What I think every family home should have...

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
[quote author="no_vaseline" date=1220873022]I haven't made enough people mad this week. Here's my list.



1. Heat.

2. Potable water.

3. A toilet that works.

4. Two loving parents.

5. A roof that doesn't leak.



Everything else is fluff.</blockquote>


You forgot the velodrome
 
I think we can arrange for him to go back to "living with the parents" status.... psssshhh on the McMansion !



Graph ? ;)
 
In trying to rerail this thread... and now that hopefully any misperceptions have been cleared... is my original list uncommon to ask for if you are a family that requires a 2500sft+ home and are looking in the $1mil range?



The new communities in Irvine are great but the floorplans for this range of house is underwhelming. Portola has some nicer models (well... Prado only had 3 homes available) but it's a bit far for me (I realize some people like the seclusion but I'm not too sold on the Tollroad/Landfill/Brushfire proximity... although that seems to work for Newport Ridge/Coast).



Not being familiar with this forum or the members, do the builders/designers ever lurk to see what people are asking for?
 
My requirements:



For 3+ bed SFR, detached condos, and town-homes,

-- The first floor should be elderly/handicap friendly. This means, the entrance area should be wheelchair accessible and not have weird stairs going up and down. The property should have at least 1 bedroom and 1 "full" bathroom on first floor. The bedroom and bathroom should be large enough for wheelchair access (not one of those tiny office/optional bedroom dens) and preferably with large shower stall in bathroom instead of a tub + handle bars. Whatever you install on 2nd or 3rd floor is exempt from these requirements.

-- All bathrooms should ideally have a window that opens to outside. Keeps the bathroom nice and dry with fresh air.

-- For 3 bed properties, minimum 2 car (side to side) garage + 2 car drive way. For 4 bedroom properties, minimum 2 car garage + 3 car drive way or 3 car garage + 2 car drive way. For 5 bedroom properties, minimum 3 car garage + 3 car drive way, or 2 car garage + extended 4 car drive way.

-- The yard should have gas, power, and water hook-ups.

-- The kitchen should have a ventilation pipe for the range hood.

-- Some "empty" space should be optimized for hide-away storage, or in-wall shelves.



I'd also like to see more duplex style homes built. By duplex style I don't mean actual duplex with 2 addresses, the home is considered one property and cannot be divided and sold as two. A 3/2 + 2/2 or 1/1 would be nice.
 
[quote author="momopi" date=1220918763]-- For 3 bed properties, minimum 2 car (side to side) garage + 2 car drive way. For 4 bedroom properties, minimum 2 car garage + 3 car drive way or 3 car garage + 2 car drive way. For 5 bedroom properties, minimum 3 car garage + 3 car drive way, or 2 car garage + extended 4 car drive way.

</blockquote>
I'm with you here. If the home doesn't have room for the bigger garage... at least room for an additional spot in the driveway is welcome. For families, once the kids get old enough to drive, you don't want to continually do the driveway shuffle, if you ever decide to rent your property, it would be good for multiple tenants and for parties... having the space in front of the house is perfect for parking, bounce house, outdoor eating setup... etc etc.

<blockquote>

I'd also like to see more duplex style homes built. By duplex style I don't mean actual duplex with 2 addresses, the home is considered one property and cannot be divided and sold as two. A 3/2 + 2/2 or 1/1 would be nice.</blockquote>
I'm not sure any builder in Irvine would do this for future projects. The closest we could get to that is the casita type houses. I would welcome live/work units but those are more suited for young professionals not urban multi-kid families.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1220916499]



Not being familiar with this forum or the members, do the builders/designers ever lurk to see what people are asking for?</blockquote>


Are you sure that you're not a homebuilder who's here trying to justify building those ugly over-sized homes where the master bathroom is bigger than most master bedrooms and walk in closets that are the size of a "family home" built in the '50s?
 
[quote author="ABC123" date=1220925193][quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1220916499]



Not being familiar with this forum or the members, do the builders/designers ever lurk to see what people are asking for?</blockquote>


Are you sure that you're not a homebuilder who's here trying to justify building those ugly over-sized homes where the master bathroom is bigger than most master bedrooms?</blockquote>
I wish... because I would fix that problem.



