Fresco @ Eastwood Village

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We just completed all stages for the upgrades @Fresco Plan 1. Happy to answer any questions.
For countertop upgrades - IP has prices for different levels of Quartz. We went with Bianco Levanto from AZ Tile. The appearance was grand for this quartz that was priced surprisingly low at Level 3. We visited AZ tile outlet in Anaheim to view the complete quartz slab to make sure we really liked it.

We have always done flooring upgrade with the builder. I comparison shopped and found that I was going to save very little relative to the hardship of tearing up newly installed floor ( easier with carpet but not so with tiles, and the potential damage to cabinets). Builder won't give unfinished floor. IP offers some discount when you do complete flooring upgrade - check with them.  Another thing to note is that you still at the mercy of the outside contractor if you do it after COE, so results could vary depending on who you go with.

1) Do you know if the Bianco Levanto tile works for the 90 degree turn from island counter top --> waterfall, or for perimeter countertop --> backsplash?

I was told that certain types of quartz countertop material with the "marble lines" cannot be used for waterfall or backsplash, because it is too hard to line up the lines from the horizontal piece to the vertical piece...

2) "IP offers some discount when you do complete flooring upgrade" --> How did you get this? What is considered a "complete flooring upgrade" and how much was the discount?

Thank you.

Not sure whether Bianco Lavanto would work for a waterfall style of design for the island. You can look for it on the Arizona tile website.

For a total of 24K flooring, the discount was 2700$ in my case. To get this discount, you have upgrade the flooring throughout the house from the standard offering - All levels and bathroom floors.

Did they just offer you this ~10% discount upfront for whole house flooring upgrade, or is it something you had to ask / push for?

 

[box]

We just completed all stages for the upgrades @Fresco Plan 1. Happy to answer any questions.
For countertop upgrades - IP has prices for different levels of Quartz. We went with Bianco Levanto from AZ Tile. The appearance was grand for this quartz that was priced surprisingly low at Level 3. We visited AZ tile outlet in Anaheim to view the complete quartz slab to make sure we really liked it.

We have always done flooring upgrade with the builder. I comparison shopped and found that I was going to save very little relative to the hardship of tearing up newly installed floor ( easier with carpet but not so with tiles, and the potential damage to cabinets). Builder won't give unfinished floor. IP offers some discount when you do complete flooring upgrade - check with them.  Another thing to note is that you still at the mercy of the outside contractor if you do it after COE, so results could vary depending on who you go with.

1) Do you know if the Bianco Levanto tile works for the 90 degree turn from island counter top --> waterfall, or for perimeter countertop --> backsplash?

I was told that certain types of quartz countertop material with the "marble lines" cannot be used for waterfall or backsplash, because it is too hard to line up the lines from the horizontal piece to the vertical piece...

2) "IP offers some discount when you do complete flooring upgrade" --> How did you get this? What is considered a "complete flooring upgrade" and how much was the discount?

Thank you.

Not sure whether Bianco Lavanto would work for a waterfall style of design for the island. You can look for it on the Arizona tile website.

For a total of 24K flooring, the discount was 2700$ in my case. To get this discount, you have upgrade the flooring throughout the house from the standard offering - All levels and bathroom floors.

My wife wants waterfall countertop for the island also.

Is the $24k before or after the $2700 discount? It's about 10% discount then? Bluffs 2 is bigger than Fresco 1, so it's going to cost me more, probably $30-$35k for flooring. Danimal said it cost him $35k for 1st floor engineered wood on Fresco 3.

Know that going with a waterfall countertop for island will limit your countertop choices slightly. Certain material with patterns (like marble or natural stone looking material with veins, even in quartz) may not be available for waterfall, because they want to be able to line it up at the 90 degree turn so that the lines flow from the horizontal to the vertical surface.

I'm glad they're thinking about when offering the countertop choices as it could look bad if those lines don't line up.

No issue with more solid color countertops.

 

[potsticker]

We just completed all stages for the upgrades @Fresco Plan 1. Happy to answer any questions.
For countertop upgrades - IP has prices for different levels of Quartz. We went with Bianco Levanto from AZ Tile. The appearance was grand for this quartz that was priced surprisingly low at Level 3. We visited AZ tile outlet in Anaheim to view the complete quartz slab to make sure we really liked it.

