Portola Springs - Decada

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
They did sell their available (phase 2?) plan 4s, and what is holding up the next phase is the smaller plans won't sell.

One mixed blessing (for them) is that when they lower the price of the bigger units and those marginal buyers start ignoring the cheaper product.

Clarendon had a similar occurence- when they dropped their prices, several people who were in plan 2s saw they could now get the plan 3 for about the same price, and jumped over. Then they had too many plan 2s and had to discount them further.

This is how it all begins...

SCHB
 
Is there a forum where people post how much they were offerred and what upgrades / incentives they were offerred when they bought? I know you need to take into account their credit score, income, etc etc. I just want to go in with some kind of idea of what I can and cannot bargain for.
 
confused- We typically discuss the nitty gritty of pricing at this (the community thread) level.

As a general rule, you won't be offered additional upgrades or incentives tied to your credit score.

SCHB
 
Hi everyone,

Long reader but first time poster here. I had almost given up hope of ever living in Irvine/South OC until I came across this blog a few months ago. Long story short, my SO and I plan to get married and move to OC within the next two and a half years. We've been socking money away for a ~15-20% down payment but with the way prices are nowadays, the monthly mortgage payment is still outrageous. Anyways, I actually work with builders in developing new homes (an equity partner) and the next 2-3 years will be interesting as the bubble pops. It will be bad for my career but good for my future home purchase.

According to the OP, HOA and Mello Roos for Decada comes out to $689 /month. Put into perspective, that payment can get you $100k more for a house. What are your thoughts on the future of older resale homes in Irvine that don't carry the high HOA or Mello Roos (if any)? I wouldn't mind purchasing a older and cheaper place in Irvine and do some remodeling later on.
 
raymond,

I think your home must be where you want to be, not because it has low/no HOA and Mello Roos. Buying something because it's cheap and not useful is a waste of money. I must say I will not buy when there is no HOA because I want uniformity to protect my investment. You must check out the "feel" of any area before you are considering buying. Mello-roos means newer roads, parks, and school - very good for resale. I like homes less than 10-yr old because I do not need to allocate money for major repair such as foundation cracks or roof leaking. Kind of like owning a new car still under warranty.
 
Raymond - I own an older house and yes maintenance is expensive but more or less the same as an HOA. The difference is some things can wait until you have the money to fix or improve them but there will be immediate needs. But a foundation crack or a leaking roof should not get past an inspector and if it did that will be big problems for all parties involved. The most important thing for you is your career since you are tied to the building industry. I wouldn't recommend buying a home in a more reasonably priced time when their employment industry is on the slow down. You should get better idea of the area and see what you like or dislike about the area. If the Mello Roos were paid by the homebuilder like they used to be and could be in the near future it would actually make the home value a little higher. This would be an advantage to the buyer since it would be built into the payment making it tax deductable. This is unfortunately a disadvantage to the builder when prices come down since they have already paid for the mello roos up front. Just think too when the place that has HOA dues as it gets older they get more expensive just take a look at the HOA dues in Woodbridge. Of course if you need a new roof expect a special assestment. That extra $100k in home also gives you a better tax advantage as mello roos and hoa dues are not tax deductable. You would have more take home money that would equal more or less what the HOA and mello roos are and you would be able to afford the maintenance of an older home.
 
nirvinerealtor &graphrix;

Thanks for your input. I have put into consideration both your thoughts and really appreciate them.

I have looked at several properties in Aliso Viejo that are approximately 10 years old and don't carry the high mello roos and hoas that I'm seeing here. I don't want to compare apples to oranges here but I've been around most of south OC (it's nice!) and unless prices drop a bit more within 2 years, I'd rather skip Irvine and get a place more south-east.

But then again, I too would like a spankin' new home in Irvine to call my own. I might take some time and tour the models this weekend and will post any updated price sheets I get a hold of.
 
We paid a visit to Decada and the pricing has not changed.

Residence 1 - From $580,000

Residence 2 - From $602,000

Residence 3 - From $628,000

Residence 4 - From $648,000

Effective 2/3/07

My favorite plan was Residence 2. Out of the 4 (Vientos, Bowen, Cortile, Decada), Decada was my favorite. Residence two had a nice open floorplan than flowed from kitched to dining and into the yard. HAHA, not much of a yard, but it's still a nice layout. I definitely like the loft-option in place of the 3rd bedroom.
 
raymond,

i agree with you about the layout with Residence 2. I personally like Residence 4 due to its open air feel with the living room, dining room, and kitchen...but it's nearly $50k more and sits on the backside of the quad residence layouts. If i'm buying a home, i expect to have atleast the front side of my home visible...not hidden behind other units.

I know Decada was slated for about 8-9 phases,but with recent slow down of the market...they did mention that the project may be in hiatus until the market levels or stabilizes...because they don't want to discount the price of the home further. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next 6-12 months... i know many newspaper and economists are predicting OC to be "saved" or unaffected by the recent sub-prime lender issues...but in reality i beg to differ. My buddy got laid off from Argent Mortgage (in irvine) recently and he had nothing to do with sub prime lendings. It's matter of time until people start seeing more layoffs and mild recession in OC...

But going back to Decada, I hope the price drops another 20% ... then i might jump in.
 
I have the following information

Phase 1 (Effective 10/06/2006)

Residence 1 - From $644,233

Residence 2 - From $678,785

Residence 3 - From $702,767

Residence 4 - From $733,646
 
Phase 3A was 9Jun2007:

1 plan 1

1 plan 2

2 plan 3s

2 plan 4s

Prices remained the same from Feb (580, 602, 628, 648). Move in is around Feb 2008. They didn't seem too sure of this.

Phase 3B is 23Jun2007; Plans 1 & 2 only for this release.

I still predict another price cut for them before the end of the year.

SCHB
 
"Anyone have any idea when Plans 3 & 4 will be released again?"

The earliest possiblity is phase 3C, but who knows when. I would guess it either happens in another two weeks (following the recent trend) or many months if they haven't sold through their 1s and 2s.

SCHB
 
Has anyone been to Portola Spring's Decada phase releases lately? If so, what kind of offerings were made? upgrades? financing, etc? Did many prospect buyers attend?
 
I visited Decada two days before the last release (couple of weeks back). No changes. They still insisted sticking to the prices (580, 602, 628, 648). All they offered was a 10k incentive if you financed thro their lender. They were not ready to throw in any upgrades.

I intended to "drive by" on the release day to see the turnout, but unfortunately couldn't go that day. I'm thinking of revisiting them now to see what kind of response they got.
 
Does anyone know where the Decada plans have been duplicated from older communities? Is Mericort and Arborel (Northpark & Turtle Ridge) the same exact units?
 
It depends on each project, but generally yes. IIRC, you must bring your agent/broker with you and sign up on their interest list on your first visit.
 
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