them a sticky, or have a separate category of their own.

I second that!! It would be very helpful for quick reference.

Didn't AZDave do this already?

Sorry... I'm feeling green and furry.

Meatball: I like Pacific Hills too... plus they have 3-car wide garages!

 

[NewToOC_IHB]

Today I was surprised to see the beautiful snow capped Saddleback and the surrounding mountains. Many people just couldn't help but stop and take pictures. I am actually going out now to take pictures as I was too rush to have the time stopping. If you happen to live close to this area don't miss the chance. It's finally feeling like Christmas.

I work off Bake and couldn't believe all the snow on the mountains this morning! Good to know there is an upside to last night's cold!

 

[Meatball_IHB]

Pacific Hills homes are very nice and some have great views (of course you need to pay premium for the view). And they are not far away from I-5 and shopping is close by. The only concern I have is the Capistrano school districts. I have colleagues and friends keep telling me that Saddleback Valley school district is a better choice. At the end we chose the house close to Pacific Hills but in SVUSD.

NewToOC:

Thank you for sharing the excitement with me. My co-worker shared with me a photo that her husband took today earlier from a boat at Newport Harbor. The snow caped mountains combined with harbor view are also very pretty! I went out at lunch time to take some pictures of Saddleback Mountains but the weather is not as nice and clear as in the morning. Damn it I missed the photo op! I was like a child again today for seeing beautiful wintry scenery in SoCal.

 

[25inIrvine_IHB]

Do you happen to know if anyone is looking into filling those soon to be vacant Circuit City and Mervyns. Those are big spots to fill.

I just read on the weekend that Kohl's and Forever 21 are going to buy a lot of the closed Mervyn's locations. I'm not sure if the FR Mervyn's is one of them, but it's a good possibility that they are.

I read an article (I think it was Monday, maybe Tuesday) but Foothill Ranch wasn't on that list as of yet. Everyone fears THE WALMART!

 

[SoOCOwner_IHB]

Today I was surprised to see the beautiful snow capped Saddleback and the surrounding mountains. Many people just couldn't help but stop and take pictures. I am actually going out now to take pictures as I was too rush to have the time stopping. If you happen to live close to this area don't miss the chance. It's finally feeling like Christmas.

I work off Bake and couldn't believe all the snow on the mountains this morning! Good to know there is an upside to last night's cold!

This is why we love living in the Canyon! Such beauty and so close! From what I hear from our cabin-neighbors, there is/was snow within walking distance of the cabin. Problem is getting up that rugged dirt road after such a heavy rain. We're going to try and get up there tonight to see if any of it is left.

 

[SoCal78_IHB]

Pacific Hills homes are very nice and some have great views (of course you need to pay premium for the view). And they are not far away from I-5 and shopping is close by. The only concern I have is the Capistrano school districts. I have colleagues and friends keep telling me that Saddleback Valley school district is a better choice. At the end we chose the house close to Pacific Hills but in SVUSD.

NewToOC:

Thank you for sharing the excitement with me. My co-worker shared with me a photo that her husband took today earlier from a boat at Newport Harbor. The snow caped mountains combined with harbor view are also very pretty! I went out at lunch time to take some pictures of Saddleback Mountains but the weather is not as nice and clear as in the morning. Damn it I missed the photo op! I was like a child again today for seeing beautiful wintry scenery in SoCal.

Here are some photos.