Woodbury - Stonetree Manor

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
We live in ST plan 2 which we purchased in Apr 2006. We believe that our assessed tax value is higher that what it

should be and are looking for facts to support our case. Ideally we would love to get new home sales prices for

ST and STM in the period Oct 2006 through Mar 2007. However we can also take a set of street addresses

(e.g. phase X,Y,Z,etc.) to the county office and obtain public records.



We would appreciate any help our community friends can offer in this regard.
 
goedel, your best bet is to go to the county office and bring all the address. It is very easy to do. Don't go to the santa ana office. They have a new office on El Toro by I-5. New, clean, and many terminals. And not very crowed. People working there are nicer too.



Good luck.
 
A friend of mine recently told me they sold all the models already for Stone Tree in Woodbury. Has anyone else heard if that is true? Something about the new owners leasing it back to the company until they finish their last phase. I guess the builders figure they can get a better price in the market for the models this year versus in 2009 or whenever they close out. The company must be paying the buyers a premium on rent or added some incentives for the purchase. I certainly wouldn't want to buy a house and have to wait 1+ years to move in after starting to pay for a mortgage.
 
In Northern CA builders are selling off the models and terminating the entire line. The remaining lots are being redesigned for a better product at a cheaper price. The homeowners who bought the "apple" products will not be able to compared their home price to a brand new "Orange" product. At the end everyone would be happy.





[quote author="IACRenter" date=1211253429]A friend of mine recently told me they sold all the models already for Stone Tree in Woodbury. Has anyone else heard if that is true? Something about the new owners leasing it back to the company until they finish their last phase. I guess the builders figure they can get a better price in the market for the models this year versus in 2009 or whenever they close out. The company must be paying the buyers a premium on rent or added some incentives for the purchase. I certainly wouldn't want to buy a house and have to wait 1+ years to move in after starting to pay for a mortgage.</blockquote>
 
IAC, I was just there a week ago. They are still open and selling for the next phase. They don't have any standing inventory, which is good for them. BUT, the prices are still at 2005 levels. They ain't selling. Knock it down 2 years and they could sell every lot they had.





btw, Even at 2003 prices I would still find a better house. Kind of cheapy. The AC rattles the whole house, and the lights dim.
 
<blockquote>IAC, I was just there a week ago. They are still open and selling for the next phase. They don?t have any standing inventory, which is good for them.</blockquote>


I should have been more clear. I meant they sold the 3 model homes facing the park, not their entire inventory. I think they have a couple phases left before finishing up. Usually they wait till the end to sell the models.
 
A lot of the models are sold for most projects. Investors bought them early on expecting prices to increase. Hence, they could sell for a profit when the project close without having to hold on the house for too long. Too bad that didn't work out for them!
 
oh, i also have to add that they have about 26 lots left. The way they are selling at that inflated price, that might be a 3 year supply. :) Irvine ranch better do something to lower land/lot prices or this project will close too.
 
Pricing from last week:



Plan 1: From 705,880

Plan 2: From 770,880

Plan 3: From 795,880





I think the 8's are for the asians. ;)





The next phase is next to the small park and across from the elementary. That should help them sell.
 
You can always tell a JLH project from the pricing...the prices always end in 880. Four Quartets -- also in Woodbury -- is using the same strategy.



The Chinese hypothesis is a good one...also, the psychology of the number: 880 is just far enough from 1000 that most people won't make the automatic leap. Pricing ending in 999 is for suckers! ;-)
 
First Time/First Time......Just stumbled across this blog today and it's a great read. My wife and I are seriously considering purchasing a STM plan 1. There are currently none for sale at this moment, but we have filled out the necessary paperwork, to get on the interest list. I have a hunch, that list isn't very long as it stands today. OakCreek, your posts have been great and hugely helpful, so thank you for spending the time to share your thoughts.



A few questions.....

Are the mello-roos tax deductable and do you find that the association keeps up the common areas as well as should be done, for the HOA's?

Do you guys find that traffic in the area is at an acceptable level? We are currently interested in a lot on Revival, right across from the school and are a little worried about cross traffic, from the town center.



Last and not least, to make a very complicated question, very simple and dumbed down, if you had to do it all over again, would you buy at STM?



Thank you all for your time and I look forward to continuing to read the blog.
 
OSUJay:



1. No, Mello-roos are not deductible.



2. The association does a very good job keeping up with appearances. They're very quick (<24 hours) in replacing dead plants, etc. The management is also very quick with improvement applications.



3. Traffic isn't bad, but my neighbor's BMW M5 is obnoxious (modified exhaust is VERY loud...)



4. I would buy again at STM...the home is perfect for us, and we plan to stay there a long time.



One more thing, so far as I can tell, I can't feel any vibration from our A/C unit...and it works VERY well. Then again, I think the Plan 3 models use a different (bigger) A/C units...



