[Poll] House Hunting

[irvinehomeshopper]

I think by now I some what have a clue what you would consider a beautiful home. This standard is relative. We can all tell if a car has Beautiful lines or a cellphone has a nice industrial design. I encourage you to post pictures of what you think is a beautiful home around 2500 sf just to limit the ultra high ends.

 

[MovingOnUp]

I've seen this work many times for those house hunting

1) Walk w/ your agent down the street of your ideal neighborhood, regardless of price
2) Only look at 3 homes
3) Have your agent wait outside while you look and guess the price of the house afterwards
4) Assign a nickname to each home
5) Meet your agent at a local coffee shop or restaurant to submit the offer
6) prepare to be congratulated on your new home

 

[irvinehomeowner]

I've seen this work many times for those house hunting

1) Walk w/ your agent down the street of your ideal neighborhood, regardless of price
2) Only look at 3 homes
3) Have your agent wait outside while you look and guess the price of the house afterwards
4) Assign a nickname to each home
5) Meet your agent at a local coffee shop or restaurant to submit the offer
6) prepare to be congratulated on your new home

7) Get revisited X months later to find the home upgraded perfectly to your needs despite buying at the top of your range

Oh wait... that's House Hunters... not Property Virgins.

 

[Irvinecommuter]

Depends:

We look around a lot of houses in new developments just to see what is being offered.

We only look at a few re-sales based upon the listing. 

BTW:  HAVE PICTURES IN YOUR MLS LISTING!!!!  No pics = no interest.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

and what is the reason that prices are sticky (in your opinion)? schools?  community? location?    Location is one of my issues with Stongate/WB...  that and home exterior. 

That's a whole water cooler full of logic right there.

Various things like you mentioned... I do think the central location has probably a great deal to do with it... then you add the stuff that other centrally located cities don't have an abundance of (ie Costa Mesa, Santa Ana). Mix in non-fundamental buyers (my FCB theory) and a decent rental pool (UCI lends to that) and you get your unicorn premium.

Im in the same "affordabilty" boat.  my ideal situation would be a new(er) build 4BR/3BA home with a decent backyard, a driveway and nice open concept space for $781,250.  Right now, this is what you can get for that kind of money:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/34-Brena-92620/home/4786180

Actually... I think patience will pay off for you. I'm starting to see more stuff in that range hit the market... and once spring/summer hits... it may get better.

Something like this is similar to Brena and is nicely upgraded:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/12-Benjamin-92620/home/4784220

 

[usctrojancpa]

and what is the reason that prices are sticky (in your opinion)? schools?  community? location?    Location is one of my issues with Stongate/WB...  that and home exterior. 

That's a whole water cooler full of logic right there.

Various things like you mentioned... I do think the central location has probably a great deal to do with it... then you add the stuff that other centrally located cities don't have an abundance of (ie Costa Mesa, Santa Ana). Mix in non-fundamental buyers (my FCB theory) and a decent rental pool (UCI lends to that) and you get your unicorn premium.

Im in the same "affordabilty" boat.  my ideal situation would be a new(er) build 4BR/3BA home with a decent backyard, a driveway and nice open concept space for $781,250.  Right now, this is what you can get for that kind of money:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/34-Brena-92620/home/4786180

Actually... I think patience will pay off for you. I'm starting to see more stuff in that range hit the market... and once spring/summer hits... it may get better.

Something like this is similar to Brena and is nicely upgraded:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/12-Benjamin-92620/home/4784220

Outside the Yale Loop and way overpriced.  Give me a home that needs some cosmetic upgrades any day of the week.  These guys are asking for 2x the money they put into the upgrades, maybe someone from TIC is the seller.

 

[irvinehomeshopper]

Seriously I saw a bunch of HomeDepot DIY warrior upgrades and turning around selling it for double is just crazy.