Mendocino and Saragota in Stonegate

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TIC is as cheap as it can get, except when they set the home prices or charge design options. Sunday is out of question; for for Saturday the food is probably First Class Pizza with Cheese topping.

USCTrojanCPA said:
Will there be food both on Saturday and Sunday?
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Pizza is probably a better idea, hate waiting in line for food trucks... Here's a tip, go thru the models in reverse (tour the furthest one first), that way you're going against the crowd and won't see the same annoying kid in each house after house after house..
 
ps9 said:
Pizza is probably a better idea, hate waiting in line for food trucks... Here's a tip, go thru the models in reverse (tour the furthest one first), that way you're going against the crowd and won't see the same annoying kid in each house after house after house..
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so true.
 
ps9 said:
Any pics?  Probably can't make it today, babysitting my painters today until they're done...

Price sheets?
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Saratoga
Res One 4 bed/3 bath 1907 sq feet base starts at = 665k
Res Two 4 bed/4 bath 2181 sq feet base starts at = 705k
Res Two X 4 bed/4 bath 2181 sq feet base starts at = 710k

Mendocino Phase One
Res One 3 bed, loft 2.5 bath 2221 sq feet base starts at = 786k
Res Two 4 bed/3 bath 2391 sq feet base starts at = 819k
Res Two-X 4 bed/3 bath 2452 sq feet base starts at = 839k
Res Three 4 bed/4 bath 2441 sq feet base starts at = 838k

We previewed all of the models and were disappointed. Saratoga only had 2 models open. Both entryways felt cramped the moment we walked into the house. Felt small inside as well. Upstairs felt very narrow. In one of the models they enclosed the california room and knocked out the wall separating the living room so it created more interior square footage but it still felt like a townhome, not a house. Mendocino had 3 models open. In one of them, there was no den as you entered the house, a dealbreaker for us. Again, the entryway felt cramped and we did not like that the big balcony was off of the small bedroom, that feature should be reserved for the master bedroom...it felt wrong. We also did not like that most of the models had the master walk in closet inside the master bathroom, I prefer the walk in closet away from the shower/bath area so as to prevent dampness. One of the models had a hardwood floor in the master bathroom which really surprised me, I do not want wood flooring in my bathroom.  Sage in portola springs seems even more impressive to me now that I've seen these, the Sage floorplans are smaller square footage yet the houses feel twice as big and spacious as the models I saw today. I can't believe they are asking for 700-800k + for Mendocino, with those floorplans. We have scratched these both off our consideration list. (sorry, no pics...was too crazy in there).
 
My wife and I  walked into plan 3 and 2 and walked out.  The layout for the sqftage felt so cramped.  Only thing we enjoyed was the free cookie we got.


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ps9 said:
Pizza is probably a better idea, hate waiting in line for food trucks... Here's a tip, go thru the models in reverse (tour the furthest one first), that way you're going against the crowd and won't see the same annoying kid in each house after house after house..
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Doh!  Cookies and drinks at Medocino & First Class Cheese Pizza and drinks at Saratoga.  Should have checked here first.  I did the tour in order and saw the same annoying kids house after house.
 
Here are my thoughts.  Despite telling them that I am only here to look around, they went into "sales mode" spewing facts about the community and the models: 

"Wow, we are really excited to have this map of the Mendocino."
"Great time to buy a house."
"Sign our buyers list now."
"We have already sold and reserved some lots."

The magic words to stop them are:  "Oh, I bought a place already, San Mateo."

The ideal customer for these are houses are rich Asians that are skinny.  I am convinced that is the focus group TIC used for these 2 projects.  Looks like IP took pieces of each project in Stonegate, shuffled them around and Mendocino was born.  Each model is designed with the intent selling you options/upgrades at their famous Design Center.

Mendocino Residence 1 = Why would you put a Balcony in Bedroom 3?  Did your focus group tell you that's the best place?  Feng Shui?  Or just thrown in randomly.  Why not put the balcony in the Master Bedroom?  Most likely this room is reserved for another adult or a teenager.  I don't see putting a young kid in here very practical.  Master bath also designed in a way to shake you down for backsplash upgrades.

Mendocino Residence 2 = Again, what is with the mini balcony in Bedroom 3?  Why are you so opposed to making the master bedroom so grand?  I guess this is the room you put your teenage daughter in.  During nights, she can sneak boys into the room via the balcony.  Great job!

Mendocino Residence 3 = The inspiration behind the driveway is "all grown up."  You take a motor court home and think, "what if this house ran away from the other motor court homes, what would the driveway look like one this house grows up?  The model of this house has a butler station in the kitchen.  Everything looks thrown together.  4 baths = $$$$$$ for the design center.  4 bed and 4 baths, perfect for 2-3 families to live here.

Saratoga Residence 1 = I actually like the front courtyard.  Was this the one with the desk station upstairs?  Or the ping pong table in the garage?  Did the master bath have some weird cabinet between the sinks?  Must be an inside joke with IP designers.  Let's put random stuff together and see if it will sell.

Saratoga Residence 2 = Blah!  What's with the storage space behind the stairs.  I don't think my head could fit between the storage space under the stairs.  Who was this space built for?  Someone skinny and short?  Make sure you plunk down some $$$$ for their options "TECH" area along the stairs on the 2nd floor.  Non-Urgo desks.  If you don't get the upgrade, this area is wasted space.

Makes me happy that I just settled for Motor Court bliss at San Mateo.  These homes are beautiful and if price wasn't an issue, I would rather have any of these than San Mateo.  Looks like they will be successful with these 2 projects due to lack of inventory in Irvine.

What I noticed is that all the cabinet fixtures are put on straight as opposed to the one in my San Mateo house.  Some of the kitchen cabinets had "white tape" in areas where the contractors cut off too much.
 
No cookies by the time we got there.

It was still crowded at 4pm... FCBs abound!

We liked Plan 1 and Plan 2 the best... but so little for so much... master closets are tiny.

It was hot up there... reminding why I like southern Irvine more.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
No cookies by the time we got there.

It was still crowded at 4pm... FCBs abound!

We liked Plan 1 and Plan 2 the best... but so little for so much... master closets are tiny.

It was hot up there... reminding why I like southern Irvine more.
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Sorry about that, was I suppose to take only 1?  I got 6.  I got there around 2pm, it was really slow.  They must had panicked that the crowd was dying down only to resurge later in the afternoon and handed me 2 at a time.
 
What's with people bringing cameras and posing in ways like they own the home? 3 couples asked me to take pictures of them sitting on the couch or on the bed.... Is this a TIC porno or something? Ugh..



 
It's funny how the side enter garage in Plan 3 made it look like you should use the garage for anything but parking your cars in it. There was a ping-pong table on display with bar chairs set up around it.
 
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