Pacifica San Juan

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
ALORA - Phase 1 is 10 homes.

Total of 49 homes, tax rate is 1.55%, HOA is $149.50/month.

Plan 1 - 3,859 square feet - priced from $1,190,630.

Plan 2 - 4,136 square feet - priced from $1,266,007

Plan 3 - 4,400 square feet - priced from $1,284,220

I didn't think the home designs/features were as nice as the Floralisa/Estrella Rosa homes, however.
 
LL - Thanks for the info. From seeing these behomoth of homes lately come down in the $1M range, I'm wondering if the old adage still rings true - "Buy the biggest and most expensive home you can buy at the time of purchase."

Thoughts?
 
Well... a larger home is nice, if you need one because of a larger family. However, I've noticed that the home sizes are getting larger, but the lot sizes are getting SMALLER. Builders are trying to squeeze as many homes as they can into a project.

When you make it out to view Alora, you'll notice that the backyards are very small, and you can practically reach outside your side windows and touch your neighbros - literally! Considering that these are the model homes - you'd think they would want to space the models out a bit.

I also did not really like the floorplans for Alora. I'd rather take a smaller home with a nice flowing plan, then a large home that doesn't make great use of the room.

For example, I'd rather have one of the Caprizi models (even though they're both sold). Much smaller homes - I think around 2500 square feet. But, their backyards are very roomy and they have a good view - you can see the ocean water (even though it's 4 miles away, but you can see it!).
 
LL -- what are the lots sizes like at Alora? If they are anything like Laing's Ravenna, which seems to have similarly sized homes, the yards are way too small for me. Pricingwise, it looks like Lyon is starting to get it, after they ate it for pricing their Floralisa and Estrella Rosa homes so ridiculously high (there are several on the MLS available directly from Lyon with reduced prices).

As for Coastline, I visited their sales trailer a couple of weeks ago and they did try to get me to submit financial records on the spot. My guess is that they are gauging people's interest by giving them a whisper number of $1.1m-$1.8m and then seeing how many of the people actually submit all of their bank and financial records (and how many people actually have the financials to back up a purchase in that price range). I imagine that they will be able to sell out the first phase by "pre-selling" in this manner. On release day it will look like a big success. Maybe that's what Laing should have done with Blue Harbor.
 
LL - I hear you. What I was referring to was more down the road when you sell your home. All the older generations I've talked to are glad they bought the biggest most expensive house they could manage at the time and some wished they bought even bigger/more.

But anyways...
 
Marty: Alora has 3 models. I don't have the average lot size information, but two of them have tiny backyards - maybe 15 feet deep. The third model had a modest size yard, but nothing like Floralisa or Estrella Rosa. Oh, the sales counselor at Alora was a former counselor at Estrella Rosa. She said that Estrella Rosa is basically sold out - only one home left. I'm surprised because those $2Million homes have large electrical towers right behind them!

OC-conservative: I think I would still pick a smaller home on a larger lot over a larger home without much of a yard or room between my neighbors. Don't get me wrong, if I could have the 4000square feet home on a half-acre lot, I'd go for the large size home, as well! I just don't spend that much time inside and more house just means more cleaning for me! :)

I would have thought that older people who have wanted to downsize a little - because their family has grown up and out of their houses. Also, many older folks are going after the single-level homes, which tend to be on the smaller size (when compared to the 2-story homes in the same development).
 
We went to K Hovnanian today, and still they do not have pricing and no one has entered into contracts for those homes. I think they are waiting to see if they can raise prices because they certainly sounded aggressive when the sales people were tossing around numbers, like a $400k premium for the view side. But I think the recent mortgage turmoil with jumbos going to 8% have put a crimp in their plans, I think they will really have to come down in pricing, because their view homes are near the freeway and besides, the view is ruined by the iron fences. I never understood why developers put iron fences at grade level and make the view side look like a prison cell. Why not put the iron fencing several feet below grade level (assuming a downslope beyond the grade for view backyards). New Millennium homes in Calabasas did that for all their view homes, and the view without iron fencing to obstruct the view is amazing compared to the typical prison type iron fencing.
 
Did they say when they would have pricing? Last I heard, the sales counselors were estimating $1.1-1.2 for the inner lots and $1.6-1.8 for the "view lots."

Also, did they verify that they may be pushing their sales release back to October (when the models open)?
 
The salesperson was clueless, clearly the corporate guys are not giving the folks in the trenches anything to work with. They should have provided pricing info and taken deposits by now, every week that passes, the price will drop. I would think $1.6 to $1.8 for the "prison view lots" are fantasy prices with little or no takers...but what do I know...:)
 
The Coastline prices were released - no where near what the sales people anticipated. Very competitive pricing. They have several homes priced around $310/sqft with good sized lots - 6000-8000 sqft.
 
Eva:

They had several homes (I think 3 since I don't have the price sheet with me) that are over 3200 sqft and listed for approximately $980,000.

There is Mello-Roos, but the combined tax rate is lower than most communities in Irvine. The HOA is lower/higher depending on which Irvine community you're comparing it to. It is further away if you want to be closer to Irvine/Costa Mesa (which is where a lot of people might work), however the lot sizes are much more reasonable for homes of this price. For example, I forgot the name of the development, but there are some Taylor Woodrow homes in Portola Springs that I thought were done pretty nicely, however they were like $1.2+ Million for a 3000+ sqft home on a lot of about 4500 sqft. That's not much more yard than you'd get with a townhome!
 
LL: does that mean that Plan 2s are starting at $980k (since I believe the Plan 1's are under 3000 sq ft)? That is quite a decrease from KHOV's prior estimation of a starting price of $1.1m.

Have you gotten any indication from Laing about whether they are going to drop prices in future Belle Cliff phase releases?

I've heard rumors that Blue Harbor is really hurting, e.g., after getting contracts on 4-5 of the first phase homes signed, all but 1 of the buyers backed out. IMO, they are going to have to drop those by at least 20% in order to sell them, especially with the freeway noise.
 
Marty:

KHov had three homes listed under $1Million - they were all Plan 2's on the "non-view" lots.

Blue Harbor might lower their prices, but I don't think Belle Cliff has any plans to lower their prices. Belle Cliff is actually doing quite well for this market - they've sold over 40 homes since the end of January, and only 3 are left unsold that have been released. They may not increase the prices, however I don't think they'll decrease them for future phase releases. What they have done is to subsidize the HOA for 3 years for anyone closing before the end of the year (they were only going to do that for the first 3 phases, previously).

All and all, I think the KHov are a pretty good deal.
 
Marty:

Hey, on second try, I was able to open it. That is INDEED a Phase 1 Belle Cliff home. That's one of the homes that were sold to a JLH employee. The price that home sold for was $980,880 (gosh, I have a good memory!). So, I'm assuming the listed price is the price at Phase 1 + the options already installed.

That's actually a great lot - if it was available at the Phase release, I would have probably picked it. However, JLH employees get to pick first, so that was actually the first lot sold in the first Phase! Don't be fooled by the listed lot size, however. It's not really 9000+ sqft. When you subtract out the ridge slope, the true useable lot size is approximately 6800+/- sqft. It's still a good lot, though, because you will get peek-a-boo ocean views even after all the homes are built!
 
I think the most recent, comparable Plan 1 home (that's a Plan 1 Bungalow style) that was sold was listed for about $1,080,880 (I guess my memory is not that good!) That was sold in Phase 5.
 
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