Luna Park in Great Park Neighborhood

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
There are 750k new condos in Irvine? Maybe for low income, but it's an entire lengthy process within itself. There are also new constructions in other areas as well without MR and a reasonable HOA.

As @irviniteeee mentioned, one needs to evaluate the entire cost of ownership and not only the sale price. Cost of a gardener or any home improvements in Irvine is going to be more than other areas. I wouldn't recommend Irvine as a FTHB. But of course, if you're a trust fund baby or the $$$ isn't yours but your parents, forget what I said lol.
I think they are building low income housing somewhere around GP. The more higher density and cramped neighborhoods they build with "zero lot lines" with no space between the neighbors and barely any backyards the more "low income" it feels!
 
There are 750k new condos in Irvine? Maybe for low income, but it's an entire lengthy process within itself. There are also new constructions in other areas as well without MR and a reasonable HOA.

As @irviniteeee mentioned, one needs to evaluate the entire cost of ownership and not only the sale price. Cost of a gardener or any home improvements in Irvine is going to be more than other areas. I wouldn't recommend Irvine as a FTHB. But of course, if you're a trust fund baby or the $$$ isn't yours but your parents, forget what I said lol.
good to keep in mind, thanks!
 
Hi All,

We are considering purchasing a home in the Luna Park community. However, after reviewing the brochures from these home sellers, I noticed that all the homes fall within the Saddleback School District, which has poor school ratings. Across the road, Irvine schools, which are nearby, have good ratings. I have a five-year-old, and sending him to Rancho, which doesn't have great schools, concerns me.

Why wouldn't the Luna community build a new school, especially since the area is densely populated with young children? Most new home buyers are people in their 30s with very young kids who need good schools, like those in Irvine. I am uncertain about buying in this community. What do you think? Home prices continue to rise.

We also considered buying in Portola Springs, but it is far from business centers, the I-5 and I-405 freeways, and hospitals. After extensive analysis and discussions with friends in Portola Springs, we learned it is isolated and far from shopping centers, requiring a lot of driving even for small necessities like milk. Additionally, I heard it is now overcrowded.

Despite these concerns, we initially chose Portola Springs but ultimately decided on Luna Park. However, the school situation in Luna Park remains a significant serious concern
 
First of all, Luna Park community can't just decide to build a school. It's up to the city of Irvine. Secondly, Portola High School is right there, so you can't just build another high school. Also, building another school means more MR to GP, so there's no way GP residents would allow that.

It's still not clear what the MR situation is for Luna Park vs. other GP communities, but there's just no reason to choose GP over PS. PS is really only an extra 5 min drive to the places you mentioned compared to Luna Park, so I don't know why you would fret about that.
 
@CalBears96 Thank you for your quick reply. Luna Park community residents have to pay $1,000 for Mello-Roos. I can see this on the seller's brochure, and the salespersons said the same. The reason we chose Great Park is because it is close to I-5 and I-405, hospitals, and shopping centers. There is a new shopping center under construction at Great Park Blvd and Ridge Valley. Just across the road, we have Irvine schools, which are nearby.

I'm not sure if anything will change in the future, such as allowing Luna Park community residents to attend Irvine schools or building a new school. Luna Park spans 13 acres. I personally see many first-time homebuyers with young kids trying to buy homes near Great Park, not because they want to use the park, but because it is close to I-5 and I-405, making office commutes easier. Offices have stopped work-from-home policies, so access to I-5 or I-405 is very important. A couple of my friends who live in Portola Springs say their commute is difficult due to the congestion on 133 during office hours, making it difficult and time-consuming to reach I-5 or I-405.

I think if Luna Park gets a new school, the homes in this community will sell like hotcakes. Additionally, the close proximity to Great Park is a significant benefit; it is estimated to be about a 5-minute walk. Great Park is breaking ground to build a library, which is about 1.1 miles from Luna Park.
 
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Well there is no such thing as a perfect home. You can’t have everything and not pay up for what you want. In your case you value education and if that’s the case you might as well pay up the premium or you can live in other areas and send your kid to private.

On a side note, it’s good to know someone else mentions how poorly located PS is.
 
You get what you pay for. Personally I wouldnt buy in Irvine if i cant send my kids to IUSD. Ironically my son picked Beckman HS over our designated HS which is Northwood. Go figure. 😀

Like Sleepy said, buy in other cities and send your kids to private school with saved money.

I would pick PS over GP even if it wasnt for IUSD. It little further out (5-10 min) but it’s more quiet and less dense. Another GP minus is the super high melloo-roos tax. I am not sure if it’s applied to Luna but it’s better double check with someone else other than sale person.
 
