La Cresta at Woodbury

[test]

The brochure is pretty nice.

 

[eyephone]

The brochure is pretty nice.

The ad looks nice, but not for new homes. It looks like an ad for cosmetics.

 

[SamsonSimson]

The brochure is pretty nice.

The ad looks nice, but not for new homes. It looks like an ad for cosmetics.

Can an advertisement get any stuffier?

I guess I'm not Beautiful People(R) so I don't deserve to live in this glorified tract house. 

What's more, the quality of the design is rather lacking; it almost looks like a bad joke/parody.

 

[Arman]

The brochure is pretty nice.

It was a nice big brochure, one of the better brochures on the inside. That said, the cover pic is awful. Show us the homes, or the community, or kids playing or whatever, but I agree, it looks like a fashion ad and turns me off.

 

[socal78]

So, this must be what Irvinehomeshopper was referring to earlier - Asian wives who call all the shots in the relationship. Because it looks like that's exactly who they are attracting. They are reaching the decision maker with no concern for the spineless male purse holder. (His words, not mine.) Pretty smart if you ask me. It absolutely looks like a Dior ad. They call it a "lookbook". That is a term specifically used in fashion. A collection of photos of clothing, styles, models, photos. This ad is for the image-conscious woman who believes if it's expensive it must be good. They will pay for a name regardless of anything else.

Wide-brimmed black hat? Check.
Fingers delicately perched at the neck? Check
Couldn't be any more obvious? Check

 

[Irvinecommuter]

So, this must be what Irvinehomeshopper was referring to earlier - Asian wives who call all the shots in the relationship. Because it looks like that's exactly who they are attracting. They are reaching the decision maker with no concern for the spineless male purse holder. (His words, not mine.) Pretty smart if you ask me. It absolutely looks like a Dior ad. They call it a "lookbook". That is a term specifically used in fashion. A collection of photos of clothing, styles, models, photos. This ad is for the image-conscious woman who believes if it's expensive it must be good. They will pay for a name regardless of anything else.

Wide-brimmed black hat? Check.
Fingers delicately perched at the neck? Check
Could they be any less obvious? Check

Wait...I'm pretty sure that wives call the shots in 95% of the relationships.

 

[socal78]

wives call the shots in 95% of the relationships.

- a quote from Mrs. Irvinecommuter? Uh-oh.

 

[Irvinecommuter]

wives call the shots in 95% of the relationships.

- a quote from Mrs. Irvinecommuter? Uh-oh.

No...just the conclusion reached after informal polls of husbands.

But, not really applicable for Chinese FCBs, many of whom are very rich and very alpha males.  Chauvinism is very much the norm for many rich Asian males.  I wouldn't be surprised if many of the homes bought here are for their mistresses.

 

[qwerty]

And the quitclaim deed the wife has to sign to not be on the title needs to be notarized.

Even if he put the property in the name of a trust wouldn't TIC still require the wife to sign away her right to be on the title?

 

[eyephone]

So, this must be what Irvinehomeshopper was referring to earlier - Asian wives who call all the shots in the relationship. Because it looks like that's exactly who they are attracting. They are reaching the decision maker with no concern for the spineless male purse holder. (His words, not mine.) Pretty smart if you ask me. It absolutely looks like a Dior ad. They call it a "lookbook". That is a term specifically used in fashion. A collection of photos of clothing, styles, models, photos. This ad is for the image-conscious woman who believes if it's expensive it must be good. They will pay for a name regardless of anything else.

Wide-brimmed black hat? Check.
Fingers delicately perched at the neck? Check
Could they be any less obvious? Check

Wait...I'm pretty sure that wives call the shots in 95% of the relationships.

Happy wife - happy life.

 

[jamboreedude]

This actually happened in my neighborhood.  A man and his mistress entered into a purchase agreement on a new home.  However, this moron (no matter how successful or rich he may be) didn't realize that CA is a community property state.  His wife is required to be on the title since he didn't request title of the property in the name of a trust.

So when TIC called up the wife to get her name added to the purchase agreement, she found out about what he had been doing.

Unbelievably the wife stayed with him and they moved into the home since this was at the bottom of the market.  I'm guessing once the 12 month re-sale restriction TIC has on new construction goes away, there will be a for sale sign in the yard to take advantage of the increase in values in the neighborhood since that time and pay for the divorce settlement.

No Quarter, how did you know about this in Laguna Altura? And is the guy a Chinese FCB?

 

[PenguinOrange]

I went to these today, and I didn't feel too impressed with them.  I liked a couple features like the private quarters for the nanny, but in the end they seemed to be priced a bit high.  This place makes the Grove at Lambert Ranch feel like a much better deal.

But aren't you paying for more convenient location? Access to all the Woodbury amenities (which are all built), multiple parks including a nice pool house just next door, shopping center and school nearby. Plus the HOA is much cheaper.

Plus it's moot to really compare w/ Lambert Ranch Grove unless you were on the wait list 6mo ago. They are in final phase so anyone new that wants to get that size, you basically only have this choice so it's priced according to the market.