Kev
 
[quote author="PadreBrian" date=1211254548]IAC, I was just there a week ago. They are still open and selling for the next phase. They don't have any standing inventory, which is good for them. BUT, the prices are still at 2005 levels. They ain't selling. Knock it down 2 years and they could sell every lot they had.





btw, Even at 2003 prices I would still find a better house. Kind of cheapy. The AC rattles the whole house, and the lights dim.</blockquote>


PadreBrian:



I haven't noticed our A/C rattling the whole house, or the lights dimming. The exception is when my wife has her hair dryer, the TV, and the iron on at the same time. Because she does this in the bedroom (not the bathroom), it's probably a bit much for the circuit to handle. Otherwise, I haven't noticed the lights dimming at all.



Which model have you noticed this at?



FWIW, our experience with our home (it's in the later phase of STM) is actually a surprising level of quality...good noise insulation, very good energy efficiency, thick walls, solid doors, Cat-5e all over the house (Gigabit ethernet!), etc.



-OCR
 
[quote author="PadreBrian" date=1211281771]Pricing from last week:



Plan 1: From 705,880

Plan 2: From 770,880

Plan 3: From 795,880



The next phase is next to the small park and across from the elementary. That should help them sell.</blockquote>


In November 2006 I almost bought a plan three for 952K. Wow. I'd be looking at a 150K loss in equity... all of that saving up a 20% down would have flown out the door in a mere year and a half. Thankfully providence intervened and I can blog with IHB today - and not feel the sting of the price reductions.



So does this mean that the IAC gave them land pricing concessions? It seems that any property would not have 150K of profit built into it... or maybe it does?
 
IAC is a subset of TIC. IAC is the apartment entity and not the home development. However, both will take your money!



[quote author="GrewUpInIrvine" date=1213162834][quote author="PadreBrian" date=1211281771]Pricing from last week:



Plan 1: From 705,880

Plan 2: From 770,880

Plan 3: From 795,880



The next phase is next to the small park and across from the elementary. That should help them sell.</blockquote>


In November 2006 I almost bought a plan three for 952K. Wow. I'd be looking at a 150K loss in equity... all of that saving up a 20% down would have flown out the door in a mere year and a half. Thankfully providence intervened and I can blog with IHB today - and not feel the sting of the price reductions.



So does this mean that the IAC gave them land pricing concessions? It seems that any property would not have 150K of profit built into it... or maybe it does?</blockquote>
 
Oak, This is Good news it doesn't happen in your house...it means that the builder is specifying better breaker box and bigger gauge wires to the AC. Most models are the first houses to be built in a project and you'll see the stuff that hasn't been worked out, rear it's head. Thanks for update.
 
[quote author="osujay" date=1211942998]First Time/First Time......Just stumbled across this blog today and it's a great read. My wife and I are seriously considering purchasing a STM plan 1. There are currently none for sale at this moment, but we have filled out the necessary paperwork, to get on the interest list. I have a hunch, that list isn't very long as it stands today. OakCreek, your posts have been great and hugely helpful, so thank you for spending the time to share your thoughts.



A few questions.....

Are the mello-roos tax deductable and do you find that the association keeps up the common areas as well as should be done, for the HOA's?

Do you guys find that traffic in the area is at an acceptable level? We are currently interested in a lot on Revival, right across from the school and are a little worried about cross traffic, from the town center.



Last and not least, to make a very complicated question, very simple and dumbed down, if you had to do it all over again, would you buy at STM?



Thank you all for your time and I look forward to continuing to read the blog.</blockquote>


After I look up other forum, I found the following:



"Local benefit taxes are deductible only if they are for maintenance, repair, or interest charges related to those benefits. If only a part of the taxes is for maintenance, repair, or interest, you must be able to show the amount of that part to claim the deduction. If you cannot determine what part of the tax is for maintenance, repair, or interest, none of it is deductible."

However, "most MR are for school and road bonds, principal and interest. So you can deduct interest for the road, maybe even the schools."



Thus, I bet 99% of MR deductible.
 
[quote author="bkshopr" date=1213163043]IAC is a subset of TIC. IAC is the apartment entity and not the home development. However, both will take your money!



[quote author="GrewUpInIrvine" date=1213162834][quote author="PadreBrian" date=1211281771]Pricing from last week:



Plan 1: From 705,880

Plan 2: From 770,880

Plan 3: From 795,880



The next phase is next to the small park and across from the elementary. That should help them sell.</blockquote>


In November 2006 I almost bought a plan three for 952K. Wow. I'd be looking at a 150K loss in equity... all of that saving up a 20% down would have flown out the door in a mere year and a half. Thankfully providence intervened and I can blog with IHB today - and not feel the sting of the price reductions.



So does this mean that the IAC gave them land pricing concessions? It seems that any property would not have 150K of profit built into it... or maybe it does?</blockquote></blockquote>


Oops. I meant to say TIC. Same questions though.
 
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