No offense to anyone here but if one really values education, it’s a joke that they want to send their kids to a public school. I don’t care how good a public school is they are not going to be better than private.
 
@CalBears96 Thank you for your quick reply. Luna Park community residents have to pay $1,000 for Mello-Roos. I can see this on the seller's brochure, and the salespersons said the same. The reason we chose Great Park is because it is close to I-5 and I-405, hospitals, and shopping centers. There is a new shopping center under construction at Great Park Blvd and Ridge Valley. Just across the road, we have Irvine schools, which are nearby.

I'm not sure if anything will change in the future, such as allowing Luna Park community residents to attend Irvine schools or building a new school. Luna Park spans 13 acres. I personally see many first-time homebuyers with young kids trying to buy homes near Great Park, not because they want to use the park, but because it is close to I-5 and I-405, making office commutes easier. Offices have stopped work-from-home policies, so access to I-5 or I-405 is very important. A couple of my friends who live in Portola Springs say their commute is difficult due to the congestion on 133 during office hours, making it difficult and time-consuming to reach I-5 or I-405.

I think if Luna Park gets a new school, the homes in this community will sell like hotcakes. Additionally, the close proximity to Great Park is a significant benefit; it is estimated to be about a 5-minute walk. Great Park is breaking ground to build a library, which is about 1.1 miles from Luna Park.
$1,000 for MR sounds too little. That's the same as LF. Even taking out the school portion, there's still the GP portion, so I don't think $1,000 for MR is accurate. The rest of GP pays anything from $7,000 to $20,000 because of the park. The rest of Irvine (PS, EW, SG, NW, OH) pay $4,000 for IUSD and other facilities other than the park.

I don't know why congestion on 133 makes it difficult or time-consuming to reach 5 or 405. If you want to go 5 North, then you take Irvine and Jeffrey. Sand Canyon sucks during office hours, so I avoid it. If you want to go 5 South or 405, then you take Irvine to Alton, which is the same as Lunar Park, except for an additional 5 minutes to get to Irvine. I live in PS and I couldn't be happier. Even when we're upgrading from a detached condo to SFR, we still chose to stay in PS. My office is near the Spectrum Costco and the commute is less than 15 minutes, basically Irvine to Alton, just like to go 5.
 
I'm not sure why Portola Springs has allocated some land to shopping centers for basic needs. I cook every day for my kids, and as a woman, I often need to visit nearby necessity stores, including grocery and pharmacy stores, and dry cleaners. It would have been nice if they had a shopping center. I think Portola Springs home values are very inflated and out of our budget. Yes, as many have said, instead of public school, I've now decided to join a private school and stay close to the I-5 and I-405 freeways, as well as hospitals.
 
It seems like private school isnt an issue for the OP. If that’s the case I wouldn’t buy in PS or GP. Instead look at neighboring cities where you can maximize your buying power.
 
Hi All,

We are considering purchasing a home in the Luna Park community. However, after reviewing the brochures from these home sellers, I noticed that all the homes fall within the Saddleback School District, which has poor school ratings. Across the road, Irvine schools, which are nearby, have good ratings. I have a five-year-old, and sending him to Rancho, which doesn't have great schools, concerns me.

Why wouldn't the Luna community build a new school, especially since the area is densely populated with young children? Most new home buyers are people in their 30s with very young kids who need good schools, like those in Irvine. I am uncertain about buying in this community. What do you think? Home prices continue to rise.

We also considered buying in Portola Springs, but it is far from business centers, the I-5 and I-405 freeways, and hospitals. After extensive analysis and discussions with friends in Portola Springs, we learned it is isolated and far from shopping centers, requiring a lot of driving even for small necessities like milk. Additionally, I heard it is now overcrowded.

Despite these concerns, we initially chose Portola Springs but ultimately decided on Luna Park. However, the school situation in Luna Park remains a significant serious concern
Is there a reason you specifically want to be only in Luna Park or PS? Are there any other parts of town you would consider?
 
Is there a reason you specifically want to be only in Luna Park or PS? Are there any other parts of town you would consider?

Reason:
  1. Proximity to Highways: Luna Park is close to both I-5 and I-405. My husband is a software engineer, and he needs to commute to his office, so highway access is essential for us.
  2. Convenient Shopping: Portola Springs is entirely residential with no nearby shopping centers, whereas Luna Park has shopping centers within a mile.
  3. Affordability: Homes in Portola Springs are very pricey and exceed our budget. We feel they are artificially inflated, possibly due to a new school with a good rating.
  4. Traffic Congestion: Portola Springs has become too crowded, and the 133 experiences significant traffic congestion during office hours, making it difficult to navigate. Additionally, there are no nearby exits to alleviate this congestion.
  5. Great Park Access: Last but not least, Luna Park offers easy access to the Great Park, which is a significant advantage for our lifestyle.
 