While I do agree that some masters are undersized compared to the bathrooms... it's also nice to have a big master bathroom because parents with younger children actually spend a lot of time in that area depending on if that master tub is your primary "clean the dirty kids" area.



I wonder if builders ever do those group research studies like auto companies where they get several people together and ask them about designs. I would join one of those (I've done probably half a dozen car ones).
 
[quote author="IrvineRealtor" date=1220772167][quote author="Keanu" date=1220751573][quote author="Girl In the OC" date=1220712203][quote author="IrvineRealtor" date=1220711524][quote author="PeterUK" date=1220703759][quote author="Trooper" date=1220700248]11. Separate room for the cat litter box.</blockquote>


12. Velodrome</blockquote>


13. Moat</blockquote>


14. Speedboat for the Moat</blockquote>


15. A pair of white swans swimming in the Moat</blockquote>


16. <a href="http://www.ducks.org/Page133.aspx#1"><strong>A good recipe</strong></a> should 15 and 14 ever meet.</blockquote>


17. Sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads in the Moat
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1220925619][quote author="ABC123" date=1220925193][quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1220916499]



Not being familiar with this forum or the members, do the builders/designers ever lurk to see what people are asking for?</blockquote>


Are you sure that you're not a homebuilder who's here trying to justify building those ugly over-sized homes where the master bathroom is bigger than most master bedrooms?</blockquote>
I wish... because I would fix that problem.



While I do agree that some masters are undersized compared to the bathrooms... it's also nice to have a big master bathroom because parents with younger children actually spend a lot of time in that area depending on if that master tub is your primary "clean the dirty kids" area.



I wonder if builders ever do those group research studies like auto companies where they get several people together and ask them about designs. I would join one of those (I've done probably half a dozen car ones).</blockquote>
Yes, builders do group research all the time.

I participated in several group studies for the Irvine Apartment Complex.
 
[quote author="ConsiderAgain" date=1220753241]Most of the original list is not so outlandish in many parts of the country, just not very common in SoCal. Maybe the OP has come onto the scene from a different environment. I have been adjusting through my own sense of culture shock in SoCal.



Number 11 is not uncommon anywhere, it is called the laundry room.</blockquote>


agree. I am new to OC, and was at first shocked at the lack of sq footage and back yard space...
 
[quote author="CalGal" date=1220935757][quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1220925619][quote author="ABC123" date=1220925193][quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1220916499]



Not being familiar with this forum or the members, do the builders/designers ever lurk to see what people are asking for?</blockquote>


Are you sure that you're not a homebuilder who's here trying to justify building those ugly over-sized homes where the master bathroom is bigger than most master bedrooms?</blockquote>
I wish... because I would fix that problem.



While I do agree that some masters are undersized compared to the bathrooms... it's also nice to have a big master bathroom because parents with younger children actually spend a lot of time in that area depending on if that master tub is your primary "clean the dirty kids" area.



I wonder if builders ever do those group research studies like auto companies where they get several people together and ask them about designs. I would join one of those (I've done probably half a dozen car ones).</blockquote>
Yes, builders do group research all the time.

I participated in several group studies for the Irvine Apartment Complex.</blockquote>


Oh how I wish the IAC would enlist MY opinion on their work! I have lived in Santa Rosa for three years and just this weekend put down a deposit for a new home in the brand new community of Mirasol in the Village of Stonegate (across Irvine Blvd from Woodbury). This is going to be my long term home until my new house is built in Orchard Hills :)



First of all, as someone pointed out earlier in this thread, it seems that housing in Irvine is so cramped that only a family that is my size (one adult, one child) could be comfortable in most offerings. Well, I picked the largest floor plan (1440 sq ft) in Mirasol in order to have more space than my current townhouse, because it is just so cramped! I cannot fathom how more than two people can handle living in any of the smaller units (600-1000 sq ft). More power to those folks - they are better people than me.



While I am very excited about my new home, it does have some negatives. Here are the lists:



Pros:

1. Nice size for two people - not big, but not as cramped as most other choices in my financial range.

2. Brand new. I just LOVE a brand new home!

3. Perfect location. Unlike most people, the location of Portola Springs, Stonegate, and Woodbury is perfect for me in that my job is very close by and I love hiking Peters Cyn and Whiting Ranch, plus the District and the Marketplace are my fave daily shopping locations.

