Sort of long story but to summarize my husband and I have been living in Irvine for the past 6 years. We were convinced that we'd be priced out of home ownership in Irvine so we bought a 1bd1bath condo over at Avenue One in 2006 at the absolute peak. =( Six years later and with a toddler and infant, we just closed on our Las Ventanas home with great thanks to USC.
After our first child starting to become more mobile, we quickly felt claustrophobic in our two bedroom apartment (in Woodbury). We almost pulled the trigger on a Carmel home, but we contacted USC and he knocked some sense into us. We quickly built our wishlist and began our search...built after 2000, 4 bd with one downstairs, at least a 3/4 bath downstairs, single-family, laundry upstairs, 2-car attached garage, over 2000sqft, open kitchen, small yard for the kids and a driveway. We started with $1m budget mostly because there aren't that many homes that fit that description in Irvine.
We went thru the following neighborhoods...
Northpark (gated) - we really like but fairly priced homes moved faster than we were willing to take action
Northpark Square - our perception was always we'd rather like in the gated northpark
Northwood - few homes built post 2000, desirable homes moved faster than we were willing to take action
Northwood (2) - we really like this neighborhood, but many of the homes that came onto the market backed jeffrey or trabuco
Quail Hill - lack of the type of single family home in our size, but the larger homes are very nice just not in our price range
Woodbury - We like the neighborhood, but at the time we kept hearing that because it was in the Irvine high school zone and it was one of the neighborhoods that took biggest hit in Irvine
Tustin Ranch - Great homes but homes were built pre-2000 and many needed some updating
After putting in some offers on a few distressed homes that seemed like a "good deal" we found ourselves frustrated with the process and took a few breaks from home shopping along the way. We started looking seriously at the new developments in Portola Spings and Stonegate because of prices there seemed reasonable. We thought about pulling the trigger on Las Colinas, but USC convinced us to wait for Las Ventanas and we are very happy we did.
We had some reservations with the proximity to the toll road, but we waited for a lot a few rows in and a great corner location. Fast forward five months...we are now the proud owner of our Las Ventanas home. YAY!
Thanks to USC for his patience and understanding our home shopping needs and great referrals for our floors and window coverings!
After our first child starting to become more mobile, we quickly felt claustrophobic in our two bedroom apartment (in Woodbury). We almost pulled the trigger on a Carmel home, but we contacted USC and he knocked some sense into us. We quickly built our wishlist and began our search...built after 2000, 4 bd with one downstairs, at least a 3/4 bath downstairs, single-family, laundry upstairs, 2-car attached garage, over 2000sqft, open kitchen, small yard for the kids and a driveway. We started with $1m budget mostly because there aren't that many homes that fit that description in Irvine.
We went thru the following neighborhoods...
Northpark (gated) - we really like but fairly priced homes moved faster than we were willing to take action
Northpark Square - our perception was always we'd rather like in the gated northpark
Northwood - few homes built post 2000, desirable homes moved faster than we were willing to take action
Northwood (2) - we really like this neighborhood, but many of the homes that came onto the market backed jeffrey or trabuco
Quail Hill - lack of the type of single family home in our size, but the larger homes are very nice just not in our price range
Woodbury - We like the neighborhood, but at the time we kept hearing that because it was in the Irvine high school zone and it was one of the neighborhoods that took biggest hit in Irvine
Tustin Ranch - Great homes but homes were built pre-2000 and many needed some updating
After putting in some offers on a few distressed homes that seemed like a "good deal" we found ourselves frustrated with the process and took a few breaks from home shopping along the way. We started looking seriously at the new developments in Portola Spings and Stonegate because of prices there seemed reasonable. We thought about pulling the trigger on Las Colinas, but USC convinced us to wait for Las Ventanas and we are very happy we did.
We had some reservations with the proximity to the toll road, but we waited for a lot a few rows in and a great corner location. Fast forward five months...we are now the proud owner of our Las Ventanas home. YAY!
Thanks to USC for his patience and understanding our home shopping needs and great referrals for our floors and window coverings!