Laguna Altura homes

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Warclaws said:
irvinehomeshopper said:
I would rather live in VOC than living next to an active dump.
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Whats VOC?
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VOC probably meant more of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatile_organic_compound.  They are dangerous chemical that people shouldn't live in.  In Irvine, they are caused by run-off from the old military bases that were in use decades ago.  There is a big VOC plume under the lowland areas of Irvine.  If you were to buy a new home in Irvine, most of the disclosures were have something about it, along the effects of "Don't drink the ground water or you might die or become mutated".
 
irvinehomeowner said:
I'm of the same opinion rkp... but usually an MLS listing is indicative of slow sales.

New homes in the past almost never hit the MLS unless they were already built, was standing inventory and/or the previous buyer fell out of escrow. I believe some of those MLS listings are for homes that are still under construction (only 60 Modena has pictures of the actual home).

I will admit, other than location, I prefer the floorplan of a Cortona 2 for $980k than any Quail Hill Olivos floorplan.
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Cortona 2 starts at $960k and is a 2,719 sf home.

There are not many resales in Quail Hill of the same size.

The listings at QH are usually smaller homes like 2200 sf or less.

 
The Cortona tract at Laguna Altura are mostly bought by the Chinese. You will see many Chinese families there and more so in the future. It makes me wonder if this community in the future will be like "The Country" in Diamond Bar, Ca.
 
snoop never lived in the country.  he bought a house for his mother there.  its a few houses down from a buddy who grew up in the country and he would occasionally see snoop there. 
 
All Cortona homes on Modena tract are "SOLD," according to the sales office map. However, it would take 2 -3 years for full buildout. That's the news from Cortona this weekend.
 
jamboreedude said:
The Cortona tract at Laguna Altura are mostly bought by the Chinese. You will see many Chinese families there and more so in the future. It makes me wonder if this community in the future will be like "The Country" in Diamond Bar, Ca.
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my shilldar beeps again.
 
rkp said:
snoop never lived in the country.  he bought a house for his mother there.  its a few houses down from a buddy who grew up in the country and he would occasionally see snoop there.
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Weird... I saw him all the time there in the Country.  There was always 2 big black guys outside his house in a big van. 
 
Hi Everyone,

I hope this thread isn't dead since the last post was written in April 2012, but I need some advice..

I've been reading this forum for quite some time in the past few weeks, and I appreciate all your thoughts/opinions about Laguna Altura. I'm posting because my parents are about to purchase a San Remo residence as a second/semi-permanent home to live in. We're from the Palos Verdes Estates area, and while I'm not expecting Irvine, and the Laguna Altura community, to be anything like Palos Verdes, do you guys think that purchasing a home in the high 700s for a detached condo is a good investment? What do you project the resale value to be in 5-10 years? I felt that the floorplan in San Remo was actually better than the Las Ventanas of Portola Springs we visited, and I definitely don't want to live near a landfill or prison, as mentioned by posters in other threads.

Also, a lot of posters had mentioned something about stagnant polluted air that persists above the LA community, can anyone elaborate/explain that? Is that an exaggerated/worst-case-scenario? Are there any major CONS to be aware of with regard to the location of the community other than floorplans/layout of the residences?

Thanks in advance for your input!
 
from an investment point of view, wouldnt it be better to buy in quail hill?  i just cant see LA becoming anything great.  it has a good location in that its close to 405 and near many things but its an odd community thats completely isolated. 

how often will your parents be staying there?  will it be rented during the other times?  if the rent is cash flow positive for them, then its really an investment and the possible appreciation would just be a bonus.  if they arent renting it out and hoping to make money 5-10 years from now, its really just a coin toss and closer to speculation than investing. 
 
Sorry, to be clear, they will be staying there full time for the next four years at least. But I guess you are right about it being mostly speculation rather than investment, especially since the entire community hasn't been built out and established yet. The real estate inventory in Quail Hill is fairly low from what they saw and none of the homes available appealed to them much.
 
testanxiety said:
Sorry, to be clear, they will be staying there full time for the next four years at least. But I guess you are right about it being mostly speculation rather than investment, especially since the entire community hasn't been built out and established yet. The real estate inventory in Quail Hill is fairly low from what they saw and none of the homes available appealed to them much.
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How many San Remos homes did they sell in over a year?
Not much, I believe
I wonder why TIC just don't stop selling San Remos and Siena and build new SFRs.
 
