Villages of Columbus - Columbus Grove - Lantana

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<p class="MsoNormal">WOW. This thread has really gone into the toilet. We have people posting about what they "supposedly" make, calling people names and putting them down. I thought this was a pretty mature board until this. JP, I personally appreciate your posts and am sorry that some have decided to unfairly slam you for your perspective. Merry Christmas. </p>

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For some reason I seem to relate JPMorgan to somebody we met at Lantana sales office...



We have been observing the traffic pattern around streets enclosing Lanata development. The street "Sweetshade" where the model homes are will be where the last phase is. Watch the people driving in and out of the Savannah development across the street. everybody seems to be in a hurry and fly through Sweetshade at high speed. Being that this is the only street for Savannah residents use to access Harvard, it's probably only to get worse. I don't think I would feel safe with my kids playing in front of the house...
 
New to this whole forum and even to the housing market...looking for some good advice.

Visited Lantana around the beginning of 2007 if not mistaken and the prices then were out of my range...

So apparently the market will continue to go down I'm told but I need to look for a home as opposed to paying rent.

Model 2 was the one that stood out.

Does anyone know the current rate...and a realistic offer one should make?

Has anyone seen private sellers in Lantana?

Thinking about taking another visit.

Any helpful advice would be appreciated.
 
Regular guy, who told you that you need to "look for a home as opposed to paying rent"? Please spend some time educating yourself because in today's market the phrase "stop throwing your money away on rent" is patently absurd.





You have found a great blog - spend some time reading the Analysis section, for example, before you proceed with the biggest financial move of your life.





And one more thing. Head north on Warner from Harvard, toward the District, and make a left turn on Construction Circle drive. Drive slowly around that circle and consider carefully what you see. Do you really want to raise your family several hundred yards away from the stacks and stacks of garbage being "processed" and cement being manufactured?
 
<p><strong>And one more thing. Head north on Warner from Harvard, toward the District, and make a left turn on Construction Circle drive. Drive slowly around that circle and consider carefully what you see. Do you really want to raise your family several hundred yards away from the stacks and stacks of garbage being "processed" and cement being manufactured?</strong> </p>

<p><a href="http://forums.irvinehousingblog.com/account/12/">irvinesinglemom</a> is absolutely right. If you want to buy in VOC buy in Columbus Square not Columbus Grove.</p>
 
I'd be more concerned about living under high-power lines (most especially with young children). I'd live no closer than 800 meters away.... which places many of the VoC homes in range of those massive power towers running east-west on Harvard. And no, I don't wear a tinfoil hat.
 
is living close to a power line hazardous to your health? or is that a myth like standing in front of the microwave will give you cancer kind of deal?



VOC- is in Tustin thus you will go to school in Tustin vs Columbus grove which is in Irvine and Irvine school district is way better yes?
 
<p>"VOC- is in Tustin thus you will go to school in Tustin vs Columbus grove which is in Irvine and Irvine school district is way better yes? "</p>

<p>In general, yes, the IUSD schools servicing Columbus Grove are much better than the TUSD schools serving Columbus Square.</p>
 
<p>VOC- is in Tustin thus you will go to school in Tustin vs Columbus grove which is in Irvine and Irvine school district is way better yes? "</p>

<p>This is not True I live in VOC - Tustin is part of the IUSD, my kids go to School in Irvine. That is one of the reasons I bought VOC Tustin, since it was in the IUSD</p>
 
Come on people, get it right. VoC is two places, Columbus Square and Columbus Grove. Columbus Square is Tustin city and Tustin schools. CS is by the blimp hangers, primarily off Edinger for now. Columbus Grove is BOTH the city of Irvine, for the section between Barranca and Warner, and the city of Tustin, for the section between Warner and Moffett. Both sections of Columbus Grove are served by Irvine schools. For CG, it matters not if you have an Irvine address (like people who own at Lantana or Alexandria) or a Tustin address (for those that own at Westbourne, Madison, etc.), the schools are all the same.
 
<p>"And one more thing. Head north on Warner from Harvard, toward the District, and make a left turn on Construction Circle drive. Drive slowly around that circle and consider carefully what you see. Do you really want to raise your family several hundred yards away from the stacks and stacks of garbage being "processed" and cement being manufactured?"</p>

<p>Personally, if I had to pick, I'd go for garbage and cement a ways away and avoid the 710 API of Tustin High or the 675 API of Currie Middle School. Why fork out big coin for a nice house in Columbus Square and send your kids to ESOL dominated Tustin schools? Could just buy huge house in Santa Ana for way less money instead and get a similar education with a similar socio-economic peer group in the schools.</p>

<p>That being said, I wouldn't buy in either VoC location, no matter how cheap things got. The mello roos are outrageous at VoC. $6500 per year MRs for houses above 2600sf I believe. That's $1K more than the MRs on a similar sized Woodbury house.</p>
 
The mello roos for VOC are not $6500 per year for homes above 2600SF. I don't know the exact number but I think they're closer to around $5000... not that paying any mello roos is fun.
 
