Villages of Columbus - Columbus Square - Camden Place

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Chi2Cali, were you able to deal with them on the price. What did you pay ?





I'd lock that rate and ask for a float down option in case they do indeed drop.
 
Trooper, I paid $489k from the list price of $495k, along with the $6K towards closing costs provided I go with UAMC. Not the best negotiation in the world, but considering what these places where going for last year, I still consider myself ahead (despite the high HOA noted earlier in the thread)



jcaraway, thats exactly what I was thinking. I need to spend extra dollars on a built-in that would pretty much house all my components. It would prolly be cheaper just to buy a 40 inch plasma and install the 58 inch upstairs, which, I measured over the weekend, and the master bedroom niche is a lot wider at 64 or so inches. Haha, its funny i'm griping about a house I havent even moved into yet...



hs_teacher, while the sales lady did mention prices would drop, she wouldnt commit to anything solid which is understandable. Personally, I think the best deal would be to wait for phase 12, I agree 2008 hasnt seen the lowest prices for these, but then you have to consider the new changes.



Well for me its also the fact that my wife HATES our small irvine apt and is itching to get a house. We're both from Chicago, we moved here 6/07 and its amazing how "elite" you must be to own. Having a home in Chicago was pretty much a given once you graduate college...



Last point, another good selling point for phase 11 was the unit face Valencia avenue and the Tustin Hangar, which is a pretty exceptional view.
 
I was told by lyons sales associated that the Tustin Hanger were part of the Americania history. hahahahahaaaaa it is an honor to have that in front of your house.......
 
Hs, i don't think it's good advice, I wouldn't buy a house just because of the tax deduction. Why spend $4400 a month on housing when you can get a new apartment for $2200 a month and sock away the difference? Sure, you get a deduction but what will that save you, i'm thinking $1000 a month (someone correct me if i'm wrong). Also, the idea that a home is an investment should be thrown out the window, same with building equity, if he's a young guy, he's gonna move soon probably, and any equity he's built will be eaten away in sales commission. Of course, if he's just going to blow the saving on an M5, doesn't really matter.



Chi, haha, sure why not buy two 40"s one for the nitch and one for the bathroom. You are definitely ahead of everyone else. Bit of gossip, i heard one resident was the trouble maker resident for this community in regards to the price mark downs and they went all they way up to the top of the corporate ladder to meet and complain with their attorney, but obviously, they got nothing.



I hate to be a negative nancy, butttttttt, i will, so, sorry. I think the Valencia Avenue View is going to bite you in the ass. That street is eerilley quiet now, but when they complete the loop, it's going to be very, very busy. If you look at the master plan, the base sits between jamboree and red hill, two disgustingly busy highways, they are building the tustin ranch road extention through the middle of the base, which I believe will be primarily accessible through valencia loop road. Once the commuter on Red Hill get wind of this, over half of them will hit this road. I say over half because they won't have to deal with the multiple traffic lights on Red Hill. Take this opinion with a grain of salt though, i haven't read the traffic study recently and that could very well project a much lower traffic count. of course, those things don't mean squat sometime (i.e. The District circulation plan).
 
Chi- you paid 489k? with no incentives? did you look at other units such as meriweather? or SFR in irvine? they are giong for 550k now and that is list price. hoa for the sfr is only 40 bucks a month. and it is only about 1-2 miles from columbus square. the only bad part is that the SFR is in Irvine and it has the irvine school district. damn asian every over there. hahahaaa
 
Why would anyone want to live in a place that makes you crawl a flight of stairs just to get to the living room/kitchen? Seems pretty inconvenient.
 
new york style urban design..... gosh don't you know anything? it is the hip thing now. it makes your wife/husband work out with out even knowing it. 24hours fitness in your house. the sales people should include that in their marketing. hahahahahaa
 
don't get me wrong.... i like the place. i just think it cost too much right now with the mello roos and hoa. maybe if it goes down a bit more, i might get one.
 
I don't think they'll ever be below $400K, for one, i think the average household income buying here is around $120K second, if it went below $400K, the tax rate would be above 2% (i think) and the builder would buy down the bonds for infrastructure.
 
I looked at the land available for Phase 11. Basically if you walk out your front door you'll have a small sidewalk and then valencia avenue. I'm surprised these units are selling so quickly, esp with no incentives anymore and stagnant prices.



