What's going into escrow - Irvine and maybe some Tustin too

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
I think Orange is very rustic. I love the smaller streets and the views of the hills. And there are all those trees.

Irvine is like completely man-made to me - it has no natural attributes. It's like Vegas - a beautifully constructed community in the middle of the desert.

Costa Mesa is great for its urban community - the shops, the malls, the performing arts center, the community college, the highrises, etc.

Huntington Beach has the coast. And it will always have the coast.

Garden Grove is simply a basic place to live. I think most people could start in Garden Grove, but then move elsewhere as they find better opportunities.

Personally, I can enjoy living in any of these cities. But assuming that I will be raising a family within the next 10 years, I would have to choose either Irvine or Huntington.

If kids weren't an issue, Orange would be such a beautiful place to live in. Or maybe living in the South Coast Metro area and walking to the theatres. Or hanging down on Main Street in Huntington.

Personally, Irvine doesn't fit my interest as an adult - it's a bit too suburban. But I can totally see how great of a place it is for kids growing up. And being in Education, I know firsthand that Orange, Costa Mesa, and Garden Grove do not have very good schools.

I can also see a nice condo selling in Irvine for 400K in the next few years. Or perhaps a nice SFR going for 500K.
 
I don't get Huntington Beach. Since the stretch of beach there is flat, it's kinda boring too me. Main Street is nice but that's about it. Laguna Beach is where I want to be (I know it's not a fair comparison since Laguna is pricier).

I was at Wood Cove this morning in Laguna Beach (end of Diamond Street). On the left side of the stairs going down the beach was an 8 million dollar ocean-front home for sale. It was opened so we went in. The view was amazing. The house to the right of the stairs once belonged to Betty Davis. The agent told me it was sold 3 years ago for 13 million. Wood Cove is secluded and beautiful but accessible. Check it out if you have not seen it.
 
52 Eclipes closed yesterday according to the MLS after in escrow for more than 30 days. The list price was $1.525 million. It is my understanding the final price approved by the bank was right around $100K less than the asking. anyone can see the closing price on this one?
 
Spent some time at open houses today...

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1182645

Very nice place. Well kept and decently upgraded. They passed up on an offer of $1.1M before year-end and have had offers in the $1.025-1.05M range recently The realtor expects they will probably go into escrow pretty soon for $1.075M. House is being sold due to a divorce. Backs to an arterial road though, although the pool and backyard were very nice. This place is move-in ready IMO.

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1439439

Had high hopes for this one. Was disappointed. Basically the same floorplan as Wedgewood around the corner without the downstairs office area next to the family room. Place was very basic, as in they probably took builder standard everything. Needs new flooring pretty much everywhere. Upgrades were non-existent. Backyard was 100% concrete with little planting. Probably could be a very good looking house with $100K poured into it. Location near gate is not very good... Probably still a bargin compared to the Wedgewood places though.

Countrywide has an REO in Tustin Field coming on MLS. I believe 1518 Voyager. $899K for 3400sf 6 bed/4 bath. Backs to Edinger though. Place needs a bunch of work inside, all cosmetic variety, but it is huge for $899K. Tustin Field is cratering as a result of REOs.

Talked a West Irvine area realtor I know at another open house, nice 2200sf, built in 2001 for $750K, and he's been seeing lots of would-be buyer traffic. He put the two Easthaven places into escrow a few weeks back, both on multiple offers. He sees an increase in buying for the next couple of months, with prices trending only slightly down, with some bigger price drops come April/May and into the summer as a result of inventory increases. While he is a realtor, he is on the low BS side of the spectrum, and tries to put property on the market at current values.
 
Orange, down in the flats, is largely a walkable city. Because it's older it has a mix of buildings and people from different periods and avoids the sterile feel of much of South county.

Agree - Since I grew up in South OC, that's probably why I'm more attracted to Irvine out of that group. I think I've been programmed to like the sterile feel.

Orange is very interesting because it's got a lot more character that other parts of the county.
 
ipoplaya,

What do you know about 3 Green Hollow? It went back to the bank at the end of November for $909k. I haven't seen it on redfin or zip yet. It looks like it has a decent size yard, since it is shoved in that back corner. Let me know, if you know anything about this property.
 
"What do you know about 3 Green Hollow? It went back to the bank at the end of November for $909k"

I remember seeing the NOD back in the summer when I used to monitor RealtyTrac. That part of NW Pointe is called Bainbridge, looks to be a plan 1 (1900-2300sf typically) based on the satellite photo. It's definitely not on MLS as yet as far as I can tell. REOs in NW Pointe, at least on larger homes, have been pretty rare to date. Most people bought in there quite some time ago and have lots of equity... I'll poke around my local RE contacts and see if anyone knows anything. You looking to buy something in NW Pointe too? Are we going to be neighbors someday!
 
Ha! No, not at all. That is the least of my concerns.

I mean this in the nicest possible way, but it's more because it seems you are shamelessly using IHB to promote and drive traffic to your website by keeping the thread active (which at times means you need to be "controversial") and continuously linking your posts to your site. This would be akin to IR starting a thread and making posts nearly every day to Calculated Risk or Piggington saying "I just profiled a new property in Irvine, come see it: insert IHB weblink." This is only my opinion, which you are welcome to refute, but you won't get another response from me...
 
All true Blue. The site I did and maintain is only for fun (wanted to learn some new stuff in FrontPage) and made public as a service to only people that visit the IHB with the hope that it will at least provide them some useful information to use on their buying decisions. You won't find me posting about it elsewhere, adding Google ads, pimping for advertisers, etc. I don't profit on it and don't intend too... Why should I have shame promoting something useful (or at least entertaining to people like Liz) that is essentially a public service?
 
I don't mind. I like the controversy. It helps to see the rationalizations, data mining, and anecdotal evidence that even the most intelligent people will find to talk themselves into what they want.
 
Holy buying bounce Batman! I found a bunch more escrows. Looks like 10 Irvine properties hitting escrow, just in my search parameters, over the past three days.

Guess the realtors I talked to this weekend weren't lying about lots more buyer traffic of late...
 
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