The designs are interesting, although the one which had the oven in a separate island in the back think would not be practical if you're trying to do multiple things in the kitchen. Cooking something on the stove while trying to monitor the oven could get a little challenging.

 

[test]

Lambert Ranch has the landfill.  La Cresta has The Arbor.  Decisions, decisions....

 

[Coleman]

I went to these today, and I didn't feel too impressed with them.  I liked a couple features like the private quarters for the nanny, but in the end they seemed to be priced a bit high.  This place makes the Grove at Lambert Ranch feel like a much better deal.

But aren't you paying for more convenient location? Access to all the Woodbury amenities (which are all built), multiple parks including a nice pool house just next door, shopping center and school nearby. Plus the HOA is much cheaper.

Plus it's moot to really compare w/ Lambert Ranch Grove unless you were on the wait list 6mo ago. They are in final phase so anyone new that wants to get that size, you basically only have this choice so it's priced according to the market.

The appeal and worth of convenience is always in the mind of the person.  Personally, I wouldn't mind the extra five minute drive from Lambert Ranch to Woodbury TC even if I knew 100% sure that there would never be commercial development closer to Portola Springs/LR.  However, there are some people that feel like LR is in the boonies and too separated from "the action."    Just remember that more convenient today does not mean more convenient tomorrow. 

Don't get my post wrong, I really enjoy Woodbury.  I lived there for a year and really enjoyed it.  The parks, the location, the feel of the neighborhood as my wife and I went on walks, etc were all amazing. 

Actually, I just checked the sq. footage for La Cresta and didn't know they were that large.  I figured the homes were in the low 3,000 sq. ft.  I guess they are more accurately priced when they are 3,600-4,000 sq. ft.

I still like Lambert Ranch, landfill, millions of seagulls, and all.    However, I tend to like areas with elevation changes and curved streets. 

 

[PenguinOrange]

Lambert Ranch has the landfill.  La Cresta has The Arbor.  Decisions, decisions....

The Arbor ain't Skid Row. The low-end is likely around 30k annual, that's affordable housing for a new grade school teacher, fireman or police officer. Not exactly folks I would consider rift raft.

You make it sound like "The Arbor" neighbors will turn into something like "The Purge" and all hell will break loose in Woodbury .

As far as the landfill, well it's a landfill on the other side of the hill. Can't hide that fact. To be fair, you don't really see hundreds of seagulls like a scene from "the birds". In fact the only birds I've seen in the area is a pair of ducks that cools off in the pool.

 

[Funkie]

LR has a cell tower on top of the hill, not desirable....

LR also has very limited community amenities, not sure if the Park is built yet next to the club house. 

Tough call, but La Cresta will prob hold its value better.

 

[rkp]

La Cresta's sales gallery website happens to be publicly accessible:http://lacresta.crateserver.com

Typically these sites arent public or are password protected so most likely will disappear.  The interesting data thats not in the handouts are the lot sizes.  Maybe someone here has the patience to go through all of them and make a list and post. 

We toured La Cresta a couple times and while they were more interesting than Irvine Pacific plans, they didn't appeal to me the way Lambert Ranch plans did.  Plan 1 doesnt have even show a TV downstairs as its clearly a challenge to have one.  The kitchens in all of the plans are spaced out very oddly and don't seem to be very functional for day to day use.  Also, at that price point, you would expect ensuite bathrooms and some of the bedrooms have a shared bathroom.  And as others have mentioned, the fake coffered ceiling was a disappointment. 

I have been in touch with the sales folks as we have an extremely early time stamp and they have sold their first phase to fully non-contingent buyers meaning they can do all cash with no contingencies.  It doesnt mean they cant get loans but their is no loan contingency for those folks. 

 

[homer_simpson]

RKP you moving bud?? Are we no longer going to be neighbors??  :'(

 

[qwerty]

if the MR is based on square footage the MR taxes here are going to be over 10K/year if not higher.

 

[iacrenter]

rkp,

Do you know what the HoA, and Mello Roos are for La Cresta?  It might help to compare that to Lambert Ranch (LR)?

If they are close, I would go with LR, since its surrounded by homes of a similar price point within its own borders.  You may have a hard time re-selling La Cresta for a premium since it has no gate and is immediately adjacent to community with multiple lower price points. While feel is relative to the individual... i would guess that the average person is going to think that they are in a more expensive neighborhood when they enter the LR compound.

Since there is no gate or other geographical border to separate it, its seems that La Cresta is another part of the massive Woodbury development.  To me, this might create confusion for potential future buyers regarding why the homes in that section are significantly more expensive than the homes just a few blocks away.  You live in the home, but you buy the neighborhood.

Lambert Ranch
+Gated
+No Mello Roos
+Community has only single family homes
+Better IUSD schools
-Single pool/park setup
-Farther from shopping center
-Closer to dump

LaCresta
+Multiple HOA ammenities
+Walking distance to shopping
-No gate
-Woodbury surrounded by multiple large rental apartments complexes
-Paying Mello Roos
-Community includes higher density attached products