One thing that is irking me about the community is the lack of available guest parking. It's a bit of a walk to park on the street for guests, and I noticed most of the residents are using their garages as storage and parking their cars in the spaces. Hopefully once people get settled in we'll find at least one spot available at night for guests.
 
jcaraway, what about the hangar view will bite me in the ass? I am simply talking about the view, when I step out the front door, its just a bit more scenic than say, facing my neighbor, although I might miss on some interesting conversation from the latter. If you are talking about road and traffic noise, I'm sure I can handle everything Tustin can give me, having previously lived by Navy Pier in Chicago, the most OVERRATED tourist trap in all the city. Actually sitting in traffic could be a pain, but I do work about 4 miles down the road on Von Karman, so 20 minutes in traffic is just all right with me...



jbatzmaru, I did look extensively at other places before deciding on Camden, and I heres what I thought:



-Give me the choice between a brand new townhome and a 10 year old house in Irvine, brand new townhome wins every day of the week and twice on sunday. I know, that attitude is what lennar and other builders are looking for to stay in business, but I like new stuff...



-If you are talking about new SFR in Irvine, we also looked at Decada 1 in Portola Springs (small great room, if you can even call it "great") and Cortile 3 in Woodury (pretty pricey, not as open a floorplan). Additionally, for townhomes, we also looked at 4 quartets, vientos, sendero, savannah and the new dev in Woodbury East, and I felt Camden was still the best in terms of bang for the buck.



Saw Meriwhether, and while the floorplan of the living areas were nice, I wasnt too thrilled about the master bedrooom, nor the prices. I love the master bedroom of Camden place, and the openness of the 2nd floor, during parties and such, its key that I can cook and still entertain guests at the same time, and I still think $489k was a decent price considering what some people paid last year... unless I'm mistaken, did everyone else get theirs for a lot cheaper???
 
"I noticed most of the residents are using their garages as storage and parking their cars in the spaces."





This is common just about everywhere (unfortunately), and these are your two options:





a) Suck it up and deal with the fact that parking is going to be miserable, cringe at the thought of having people over and knowing it will be a hassle.





b) Have a psycho strict HOA that takes measures like making people get permits to park their cars outside (only after proving they already are parking two cars in the garage), making guests register on a list and limiting the number of times per year they can park outside at night





I've lived with both, and to be honest option b is a pain but achieves the desired result.
 
i don't know about the 3bedroom plan. but i was haggling with them and i got the 2 bedroom plan down to say... 435k. same with savannah. i ended up going with savannah due to the irvine zip and the parking space available. but the deal fell apart at the end due to UAMC changing and rechanging their incentives. so we parted ways.



if i had the money i would have opted for the meriweather but at 600k-700k plus hoa and mello. i just did not want to stretch my budget nor could i have stomach the $per sq/ft.
 
Pricing as of 10/11/07

Residence 1 or 2: $434,000

(She didn't specify which model had this price, but that it was the bottom of the range.)



Residence 3: $459,000



$25k incentives, $5k toward closing costs, plus a $2500 internet bonus that comes off the purchase price if you talk to someone on their website chat before going in to preview the home.
 
I don't think that's the case shooby, guest parking hasn't been a major issue, I don't notice many residents abusing the guest parking spots. Some cars that had been offenders, i no longer see. The HOA has been doing gestapo like patrols of the community, how long that last? who knows.



Chi, i agree, it's a cool view, especially when the ufo's inside light the hanger up. Furthermore, the view will only get better when the park is built out. I think the windows are great and so are the wall assemblies so sound attenuation won't be an issue. I just think there's a possiblilty you could be living next to a class II highway, whether it was designed to be or not. And if you can accept that, hey, you picked the perfect location for you. I do think, however, there is a possibility of law suits by residents when the road is fully utilized if the use of the road was not properly disclosed (probably not the case). Than, hey, double bonus, you get a great location and a payout in a lawsuit. I tend to believe that some people who bought in that location, will be unpleasantly surprised by the amount of traffic on that street. Oh, and don't bother setting an alarm clock on saturdays, the sherrif cadets will march by and wake you with their cadence.



Hopefully, the new road ways will alleviate the traffic, especially on Red hill.



Don't worry Chi, someone else may have gotten cheaper, but you sure didn't get stung like the people who bought in phase 1. Those dudes are pissed.
 
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