Trumark Sells Lake Forest Development Site to KB Homes

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
Ahh... so they are offering broker co-op... doesn't say it on the site or on their ad in the OC Register.

Just by looking at the floorplans... you can tell Plan 2's 1st floor was weird.

Was it crowded? I remember when I went to Van Daele when they first open, it was a different demographic than Irvine's.
 
We got there around 3:30 and it was pretty empty. Not sure what it looked like in the middle of the day. There were only a couple of people in each model, one white family and one Asian.
 
I will take a look at the models this week. I liked the plan3 after looking online. How are the schools in that area?
 
iacrenter said:
I will take a look at the models this week. I liked the plan3 after looking online. How are the schools in that area?
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the homes are served by Lake forest elementary (902 API for 2011), Serrano Intermediate (873 API for 2011) and El Toro High (819 API for 2011).  overall the schools seem just fine.
 
LAtoOC said:
819 API? Might as well be in Santa Ana.

8)
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You could always sent the kids to private school with the lower home prices and no Mello Roos....I hear Santa Margarita HS is a pretty good school out there.
 
Several friends of mine from college are from Lake Forest, and they all went to El Toro.  Their parents still reside there.  They all feel that the education in Lake Forest/ El Toro was good and had no complaints.  It's like anywhere, you have the good, bad and the ugly.  They've all done reasonably well and noone landed in jail.  One went to UPenn and is a successful investment banker.  One is a dentist with his own practice.  One does very well owning his own tech company.  Another friend became a teacher (which I respect).  Education is what you make of it. 

St. Margaret's is in RSM, but it's quite expensive. 
 
It is interesting that everyone knows someone or themselves have attended the Ivies. I guess these schools should change their names to Irvies since the majority of the student body is from Irvine and her fringes.
 
<----Not from Irvine, just live here now + would bet there are a large number of transplants here now

And I kid, UPenn is a great school.
 
Hi guys!
New to this forum. Just want to say HI.
There are some really imformative posters on this site and its been a joy reading and learning.

My wife and I are renters at IAC right now and have been looking to buy a home for a little while. We just had a newborn so we put the moving plans on the back burner but now we are ready to get settled and enjoy our new family.

We would love to live in Irvine as we have lived here since 2005 and its a great city. Very close to both of our work and we like the community. Of course we rather have a new home but have been looking at resales also and to be honest, they just are not that attractive to us anymore. I guess we have decided that we prefer "new".

We want to move soon and have pretty much narrowed it down to Las Ventanas, Augusta @ CS, and now the new homes in Lake Forest at Whisler Ridge.

We both grew up in Lake Forest and both graduated from El Toro Hi School.
We are both, your average married couple, not overachievers, not underachievers.
El Toro is a great Hi-School and as a matter of fact, some of my friends are actually teachers there now.

Decisions, decisions.
We have visited the Whisler Ridge community a few times now and are pretty happy with what they have to offer, just wish they gave you a little more for the $140 HOA like a small park area or pool would be nice.

We may pull the trigger on a new home here but not sure. They just opened and think they are going to sell out rather easily. I think differently but what do I know.
I guess the cheapo in me wants to wait and see how they do, if they end up reducing the prices a little or offer a nice incentive package.

What do you guys think is going to happen with this community? And of the 3 that I listed, what would you prefer and why?: LV @ PS, Augusta @ CS, or Whisler in LF?

Cheers  :D
 
Welcome to TI savagedub!
savagedub78 said:
We have visited the Whisler Ridge community a few times now and are pretty happy with what they have to offer, just wish they gave you a little more for the $140 HOA like a small park area or pool would be nice.
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No park? The VanDaele project down the road also had a high HOA (which I commented about) but at least there was a small tot park in the corner. Maybe because Whisler Ridge is so close to the park just around the corner? I agree the HOA is high for what you get, what I was told that most of the expense is to maintain those retaining wall structures (at least for the VanDaele project... Summit Ridge?).
We may pull the trigger on a new home here but not sure. They just opened and think they are going to sell out rather easily. I think differently but what do I know.
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You know more than they do. Summit Ridge didn't sell that fast and they were priced less than Whisler Ridge... so I think time is on your side.
I guess the cheapo in me wants to wait and see how they do, if they end up reducing the prices a little or offer a nice incentive package.

