Saratoga Upgrades

[ZeroLot]

They are pretty stingy with showing you what is "suppose" to be public data.  They have a giant book with all the exact measurements for all the properties.  The sales people are pretty bad at showing you.  I did get a look at it "before" I signed my sales agreement because i was trying to pick which lot I wanted.  After that it was like I was asking for government secrets or something.

You know who has the measurements of your house is the design center.  And if you get the right designer they'll let you have a peek at the book and write down any thing you want.  Make them pick out materials for you and snap pictures of it while they are gone.

I just don't understand why are they hiding these information?  They're like in the default mode of giving out information as little as possible regardless what it is.  What are they afraid of?

I was told that the measurements might change by the time the property is completely built.  So they don't want to give any documentations that might hold them liable should measurements change.

Speaking of garages, here's an unrelated question: Are we allowed to park in front of the garage? There's enough room for it and I see people doing it from time to time. I won't do it long term or on a regular basis, but I've just been wondering if it's permissible. I'd guess not since they restrict everything you do here.

In a motorcourt/alley way design the front of our garage is technically a fire lane.  So it's the same as parking in the red zone or in front of a fire hydrant.

The only exception is Magnolia where they actually have an official driveway in their motorcourt design.  They just can't park in their drive way overnight.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Isn't Saratoga a detached condo? You usually don't get a "lot size" with condos.

Yes it's a detached condo, but we do own the land, so there has to be some kind of measure as to how much of that land there is, right?

There has never been a conclusion as to how new condo ownership in TIC properties is.

No one has ever told me if it's any, all, some, one or none of these things:

- You only own the property but not the land.
- You own the land your property is on, but not the surrounding land (hence only the footprint).
- Everyone owns all the land together
- You own the inside of your property but externally, it's ownership in common (usually for townhomes, attached etc)

The salesperson should explain this to you, but they rarely do because in cases where you don't own the land, they don't want you to know that.

That's why in Redfin, in most condo listings, there is no square foot number.

 

[lucky760]

Isn't Saratoga a detached condo? You usually don't get a "lot size" with condos.

Yes it's a detached condo, but we do own the land, so there has to be some kind of measure as to how much of that land there is, right?

There has never been a conclusion as to how new condo ownership in TIC properties is.

No one has ever told me if it's any, all, some, one or none of these things:

- You only own the property but not the land.
- You own the land your property is on, but not the surrounding land (hence only the footprint).
- Everyone owns all the land together
- You own the inside of your property but externally, it's ownership in common (usually for townhomes, attached etc)

The salesperson should explain this to you, but they rarely do because in cases where you don't own the land, they don't want you to know that.

That's why in Redfin, in most condo listings, there is no square foot number.

All I have to go off of is what multiple sales people have stated on different occasions, and that is "You own the land."

As to how that statement can be defined by them, I'm uncertain. : \

 

[broda]

You don't own the land.  You're executing some like 100 year lease or something like that.  Too lazy to bust out the contract...but when your lease is up long after you have passed...TIC can technically swipe it from under you.

 

[test]

You don't own the land.  The government owns the land.  If you don't pay your annual tribute they will kick you off the land.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Tribute? Like a kid from each hood?

Homeowner Games!

 

[irvinehomeshopper]

For all attached and detached condos you do not own the land beneath your house. You own the structure only therefore you must upkeep and maintain the structure. Anything outside of the drip line of the stucco wall is the HOA liability. Since you don't own the land you can't tear down your home and build another one to replace it. When the lease term expires you great grand children will be evicted.

 

[songkou]

At the time of signing the purchase contract, I was told by the salesperson that I own that land all the way to the center of the earth and even the air above to a certain height (exact number I forgot).  Was I miss-informed?  I need to read the contract.

 

[qwerty]

These are not land leases.  You at a minimum own the land through your share of the Hoa, if not outright directly.

 

[calimark]

At the time of signing the purchase contract, I was told by the salesperson that I own that land all the way to the center of the earth and even the air above to a certain height (exact number I forgot).  Was I miss-informed?  I need to read the contract.

Land ownership (if even applicable in the case of a condo development), is not infinite (e.g., to the center of the earth).  Others can correct me, but believe ownership may be limited by regulations, laws, etc. such that an owner may only truly have legal rights to only a certain depth.  In other words, one is usually not allowed to dig for oil... imagine that -- oil in your own yard, if it exists, could pay for an irvine home!

 

[socal78]

At the time of signing the purchase contract, I was told by the salesperson that I own that land all the way to the center of the earth and even the air above to a certain height (exact number I forgot).  Was I miss-informed?  I need to read the contract.

I'd love to know her response as to why, then, you do not have Mineral Rights. Salespeople, schmalespeople.

