Move me back to Ladera!!

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ladera1_IHB

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<p>I find it interesting all the Ladera Ranch bashing that goes on this website... Let me tell you my situation...</p>

<p>My wife and I lived in Ladera for 5 years (until the beginning of 07). We always liked lving there, but never thought that it was THE place to live. After all, it is not gated, the houses are pretty much stuck together, and it is losing its newness pretty quickly. So we looked all around, Irvine, Laguna, RSM, MV, and decided on Dove Canyon. BUT... now that we moved out to the prestigious gated community of Dove Canyon, we miss Ladera. The young families all over the place, the newness, and the overall feel of Ladera (hard to explain) just feels like home to us. It may be the whole getting used to it out here, but it's 7 months now, and we are not used to it... (we never felt this way in Ladera). </p>

<p>So now we have this enormous home on the golf course and we cannot wait till our Prepayment penalty is up so we can sell and move back. I guess what my question to some of you is do we stick it out for a few years to let the home prices drop more and then move? or do we rent our home here and buy another in Ladera? or just tell me what you have seen in similar situations. Im sure someone out there has seen someone move somewhere that they dont particulary care for.</p>

<p>By the way, I dont want to hear complaints about the power lines, or roundabouts in Ladera, cuz its really not that bad.</p>

<p>:)</p>
 
Personally, I think Ladera Ranch is a nice master-planned community. It is difficult to implement some of the traditional neighborhood design characteristics on such a hilly site, but they seemed to do a pretty good job of it. The main problem out there is the pricing and the very high HOA fees, but price is the ultimate amenity. In about 2 or 3 years when prices have cut in half from the peak, there will be some bargains to be had out there. Of course some of your neighbors who are seriously underwater might be suicidal, but in time, it will all pass.





Sit tight and wait for the crash to bottom out, you will be able to afford a lot more then.
 
<p>There are really two seperate issues here. 1) Where to live 2) Whether to rent or buy (or sell, in the case of your current home).</p>

<p>First, life is too short to "stick it out" somewhere you are not satisfied. If you like Ladera that much better, move back ASAP.</p>

<p>Second, what makes you think the value of homes in Ladera are going to drop more than the value of homes in Dove Canyon? Whatever your prepayment penalty is, it's likely to be trivial in size compared to how much the market value will drop in the next couple of years. Sell now. Find a nice rental house in Ladera, sign the longest lease you can get, and buy back in once the smoke has cleared.</p>
 
<p>I've heard many of those wonderful young fun families with cute little kids took out HUGE loans which will be resetting at some point. It was like they were all thinking "New homes = new young families = new financial paradigm when purchasing home = turn off brain = cool! sign me up!"</p>

<p>However, the new financial paradigm is now going the way of the dodo and I'm betting a lot of those folks will be moving out. </p>

<p>So, you will probably be lonely out there for a while - until more financially responsible neighbors move in. Such prudent neighbors will be more dull because they are the kind that don't get easily excited about things; don't buy the latest gadget, but wait until the hype dies down and buy it for less later...Just not very fun people.</p>

<p>Wait a second! We can be fun! See you in a few years.</p>
 
<p>I don't think Ladera is all that bad and I can see why young families like the area. What I don't understand is why people like the ridiculous taxes and HOAs. Yeah I can understand paying a premium for a nice community but that is absurd.</p>

<p>Why do you have a prepay? Don't use that lender again if they are still around. But the one good thing is it will keep you waiting and the longer you wait the more foreclosures there will be to choose from. I mean you have looked at foreclosure.com and seen how bad it is there right? Plus I know quite few mortgage guys who have been living rent I mean mortgage free for a while now in Covenant Hills. A lot of the homebuilder's employees bought there too and many of them have been laid off. It's really sad actually but it is the reality. </p>

<p>The power lines are not that bad depending on the location. The roudabouts are cool it is too bad no one up there understands how they bleeping work. It's the drivers not the roundabouts. </p>
 
We moved into Ladera Ranch at the end of 2003. We love the neighborhood, the amentities are great, and you get a real sense of family and community there. The pace is slower, and the people are friendly. The powerlines didn't bother us since we didn't live close to any. The roundabout actually speed up getting of the of neighborhood. I was pretty skeptical at first, but now I'm a believer. Only a few problems for us. Both my wife and I work in Irvine. Our families are in Irvine, and LA area. Therefore, we always have to drive up north. In addition, we are asian and all the good asian food are up north, therefore, a lot of driving to for us. We recently bought a house in Columbus Grove and we are waiting for it to be built. We had some difficulties selling out Ladera Ranch house in this market, therefore, after 3 months, we decided to lease it out. It's a hot leasing market right now, because so many people are waiting out the housing market. Since we bought our house in 2003, we were able to lease our house for break even.





My advice is see what you can lease your current house. I was pleasantly surprise to see how much I could lease out our house. If it's close to covering for itself, then this is definitely an option for you. Think about all the tax deductions you can take on a rental property. If Ladera is where you want to live, you definitely should do it. Life is too short to sit around and not be happy with where you live when you know where you rather live. As for prepayment penalty, try to negotiate with your lender. In this market, the lenders will bend over backward to help you. They definitely don't want another house to be foreclosed on.





Good luck.
 
<p>This morning, I saw 2 deer strolling down the golf course right behind my home. Whenever I see them, I ask myself why would I ever want to live anywhere else?? Where else can you live and see deer in your back yard and then get to the beach in 20-25 minutes? Ladera would never offer that. But I did see a prowler/peeping tom one day on the back slope of our yard in Ladera.... hmm... decisions, decisions. :)</p>

<p>I appreciate all of your comments. I guess I just dont know what I want. What Ive come to the conclusion to is that we fit in more with the Ladera crowd, but like our Dove canyon home better. I am still going to keep an open mind as far as any further comments. I may just stick it out here for 3 years and then move (possibly keeping this house and renting it). The nice thing with my current neighborhood, is that you really dont see any forclosures., or for rents. The homeowners, even the ones that bought last year and the previous year, seem to be able to afford it. </p>

<p>Here's a penny for your thoughts... my model of home was sold in 2004 for $750,000 in 2005 for $1,030,000 and in 2006 for $1,200,000. We bought in Mar 2007 for $899,000 and our home is the MOST upgraded from all the houses on our block . Our neigbors are selling for $1,050,000-$999,000 and will not budge. They have been on the market for 7 months. So I think I am still ahead of the game.... for the time being. </p>
 
<p>Ladera 1 - We live fairly close to you and we love the deer, the roadrunners, the cottontails, the hawks, and even the mountain lions. Well, we haven't actually seen a mountain lion, but we think our bulldog had a tussle with one. We discovered three puncture wounds in his neck. It had to be something with a large jaw, (mouth), because the puncture wounds were on each side of his neck and his neck is huge. Anyways, he is fine and my wife carries an airhorn while walking our daughters to and from the bus stop.</p>

<p>I understand that the DC folks may be a little stand offish, but my guess is that you will end up hanging out with parents of kids who go to school with your children or are involved in the same activites as your children.</p>

<p>I just reread both your posts and there is no indication that you have children. Have kids and you will meet more folks. </p>

<p> </p>
 
<p>awgee, sorry to hear about your bulldog - glad to hear he is OK though. Good idea about the airhorn. I was nervous about hiking and biking in that area with the mountain lions. My husband loves to mountain bike, so I'll be a nervous nelly every time he goes riding in the open space.</p>
 
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