What do you guys think is going to happen with this community?
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I think you just need to look at what happened down the street. They eventually sold their units but I believe it took a while to do so and they ended up opening up all lots because the phase thing wasn't working and people wanted to cherry pick the best locations. But KB is not VanDaele so they might do it differently. I believe Whisler is better located than Summit but I haven't seen the site plan so I don't know for sure. Is it like Summit where there are no sidewalks and all the guest parking has to be at designated areas instead of in front of your house?

The consensus here is the Plan 2 and 3 might be overpriced... so you may want to see if they go down on those if that's what you are looking at.
And of the 3 that I listed, what would you prefer and why?: LV @ PS, Augusta @ CS, or Whisler in LF?
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Hard to answer that question because they are in 3 different cities and different sized homes.

The Augusta have nice floorplans, but, no driveways, motorcourts and despite a certain member here, the Columbus Square area isn't really ideal to me. It's on a former base, near the train tracks, under the John Wayne flight path and that area is dead in regards to community build out. However, it is centrally located, has The District nearby (although not sure if that's good or bad) and closer to Irvine than Whisler. Mellos Roos are also high there.

Las Ventanas are smaller, but have full driveways, bermed sidewalks and it looks like a real neighborhood. However, it's next to the toll road and the landfill, and still has no third place (community shopping center) and the schools are far away. Mello Roos are also pretty high (but I don't think as high as Augusta). And PS is kind of in the boonies.

Whisler has no MRs and the homes are big... but I can't really talk about them because I haven't been there. That area of Lake Forest is actually pretty far from central Irvine but close to the Irvine Spectrum. Being from Lake Forest, you know more about the pros and cons of living there (I can tell you I like that they have The Hat, Tommy's, Burgertown USA, Albatross and Cafe Rio). Walmart is also up the road over in Foothill Ranch.

Costwise... Whisler Plan 1 probably gives you more bang for the buck. Las Ventanas, although smaller, is pretty cheap compared to other Irvine new builds and is IN Irvine... and I just don't like Augusta's location and lack of driveway.

Just my opinion.
 
There are a terrific number of new home projects coming to the Lake Forest / Foothill Ranch area in the next two years. Those homes, plus any Great Park homes will give you much more to choose from if you can wait. Call up the City and see what they can tell you about Shea / Baker Ranch (Portola and Bake) and what I think is going to be called Serrano (near Whistler).

One down side to buying in Lake Forest / Foothill? None of the new developments have new schools planned. 2000 units with no new schools means some relocation of students or overcrowding of the existing schools. The City Manager says Saddleback Unified said they can handle the capacity. Perhaps... is all I can say.

My .02c
 
savagedub78 said:
What do you guys think is going to happen with this community? And of the 3 that I listed, what would you prefer and why?: LV @ PS, Augusta @ CS, or Whisler in LF?
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1) Whisler - most bang for your buck in OC (plan 1), while still getting good schools/safe city and you have the EL Toro Rd shopping center nearby.
2) LV @ PS - most bang for your buck in Irvine. LV Plan 3 vs Whisler Plan 1 is about $500 (on a overall net basis).
3) Augusta - as IHO said, good floor plans, but on motor courts, detached garages (except for Plan 3), shitty schools, very central OC location though. The Mello Roos is insane here, about 6K a year i think for a plan 3.  The prices are appealing till you factor in the mello roos and maybe private school.

