Pls help to choose: Orchard Hills Grove or NWP or NWII?

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MovingtoIrvine

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For the target price range of 1.6M - 2M for a 3500-4000 sqft house, which location will you choose?

Orchard Hills Grove:
Pros - New Construction, upscale neighborhood, open floorplan and all the nice things come with a new house :)
Con - Not Irvine schools, new community so needs time to develop, location not as central as the other two, some houses close to highway, high HOA. need to do landscaping, lighting, window treatment, etc

Northwood Pointe:
Pros - Best school district, bigger lots, mature community, close to schools, parks, pools, trails, etc
Cons - Houses are built in the 90's, so almost 20 years old. floor plans not as open, prices are even higher than new houses in Orchard Hills Grove

Northwood II:
Pros - Best school district, bigger lots, mature community, closer to central Irvine so shopping and other errands will be even easier. The community is small but has a nice pool and next to a park. Price/sqft is slightly lower than the other two
Cons - Houses are built in the 00's, newer than NWP but feels not that new. floor plans not as open.
 
Hidden canyon if you want a large new house, south of 405 and iusd (uni high)?

Out of those 3 listed, I'd choose the grove, some lots have views, and some of the layouts are nice
 
Northwood II is gated and tucked away in its own secluded corner. It's almost like a forgotten neighborhood. The main entrance Hideaway attests to this.

Apart from the much older houses, the parking situation at NWP seems to be tight. Whenever I visit friends I often have to drive around and park far away, partly because most my NWP friends choose to spend their $$$ on crappy but houses.

OH is definitely nice. You can always consider sending kids to private schools. I really don't care much about IUSD although my kids do attend locally.

 
OH groves is my vote. New construction, better layout, so far it feels a little more exclusive. and from what I've heard, Hicks Canyon, OH Middle school, and Beckman are respectable schools. Probably not as highly rated as Irvine schools but perhaps that might mean less competition, thus less stress, and higher chance that your kid will rank in the upper percentiles...
 
WillJoy said:
Northwood II is gated and tucked away in its own secluded corner. It's almost like a forgotten neighborhood. The main entrance Hideaway attests to this.

Apart from the much older houses, the parking situation at NWP seems to be tight. Whenever I visit friends I often have to drive around and park far away, partly because most my NWP friends choose to spend their $$$ on crappy but houses.

OH is definitely nice. You can always consider sending kids to private schools. I really don't care much about IUSD although my kids do attend locally.
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Thank you WillJoy! You are right NWII does seem like forgotten and it's not mentioned much even on this board. But any inconvenience comes with it when living there? as long as its HOA doing their job properly. I visited there early evening yesterday and I saw many people taking a walk outside or playing at the pool. Seems a peaceful and vibrant neighborhood. The outside of the houses can be more attractive though...didn't really like their exterior.

 
Irvine Fanatic said:
OH groves is my vote. New construction, better layout, so far it feels a little more exclusive. and from what I've heard, Hicks Canyon, OH Middle school, and Beckman are respectable schools. Probably not as highly rated as Irvine schools but perhaps that might mean less competition, thus less stress, and higher chance that our kid will rank in the upper percentiles...
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Yeah, I heard these schools are solid schools. And the less competition part can be true too. I don't need to consider school district for my kids yet actually, just more from the resale perspective :)
 
MovingtoIrvine said:
WillJoy said:
Northwood II is gated and tucked away in its own secluded corner. It's almost like a forgotten neighborhood. The main entrance Hideaway attests to this.

Apart from the much older houses, the parking situation at NWP seems to be tight. Whenever I visit friends I often have to drive around and park far away, partly because most my NWP friends choose to spend their $$$ on crappy but houses.

OH is definitely nice. You can always consider sending kids to private schools. I really don't care much about IUSD although my kids do attend locally.
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Thank you WillJoy! You are right NWII does seem like forgotten and it's not mentioned much even on this board. But any inconvenience comes with it when living there? as long as its HOA doing their job properly. I visited there early evening yesterday and I saw many people taking a walk outside or playing at the pool. Seems a peaceful and vibrant neighborhood. The outside of the houses can be more attractive though...didn't really like their exterior.
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On NWII, floor plans are okay but not very open. I looked quite extensively towards the 2nd half of 2009 and made offers on 3 larger models - one of which had a courtyard and a guest/in-law room with separate entry. Even the best floor plans didn't compare with the then new homes in Woodbury back in 2010.

 
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On NWII, floor plans are okay but not very open. I looked quite extensively towards the 2nd half of 2009 and made offers on 3 larger models - one of which had a courtyard and a guest/in-law room with separate entry. Even the best floor plans didn't compare with the then new homes in Woodbury back in 2010.
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Yes I agree their floor plans are practical but not open. I visited two so far, both are close to 4000 sqft. One with a 3rd floor attic, the other with two masters on each floor. I like the 2nd one better, though I'm sure my kids will enjoy the 3rd floor attic for playing and hiding. But from outside I don't really like the look of the house with three floors. None of them have vaulted ceiling foyer, which I would like very much.

Seems like there is no such thing as a perfect house! Sigh...

 
You don't need the perfect house to have a perfect home.

A brand new home will definitely make everyone happy. It doesn't need to be fancy and big. When your kids are little, they don't know the difference between a big house and a small house.  When they reach adolescence, they are so into their own world they simply don't care anything outside their own room. Just make sure the siblings don't ever need to fight over the bathroom.

If I could start over I'd rather get two 2000sf houses instead of one 4000sf one. By the time my kids go to college, I would be able to cash out and pay for part of their college education. That's when they will truly appreciate their parents.

