irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
IR2 is correct... at least that's what the salesperson told us when we were there.
Mendocino and Saragota in Stonegate
- Thread starter The Motor Court Company
- Start date
We were at saratoga and noticed that they are charging 10k premium for corner lots ( no house in front of your backyard) and additional 10k for the first house in the row(no house on one side.. This is no charge at San mateo, well so far )...as if they are not minting money already ,irvine pacific is now figuring innovative ways to help their margins....
Irvine_Dreamer
New member
Not too bad for adding 130 sq ft of living space in already-too-small backyard.irvinehomeowner said:
I wish I had conservatory option in my Maricopa.
Have you tried to fit into 3ft sideyard?
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
I should have tried... but then they would have to call IFD to get the Jaws of Life.Irvine_Dreamer said:Have you tried to fit into 3ft sideyard?
lilgophee
New member
vikas420 said:
Correct, no extra charge in San Mateo for the house that faces the street (the first houses on the Motor Court). You only have 2 people adjacent to you. The backyard and the 2nd house within the Motor Court.
This may be the biggest understatement of the year. Call it an undisclosed sacrifice. One of the selling points of the street side house is that there is only 2 next to you. If you take the last house on the Motor Court, then there could be 3 people next to you.
The sacrifice is that a small part of your already tiny yard is clipped to make way for the Association's landscaping.
The Motor Court Company
Well-known member
Just as I expected, cheese pizza from First Class and cookies in Mendocino.
The Motor Court Company said:
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
Instead of cookies... TIC should have been giving away cookie cutters.
The Motor Court Company
Well-known member
Our Saturday schedule was full so we only made a quick stop in Mendocino. I am not really impressed as most said. Plan2 has a huge wasted space where they put the piano - which only makes the great room/living room look even smaller. the downstair bedroom in Plan 2 is so small that will make the grandparents feel like guard dogs and servant to their adult children. Pretty depressing given they have to pay for the down payment and live like refugee on a ship.
I like the plan 1 setup with the conservatory option which makes the first floor look bigger and brighter. The only downside of plan 1 is that it is too boxy and no downstair bedrooms. A loft in its place in the 2nd floor is probably a better idea as in the model. The deck option is actually refreshing from anesthetic point of view. There is probably 1 or 2 plan 1 with deck outside and facing the park in the whole tract. Those will be really sought after.
While plan 3 is the biggest floor plan, I cannot really feel the extra added space. Besides en-suites, it need more distinguishable attributes such as 4 BR + LOFT setup. The Ping Pong table in the garage is so blatantly obvious that their target buyer is mainland Chinese. Is it a stereotype that mainland Chinese all like playing Ping Pong?
Overall the 3 floor plans are not much different from each other, size and price wise. Clearly TIC is aiming for the high 700's to mid 800's market and hope it will sell and I think it well due to lack of inventory.
Funny thing when we walked in there were 3 sold. when we walked out there were like 5 and every home tour so far I always can hear somebody asking the sales whether they will get some kind of advantage if they pay cash. I guess mentioning all cash in front of a crowd make these people proud or something. TIC definitely knows Chinese well - the ones with money like show they got money and are more likely to buy if the price tag is expensive.
I like the plan 1 setup with the conservatory option which makes the first floor look bigger and brighter. The only downside of plan 1 is that it is too boxy and no downstair bedrooms. A loft in its place in the 2nd floor is probably a better idea as in the model. The deck option is actually refreshing from anesthetic point of view. There is probably 1 or 2 plan 1 with deck outside and facing the park in the whole tract. Those will be really sought after.
While plan 3 is the biggest floor plan, I cannot really feel the extra added space. Besides en-suites, it need more distinguishable attributes such as 4 BR + LOFT setup. The Ping Pong table in the garage is so blatantly obvious that their target buyer is mainland Chinese. Is it a stereotype that mainland Chinese all like playing Ping Pong?
Overall the 3 floor plans are not much different from each other, size and price wise. Clearly TIC is aiming for the high 700's to mid 800's market and hope it will sell and I think it well due to lack of inventory.
Funny thing when we walked in there were 3 sold. when we walked out there were like 5 and every home tour so far I always can hear somebody asking the sales whether they will get some kind of advantage if they pay cash. I guess mentioning all cash in front of a crowd make these people proud or something. TIC definitely knows Chinese well - the ones with money like show they got money and are more likely to buy if the price tag is expensive.
usctrojancpa
Well-known member
You called it. And since I didn't go over to Saratoga....no pizza for me.The Motor Court Company said:
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
I was about to post more detail about my afterthoughts but TMCC pretty much did it for me.The Motor Court Company said:
I do agree that each time you move up a plan, you need to add more stuff... they should have kept the loft/bedroom option in both Plans 2 and 3.
I like the extra linen cabinets in the Plan 1 laundry room and while Plans 2 and 3 have their own linen closets, I think that's a nice touch in the laundry. Also, the above closet storage in the secondary rooms is good too... I don't recall seeing that in other IP models.
