Expensive Irvine house vs. cheap move-in-ready Lake Forest house with a noise issue

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buyer74_IHB

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There are two houses that we would like to decide on buying.

One is in Lake Forest with move-in-ready condition, the owner put in 200K (if I take his words for it) to upgrade the house completely. However, the house is located right next to a big street, so noise is a problem. The price is within our affordable range.

The other one is in Irvine Northwood with some minor upgrade needed that will cost us about 10K. It is about 10 years older than the Lake Forest house but about 60K more expensive. There is no noise issue, but with the upgrade and higher listed price, it will cost us about 70K more, which is a bit close to our upper limit.

My questions are,

Which house would you choose?

Is noise a big issue? Do you get used to it once you live there for a while? Would we be able to find a buyer when we try to sell the house later?

Is there a big difference between Irvine and Lake Forest in terms of the school quality?

Thanks
 
First, I would say, "Don't buy now."



With that out of the way, noise is a problem, but you do get used to it. Where you have car noise, you also have air pollution, so you may want to think about the health of you and your family. Also, properties with negatives get beaten down more in downturns, so your property values will have greater volatility.
 
For me, personally, nothing is worse than excess noise and constant traffic. Some people block it out and can tolerate it, but I am not one of those people.
 
[quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1227147249]First, I would say, "Don't buy now."

</blockquote>
Seconded.

<blockquote>

With that out of the way, noise is a problem, but you do get used to it. Where you have car noise, you also have air pollution, so you may want to think about the health of you and your family. Also, properties with negatives get beaten down more in downturns, so your property values will have greater volatility.</blockquote>
I used to think I could get used it... and maybe because I'm older I am more aware of it.



But there is some value in being able to lie down either in the middle of the day or at night and not hear a thing.
 
I am one of those people who can deal with the noise. (I have lived under the swa flight place next to a dog kennel)

The big difference is that I rented. There is no way I would actually buy a house next to that much noise.

That would make the Lake Forest house hard to resale.



Then again Lake Forest home prices have fallen farther then Irvine home prices.

So I would think even tho Irvine is in a better location its price has more to fall then Lake Forest.



Good Luck with your decision.
 
I won't buy now but if I have to it has to be the Irvine home. Location is more important and noise issue is the worst. I don't think I would buy where I'm renting now. Westpark is so noisy at night with the train from Tustin.
 
don't buy now. in a short while, the irvine house will be the same price as the lake forest house is now.





and if you must, then offer 70k under to the irvine owner. they might take it!
 
This is a really interesting question for me because I live in Irvine and my sister lives in Lake Forest-- so I know both areas pretty well- and I will bet that on the surface-- most postings will say "buy Irvine"-- better schools, better location, better resale, they currently live in Irvine, yada yada.



But over the couple years I have followed this board-- I am seeing more "intangibles" being considered now that housing isn't primarily an investment.



Bottom line-- you have to live in this house every day..... so make the decision for YOU first,,,,, and resale later. Who knows, you may love it and live there until you die.



Your neighbors can make or break your happiness in a new house. Before we bought our current house- we sought out the neighbors and talked to them about the neighbor, traffic, etc. You can see if there are other kids there your childrens age- etc. Do the neighborhood kids play out in the front yards, etc. It's not scientific-- but you may find something that sways you.



Go to the local grocery store, dry cleaners, etc. Can you see yourselves there on a weekly basis? Try out your job commute from both locations one morning. Is that freeway onramp a nightmare? If you have kids-- go to the local park and just hang out for an hour. Is it empty? Have teenagers loitering, etc?



Re schools- a school may have a high API score-- but is it a good fit for your kids? If you have kids now-- go and see the schools they would attend at each of the locations. Most principals are happy to give you a tour and explain their philosophies, parent involvement, etc. Yes- Irvine has awesome school scores-- but it isn't everything when you consider that your child spends 7 hours a day there. Parent involvement throughout the school makes a HUGE difference.



Park in front of each house one night with the windows down and just listen to the neighborhood. Is there a garage band two houses down playing? etc.



I know that this is all common sense stuff-- but sometimes in the angst of the decision-- it gets lost.



Good luck with your decision.
 
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