So humor me here... does the general populace agree that Irvine is a good place to buy real estate? That used to be argued often in the past but I rarely see it anymore.
The biggest issue now is price (which was also discussed before) but seems like people just accept that Irvine homes are overpriced and there is no need to talk about it.
Or has everyone just moved to r/Irvine?
Has technology and instant information access (Redfin) made forums like TalkIrvine obsolete?
Some recent posts have been about where they are looking and there are recs outside of Irvine but no one is really adamantly telling them they are making a mistake buying in Irvine (which was more common back in the day).
I just find it weird that my time here is spent more on politics (which I get enough already outside) then actual Irvine real estate. Or even better, what type of features are more desire (is that because almost every Irvine new build is box on box?).
I guess everyone has converted to Insta or TikTok and no one has time to discuss things anymore.
As recent as 15 years ago, I felt that although Irvine was more expensive than surrounding cities, it was still a good buy because the delta wasn't that much over equivalent style cities... but now, it seems just too high for starters and even move-up families. But, I think there is still some value finds in resale. A relative of mine recently spent $1.8m on a 3CGW house in HB (not near the beach), so I looked for similar comps in Irvine. I was surprised that there were 2 for $1.9m and $1.95m. Granted they didn't have downstairs BR but to get that downstair BR took me into the $2.25-$2.5m range.
I looked farther out and there were Lake Forest homes and the around the $1.6m range. Would I still recommend Irvine over those for a difference of $300k?
If you're gonna spend $1.8 on HB (and you're not particularly connected to HB), I would probably recommend Irvine. But if your budget is $1.6m, I would go Lake Forest, $300k is a big stretch.
And I still recommend resale over new because of MRs... it's just harder to find exactly what you want in resale due to lower stock and locations.
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