irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
So I still wander over to the IHB to check out the blog article (hoping they will mention the forums closure) and they touched on something today we had discussed a little bit in the forums, namely the premium of Irvine.
AZDavid posted this ill-informed (IMO) beauty in the comments:
I think besides the 4 "excuses" he mentions, as I expand my search for a home to beyond the borders of Irvine, I think the distance from where we work is a big factor.
These last few days exemplified how important it is to us to work near where we live and where our kids go to school. Just this week I had to go home twice during the day for maintenance appointments and then my wife had to go home because the kids were sent home due to a school illness issue. Add on that the time I need to get home to pick them up and I think any type of commute just cancels too far out from the big I. Sure, maybe time may be similar, but the mileage and gas is not.
And... while I can guarantee possibly a 20-minute commute via toll road/freeway, what if there is some unforeseen accident or closure? I can do sidestreet or freeway from office to home in about the same time... when the freeways are packed... I take surface roads. Sure I can surface road it from Aliso Viejo or Laguna Niguel, but it's probably going to double or triple the time it would normally take.
That in itself, is worth **a** premium. Convenience goes a long way and maybe when my kids are old enough to drive themselves we can live somewhere farther and cheaper (and they can be the ones who lets the plumber/electrician/cable/whoever in).
I understand there is a majority of you who don't believe Irvine is worth it (FWIW, I don't think it's worth the **current** premium) but for those who do, why? And for those who don't, can you at least relate somewhat?
AZDavid posted this ill-informed (IMO) beauty in the comments:
Now I assume he's single with no kids (or else he wouldn't spend so much time with MS Paint) but I think he doesn't understand that he's not the Irvine demographic. If he was, he would probably not be posting the things he does.People in your community have been made to believe that this is affordability.
What has really been sold to your people is a country club membership, an extremely expensive membership. The only difference is that your average Joe gets in using someone elses money and a mindset of musical chair groupthink that there is a line of eager beavers waiting to assume all pledges of debt from the prior generation.
People know that the houses are not worth that kind of money so they make up excuses to rationalize away their doubts. We see all kinds of excuses being paraded around like:
1.) Irvine weather reports
2.) Irvine masterbatory architectural planning and overthetop design
3.) Irvine crime statistics
4.) My personal favorite - Irvine Schools! Oh yes! We must do it for the sake of the children Ah Guchi Guchi Goo! Yes, adults using childworship as a substitute for personal responsibility and prudent financial planning. Just like politicians out there justifying everything as beneficial for children.
It's just plain marketing, pure and simple. Nothing wrong with any of these things on the surface. It's only when you think, does it become uncomfortable. The money being 'paid' by these folks for their country club dues is has no hope of ever being paid back. It's all part of the circle-jerk Orwellian mindset that today's buyer must adopt by believing that money can be borrowed into perpetuity to pay for past debts.
If the majority of people in Irvine owned their homes, and I mean OWN - not OWE, I would have no problem with it. The problem is the massive amount of debt you people owe. Holy Sh*t you people owe so much money and we all know that it will never be paid in full.
Some of the dumber crowd living there like to pull out the work hard canard - social Darwinism. Claims that Irvine is for hard workers who are rewarded for their service. These folks believe that debt is wealth and a FICO score is their rank in society. Being granted a 500K mortgage is their reward for being so successful - a bigger hamster wheel for them to run on in front of all the other lower class hamsters.
When credit dries up and the government is forced to raise interest rates, it is all going to come crashing down fast and hard. All of the marketing BS that grooms your community will not matter once bankers lose faith in your hamster's ability to keep the wheel spinning.
In the meantime, they will go ahead and let people throw money away in down payments.
I think besides the 4 "excuses" he mentions, as I expand my search for a home to beyond the borders of Irvine, I think the distance from where we work is a big factor.
These last few days exemplified how important it is to us to work near where we live and where our kids go to school. Just this week I had to go home twice during the day for maintenance appointments and then my wife had to go home because the kids were sent home due to a school illness issue. Add on that the time I need to get home to pick them up and I think any type of commute just cancels too far out from the big I. Sure, maybe time may be similar, but the mileage and gas is not.
And... while I can guarantee possibly a 20-minute commute via toll road/freeway, what if there is some unforeseen accident or closure? I can do sidestreet or freeway from office to home in about the same time... when the freeways are packed... I take surface roads. Sure I can surface road it from Aliso Viejo or Laguna Niguel, but it's probably going to double or triple the time it would normally take.
That in itself, is worth **a** premium. Convenience goes a long way and maybe when my kids are old enough to drive themselves we can live somewhere farther and cheaper (and they can be the ones who lets the plumber/electrician/cable/whoever in).
I understand there is a majority of you who don't believe Irvine is worth it (FWIW, I don't think it's worth the **current** premium) but for those who do, why? And for those who don't, can you at least relate somewhat?