Took a look this weekend.

There are only 5-6 houses left for Lantana.

Unfortunatley the locations are the ones closest to the power lines.

..Thanks for the info on the trash sight...not exactly ideal...
 
<p>If you want to read up on EMF and high-power lines, this resource (from the state of CA) may be a good place to start. <a href="http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ehib/emf/RiskEvaluation/riskeval.html">http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ehib/emf/RiskEvaluation/riskeval.html</a></p>

<p>If you do enough research, you may find inconsistent opinions between state of CA scientists and the EPA. You may also run across a controversial study from Canada. SInce I have a small child and intend a couple more, I spent some time reading everything that I could pull up on Google. Yes, it was a slow day for me. It seems that most scientists have vague concerns about EMFs with the development of a baby (in utero) and with young children.</p>

<p>In the end, I contacted (in writing) the person in charge of EMF research for SoCal Edison with about 6 specific questions. Everything from the actual amount of electricity running through the high-power lines, to "when" were they were going to bury the lines underground. The response? "Can we talk about this over the phone?" As an attorney, I get really suspicious of people that don't want respond to direct questions in writing... it reaks of avoiding future liability. Who knows however, they might get a lot of "crazy's" with tin foil hats calling up or writing all of the time.</p>

<p>Are EMFs actually present? Yes. Are the EMF's bad? I couldn't tell you. I'm the furthest thing from a scientist. But So Cal Edisons seeming discomfort with respond in writing was enough for me.</p>
 
<p>"The mello roos for VOC are not $6500 per year for homes above 2600SF. I don't know the exact number but I think they're closer to around $5000... not that paying any mello roos is fun."</p>

<p>ocbuyer, please review the below and then comment:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1404362">http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1404362</a></p>

<p>30 Water Lily, in VoC, Lantana I believe.</p>

<p>







Parcel No.: 434-411-17





Tax


Type

Description/Service Agency

Phone No.

Tax Rate


(26-253)

Value Base

Amount


(Rate x Value)















A1

BASIC LEVY RATE



1.00000

$1,065,900.00

$10,659.00





A1

METRO WATER D-MWDOC



0.00450

$1,065,900.00

$47.96





A4

IRWD ID#213-1989BOND



0.14093

$545,016.00

$768.09





A4

IRWD ID#113-1989BOND



0.01920

$545,016.00

$104.64





*** SPECIAL ASSESSMENT USER FEES***





BA

MOSQ,FIRE ANT ASSMT

(800)273-5167





$5.14





B3

VECTOR CONTROL CHG

(800)273-5167





$1.92





C7

MWD WATER STDBY CHG

(866)807-6864





$10.08





E0

IRVINE USD-ASMT

(949)250-8300





$0.59





N1

LNDSCP & LTG #1

(866)807-6864





$39.20





R1

MELLO-ROOS R1

(949)955-1500





$6,915.00













Total Tax:

$18,551.62





<a onclick="closewindow();" href="http://tax.ocgov.com/tcweb/tax_details.asp?APN=43441117&TaxYr=2007&CmpRevDte=79929288&RateTRA=26-253&Suffix=00#closew">CLOSE</a>







</p>
 
<p>And ocbuyer, why don't ya go to this link, <a href="http://tax.ocgov.com/tcweb/search_page.asp">http://tax.ocgov.com/tcweb/search_page.asp</a>, and punch in the following addresses:</p>

<p>41 Desert Willow, VoC - Alexandria, 2800sf</p>

<p>16604 Bayberry Road, VoC - Madison, 2700sf</p>

<p>16636 Sonora Road, VoC - Cantara, 3000sf alley garage with no backyard</p>

<p>What do you see for mello roos on these VoC places?</p>
 
Relax guys... so I was off a little. This address, 15213 Covington Street which I believe is in Columbus Square, is less than $6000 for Mello Roos and is over 2800 SF. Not the $6500 originally quoted, but I guess not "around" the $5000 I quoted. I guess it depends on the development. Either way you cut it mello roos is no fun.
 
<p>Covington is Lyon's Astoria development at Columbus Square. The smallest is the 2800sf unit, with MRs of $5900. This a a rear-entry alley unit with no yard so the lot size is pretty small as compared to the home's square footage. I suspect the MRs at Columbus Square at a bit cheaper than at Columbus Grove as there are more units to absorb the construction costs. I just checked some Lennar Westbourne places at VoC and the MRs on some are over $8K per year.</p>

<p>Indeed MRs do suck and they aren't going down even as prices crater... Even if you can pick up a Lantana place for $700K, the full prop tax with MRs will still be close to $15K per year.</p>

<p> </p>
 
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