usctrojanman29_IHB
New member
One of my buyers is potentially interested in buying Plan 3 or 4 @ Greenbrier by MBK Homes in Yorba Linda (Vista Del Verde area). Anyone familiar with this development and this home builder?
Greenbrier by MBK Homes in Yorba Linda
- Thread starter usctrojanman29_IHB
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dethman_IHB
New member
this was one of the many developments i looked at while deciding where to purchase. background, currently live in irvine, work in central oc. the thing that attracted me the most about this development was lack of mello roos and hoa, which significantly decreased overall costs compared to a central or south OC home. all in all, for a comparable home, it was anywhere from $500 to $1000 less/mo. other pluses were that 824K bought you a plan 3 4bed/4bath/loft with 3200 sq ft, for which another 300-400sq ft was easily added for about 30K in upgrades with an additional suite and bonus room upstairs making it 5bed/5bath/loft. my sister owns a condo built by MBK, and they seem to be responsive to her requests and work to make her happy. their lender is BofA, or countrywide i think, so their closing costs weren't outrageous like shea's. they were offering about 20K in incentives, but the community isn't selling all that well, so they seemed very willing to negotiate. living near a golf course was nice, and the area in general is not bad, though you have to drive through placentia if coming from the 57.
negatives for the community for me, was mediocre to poor freeway access, takes at least 8-10min to the 91 or 57, and both freeways can be traffic heavy. and though 824K price seems low, they skimp on upgrades, so they used cheap grade square cut kitchen granite, and no finish upgrades in any of the bathrooms which i found to be included in communities such as birch river in aliso viejo for similar prices. decks, blah blah are all add-ons, i feel for an 800-900k home some things like that should be included. all the view lots that are available are gone, so the only ones left are the ones between the view and the street, not to say that's bad, but they are definitely less desirable lots. i was a little concerned about fire hazard in that area, being near the upper limit near the forest. also, the community is part of the placentia-linda school district, and this community feeds into el modena, the high school which many placentia kids go to. i would have rather had yorba linda or esperanza high school, if that matters to anyone. i also had a concern about what no HOA would do to the community 10 years from now.
i probably made about 4 visits, and considered it strongly, though in the end decided though i could get a lot more for the money, it was a bit too remote, the area was not as desirable as i wanted, and the commutes to where i wanted to go was a bit too much. this particular lot on killymoon
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Yorba-Linda/3976-Killymoon-Cir-92886/home/21642541
has been on the market almost 5 months, so some people must feel similarly to what i do. it does have good access to brea, and for those irvine crazy asians on the board, has decent access to rowland heights. all about location, in the end.
<em>edit: oh one more thing. they had photocopied brochures on every one of my visits, which were months apart. felt like they were being cheap, which also irrationally deterred me fromt he community. hehe.</em>
negatives for the community for me, was mediocre to poor freeway access, takes at least 8-10min to the 91 or 57, and both freeways can be traffic heavy. and though 824K price seems low, they skimp on upgrades, so they used cheap grade square cut kitchen granite, and no finish upgrades in any of the bathrooms which i found to be included in communities such as birch river in aliso viejo for similar prices. decks, blah blah are all add-ons, i feel for an 800-900k home some things like that should be included. all the view lots that are available are gone, so the only ones left are the ones between the view and the street, not to say that's bad, but they are definitely less desirable lots. i was a little concerned about fire hazard in that area, being near the upper limit near the forest. also, the community is part of the placentia-linda school district, and this community feeds into el modena, the high school which many placentia kids go to. i would have rather had yorba linda or esperanza high school, if that matters to anyone. i also had a concern about what no HOA would do to the community 10 years from now.
i probably made about 4 visits, and considered it strongly, though in the end decided though i could get a lot more for the money, it was a bit too remote, the area was not as desirable as i wanted, and the commutes to where i wanted to go was a bit too much. this particular lot on killymoon
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Yorba-Linda/3976-Killymoon-Cir-92886/home/21642541
has been on the market almost 5 months, so some people must feel similarly to what i do. it does have good access to brea, and for those irvine crazy asians on the board, has decent access to rowland heights. all about location, in the end.
