Our new home (or how we learned to stop worrying and love this market)

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[quote author="garrison" date=1249785139]16 Tesero??



If so, wow...beautiful unobstructed view. I used to live in Oak Creek and am looking for something with an ocean view myself - good thing you didn't overpay for Castlebar, way down in the lowlands ;)



Looks like the previous owner was chasing the market down; good for you for finding something you like and feel comfortable with the price point.



BTW, what are the mello roos in that area?



When all is said and done, would you mind telling us the offer/counter offer history? For those of us on the sidelines it might give us better situational awareness for the market and the overall psychology of the sellers out there.</blockquote>
It was actually a very straight forward negotiation process. We put an offer in on Sunday evening below the list price and negotiated the price with the listing agent on Monday afternoon as he had his sellers on the line while I communicating with Mazy via e-mail. We agreed to split the difference and we were done. As I stated below, we were fortunate to be dealing with a fair and reasonable listing agent unlike some other listings agents (cough...115 Ambiance...cough). I believe that the sellers of the property were motivated to sell it as they already moved up to the Ventura area for a job relocation. Dealing with a good listing agent makes all the difference in the world. As Mazy stated, we purchased the home for the lowest price per sf in all of Newport Coast for an SFR so it wasn't 16 Tesoro. The Mello Roos in that community runs about $2,000-$2,400/yr and total HOA fees around about $280/month.
 
[quote author="tmare" date=1249790592][quote author="SoCal78" date=1249790548][quote author="tmare" date=1249788556]I have to say that you kind of scare me.</blockquote>


What do you mean, tmare? What part is scary? As a current renter, a previous owner, and a future buyer, I feel empowered reading awgee's posts and the only part I find scary is that I (or someone like me) was a homeowner before I knew any of this. Now, that's scary.</blockquote>


Maybe I mean intimidating.</blockquote>


Well, we will just have to meet some day and so you find that I am not intimidating. Quite the opposite and actually a bit boring.

I rarely speak my mind, unless asked, and even then I consider the person's feelings and the consequences. It is my assumption that folks read the blog to get opinions that they may not normally hear. I do. So I speak, (type), my mind.
 
[quote author="awgee" date=1249800660][quote author="tmare" date=1249790592][quote author="SoCal78" date=1249790548][quote author="tmare" date=1249788556]I have to say that you kind of scare me.</blockquote>


What do you mean, tmare? What part is scary? As a current renter, a previous owner, and a future buyer, I feel empowered reading awgee's posts and the only part I find scary is that I (or someone like me) was a homeowner before I knew any of this. Now, that's scary.</blockquote>


Maybe I mean intimidating.</blockquote>


Well, we will just have to meet some day and you find that I am not intimidating. <strong>Quite the opposite and actually a bit boring.</strong>

I rarely speak my mind, unless asked, and even then I consider the person's feelings and the consequences. It is my assumption that folks read the blog to get opinions that they may not normally hear. I do. So I speak, (type), my mind.</blockquote>
Really??? That must mean I'm boring as hell because I could have kept talking to you for hours but didn't wont to waste too much of your weekend time with your family.
 
[quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1249803724][quote author="awgee" date=1249800660][quote author="tmare" date=1249790592][quote author="SoCal78" date=1249790548][quote author="tmare" date=1249788556]I have to say that you kind of scare me.</blockquote>


What do you mean, tmare? What part is scary? As a current renter, a previous owner, and a future buyer, I feel empowered reading awgee's posts and the only part I find scary is that I (or someone like me) was a homeowner before I knew any of this. Now, that's scary.</blockquote>


Maybe I mean intimidating.</blockquote>


Well, we will just have to meet some day and you find that I am not intimidating. <strong>Quite the opposite and actually a bit boring.</strong>

I rarely speak my mind, unless asked, and even then I consider the person's feelings and the consequences. It is my assumption that folks read the blog to get opinions that they may not normally hear. I do. So I speak, (type), my mind.</blockquote>
Really??? That must mean I'm boring as hell because I could have kept talking to you for hours but didn't wont to waste too much of your weekend time with your family.</blockquote>
You are a flatterer and will do well in sales.
 
[quote author="awgee" date=1249805290][quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1249803724][quote author="awgee" date=1249800660][quote author="tmare" date=1249790592]

Maybe I mean intimidating.</blockquote>


Well, we will just have to meet some day and you find that I am not intimidating. <strong>Quite the opposite and actually a bit boring.</strong>

I rarely speak my mind, unless asked, and even then I consider the person's feelings and the consequences. It is my assumption that folks read the blog to get opinions that they may not normally hear. I do. So I speak, (type), my mind.</blockquote>
Really??? That must mean I'm boring as hell because I could have kept talking to you for hours but didn't wont to waste too much of your weekend time with your family.</blockquote>
You are a flatterer and will do well in sales.</blockquote>
I just speak the truth and call'em as I see'em.
 
[quote author="tmare" date=1249790592][quote author="SoCal78" date=1249790548][quote author="tmare" date=1249788556]I have to say that you kind of scare me.</blockquote>


What do you mean, tmare? What part is scary? As a current renter, a previous owner, and a future buyer, I feel empowered reading awgee's posts and the only part I find scary is that I (or someone like me) was a homeowner before I knew any of this. Now, that's scary.</blockquote>


Maybe I mean intimidating.</blockquote>


awgee's a tax geek.