Reason:
  1. Proximity to Highways: Luna Park is close to both I-5 and I-405. My husband is a software engineer, and he needs to commute to his office, so highway access is essential for us.
  2. Convenient Shopping: Portola Springs is entirely residential with no nearby shopping centers, whereas Luna Park has shopping centers within a mile.
  3. Affordability: Homes in Portola Springs are very pricey and exceed our budget. We feel they are artificially inflated, possibly due to a new school with a good rating.
  4. Traffic Congestion: Portola Springs has become too crowded, and the 133 experiences significant traffic congestion during office hours, making it difficult to navigate. Additionally, there are no nearby exits to alleviate this congestion.
  5. Great Park Access: Last but not least, Luna Park offers easy access to the Great Park, which is a significant advantage for our lifestyle.

Sounds like you have made a great choice. GP definitely needs more buyers with this kind of mentality. Welcome to Irvine 😀.
 
Reason:
  1. Proximity to Highways: Luna Park is close to both I-5 and I-405. My husband is a software engineer, and he needs to commute to his office, so highway access is essential for us.
  2. Convenient Shopping: Portola Springs is entirely residential with no nearby shopping centers, whereas Luna Park has shopping centers within a mile.
  3. Affordability: Homes in Portola Springs are very pricey and exceed our budget. We feel they are artificially inflated, possibly due to a new school with a good rating.
  4. Traffic Congestion: Portola Springs has become too crowded, and the 133 experiences significant traffic congestion during office hours, making it difficult to navigate. Additionally, there are no nearby exits to alleviate this congestion.
  5. Great Park Access: Last but not least, Luna Park offers easy access to the Great Park, which is a significant advantage for our lifestyle.
I still don't understand your point #4. What does 133 have anything to do with PS access to 5 or 405? IIRC, Luna Park is going to be in the area between Irvine and Alton. It takes a bit more than 5 additional minutes to get from PS to get to Irvine and Alton to access 5 or 405. Even an extra 10 minutes won't hurt your husband's commute.

Luna Park will get proximity to shopping center when the shopping center is completed, but right now Luna Park is doesn't have anything within a mile.

PS also gets access to GP, but not as easy as GP residents, perhaps. However, there is a cost for easy access to GP. Around $5000 a year in the form of MR. As I mentioned before, other Irvine communities, such as PS, EW, SG, NW, and OH, pay about $4000 a year for MR. GP residents, however pay anywhere from $7000 to $20000, based on the size of their homes. The smallest condos pay around $7000 while the huge homes in Altair pay upwards $20,000. That's MR alone. Altair homeowners pay around $50,000 a year in property taxes because their homes are assessed at more than $3M.

The only point that I agree with you is that PS is currently artificially inflated by FCB money. I'm just glad that we were able to get our home because Shea was pricing Cielo much more reasonable than New Home Company did with Olivewood. CalPac was kind of in between with Azul.
 
Reason:
  1. Proximity to Highways: Luna Park is close to both I-5 and I-405. My husband is a software engineer, and he needs to commute to his office, so highway access is essential for us.
  2. Convenient Shopping: Portola Springs is entirely residential with no nearby shopping centers, whereas Luna Park has shopping centers within a mile.
  3. Affordability: Homes in Portola Springs are very pricey and exceed our budget. We feel they are artificially inflated, possibly due to a new school with a good rating.
  4. Traffic Congestion: Portola Springs has become too crowded, and the 133 experiences significant traffic congestion during office hours, making it difficult to navigate. Additionally, there are no nearby exits to alleviate this congestion.
  5. Great Park Access: Last but not least, Luna Park offers easy access to the Great Park, which is a significant advantage for our lifestyle.

2) Luna Park is not really close to any shopping centers currently. The closest center would be the one at Bake and Irvine Blvd, but that doesn't have any grocery stores; it has a few food places and a gas station/car wash.
3) Completely understand this part, just bear in mind that GP has really high MR and taxes. I'm sure you've already looked at this, just wanted to reiterate.
4) Luna Park is located near Alton which is a straight shot to the freeways, but keep in mind that both Alton and Bake get congested as well. Once Marine Way is completed, it might make commuting to local places easier as well though.
 
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