2BDRM Condos in Irvine

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LJinOC_IHB

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I decided not to renew my lease this month hoping to see pricing come down this Fall. Right now I pay 1940/mo rent in Westpark. I can comfortably do 2000-2100. I see very few 2bdrm condos under 350K. The few that are in that range are tiny with no garages. Maybe I've been spoiled renting. The inventory I like is 400-500K, waayyyyy out of my price range. Should I kiss the dream of owning in Irvine off? Look to perhaps Lake Forest or Portola Hills?
 
i also been looking and i see you can rent in westpark 2bedroom for 1680. san remo apt i think. so if IAC is dropping rent and giving away incentives. therefore you just have to wait and be patient. price will drop. but it will take some time. Plus westpark has been holding up pretty well. I also like westpark alot and i been keeping my eye on the area. If i were you i would sign another new lease in a different complex. this could take 1-2 years. so no worries.
 
If I resigned, they were going to drop my rent to 1740. My real estate agent has been giving me the "pent up demand" speech. Second guessing my decision not to resign, IAC charges $1200 to break the lease.
 
[quote author="LJinOC" date=1213673230]If I resigned, they were going to drop my rent to 1740. My real estate agent has been giving me the "pent up demand" speech. Second guessing my decision not to resign, IAC charges $1200 to break the lease.</blockquote>


1200 bucks? Thats a small price to pay for <I>either</I> potentially saving you thousands upon thousands of dollars in lost equity (if the market continues to crash), or the thousands of dollars you'll save by breaking the lease when you find a great bargain.
 
[quote author="LJinOC" date=1213673230]If I resigned, they were going to drop my rent to 1740. My real estate agent has been giving me the "pent up demand" speech. Second guessing my decision not to resign, IAC charges $1200 to break the lease.</blockquote>


set a date and resign the lease. if you plan to buy a place say 2009 dec. then sign the lease to exp 2-3 months after because it takes time to find a place and open close escrow and clean up that REO that you will buy in the future.



what ever you do.... don't listen to someone as bias as your real estate agent.... ask him/her if it is so good then why aren't all of the real estate agent out there buying and flipping houses? tell them to put their money where their mouth is at.
 
[quote author="25w100k+" date=1213675220][quote author="LJinOC" date=1213673230]If I resigned, they were going to drop my rent to 1740. My real estate agent has been giving me the "pent up demand" speech. Second guessing my decision not to resign, IAC charges $1200 to break the lease.</blockquote>


1200 bucks? Thats a small price to pay for <I>either</I> potentially saving you thousands upon thousands of dollars in lost equity (if the market continues to crash), or the thousands of dollars you'll save by breaking the lease when you find a great bargain.</blockquote>


I see myself staying put for a long while, not worried about the potential short term equity loss. I've been sitting on the sidelines for almost 2 years now. I've got an agent telling me we are at bottom and that there are lots of other "entry level" buyers. No one has the crystal ball here but is Irvine really going to go down that much more?
 
[quote author="LJinOC" date=1213676429][quote author="25w100k+" date=1213675220][quote author="LJinOC" date=1213673230]If I resigned, they were going to drop my rent to 1740. My real estate agent has been giving me the "pent up demand" speech. Second guessing my decision not to resign, IAC charges $1200 to break the lease.</blockquote>


1200 bucks? Thats a small price to pay for <I>either</I> potentially saving you thousands upon thousands of dollars in lost equity (if the market continues to crash), or the thousands of dollars you'll save by breaking the lease when you find a great bargain.</blockquote>


I see myself staying put for a long while, not worried about the potential short term equity loss. I've been sitting on the sidelines for almost 2 years now. I've got an agent telling me we are at bottom and that there are lots of other "entry level" buyers. No one has the crystal ball here but is Irvine really going to go down that much more?</blockquote>


YES..... search the forum to get a better idea.
 
[quote author="jbatzmaru" date=1213677777][quote author="LJinOC" date=1213676429][quote author="25w100k+" date=1213675220][quote author="LJinOC" date=1213673230]If I resigned, they were going to drop my rent to 1740. My real estate agent has been giving me the "pent up demand" speech. Second guessing my decision not to resign, IAC charges $1200 to break the lease.</blockquote>


1200 bucks? Thats a small price to pay for <I>either</I> potentially saving you thousands upon thousands of dollars in lost equity (if the market continues to crash), or the thousands of dollars you'll save by breaking the lease when you find a great bargain.</blockquote>


I see myself staying put for a long while, not worried about the potential short term equity loss. I've been sitting on the sidelines for almost 2 years now. I've got an agent telling me we are at bottom and that there are lots of other "entry level" buyers. No one has the crystal ball here but is Irvine really going to go down that much more?</blockquote>


YES..... search the forum to get a better idea.</blockquote>


Will do, thanks for the sanity check.
 
Back in 2001 in a different but almost as bubbly DC area market I bought a 2 bedroom condo. I sold in March 2007 and it worked out well for me as I sold for more than double what I paid, etc. I come from a financially conservative immigrant family that doesn't believe in renting and generally am inclined to agree.



All this being said I think the only Irvine real estate investment worse than a 2 bedroom condo right now would be a 1 bedroom condo.



Condos are much harder to unload in bad markets. Much much harder. That is probably more true now than historically given the volume of condos built in the past few years in the suburbs. A coworker of mine who worked abroad for about 15 yrs held onto her DC area condo that whole time only to unload it in the late 90s for about break-even. Terrible timing no doubt but after 20 yrs in the red on that investment she finally decided to uncomplicate her life by unloading it.



Unless you can get a condo you would happily live in for 5+ years for a smoking good deal (and not just a smoking good post-2004 deal) in Irvine I wouldn't even consider it.
 
I think that for the past 30 years, people have always prefer to buy SFR over condos. But with the lack land, condos are more acceptable now and for the next 30 years. I agree with everyone who stated that condos were hard to unload in the previous downturns. But I really see condos as becoming very standard products nowadays.
 
Most construction tried the sound attenuation method but I could still hear "_ _ _ _ me harder" through the walls. Mold issues in the shared plumbing wall caused by condensation and no ventilation inside the walls are health risk. The negatives IMO outweigh the lower price incentive. I would go detached condos first before attached.
 
[quote author="bkshopr" date=1213689833]Most construction tried the sound attenuation method but I could still hear "_ _ _ _ me harder" through the walls. Mold issues in the shared plumbing wall caused by condensation and no ventilation inside the walls are health risk. The negatives IMO outweigh the lower price incentive. I would go detached condos first before attached.</blockquote>
Hmm...."Kick me harder"? Hahaha! :lol:
 
What do people think about the Portola Springs Paloma detached condo, Plan 1X (the single story 1700 sf detached 2br/2ba condo) and the other plans (all duplexes). I like both of the Plan 1s, the 1X and the bigger sf Plan 1 with the upstairs master suite (2200 sf 3br/3ba, not detached but a duplex) because both have nice masters on the first level. They are asking $750k for the bigger Plan 1 and $700k for the smaller Plan 2. But there is a resale in Manzanita on 21 Conservancy that originally went for over $900K that is now asking $700k for 2200sf. I drove by and PS is nice and quiet and almost has the feel of a ghost town except for the sound of the cars on the toll roads whistling by.
 
I recently visited the new Plan 1Y, with the bedroom added upstairs. It has some pluses and minuses compared to the original Plan1 and 1X. The pluses are added storage (the coat closet and deep linen closet), the walk-in shower in the new upstairs master (really cool). The minuses: the new upstairs master has a weird footprint...it works with the twin beds as modeled, but there is no way you could have a king or even queen sized bed in there.
 
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