Laguna Altura in 2011
- Thread starter iacrenter
- Start date
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
Usually TIC puts an article in the OCReg's Saturday New Homes section when a grand opening is happening... as far as I know there was none in today's paper that specifically talked about LagAlt's Grand Opening this Sunday.
How low key of them.
How low key of them.
ps99472
New member
Toured the Cortona models today, nice $200,000 gate, but too snobbish for us. Lots for Cortonas are around 4200 sq ft. Plan 1 has a tech space on the second floor. Looking at the drawings, looks like only the Tuscan elevation will get the high ceilings for the tech space. They also have a sliding door at the dining room instead of the door at Maricopa for plan 1's. Plan 2's have the additional tech space upstairs as well. They pushed it out over the garage and the 3rd bedroom is bigger as well over its Maricopa counterpart. Exterior elevations are also slightly different. Don't know for sure but the stucco seems to be a smoother finish? No view lots, the 133 can be heard but not too bad. So estimates for the property tax/MR/HOA comes out to ~$1650/month before you even include the mortgage. Maricopa's around $1200/month. The centro park looks nice, good for families, also has a community room. We decided not to purchase here, definitely not worth the price tag but I'm sure people will be wowed by the nice gate and extra flex/tech space to justify the $200,000 increase.
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
@ps:
So they were open today? Or was it only for suitcase buyers?
So they were open today? Or was it only for suitcase buyers?
California_Room
New member
Will separate the buyers from the lookers..
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
Even QH is a drive to Uni as you either take Alton or the 405.
I'll be there to look... no way I would buy at those prices.
I'll be there to look... no way I would buy at those prices.
qwerty
Well-known member
test said:
ive never take the time to look at google maps for the location of Laguna Altura until right now, i agree with test, that is a crappy location. The 133 runs right next to it and the 405 is a little to close for comfort given the price tags they are charging. Quail Hill at least seems to have some separation as well as the apartments and the shopping center to absorb some of the 405 noise.
Driving another 10 miles if you miss the exit is no joke either. A couple of weekends ago i was taking the 133 south and realized i had to turn back around, i could not make a legal uturn anywhere.
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
I think you guys need to go there to actually discern the distance from the 133/405.
Interestingly enough, the area closer to the 405, Siena and San Remo seemed the quietest because they were higher up from the 133.
The homes in Cortona that back the 133 have the most noise and I feel bad for anyone spending $9xx+ there because you can hear it in the backyard and moreso on the 2nd floor. As much noise as there is from vehicles traveling at 50+ mph... also imagine the starting and stopping of those vehicles because of the light.
But noise aside, I was really surprised how nice the area is. When you're on the detached condo side, you really feel isolated from everything and you have great views 360 of hills etc. The landscaping is really good as it feels upscale. It's lame they cut down the number of parks/pools as the detached condos are very far from the main park but at least the secondary park with the bball court is close by. It's interesting for these tracts as they are kind of walled in by each area so it's almost like they have double walls... the primary streets are basically wall one one side and berm on the other.
As for the homes, if you've been to Stonegate/SGE/San Marino in Woodbury... you've seen these. There are slight changes in the detached condos but Cortona got the most where they addressed my main complaint about Maricopa, additional upstairs living space. I think people should really complain that Stonegate should get the same floorplans as they are much more functional.
If you compare Portisol in QH (same price range) to Cortona, Cortona wins for the more spacious floorplans but Portisol has better locations and cul-de-sac streets. Bang for the buck, if I had $1m+ to spend, I would wait for a Tapestry in QH over Cortona, but that Cortona Plan 2 is really nice.
I have to admit... the siren call of the new home smell and the location (I prefer living in the 405 area of Irvine) had me wondering if I could settle for a detached San Remo condo... it's just not really a move up from our current home other than the location (and we lose a driveway, an upstairs laundry sink and additional living spaces). What makes it worse is you're looking at $100k more in price and double the HOA over the same floorplans in Stonegate ($200k more for Cortona over Maricopa). MRs are almost the same (which was suprising) but taxes overall will be more because of the price.
I really think TIC could have spare 4 lots of homes in between San Remo and Siena to give that area its own inside tract park... even a little bit more for a pool ala Woodbury. Considering how much of a premium they are charging... it would have been nice to have that extra area. Think about it... all those homes only share one pool. How many other newer places in Irvine are like that?
It was really crowded... we didn't go until after 3pm hoping to avoid the early rush but there was a steady flow even at that time. And it was way more mixed than Woodbury/Stonegate was. I guess elevated homes "near" Laguna Beach ends up with a better diversity of interest.
Other than the SFRs that immediately back the 133... you really don't notice it but you should check it our yourself. It does make me favor being above a main road than below one like at Las Ventanas.
Interestingly enough, the area closer to the 405, Siena and San Remo seemed the quietest because they were higher up from the 133.
The homes in Cortona that back the 133 have the most noise and I feel bad for anyone spending $9xx+ there because you can hear it in the backyard and moreso on the 2nd floor. As much noise as there is from vehicles traveling at 50+ mph... also imagine the starting and stopping of those vehicles because of the light.
But noise aside, I was really surprised how nice the area is. When you're on the detached condo side, you really feel isolated from everything and you have great views 360 of hills etc. The landscaping is really good as it feels upscale. It's lame they cut down the number of parks/pools as the detached condos are very far from the main park but at least the secondary park with the bball court is close by. It's interesting for these tracts as they are kind of walled in by each area so it's almost like they have double walls... the primary streets are basically wall one one side and berm on the other.
As for the homes, if you've been to Stonegate/SGE/San Marino in Woodbury... you've seen these. There are slight changes in the detached condos but Cortona got the most where they addressed my main complaint about Maricopa, additional upstairs living space. I think people should really complain that Stonegate should get the same floorplans as they are much more functional.
If you compare Portisol in QH (same price range) to Cortona, Cortona wins for the more spacious floorplans but Portisol has better locations and cul-de-sac streets. Bang for the buck, if I had $1m+ to spend, I would wait for a Tapestry in QH over Cortona, but that Cortona Plan 2 is really nice.
I have to admit... the siren call of the new home smell and the location (I prefer living in the 405 area of Irvine) had me wondering if I could settle for a detached San Remo condo... it's just not really a move up from our current home other than the location (and we lose a driveway, an upstairs laundry sink and additional living spaces). What makes it worse is you're looking at $100k more in price and double the HOA over the same floorplans in Stonegate ($200k more for Cortona over Maricopa). MRs are almost the same (which was suprising) but taxes overall will be more because of the price.
I really think TIC could have spare 4 lots of homes in between San Remo and Siena to give that area its own inside tract park... even a little bit more for a pool ala Woodbury. Considering how much of a premium they are charging... it would have been nice to have that extra area. Think about it... all those homes only share one pool. How many other newer places in Irvine are like that?
It was really crowded... we didn't go until after 3pm hoping to avoid the early rush but there was a steady flow even at that time. And it was way more mixed than Woodbury/Stonegate was. I guess elevated homes "near" Laguna Beach ends up with a better diversity of interest.
Other than the SFRs that immediately back the 133... you really don't notice it but you should check it our yourself. It does make me favor being above a main road than below one like at Las Ventanas.