Irvine_Dreamer said:
testanxiety said:
Sorry, to be clear, they will be staying there full time for the next four years at least. But I guess you are right about it being mostly speculation rather than investment, especially since the entire community hasn't been built out and established yet. The real estate inventory in Quail Hill is fairly low from what they saw and none of the homes available appealed to them much.
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How many San Remos homes did they sell in over a year?
Not much, I believe
I wonder why TIC just don't stop selling San Remos and Siena and build new SFRs.
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Because TIC is stubborn and the powers that be don't want to admit that they flopped on LA.
 
Renting a San Remo or Sienna at Laguna Altura is going to be extremely difficult.

Check these two rental listings (at $3500/month) that have been on the market for more than 45 days already and no takers, I think:
http://www.realtor.com/realestatean...o_Irvine_CA_92618_M14047-46812?mlslid=S701349
http://www.realtor.com/realestatean...o_Irvine_CA_92618_M16143-66852?mlslid=S704442

Mortgage, HOA payments and property taxes are piling up while the unit stays vacant!  :'(

Good luck to the two owners of the above properties!
 
Irvine_Dreamer said:
testanxiety said:
Sorry, to be clear, they will be staying there full time for the next four years at least. But I guess you are right about it being mostly speculation rather than investment, especially since the entire community hasn't been built out and established yet. The real estate inventory in Quail Hill is fairly low from what they saw and none of the homes available appealed to them much.
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How many San Remos homes did they sell in over a year?
Not much, I believe
I wonder why TIC just don't stop selling San Remos and Siena and build new SFRs.
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The best selling tract is the Cortona

Sienna and San Remo (detached condos) tracts looks the SAME for almost a year since it was originally released. Very little progress week after week, months after months, and year after year.... It's clear these two tracts needs to be abandoned ASAP in favor for more real single-family residences like the Cortona or Toscana.

 
testanxiety said:
Sorry, to be clear, they will be staying there full time for the next four years at least. But I guess you are right about it being mostly speculation rather than investment, especially since the entire community hasn't been built out and established yet. The real estate inventory in Quail Hill is fairly low from what they saw and none of the homes available appealed to them much.
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here is another way to look at it testanxiety....what are you parents interests and does LA meet that?  my parents really enjoy walks these days and like to walk to the grocery store, walk to dry cleaner, etc.  will they enjoy LA?  it has a few recreational amenities and is close to lots of shops and restaurants but none of them are walking distance.
 
I think everyone agrees that the product type they chose for Laguna Altura was incorrect for the topography.

They wanted to make it like an exclusive gated enclave yet chose to put smaller detached condos there. With that type of density, what are they trying to achieve since they also removed the walkability of it by closing off the central area?

Such weird decisions TIC has been making with Laguna Altura... whereas they seem to be much smarter with Stonegate's execution (a smaller SFR product in the pipeline to capture that sub $800k audience).
 
irvinehomeowner said:
I think everyone agrees that the product type they chose for Laguna Altura was incorrect for the topography.

They wanted to make it like an exclusive gated enclave yet chose to put smaller detached condos there. With that type of density, what are they trying to achieve since they also removed the walkability of it by closing off the central area?

Such weird decisions TIC has been making with Laguna Altura... whereas they seem to be much smarter with Stonegate's execution (a smaller SFR product in the pipeline to capture that sub $800k audience).
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i guess the challenge here is understanding how TIC's incorrect decision will affect LA long term.  is the only reason its selling is because its new?  or are people drawn to the community and look of the neighborhood? 

we were drawn to LR because of the floorplans, the way it was laid out, and sense of community they were trying to form.  the downsides of LR were the lack of amenities and proximity to landfill

for LA, same floorplans can be had in woodbury and stonegate, has odd disconnected layout, and basic amenities of park and pool.  no clubhouses, no tennis courts, and nothing you can walk to.  the big pro of LA is location and being south of 405.  will that translate to price appreciation down the road?  my gut says no.  as irvine gets built out, i think village of colombus will be more central being near 405, 5 and 55 so if you are trying to pick the central area with most demand, i dont think it will be LA
 
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