with regard to what will happen to whisler specifically, i think the plan 1 may sell ok because it is more affordable to a larger group of people, especially those who have been waiting for a while.  Plan 2 has a very odd layout on the first floor, that bedroom behind the fireplace on the first floor is tiny, hard to even get a bed in there. the TV viewing angles are horrible. So even potential plan 2 buyers may just decide on going with a plan 1 or 3 if they can swing it, plan 2 will not sell well.  I have a slight problem paying $245 a sq ft for the plan 3 when Van Daele's summit plan 3 finished selling at $225, which would put whislers plan 3 at about 733K, currently they want 800K.  If sales are slow for the plan 3 that may put some downward pressure on plan 1 and 2. Although i cant see plan 1 going for less than 600K, so at most there is about a 10% downside in my opinion.  If sales slow, the likely outcome is heavy incentives, then maybe 2%-3% price drops but wouldnt expect the price drops for at least 2-3 months at the earliest.

here is some info on the future lake forest projects:
http://www.lakeforestca.gov/depts/d...hea_baker_ranch_associates_(sbra)/default.asp
http://www.lakeforestca.gov/depts/ds/planning/op_study/portola_center.asp
http://www.lakeforestca.gov/depts/ds/planning/op_study/site_3_irwd_serrano_summit/default.asp
 
Like Qwerty, I also have my eye on a Plan 1 over at Whisler but want to see how their sales go before I make a decision.  I think time is on our side here as we are in the slow selling season coupled with all the european tension going on.  If sales are slow, they'll start offering incentives first.....closing credits and lender credits for using their lender....after that is when you'll see them drop the prices.
 
@ IHO - thanks for the welcome. I read a lot of your posts and I find them very informative.
the current park they have next door is nice but I rather have a park/pool within the actual community itself. I guess that is the give for not having to pay any MR fees.
My wife has been watching a ton of House Hunters and has come to realization that we are going to have to give up some of our desires and prioritize what we actually need.
The floorplans here seem to offer what we "need" inside of a home.

@ SGIP - thanks for the reply. Waiting is an option but I have a 1-month old and a wife that is dying to settle down and have a place she can call her home. 2 years seems so far away but time does fly.

@ qwerty - I too think Whisler has more bang for your buck but the community itself is not like an Irvine planned community. Guess we have been a bit spoiled living in Irvine for the past few years.
I work in Santa Ana, so the commute from Irvine has always been awesome!
We actually like Las Ventanas and it is a consideration. $500 difference a month is a significant difference though.
The shops on El Toro Rd. are awesome, I remember when it was really crappy in that area with the twin cinemas across from each other.
We like plan 1 also and like you, If plan 3 were 750K or less, I think we would sacrifice and make it work financially.
Maybe we will be neighbors one day ;)

@ USC - yes time is on our side but we are just tired of renting an apt. and living on the second story. Hopefully, no one bites on phase 1 and they get smart real quick!
 
savagedub78 said:
@ IHO - thanks for the welcome. I read a lot of your posts and I find them very informative.
the current park they have next door is nice but I rather have a park/pool within the actual community itself. I guess that is the give for not having to pay any MR fees.
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I totally agree with you there... if you have to pay an HOA... at least give something (and not a gate... a pool is much better).
My wife has been watching a ton of House Hunters and has come to realization that we are going to have to give up some of our desires and prioritize what we actually need.
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The thing about watching House Hunters is it makes it even more obvious how much housing is so inflated here in SoCal. They are trying to decide between 3000sft 3CWG homes for $150k... oh... the pain!
The floorplans here seem to offer what we "need" inside of a home.
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I think that's a key decision factor. At these type of price points, you shouldn't have to settle for interior living features. While we all want to live on multi-acre lots... it's very important that the inside of the home is functional and livable. I think that's part of the problem I have with Las Ventanas, I like Plan 3 but not the downstairs... if only they put the Plan 2 downstairs with the upstairs of Plan 3.

And Whisler, as qwerty mentioned, it looks like they have the same problem with their Plan 2.

So a nice floorplan really is a necessity.

I realize you may feel you need to rush... but take your time. Maybe check out some more resales... while new is always nice... resales are in established neighborhoods (some with pools) and you don't have to worry about landscaping and all the other extra costs.

Good luck and please keep us updated on your search... we've been searching for 2+ years now.
 
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