Olivewood at Portola Springs by New Home Co.

qwerty said:
Are there really that many coupes in Irvine that make 600k? You would generally need a combination of lawyer/doctor/engineer/finance exec. Are there that many couples where both spouses fall into those categories? I do know a couple of those types of marriages. But not sure if that is common. I guess depending on the type of lawyer/doctor/engineer/finance you maybe only need one spouse to be one of those and the other spouse can make let’s call it $150k.
Click to expand...
And there's also the situation where the other spouse stays at home to take care of the kids if the bread winner earns north of $400k, so I would agree that $600k is actually pretty rare, whether it's single earner or household income.
 
ThirtySomethingWEquity said:
“Not particularly rare”? You can look up average TC for various levels. It’s the top end if L6 ranges at big tech companies.

L6 at faang type companies is what, less than 10%? So no, i’d argue it’s fairly rare these days.


Maybe you work at TGS in irvine where it’s average, but it’s definitely quite a bit over average for google/amazon, almost unheard of at microsoft and smaller non deca-corns.
Click to expand...
Not at TGS but indeed a public deca-corn (and ex-FANG) as an IC. What I meant was that ~L6 roles at such companies still number in the hundreds or thousands and are not especially high in the reporting chain. We're not senior managers+ or principal engineer as one might otherwise assume. However, point taken that it's still of course rare in the context of the general population.
 
Last edited:
600K might be common in the tech hubs(Bay area, Seattle), but here in Irvine I think only the Sr.managers or Sr. ICs in big tech could be making that sum. And high paying big tech jobs are comparatively lower in Irvine/ socal in general.
That's what always makes me wonder how folks in Irvine can afford such crazy high priced homes, unless they have foreign money or inheritance or the doctor/lawyer types.
 
Irvinehomeseeker said:
600K might be common in the tech hubs(Bay area, Seattle), but here in Irvine I think only the Sr.managers or Sr. ICs in big tech could be making that sum. And high paying big tech jobs are comparatively lower in Irvine/ socal in general.
That's what always makes me wonder how folks in Irvine can afford such crazy high priced homes, unless they have foreign money or inheritance or the doctor/lawyer types.
Click to expand...

We are approaching about half of all transactions being all cash now. I would venture to say that that the majority of the cash buyers are foreign with the remaining portion coming from high net worth/high earners and/or folks who had substantial equity from their previous homes.
 
usctrojancpa said:
We are approaching about half of all transactions being all cash now. I would venture to say that that the majority of the cash buyers are foreign with the remaining portion coming from high net worth/high earners and/or folks who had substantial equity from their previous homes.
Click to expand...
I would think OC would have a bunch of trust fund babies as well. Is that not the case?
 
I don't read these new home threads like I used to but man... $2-$3m now for new "upgrade" homes?

Congrats to Cal for getting into his Cielo home that I think he's been talking about forever and sort of hard to believe in this high priced environment he can sell a home he just got and get into another one. Where is that guy who keeps saying these high interest rates are going to destroy Irvine pricing?

Now I need to compare Cielo floorplans to Olivewood to see what I would prefer if I was one of those magical $600k household earners.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
I don't read these new home threads like I used to but man... $2-$3m now for new "upgrade" homes?

Congrats to Cal for getting into his Cielo home that I think he's been talking about forever and sort of hard to believe in this high priced environment he can sell a home he just got and get into another one. Where is that guy who keeps saying these high interest rates are going to destroy Irvine pricing?

Now I need to compare Cielo floorplans to Olivewood to see what I would prefer if I was one of those magical $600k household earners.
Click to expand...
I'm sure there will be some cash buyers that would be willing to take my Bluffs 2 off my hands. 😂

As for comparison, the only fair comparison would be Cielo Plan 1 vs. Olivewood Plan 3 vs. Azul Plans 2/3. These are in the ~3200 sq ft range. Olivewood Plans 1 and 2 are sub 3000 sq ft and so is Azul Plan 1.

Cal Pac is going to change the Azul Plan 2 (starting from phase 3) to make it ~3200 sq ft. Basically, they now make the loft standard (instead of high ceiling), and they're removing the den between bedrooms 2 and 3 to add a bathroom to each room. They will likely convert the other bathroom into a powder room, and MAYBE use that extra space for master bedroom. At least, I would use that extra space for master bedroom.