We have always done flooring upgrade with the builder. I comparison shopped and found that I was going to save very little relative to the hardship of tearing up newly installed floor ( easier with carpet but not so with tiles, and the potential damage to cabinets). Builder won't give unfinished floor. IP offers some discount when you do complete flooring upgrade - check with them.  Another thing to note is that you still at the mercy of the outside contractor if you do it after COE, so results could vary depending on who you go with.

1) Do you know if the Bianco Levanto tile works for the 90 degree turn from island counter top --> waterfall, or for perimeter countertop --> backsplash?

I was told that certain types of quartz countertop material with the "marble lines" cannot be used for waterfall or backsplash, because it is too hard to line up the lines from the horizontal piece to the vertical piece...

2) "IP offers some discount when you do complete flooring upgrade" --> How did you get this? What is considered a "complete flooring upgrade" and how much was the discount?

Thank you.

Not sure whether Bianco Lavanto would work for a waterfall style of design for the island. You can look for it on the Arizona tile website.

For a total of 24K flooring, the discount was 2700$ in my case. To get this discount, you have upgrade the flooring throughout the house from the standard offering - All levels and bathroom floors.

Did they just offer you this ~10% discount upfront for whole house flooring upgrade, or is it something you had to ask / push for?

In my experience, this isn't a discount. It's a credit for unused material. I.e. since you're no longer using standard carpeting and flooring, you get a credit of X back. They only do this for flooring though - not counters or cabinets.

 

[Yousr]

We just completed all stages for the upgrades @Fresco Plan 1. Happy to answer any questions.
For countertop upgrades - IP has prices for different levels of Quartz. We went with Bianco Levanto from AZ Tile. The appearance was grand for this quartz that was priced surprisingly low at Level 3. We visited AZ tile outlet in Anaheim to view the complete quartz slab to make sure we really liked it.

We have always done flooring upgrade with the builder. I comparison shopped and found that I was going to save very little relative to the hardship of tearing up newly installed floor ( easier with carpet but not so with tiles, and the potential damage to cabinets). Builder won't give unfinished floor. IP offers some discount when you do complete flooring upgrade - check with them.  Another thing to note is that you still at the mercy of the outside contractor if you do it after COE, so results could vary depending on who you go with.

1) Do you know if the Bianco Levanto tile works for the 90 degree turn from island counter top --> waterfall, or for perimeter countertop --> backsplash?

I was told that certain types of quartz countertop material with the "marble lines" cannot be used for waterfall or backsplash, because it is too hard to line up the lines from the horizontal piece to the vertical piece...

2) "IP offers some discount when you do complete flooring upgrade" --> How did you get this? What is considered a "complete flooring upgrade" and how much was the discount?

Thank you.

Not sure whether Bianco Lavanto would work for a waterfall style of design for the island. You can look for it on the Arizona tile website.

For a total of 24K flooring, the discount was 2700$ in my case. To get this discount, you have upgrade the flooring throughout the house from the standard offering - All levels and bathroom floors.

Did they just offer you this ~10% discount upfront for whole house flooring upgrade, or is it something you had to ask / push for?

In my experience, this isn't a discount. It's a credit for unused material. I.e. since you're no longer using standard carpeting and flooring, you get a credit of X back. They only do this for flooring though - not counters or cabinets.

No, it is actually a discount. I know because you still get on top of that a credit for unused materials which they tell you how much. And it?s not a 10% discount. It?s $2711 a flat rate discount for floor plan 1 regardless of how much you spend on flooring(probably different for floor plans 2 & 3). And you don?t have to push for it, they tell you about it. It?s an incentive as they want you to upgrade the whole house flooring with them.

 

[sleepy5136]

If builders really want buyers to do flooring with them, they should make the price way more competitive to off market. 2.7k isn?t really much? especially when the labor is significantly less since they don?t need to tear down anything before doing the flooring

 

[CalBears96]

If builders really want buyers to do flooring with them, they should make the price way more competitive to off market. 2.7k isn?t really much? especially when the labor is significantly less since they don?t need to tear down anything before doing the flooring

I agree. Builder saves on labor and materials that are being replaced, so they really should make the pricing more competitive. I mean, there's nothing I would love more than to move in to a turnkey home, but I really don't want to pay twice the price for flooring upgrades, especially when we're talking about tens of thousands, not just a few thousands.