They could never be intimidating!



:)



And congrats Mazy. Hope you enjoy your new home for many many years...
 
[quote author="ipoplaya" date=1249813745][quote author="tmare" date=1249790592][quote author="SoCal78" date=1249790548][quote author="tmare" date=1249788556]I have to say that you kind of scare me.</blockquote>


What do you mean, tmare? What part is scary? As a current renter, a previous owner, and a future buyer, I feel empowered reading awgee's posts and the only part I find scary is that I (or someone like me) was a homeowner before I knew any of this. Now, that's scary.</blockquote>


Maybe I mean intimidating.</blockquote>


awgee's a tax geek.



They could never be intimidating!



:)



And congrats Mazy. Hope you enjoy your new home for many many years...</blockquote>
Only if he is working for the IRS. :P
 
[quote author="SoCal78" date=1249778220]

Congrats, Mazy. You said this is the first time buying in the U.S. So, does this make you a mysterious FCB?? :)</blockquote>


Thanks! FCB?! I wish! Well, I'm not sure if we qualify for the FCB rank. We may be considered "foreigners" as we immigrated to the US a couple of years ago, but we just put like 25% down (and that was our saving during our hospital rotations and residency/fellowship training here), so not as much cash as the legendary FCBs have I guess. On a side note, I think IR should put out an open invitation to the FCBs similar to the one he put for TIC to encourage them to come out of shadow and speak up...
 
FCBs don't use the Internet... much less visit housing forums... they just bust out the cash and buy buy buy!



BTW: When referring to FCBs it's usually assumed they are Chinese or Middle Eastern descent but I see quite a few well-to-do Vietnamese living in the high-end homes in Irvine... must be that nail salon monopoly*.



*PC disclaimer in effect.
 
Congratulations on your purchase. We also have a bedroom above the garage. But we installed a very quiet garage opener. It is a German brand, Marantac. It only costed $300 to replace the motor. It's so quiet now that we can't even hear when the garage door opens and closes. It was money worth spent!
 
[quote author="bkshopr" date=1249865370]Mazy,



Which plan did you buy. The turned garages plan 1 and 2 or the staggered straight in garages plan 3.</blockquote>


Well I checked the MLS data and in turned out that our house was built by Standard Pacific, so I'm afraid we may not be much BK-approved after all. :(



The lots in our neighborhood (Tesoro) are more regular-shaped and the width-to-length ratio is about 1:1.8-2, so not as narrow as lots in neighboring Campobello. Unfortunately, the garage stays in the front, but at least, it doesn't seem to be dominating the front end (and it's occupying less than half of the width), and the entry stays in the middle which we like.



In Iranian culture, the living room is the most important place in a house since it's primarily used to entertain the guests. So although residents spend more time in the family room, you will see living rooms much bigger and better decorated than family rooms in Iran with overkill furniture and curtains, etc. The dining area is usually open and annexed to the living room to be able to use the extra space (and chairs) for a large number of guests. The family room also needed to be large to accommodate the often-large family of the past (I'm talking our grand and grand grand-parent generation), and the least space was left out for the bedrooms. We grew up in such houses, and I guess it was hard-wired in our brains and we were unconsciously attracted more towards the houses with similar plans, as you can see by the other houses in Irvine that I mentioned we approached.



It's funny, since I don't see us ever hosting such a large party to need all the space (except for hosting an IHB block party of course!) but our taste was shaped that way and we really felt uncomfortable in houses with more private spaces. This made our search much more difficult since the houses built since 2000 tend to have more private and secluded rooms (e.g. a rather small living room near the entry and a formal dining room on the other side of the wall or further down the corridor, with courtyards in between which we didn't like at all - I think I've said it before that walking through some properties we saw gave me the impression of navigating through the endless corridors of Wolf3D). Also, many modern houses boast master bedrooms that are much bigger than the family room, and we didn't like that either. Most of the houses we liked were built in the 90s. We also liked the 80?s Landing plan in Woodbridge which had the similar motif, but they were a bit older and smaller.
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Mazy:



Great post with the discussion of the Iranian culture and space requirements... this is informative stuff and is actually pretty similar across cultures.



Your floorplan is nice and the dual closets in the master is something my sig-oth appreciates. Although you may not like it, your master suite is huge as it takes up almost the whole back half of your second floor... another plus for my wife. It looks like you have a vaulted ceiling over the living room which makes that space even grander for your entertaining needs.



I think SoCal told me that StandPac is one of the BK-approved builders so you should be okay.
 
[quote author="momopi" date=1249977272](whisper) For wolf3d fans, new Wolfenstein game will be released this month.</blockquote>


Thanks for the heads-up, but I wouldn't trade the original version played under MS-DOS for anything!
 
[quote author="momopi" date=1249977272](whisper) For wolf3d fans, new Wolfenstein game will be released this month.</blockquote>


I'm a bit busy killing zombies in Left 4 Dead right now. Basically, I worship at the altar of Valve. I should really set up a yearly automatic billing system that they bill my credit card fifty bucks every October for whatever new game they release this year.
 
When we talk about FCBs, we are talking about foreigners who are buying now and keeping real estate artificially inflated. If a FCB were to read IHB, he would not be FCB anymore cause he would be waiting just like everyone else.



So there are no FCB's here due to conversion into IHB.
 
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