 

[songkou]

At the time of signing the purchase contract, I was told by the salesperson that I own that land all the way to the center of the earth and even the air above to a certain height (exact number I forgot).  Was I miss-informed?  I need to read the contract.

I'd love to know her response as to why, then, you do not have Mineral Rights. Salespeople, schmalespeople.

She actually emphasized that I do not own the Mineral Rights.  And I've known that before I went in to sign the contract that Irvine Company has since sold the Mineral Rights to some other person/agent. 

 

[The Motor Court Company]

"Little Bombay"

why hate on the Indians? if you can live with the smell, they are actually quite peaceful people, not as lawless as those mainland Chinese

 

[The Motor Court Company]

10 ft back yard is still 10x better than ZERO back yard at Augusta.

edit:
my math is off. 10 ft back yard is infinitely better than zero back yard.

so much for those pocket parks being great and making up for the lack of yard. you guys must be hating your 10ft yards right about now.

 

[qwerty]

10 ft back yard is still 10x better than ZERO back yard at Augusta.

edit:
my math is off. 10 ft back yard is infinitely better than zero back yard.

so much for those pocket parks being great and making up for the lack of yard. you guys must be hating your 10ft yards right about now.

Is a 10ft deep back yard better than a 25ft deep side yard?

 

[test]

10 ft back yard is still 10x better than ZERO back yard at Augusta.

edit:
my math is off. 10 ft back yard is infinitely better than zero back yard.

so much for those pocket parks being great and making up for the lack of yard. you guys must be hating your 10ft yards right about now.

A corner lot with a 25' side yard would be great.

Is a 10ft deep back yard better than a 25ft deep side yard?

Found you one.  It even has a back yard.
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Tustin/15210-York-St-92782/home/12249427

 

[The Motor Court Company]

yes. 10 ft minimum, 25 ft for the most part, back yard is better than 25 ft maximum to 5 ft minimum side yard that also looks directly at neighbor's stucco wall. It is quite laughable for Augusta owners to make fun of Irvine new homes - the outdoor living space, at best is a wash if not smaller, but a back yard is still better than a side yard because it feels more open, unless you like to stare at stucco walls.

10 ft back yard is still 10x better than ZERO back yard at Augusta.

edit:
my math is off. 10 ft back yard is infinitely better than zero back yard.

so much for those pocket parks being great and making up for the lack of yard. you guys must be hating your 10ft yards right about now.

Is a 10ft deep back yard better than a 25ft deep side yard?

 

[qwerty]

Yeah cause you aren't staring at the stucco walls from your neighbor behind you. Great point genius. I'm 30 ft away from my side neighbor and you are 20 ft

 

[The Motor Court Company]

why keep comparing minimum vs maximum? are you that dumb in basic logic?

Side yard has more restrictions in what plants you can do.

Any way, this is really a petty and silly arguing here. It is like two homeless people argue who is pennies richer.

 

[lucky760]

I am sorry to hear of the issues...I do notice quite a few Indians at that park when I drive by.  TBF, you get some of that in parks in general.  I take my daughter to citrus park in Tustin quite a lot and kids run around like crazy without regard.  Parents are very nice though. 

My daughter is really nice and so am I.  I usually try to stay out of kids issues but I will yell at kids if I feel they are being unsafe (especially older ones).  I may have to be more aggressive.  Those kids/parents better hope that my wife doesn't ever see that...she is super protective of my daughter and will take no nonsense from anyone.

You're totally right and I do feel it's expected and normal kid behavior to run around out of control. (That's how they come from the factory.) It's more that even when they're doing something blatantly wrong, the parents still ignore them completely and generally aren't very friendly.

(Note that while there are hordes of Indians at the park at all times, I didn't mean to imply they are the only ones exhibiting bad parenting behavior, nor that they must all be that way.)

I also like Citrus Ranch park. We used to live in Portola Springs, where the two side-by-side parks were both much better. (The only bad parenting we ever experienced there was by the minimum-wage-earning nannies, of whom there are surprisingly many.)

@JasonTheArtist - That's actually the same park I'm talking about. What time of the day do you tend to go? We're usually there near dusk and that seems to be when it's most crowded. I've driven past during other times of the day and seen it empty.

Sorry, I meant humming bird park.

Thanks a lot for mentioning this park. We took the extra long walk there today (happily bypassing crowded, noisy Mockingbird) and were so, so very happy with what we found. It is a dream of a park and much more appropriate for our older boy. The [very few] parents there were also much more the considerate, friendly folks we were used to in Portola Springs. We'll now strictly be visiting Hummingbird from now on.

(Forgive me for sidetracking this thread again momentarily.)