<em>edit: oh one more thing. they had photocopied brochures on every one of my visits, which were months apart. felt like they were being cheap, which also irrationally deterred me fromt he community. hehe.</em>
usctrojanman29_IHB
New member
[quote author="dethman" date=1258906051]this was one of the many developments i looked at while deciding where to purchase. background, currently live in irvine, work in central oc. the thing that attracted me the most about this development was lack of mello roos and hoa, which significantly decreased overall costs compared to a central or south OC home. all in all, for a comparable home, it was anywhere from $500 to $1000 less/mo. other pluses were that 824K bought you a plan 3 4bed/4bath/loft with 3200 sq ft, for which another 300-400sq ft was easily added for about 30K in upgrades with an additional suite and bonus room upstairs making it 5bed/5bath/loft. my sister owns a condo built by MBK, and they seem to be responsive to her requests and work to make her happy. their lender is BofA, or countrywide i think, so their closing costs weren't outrageous like shea's. they were offering about 20K in incentives, but the community isn't selling all that well, so they seemed very willing to negotiate. living near a golf course was nice, and the area in general is not bad, though you have to drive through placentia if coming from the 57.
negatives for the community for me, was mediocre to poor freeway access, takes at least 8-10min to the 91 or 57, and both freeways can be traffic heavy. and though 824K price seems low, they skimp on upgrades, so they used cheap grade square cut kitchen granite, and no finish upgrades in any of the bathrooms which i found to be included in communities such as birch river in aliso viejo for similar prices. decks, blah blah are all add-ons, i feel for an 800-900k home some things like that should be included. all the view lots that are available are gone, so the only ones left are the ones between the view and the street, not to say that's bad, but they are definitely less desirable lots. i was a little concerned about fire hazard in that area, being near the upper limit near the forest. also, the community is part of the placentia-linda school district, and this community feeds into el modena, the high school which many placentia kids go to. i would have rather had yorba linda or esperanza high school, if that matters to anyone. i also had a concern about what no HOA would do to the community 10 years from now.
i probably made about 4 visits, and considered it strongly, though in the end decided though i could get a lot more for the money, it was a bit too remote, the area was not as desirable as i wanted, and the commutes to where i wanted to go was a bit too much. this particular lot on killymoon
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Yorba-Linda/3976-Killymoon-Cir-92886/home/21642541
has been on the market almost 5 months, so some people must feel similarly to what i do. it does have good access to brea, and for those irvine crazy asians on the board, has decent access to rowland heights. all about location, in the end.
<em>edit: oh one more thing. they had photocopied brochures on every one of my visits, which were months apart. felt like they were being cheap, which also irrationally deterred me fromt he community. hehe.</em></blockquote>
Thanks for your input. I'll be sure to pass this along to my buyers. I looked like sales were picking up a bit over there as they sold two lots this last week, including Kilymoon.
negatives for the community for me, was mediocre to poor freeway access, takes at least 8-10min to the 91 or 57, and both freeways can be traffic heavy. and though 824K price seems low, they skimp on upgrades, so they used cheap grade square cut kitchen granite, and no finish upgrades in any of the bathrooms which i found to be included in communities such as birch river in aliso viejo for similar prices. decks, blah blah are all add-ons, i feel for an 800-900k home some things like that should be included. all the view lots that are available are gone, so the only ones left are the ones between the view and the street, not to say that's bad, but they are definitely less desirable lots. i was a little concerned about fire hazard in that area, being near the upper limit near the forest. also, the community is part of the placentia-linda school district, and this community feeds into el modena, the high school which many placentia kids go to. i would have rather had yorba linda or esperanza high school, if that matters to anyone. i also had a concern about what no HOA would do to the community 10 years from now.
i probably made about 4 visits, and considered it strongly, though in the end decided though i could get a lot more for the money, it was a bit too remote, the area was not as desirable as i wanted, and the commutes to where i wanted to go was a bit too much. this particular lot on killymoon
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Yorba-Linda/3976-Killymoon-Cir-92886/home/21642541
has been on the market almost 5 months, so some people must feel similarly to what i do. it does have good access to brea, and for those irvine crazy asians on the board, has decent access to rowland heights. all about location, in the end.
<em>edit: oh one more thing. they had photocopied brochures on every one of my visits, which were months apart. felt like they were being cheap, which also irrationally deterred me fromt he community. hehe.</em></blockquote>
Thanks for your input. I'll be sure to pass this along to my buyers. I looked like sales were picking up a bit over there as they sold two lots this last week, including Kilymoon.
stone007_IHB
New member
We had looked at the Greenbrier homes about a year ago and then every couple months since then. My primarily complaint was 1) Location and proximity to fire areas 2) School district, especially for high school and 3) Concern about no HOA resulting in a less than desireable area down the road. Prices were $950k+ 1 year ago and now they are significantly less than that. I would expect them to continue going down for at least another year. I found there were much, much better Short Sale and Foreclosure deals in the Vista Verde area than buying new.
bkshopr_IHB
New member
in 2003 one of the top executives left Taylor Woodrow and went to MBK Homes. This is an Inland Empire builder with Orange County ambition taking baby steps.
