Irvine Apartment Rentals

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
Red - one of the problems in Irvine is that you don't have all that much room to "settle for smaller homes." Right now you are going to pay more than half a million bucks for 1000 or so square feet. That is awfully small already!



My call is Fall 2008 for the bulk of the downward movement to materialize.
 
irvinesinglemom - yes I agree that for first-time buyers without equity or high-income, it can be tough to enter Irvine housing market right now. There are more affordable options for new housing like Savannah or San Carlos but I suppose many would quickly point out they aren't worth the price or the rent-to-mortgage ratio dont make sense. So maybe waiting is the best option assuming living outside Irvine is not an option.





Since affordability seems to be the main issue this time around (vs. massive job loss/recession) I think the mortgage rate direection in the next few years can play a big factor for soft-landing scenario. So I still think that there's a good possibility that new home price would stabilize through 2008 and then slowly rising in Irvine.
 
<p>Wow, just looked up my apartment complex, it looks like I might be able to get some concessions. We've been good renters for quite a while. And while it is still dirt cheap to rent (almost 1k difference to buy than to rent), i'm hopefully gonna squeeze out 50 less a month in rent (than what they want).</p>

<p>-bix</p>
 
Red, you just hit on one of my pet peeves. I am neither a first-time home-buyer (first purchased in 1998, sold in 2004, purchased in 2004 and sold in 2005 when I got divorced) nor do I consider myself even close to low income. This is my point. I hate the fact that I can only "afford" a POS when I'm at the stage of my life, career, and education, that I should be able to afford more than that.



Well, maybe if I hadn't needed to split the proceeds from my house in half with my ex, I'd be in a better position! :-)
 
<em>"I hate the fact that I can only "afford" a POS when I'm at the stage of my life, career, and education, that I should be able to afford more than that."</em>





That is why bubbles in real estate are a bad thing. I share that frustration.
 
Me three. The only good thing I can say about my housing situation is that I live in Irvine, so at least the location is good. I'm making more money than ever before and my only debt is a car payment. High FICO, too. Yet I'm "priced out forever."
 
I think majority of buyers these days share the same frustration to some degree, that we deserve more, that it isn't fair people who bought in 2000 can get so much more. But this doesn't mean the housing bubble must burst, and it must burst soon so we can all buy in 2008-9 In Orchard Hills.





Further this housing problem isn't localized in OC, it is happening all over the world. Any desriable place now have the bubble phenomena. In fact I think in other places in the word the housing price is even more out of whack than income. Does it mean that all of them has to burst so we are back to the old fundamental?





Again, I think some of the bubble theory does make a lot of sense but I definetnily do not agree that bubble bursting is best for everyone including us. It really makes me nervous if the housing does crash in 2007. Does it ever make you wonder why we are making more money than ever, why is it relatively easy to find jobs here lately? I think the housing boom has a lot to do with the string job market here, and when it burst what will happen to our jobs? Do we all get to keep the high paying jobs we love and the house will be cheap? Wouldn't that create yet another frenzy buying season with investor left and right start pouring in again?




 
<p><em>I think the housing boom has a lot to do with the string job market here, and when it burst what will happen to our jobs.</em></p>

<p>Fortunately, I work for a medical device company. I probably about as isolated as one can get from the housing implosion. Not totally recession-proof I'm sure, but still pretty far away from the OC Ponzi Finance circlejerk. I've been telling every co-worker who has been thinking of leaving to consider their chosen vertical very carefully. OC has a lot of industry that's tied to the REIC in one way or another.</p>
 
<em>Red: </em>I think you spoke a little too soon. It may be worth the wait. I am certain you have heard by now about New Century and HSBC. Heads will be rolling (if not already) at these companies, and will be at other subprime lenders...Wells Fargo, Countrywide, WAMU. With $800 billion in loans scheduled to reset this year, many will not be able to make the payments. Caught up in realtor's hype, many resort to the "monthly payments" as one would with car payments, forgetting about the "purchase price" fundamental. Don't worry about the $40K a year job...can you pay $1,000 for this $500,000 home? It defies logic, and hopefully, when (not if) the bubble crashes, we all can get back to the basics of buying a home. No longer do we hear about bidding war, or homebuilders pulling the "lottery" tricks out of their hat.
 
Yes, I've been following the news as well. Thanks to you guys of course. I still think we wont know what's going to happen in the market and whether the housing burst is going to be bad everywhere. Maybe the subprime issue hurts Riverside more than OC, or Santa Ana more than Irvine who knows right?