 
We were in this predicament last year and ultimately decided on OH Groves and we're happy with our decision now that we live there.

1. Topography is gorgeous, it feels secluded, private and peaceful up here (except for the army of construction on the weekdays  ::) but construction free Sunday it is so serene.) We were living iN Northpark prior for reference.
2. The floor plan is very functional for us. I love a bathroom in every bedroom, the upstairs loft for the kids, the indoor/ outdoor feel. The home is very open and not so segmented like our Northpark home. The 2 homes (Northpark and this one) were similar square footage but the current home feels much bigger because of the open floor plan and higher ceiling height.
3. Everything is brand new so you don't have to worry about a new roof, appliances breaking down, structural issues as much as with a 20yr old house
4. Brand new construction means you can set it up like you like it. Choosing the materials for your home and setting it up just like you like it is an amazing feeling. I love our home because it is exactly designed with materials I love and chose ,from the stonework to the flooring to the grout color. And yes landscaping is also pricey but you get to design it to be functional for your family.
5. Gated, hillside will always hold better value and appreciation historically

Of course the main downsides is the large initial investment for upgrades, landscape etc, living with the construction which can be very annoying and the overall smaller lots for the price than the older homes. But if in the end you get a product that is exactly to your liking and functional for your family then that is worth it. And there is also something to say for living in a house no one has ever lived in before...
 
Paris,  does every bedroom have a walk-in closet?  We totally underestimated the 'wants' of our kids and the whole house is littered with toys everywhere you look. It's been one of the main criteria for us now. Other important ones include of course a bathroom for each room, and a 3-car garage.
 
WillJoy said:
Paris,  does every bedroom have a walk-in closet?  We totally underestimated the 'wants' of our kids and the whole house is littered with toys everywhere you look. It's been one of the main criteria for us now. Other important ones include of course a bathroom for each room, and a 3-car garage.
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I think to get a real 3 car garage you'll have to look in the older neighborhoods. I know Northwood Pointe and Northpark has them.  Even the largest Orchard Hills homes (Amelia, Trevi) only come with a 3 car tandem which could be OK if you're mainly looking for that "3rd car" space to be storage.

But most older homes don't have en suite bathrooms for all secondary bedrooms, even the big houses in Northwood Pointe. I guess you have to decide which is a bigger priority. Personally, I think all ensuite bathrooms for kids rooms is overrated. Too many bathrooms to clean (and pay for/upgrade if you're buying new).
 
To reply to the OP's question. We were looking in basically the same parameters for the last 2 years, and ultimately settled on Orchard Hills Groves.  Neighborhoods we also considered were: Northpark, Northwood Pointe, Tustin Ranch, North Tustin and Newport Beach.

Factors: TUSD versus IUSD was not a factor for us. The TUSD zoned schools for Orchard Hills are very good, but YMMV, depending on how much you care about having IUSD. We would have been OK with CDM/Newport Harbor schools or Foothill High district, which I know not everyone on TalkIrvine agrees with.

The ability to pick out everything the exact way you want was ultimately the biggest thing for us, and also not have to deal with possible big maintenance issues on a 10-30 year old house. I have friends who have older houses from the 70s and 80s in North Tustin/Newport and they talk about foundation cracking, slab leaks, etc. Too much headache.

We looked at resale for a LONG time,  but ultimately we felt that many resale owners wanted an unreasonable price for older houses that would need a lot of updating, or wanted us to pay top dollar for "upgrades" done to their taste when it didn't match ours.

We liked Northpark very much as a neighborhood, but the floor plans felt just too comparmentalized for us.




 
WillJoy said:
... and a 3-car garage.
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You should always lead with that. :)

Only NWP has 3CWG. New will mostly have 3CTG or 3CLG... which can work if you are just looking for extra storage space.

I prefer 3CWG because that also means a 3CWDriveway.
 
Really appreciate sharing your experience with us Paris and NYC to OC! That's very helpful.

Looking back we've always lived in older/smaller houses located in a very good school district even before we had kids, hoping that the houses will hold values more. They did, I have to admit that, especially during the housing bubble period, but after all these years, living in a new house is definitely very attractive to us. :)

For two kids 2 years apart, not same gender, at that ages you think they would want their own bathrooms? Now they happily share one and don't even want to go to different ones.
 
MovingtoIrvine said:
Really appreciate sharing your experience with us Paris and NYC to OC! That's very helpful.

Looking back we've always lived in older/smaller houses located in a very good school district even before we had kids, hoping that the houses will hold values more. They did, I have to admit that, especially during the housing bubble period, but after all these years, living in a new house is definitely very attractive to us. :)

For two kids 2 years apart, not same gender, at that ages you think they would want their own bathrooms? Now they happily share one and don't even want to go to different ones.
Click to expand...

When you ask one of your kids to pick up the mess in the bathroom and he/she says "It wasn't me".
 
WillJoy said:
MovingtoIrvine said:
Really appreciate sharing your experience with us Paris and NYC to OC! That's very helpful.

Looking back we've always lived in older/smaller houses located in a very good school district even before we had kids, hoping that the houses will hold values more. They did, I have to admit that, especially during the housing bubble period, but after all these years, living in a new house is definitely very attractive to us. :)

For two kids 2 years apart, not same gender, at that ages you think they would want their own bathrooms? Now they happily share one and don't even want to go to different ones.
Click to expand...

When you ask one of your kids to pick up the mess in the bathroom and he/she says "It wasn't me".
Click to expand...

Haha, that's a good one. :)  Maybe it's a good way to teach them responsibilities. Now I just pick up after them.
 
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