 

[CalBears96]

No, it is actually a discount. I know because you still get on top of that a credit for unused materials which they tell you how much. And it?s not a 10% discount. It?s $2711 a flat rate discount for floor plan 1 regardless of how much you spend on flooring(probably different for floor plans 2 & 3). And you don?t have to push for it, they tell you about it. It?s an incentive as they want you to upgrade the whole house flooring with them.

We just entered contract for Bluffs 2 at PS and waiting for IPDC to contact us for the initial appointment.

All the homes released from phase 25 to 28 already missed the Stage 2 cutoff date on Dec 6th, so we got some Stage 2 pre-selected options that cost us $10k. At least, two of the major upgrades are something that we wanted to do anyway, (1) recessed light package in all bedrooms ($4532) and (2) kitchen cabinet to the ceiling ($2393). There a couple of things that we hope they still let us do, (1) prep kitchen cabinets for built-in fridge and (2) water softener valve.

Stage 3 cutoff is Jan 19th, so we hope to get the appointment soon.

 

[Yousr]

If builders really want buyers to do flooring with them, they should make the price way more competitive to off market. 2.7k isn?t really much? especially when the labor is significantly less since they don?t need to tear down anything before doing the flooring

They ?really? don?t want the buyers to do anything. All they ?really? care about is milking it to the best of their ability, so if they think they can charge you a convenience fee, they will do it. For example, if you want to free up a slot in the kitchen for a built-in mini fridge, that?s less material for them to use but they still charge you $400-500. If you want to change a shower to a bathtub and vice-versa, they will charge you either way regardless of which one costs more.

 

[CalBears96]

If builders really want buyers to do flooring with them, they should make the price way more competitive to off market. 2.7k isn?t really much? especially when the labor is significantly less since they don?t need to tear down anything before doing the flooring

The ?really? don?t want the buyers to do anything. All they ?really? care about it is milking it to the best of their ability, so if they think they can charge you a convenience fee, they will do it. For example, f you want to free up a slot in the kitchen for a built-in the mini fridge, that?s is less material for them to use but they still charge you $400-500. If you want to change a shower to a bathtub and vice-versa, they will charge regardless which one costs more.

I don't disagree with you that the builders are in the business for money. But the examples you gave are a bit different from flooring upgrades. You don't actually have a choice but to pay them to free up a slot for the built-in fridge, so they could easily charge you for it. Same with changing between shower and bathtub. However, for flooring upgrades, you do have a choice to do it after COE.

 

[huuur]

We get on the list for Eastwood and Orchard Hills Fresco since the end of Sep - do you think we will likely get a call any time soon?

Also, if we buy new homes, it seems that one risk is that when we are able to buy the home, the mortgage interest rate might be much higher than now. Any way to solve that?

 

[CalBears96]

We get on the list for Eastwood and Orchard Hills Fresco since the end of Sep - do you think we will likely get a call any time soon?

Also, if we buy new homes, it seems that one risk is that when we are able to buy the home, the mortgage interest rate might be much higher than now. Any way to solve that?

The wait time for Bluffs/Highland is usually 3-4 months. Not sure about EW/OH, but it should be soon, unless you're picky about lots.

You can't do anything about the mortgage rate, but I don't expect it to be much higher than now by June-Aug time frame, at which these homes should be closing, or Apr-June time frame, when you actually lock the rate. The Fed most likely won't start raising rate until June, so I expect Jumbo loan to not be more than 0.25% higher than now.

 

[Sidehussle]

Checked out the fresco sales office past Sunday. 33 sites remaining and I asked how many on the prequal list. agent wouldn't tell me so I played the numbers game - 50? 75? 100?, I asked...she smiled and said over 100 - this is for 33 remaining sites. she said you might get lucky if you get on the prequal list and fed increases interest rates causing the over 100 in front of the line to drop out, hehe.

i asked where all this demand is coming from, LA?  She said bay area...i was shocked. Telework is bringing bay area and silicon valley money to irvine (she said they specifically seek out irvine).  I wish i had bought more before 2021 - sigh...

See what bay area valuations have been last 10 years and that is where irvine is headed. Can't compete with the FANG stock executive who can sell couple hundred options and bid up prices!

