Observations from the front lines of the Irvine housing market?

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Gasman needs to worry about greenwood not beacon park. I'm sure there will be some people looking at both locations but greenwood will be direct competition. And we know how strong the new smell is.
 
qwerty said:
Gasman needs to worry about greenwood not beacon park. I'm sure there will be some people looking at both locations but greenwood will be direct competition. And we know how strong the new smell is.
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I'm not worried about BP at all.  Definitely worried about Greenwood.
 
gasman, both of my friend's home were/are listed in CS.  One just sold and one is pending.  I remember you mentioned you live on the same street as them.  That's where both my friends are and they are trying to get the hell out before Greenwood comes out and also because Edinger is like a freeway lol.

Have you moved out yet?
 
gasman said:
qwerty said:
Gasman needs to worry about greenwood not beacon park. I'm sure there will be some people looking at both locations but greenwood will be direct competition. And we know how strong the new smell is.
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I'm not worried about BP at all.  Definitely worried about Greenwood.
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Thats a different story if you live in Columbus Square.
 
FARMMMMMIE said:
gasman, both of my friend's home were/are listed in CS.  One just sold and one is pending.  I remember you mentioned you live on the same street as them.  That's where both my friends are and they are trying to get the hell out before Greenwood comes out and also because Edinger is like a freeway lol.

Have you moved out yet?
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Workin' on it. :)  There's been an increased rate of activity in CS of late.  Lots of listings across the board, and it's been predictable.  Homes that are priced to sell go quickly (my neighbor's went within 4 days, above asking).  Homes that are priced high are sitting stale.  I've been seeing an uptick in the number of homes in escrow of late.

On a side note, Edinger is the bane of my existence.
 
My buddies home has an alleyway/motorcourt between his home and edinger and it sounds like a freeway... I can also feel the train rumble past! 
 
I went to the models today over at greenwood. The noise from jamboree is most noticeable from the elevated portion of jamborees by the warner exit. Just background noise, noticeable but not too bad. I'm sure u won't be able hear it from inside the house. I wouldn't want to back to edinger or jamboree though

Gasman - sounds like your not considering legacy but the interior even though jambo is nearby would be much better than backing to edinger. And u can take advantage of the playground at the low income apartments. They have the best play area for kids I have seen at any new development. Go figure
 
qwerty said:
I went to the models today over at greenwood. The noise from jamboree is most noticeable from the elevated portion of jamborees by the warner exit. Just background noise, noticeable but not too bad. I'm sure u won't be able hear it from inside the house. I wouldn't want to back to edinger or jamboree though

Gasman - sounds like your not considering legacy but the interior even though jambo is nearby would be much better than backing to edinger. And u can take advantage of the playground at the low income apartments. They have the best play area for kids I have seen at any new development. Go figure
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Agreed, that playground is pretty awesome.  Except in the summer...can't imagine all that steel tubing is going to be very friendly for kids in shorts and tank tops.  :o

I really tried to justify Greenwood, but just can't do it.  Quite frankly, I've lost faith in the Legacy developers.  Everything from TUSD's mishandling of Heritage, the amount of wasted time talking to the Angels organization, proximity to Jamboree, and the sheer uncertainty of what the site plan is (linear park? what linear park?)...the rewards simply don't stack up against the risks IMHO.  Sorry if I'm coming off as a bad pill, but we've really thought long and hard about Greenwood, and having lived in CS for the last 7 years, we just can't do it.

Don't worry though, our daughters will still be BFFs... :)
 
FARMMMMMIE said:
My buddies home has an alleyway/motorcourt between his home and edinger and it sounds like a freeway... I can also feel the train rumble past!
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Yes it does sounds like a freeway.  Come over on a weekend late night, and you'll be treated to drag racing reminiscent of San Diego in the 90's. :)  I've put in commercial sound proofing in my entire 2nd floor, so the noise level isn't a big deal.  We've been able to cut down the db levels by about 40%, and the windows are the weak link at this point.

The train...can't do anything about that one.  Especially the freighters at 3am. :)  Built-in massage bed, anyone?  Or earthquake false alarm...take your pick. :)
 
gasman said:
Don't worry though, our daughters will still be BFFs... :)
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That's all that matters :-)

Yeah not having the neighborhood school kind of sucks. Although by the time they are ready for kinder it should be open (I hope). Yeah everything seems to take longer, I thought they would be building the shopping center on edinger/Kensington by now. Then the hangars are an eyesore. Maybe someone will accidently set them on fire :-)
 
qwerty said:
That's all that matters :-)

Yeah not having the neighborhood school kind of sucks. Although by the time they are ready for kinder it should be open (I hope). Yeah everything seems to take longer, I thought they would be building the shopping center on edinger/Kensington by now. Then the hangars are an eyesore. Maybe someone will accidently set them on fire :-)
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:)

Edinger/Kensington is a classic example of the mishaps in this area.  Sure, you can blame the recession for a lot of things, but I feel that this area has been neglected far longer than it should have.  The Veteran's Park on Valencia should be nice also, but comes too little, too late. :(  I will be surprised if Heritage opens for K-8 by 2018.  Hillview Continuation School (rated 3/10 on Redfin) FTW.

You're gonna have to get used to driving up to Myford Elementary... :)
 
gasman said:
qwerty said:
That's all that matters :-)

Yeah not having the neighborhood school kind of sucks. Although by the time they are ready for kinder it should be open (I hope). Yeah everything seems to take longer, I thought they would be building the shopping center on edinger/Kensington by now. Then the hangars are an eyesore. Maybe someone will accidently set them on fire :-)
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:)

Edinger/Kensington is a classic example of the mishaps in this area.  Sure, you can blame the recession for a lot of things, but I feel that this area has been neglected far longer than it should have.  The Veteran's Park on Valencia should be nice also, but comes too little, too late. :(  I will be surprised if Heritage opens for K-8 by 2018.  Hillview Continuation School (rated 3/10 on Redfin) FTW.

You're gonna have to get used to driving up to Myford Elementary... :)
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I think I'm not going to consider "GW", it may be neglected also.
 
Don't get me started on Lennar changing the senior condos to apartments, and the antics they pulled with the city council & planners to get it fast tracked...

#oldwounds
 
My recent observations have been that the market is very strong and that I doubt there will be any pullback.  There is no reason for there to be a pause.  Nearly all the buyers now are financially able to make payments or buy a house outright unlike during the housing bubble.  IMHO the homes in Santa Ana are asking for crazy WTF prices.  Community, schools, and age of homes all much worse and Irvine isn't that much more per sqft on average. 

You'll find listings like these all over the place:
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Santa-Ana/1414-W-Elder-Ave-92704/home/3534599

You even get a free shopping cart for your backyard.  ;D
 
ps9 said:
@USC, so what's the current market like?  How much inventory?  My Redfin alert has been buzzing, lots of pending sale notifications and even the 100 days+ homes are going into escrow.
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I'll go ahead and update the thread with some quantitative analysis once the March numbers come in.  In general, the market has picked up a bit.  I'm seeing more multiple offers (both on the buy and sell side).  I've also had a handful of buyers who went on the fence come off and become active buyers again.  It may be that people are worrying about rates going up since the Fed is predicted to raise rates this year.  Also, the employment market is picking up along with raises so that may be another reason the market is picking up a bit.  In the past 2-3 months we went from a neutral market to a weak sellers market. 
 
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