The Motor Court Company
Well-known member
I like overall what the designer did to plan 1 model. In addition to what ihro mentioned, I also like how they made the storage space under the stairs into children's secret hidden lair.
irvinehomeowner said:
I liked Mendocino Plan 1, it was the most efficient use of space. You didn't really get anything extra with 2+3. The gaping hole where the piano was was odd as mentioned. I said "that's where you put the Christmas tree, of course".
Saratoga. Oh Saratoga. I would like to say that I thought their floorplans were excellent. However, given the lack of driveway and proximity to Sand Canyon Garbage Dump Raceway, that's about all I can say for them. They did have a Plan 2 with a driveway for $740k ($35k premium). For that price I'd rather go with one of the remaining Las Ventanas Plan 2's if there are any.
Saratoga. Oh Saratoga. I would like to say that I thought their floorplans were excellent. However, given the lack of driveway and proximity to Sand Canyon Garbage Dump Raceway, that's about all I can say for them. They did have a Plan 2 with a driveway for $740k ($35k premium). For that price I'd rather go with one of the remaining Las Ventanas Plan 2's if there are any.
Irvinecommuter
New member
ducky said:
We checked out Saratoga on Saturday. My wife liked it a lot more than San Mateo. Plan 1 has a similar layout as Plan 3 of SM except for the 4th bedroom and the master bedroom was so small. I don't get why they stuck the walk in closet in the bathroom and turning the bathroom into a hallway. I like the fact that it had 4 bedrooms and that little storage area beneath the stairs that they converted into a playroom. Hated the bathroom.
Plan 2 was much better but also more expensive.
We both agreed that the pizza they served was awful.
irvinehomeshopper
Well-known member
irvinehomeowner said:Instead of cookies... TIC should have been giving away cookie cutters.
thedude111222
New member
Anyone a fan of the show Weeds? Here are the lyrics to the song Little Boxes
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
And the people in the houses
All went to the university,
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and lawyers,
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry,
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school,
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same.
And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
With just a few modifications, it would be so appropriate for an Irvine Pacific marketing commercial...just gotta change the line about the color to: There's a beige one, and a beige one, and a beige one, and another beige one.
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
And the people in the houses
All went to the university,
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and lawyers,
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry,
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school,
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same.
And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
With just a few modifications, it would be so appropriate for an Irvine Pacific marketing commercial...just gotta change the line about the color to: There's a beige one, and a beige one, and a beige one, and another beige one.
irvinehusky
New member
Also, change "All went to the university" to "All went to Uni High".
thedude111222 said:
thedude111222
New member
Went to go check the construction progress on our Maricopa plan 1 this weekend...they are really working in high gear over there these days. Thought I'd swing down to Mendocino and at least get some decor inspiration and they were every bit as awful as I was expecting. There is a relatively short list of things I liked in the models: the option for the built-in wardrobe in the master of plan 1 was actually a nice touch (so much storage!!!), master bathroom layouts make a little more sense than maricopa plan 1's, better color pallette for cabinet upgrades, and backyards were not nearly as bad as I thought. That is about it...every other criticism holds true from the tiny side yards to the massive amount of wasted space in most of the plans. I especially didn't like the porch/entryways...they should have just brought the front door flush with the facade of the house. And plan 3's enterance which basically felt like you enter into the great room made it feel like most smaller motorcourts. Downstairs bedroom in plan 2 is puny compared to maricopa plan 1, and you get a bigger closet.
The funny thing is that as we were walking through, you could hear most of the other people having the same comments, but then they were all talking to the financing guys and filling out paperwork at the end of the tour. I counted 6 "sold" stickers, mostly plan 2's and a couple of plan 3's. Don't think I saw a plan 1 sold...IP really should know their target audience by now...most Asians and Indians will not even look at a homes without a downstairs br/ba because parents coming halfway around the world to see their kids need a place to stay...simply cannot offer a 3/4br 2.5ba and reasonably expect them to sell well. Also they should start paying more attention to a compass and maximize the number of North and East facing homes (saw more than a few Indian people using discussing how they will only buy on one side of the street because of something called Vasthu)
The funny thing is that as we were walking through, you could hear most of the other people having the same comments, but then they were all talking to the financing guys and filling out paperwork at the end of the tour. I counted 6 "sold" stickers, mostly plan 2's and a couple of plan 3's. Don't think I saw a plan 1 sold...IP really should know their target audience by now...most Asians and Indians will not even look at a homes without a downstairs br/ba because parents coming halfway around the world to see their kids need a place to stay...simply cannot offer a 3/4br 2.5ba and reasonably expect them to sell well. Also they should start paying more attention to a compass and maximize the number of North and East facing homes (saw more than a few Indian people using discussing how they will only buy on one side of the street because of something called Vasthu)
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
I disagree... every front door should have some type of porch or covered entry.thedude111222 said:
We actually went to Maricopa yesterday for a comparison (they only had the Plan 2 for sale) and it feels bigger than the 2x or 3 over at Mendocino. They still have quite a few Maricopa 2s left which I found interesting but I remembered that they actually reduced the number of Maricopa 3s and replaced them with Maricopa 2s.