We did consider Olivewood Plan 3, but there were several things we didn't like. Kitchen layout was bad and the island is squarish shape rather than rectangular. Since kitchen is the most important to my wife, that's a huge disadvantage. It also doesn't have high ceiling. And the lots are extremely small. For example, the home that we were offered in phase 1 had a 3800 sq ft lot, and it's a corner lot too, while the Cielo home we got has a 5100 sq ft lot. But man, the location is so nice, at the peak of Portola Springs.
 
CalBears96, for folks who have a prep kitchen as a must-have, is there any new home option other than Olivewood Plan 3 in the 3200 sq ft range ?
 
patel_c said:
CalBears96, for folks who have a prep kitchen as a must-have, is there any new home option other than Olivewood Plan 3 in the 3200 sq ft range ?
Click to expand...
Ravello Plan 1 allowed you the prep kitchen option instead of pantry, but I don't think Cielo allows that, unfortunately. If you must have prep kitchen, then I think Olivewood Plan 3 is your only option.
 
qwerty said:
Are there really that many coupes in Irvine that make 600k? You would generally need a combination of lawyer/doctor/engineer/finance exec. Are there that many couples where both spouses fall into those categories? I do know a couple of those types of marriages. But not sure if that is common. I guess depending on the type of lawyer/doctor/engineer/finance you maybe only need one spouse to be one of those and the other spouse can make let’s call it $150k.
Click to expand...

I think there are a lot of doctors that live in or are moving to Irvine. Between Kaiser, Hoag, the giant new UCI medical center they're building on jamboree, the giant building under construction by the broadcom center, etc.
 
ThirtySomethingWEquity said:
I think there are a lot of doctors that live in or are moving to Irvine. Between Kaiser, Hoag, the giant new UCI medical center they're building on jamboree, the giant building under construction by the broadcom center, etc.
Click to expand...
A couple of things. Working in Irvine doesn't necessarily mean living in Irvine. Also, doctors don't make $600k, especially the ones working at big medical groups like Kaiser and Hoag. Maybe the ones having their own clinics do, or maybe specialists do, and definitely surgeons do, but family doctors make nowhere near $600k.
 
CalBears96 said:
A couple of things. Working in Irvine doesn't necessarily mean living in Irvine. Also, doctors don't make $600k, especially the ones working at big medical groups like Kaiser and Hoag. Maybe the ones having their own clinics do, or maybe specialists do, and definitely surgeons do, but family doctors make nowhere near $600k.
Click to expand...
Yeah but a Dr. + Nurse or NP or med tech and you are getting closer to that number.
 
ThirtySomethingWEquity said:
Yeah but a Dr. + Nurse or NP or med tech and you are getting closer to that number.
Click to expand...
True, however $600-700k GROSS gets you qualified with a fat 40-50% down payment.

Now look at the NET - what you have after California's combined Fed/State 40-45% tax rate. The remainder is big, but relatively speaking not much left to live on, have on hand for emergencies, pay the utilities, gardener, save for college, retirement, etc, ad nauseum. Even with high pay and huge cash down the math is tight and a risk IMHO.
 
Last edited:
woodburyowner said:
Unfortunately, I think it's more like 45-50%. 35% federal, 9.3% CA, CA SDI, 6.2% FICA, 1.45% Medicare.
Click to expand...
let's be real honest here guys, who is paying 45-50% in taxes when you make close to 600k? Even if you're W2, I would hope those people have assets to offset their taxable income to ensure they do not pay the maximum tax they are required to pay.
 
sleepy5136 said:
let's be real honest here guys, who is paying 45-50% in taxes when you make close to 600k? Even if you're W2, I would hope those people have assets to offset their taxable income to ensure they do not pay the maximum tax they are required to pay.
Click to expand...
In tech we typically use deferred comp programs to mitigate taxable income. The Fidelity plan at my longtime emplyer was great but the Merrill plan at a subsequent employer had garbage choices. Some companies restrict these to Director and up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top