But I do like to see what's going on. Most likely we're going to go ahead and put deposit on a new home soon (although still not sure if I should say which home after seeing what happen to David on La Casella). We're going to find a long escrow window so we might cancel if it looks like sh*t is going to hit the fan. I am not as stubborn as you might think. I do like listening to both sides of argument. But we do have some personal reasons why we need to buy this year.






 
<p>Please take this "expectations" survey... Results will be posted to the forum soon!</p>

<p><a href="http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2265RPA6SQQ">http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2265RPA6SQQ</a> </p>

<p>Just three basic questions to gauge what people are expecting to do if ready to purchase a house now....</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p>crucialtaunt</p>
 
<p>Just got my renewal notice from San Carlo (IAC) --- see my post at the top of this thread. 5% increase for the next 12 months --- which will leave my rent at under $2,400 for a 1,300 sf updated townhome style apartment. I am pleased as this is much better than I was bracing for, and I will definitely be signing on for another 12 months. I might be able to grab a few more sq ft on the private party market --- but I also like the comfort of the fact that IAC will not try to sell my place out from under me, like a pp might. </p>

<p>It seems like a lot of people on here have had poor experiences with IAC --- Maybe we are lucky, but we have been relatively happy with our place --- and are even more pleasantly surprised with the "manageable" rent increase.</p>
 
<p>Ck, Yep, we got ours also, it was a 6.7% increase, and alot more affordable. I'm with the rest of the group here and looking to see what happens at the end of the year. What is really nice is saving the difference between a 3000+ mortgage payment per month as well as what has been saved up. When the time comes we should be able to put 50+% down on a nice little place. Anyways good luck</p>

<p>-bix</p>
 
1300 sq ft! that's great. that's alot of space. i'm going to be renting a 1200 sq ft townhome, 2/2.5 with 2 car garage starting in march. what else is everybody renting out there?
 
Sorry for the late reply. We are currently renting a 1500 sq ft house 3br/2bath for $2550/month. Unfortunately, the location is a bit of a drive from UCI so we would like to move closer after our lease ends this June. Anyone out there have anything for lease near UCI? =)
 
Hi everyone, I am a regular reader of this blog and thanks for sharing all the great info. IAC increased our 1BD rent at Park West by almost 12% to $1500 (750 s.f.). We lived there for two years (still no discount) and they had been increasing our rent by 100 bucks each year, this time even more. So we decided to "upgrade" to Rancho San Joaquin (so we wouldn't have to pay a leasebreak fee) to a 2BD/2BA special offer for $1790. It's 1052 s.f. and is off the golf course. Lovely view and so very quiet unlike horrendous Park West. We decided to pay a lil more and get away from the arrogant Park West staff.
 
<p>back in 2001, IAC said they would offer a "discount" renewal rate if you live in the apartment for more than two years. i wonder if they decided to discontinue this program..damn irvine company!</p>

<p>"The Irvine Company Apartment Communities’ Resident Appreciation Program will automatically apply on the next lease renewal date for all residents of apartment communities owned by The Irvine Company in the cities of Irvine, Tustin and Newport Beach who have lived in their apartment home continuously for two years or more. Those residents will automatically receive a discount from the market rent on their next renewal date. (The market rent is the prevailing rent for a comparable unit in the resident’s apartment community at the time of their lease renewal.) </p>

<p>The amount of discount from the prevailing market rent increases with the length of residency -- starting with a 3 percent discount from market rent for those who have lived in their apartment home for at least two years and increasing 1 percent a year up to a maximum of 6 percent for those who have lived in the same apartment home for five or more years. "</p>

<p><a href="http://www.irvinecompany.com/NewsDetails.asp?release=369">http://www.irvinecompany.com/NewsDetails.asp?release=369</a></p>
 
<p>Thank you mk9 for sending that across... I guess we could have negotiated with PW, but after our car (with a valid resident's parking permit) got towed and someone parked in our covered parking area twice, without moving until the next morning, it was just time to leave... hopefully we'll be able to save and buy a house in couple of years and be free of rent increases:)</p>
 
<p>Is anyone living in or previously lived at Turtle Rock Canyon --- The IAC property off Turtle Rock Drive, across from Canyon Park? With our home buying plans on ice for at least a couple more years and newly found love for the Turtle Rock area (and its great schools), we are considering transfering our current lease over to this property, and hanging out there for a couple of years until things are looking more reasonable. </p>

<p>Since the 3 bed townhome at TR Canyon is measurably more $$ than what we are paying for the same thing at San Carlo Villa, want to see if any of you fine folks have experiences (good or bad) to share before we sign ourselves up for a bigger payment Thanks!</p>
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top