 

[CalBears96]

Checked out the fresco sales office past Sunday. 33 sites remaining and I asked how many on the prequal list. agent wouldn't tell me so I played the numbers game - 50? 75? 100?, I asked...she smiled and said over 100 - this is for 33 remaining sites. she said you might get lucky if you get on the prequal list and fed increases interest rates causing the over 100 in front of the line to drop out, hehe.

i asked where all this demand is coming from, LA?  She said bay area...i was shocked. Telework is bringing bay area and silicon valley money to irvine (she said they specifically seek out irvine).  I wish i had bought more before 2021 - sigh...

See what bay area valuations have been last 10 years and that is where irvine is headed. Can't compete with the FANG stock executive who can sell couple hundred options and bid up prices!

There are also people on the waitlist who wait for specific lots, so if you're not picky about lots, you might get lucky. For example, there are people on the Bluffs waitlist who waited since March for plan 2X (view lot), which doesn't show up often. So we kinda got lucky and got our plan 2 after 3 months on the list.

 

[Irvinehomeseeker]

See what bay area valuations have been last 10 years and that is where irvine is headed. Can't compete with the FANG stock executive who can sell couple hundred options and bid up prices!

Doesn't have to be a FAANG executive ... the highly paid engineers have more than enough money to bid up the prices in Irvine. These prices in Irvine are possibly a lot cheaper compared to the homes in Bay Area and for the money they make at tech jobs.

 

[Irvinehomeseeker]

Checked out the fresco sales office past Sunday. 33 sites remaining and I asked how many on the prequal list. agent wouldn't tell me so I played the numbers game - 50? 75? 100?, I asked...she smiled and said over 100 - this is for 33 remaining sites. she said you might get lucky if you get on the prequal list and fed increases interest rates causing the over 100 in front of the line to drop out, hehe.

i asked where all this demand is coming from, LA?  She said bay area...i was shocked. Telework is bringing bay area and silicon valley money to irvine (she said they specifically seek out irvine).  I wish i had bought more before 2021 - sigh...

See what bay area valuations have been last 10 years and that is where irvine is headed. Can't compete with the FANG stock executive who can sell couple hundred options and bid up prices!

There are also people on the waitlist who wait for specific lots, so if you're not picky about lots, you might get lucky. For example, there are people on the Bluffs waitlist who waited since March for plan 2X (view lot), which doesn't show up often. So we kinda got lucky and got our plan 2 after 3 months on the list.

Very true. If you are flexible, you can get sooner than you think. I picked the one that was available when I was ready....if I waited for the specific lot, I would have had to pay 25-50K more in the later phase, and no guarantee I would get called. Also, visit the sales office often to show interest.

 

[CalBears96]

See what bay area valuations have been last 10 years and that is where irvine is headed. Can't compete with the FANG stock executive who can sell couple hundred options and bid up prices!

Doesn't have to be a FAANG executive ... the highly paid engineers have more than enough money to bid up the prices in Irvine. These prices in Irvine are possibly a lot cheaper compared to the homes in Bay Area and for the money they make at tech jobs.

I don't think FAANG executives would be buying in North Irvine.  ;D

 

[Cares]

I have some Bay Area tech buyer clients basically buy in cash with source of funds from selling company stock...

 

[Irvinehomeseeker]

I have some Bay Area tech buyer clients basically buy in cash with source of funds from selling company stock...

so Overseas Chinese buyer cash now replaced with Bay Area Tech buyer cash in Irvine 

 

[The Motor Court Company]

not replaced, but increased demand in the game.
1. We still have overseas Chinese FCB with RMBs
2. Bay Area tech buyers with RSU money
3. Fraudsters with forgiven PPP loan moneyhttps://projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/bailouts/loans/desert-mountain-fine-art-llc-7526287309

native Orange County buyers are having a hard time against these cash buyers.

I have some Bay Area tech buyer clients basically buy in cash with source of funds from selling company stock...

so Overseas Chinese buyer cash now replaced with Bay Area Tech buyer cash in Irvine 

 

[CalBears96]

not replaced, but increased demand in the game.
1. We still have overseas Chinese FCB with RMBs
2. Bay Area tech buyers with RSU money
3. Fraudsters with forgiven PPP loan moneyhttps://projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/bailouts/loans/desert-mountain-fine-art-llc-7526287309

native Orange County buyers are having a hard time against these cash buyers.

Imagine Inland buyer then... :'(