4. IAC won't get foreclosed on and kick me out.

5. It's a townhouse again - no one above or below. That's non-negotiable for me. Again, people who can tolerate hearing feet stomping above them day and night are better people than me.

6. Did I say it was brand new?

7. Brand new school facility (Stonegate Elementary) opening up next fall with a seasoned faculty and administration (from Westwood Basics and the former principal from Plaza Vista).

8. Clean, jr-olympic pool - and no rats to be seen!

9. Very nice fitness room - I can cancel my LA Fitness membership.

10. Adjacent to Woodbury shopping but outside the sardine-packed Woodbury community.



Cons:

1. The floorplan is not the greatest; the townhouse is actually above garages so it's not on the ground floor. There is one room - master bedroom - that is technically on the third level.

2. Tile flooring (I want wood or Pergo).

3. Granite countertops (I want Caeserstone).

4. My mountain view will be partially obstructed by a row of apartments between me and the view.

5. No playground equipment of any kind will exist in Mirasol or Palmeras. Until the school is built, that means we'll have nothing my son can play on without crossing Irvine Blvd to get to Woodbury.

6. Two single car garages instead of one double. I guess I should be happy - the townhouse is the only plan in the community with two garages. And since it's just me, I'll be able to use the second garage for storage. That is a big thing - certainly makes the high rent seem a little more justifiable.



I'm sure I'll think of others, too. Especially after we move in.
 
<em>and just this weekend put down a deposit for a new home in the brand new community of Mirasol</em>



:bug:



ism, for a minute I thought you bought something !
 
[quote author="Trooper" date=1220941933]<em>and just this weekend put down a deposit for a new home in the brand new community of Mirasol</em>



:bug:



ism, It's not clear...did you buy or are you renting.</blockquote>


Uhh, sorry! Mirasol is an IAC community and I put down a deposit to get onto the waiting list to have first dibs at the specific townhome on their site map that I want. Lease, lease, lease. I'm no knife-catchin' fool! :coolgrin:
 
ISM:



That floorplan looks pretty good... I like the connectivity from kitchen to dining to living area. Are you concerned that the bedrooms are on different floors?



Most of the floorplans are actually quite functional, I like the ones with the eating bars at the kitchen but they seem pretty small.



Will Stonegate have any residential homes or they pulling an Orchard Hills and only opening the rental communities?
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1220944266]ISM:



That floorplan looks pretty good... I like the connectivity from kitchen to dining to living area. Are you concerned that the bedrooms are on different floors?



Most of the floorplans are actually quite functional, I like the ones with the eating bars at the kitchen but they seem pretty small.



Will Stonegate have any residential homes or they pulling an Orchard Hills and only opening the rental communities?</blockquote>


I emailed the person in charge of planning the new Stonegate school and he confirmed that there are no houses being built in Stonegate any time soon.



I love the open kitchen floorplans and they are decent sized but I just can't do it - I can't live within anyone above or below me.



The bedrooms being on different floors is fine. My son and I sleep together and I'll be using the room on the "main" floor as my exercise/his playroom.
 
That's interesting that they're putting in the school infrastructure prior to any non-rental residences... will it service Portola Springs too?



That makes sense about the floorplan if the other ones are stacked units... that "whole no neighbors above/below" item would be on my list too whether I was renting or buying (yeah... so no high-rise living for me).
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1220946041]That's interesting that they're putting in the school infrastructure prior to any non-rental residences... will it service Portola Springs too?



That makes sense about the floorplan if the other ones are stacked units... that "whole no neighbors above/below" item would be on my list too whether I was renting or buying (yeah... so no high-rise living for me).</blockquote>


Stonegate Elementary will be serving the two apartment complexes in Stonegate, all of Portola Springs, and all of the kids in Northwood who right now currently attend Westwood Basics Plus. My location is ideal imho, in that we are a stone's throw (get it? funny ha ha!) from the school site and will be able to walk there rather than do the parking lot battle every day. The school being built is also a deal breaker/maker for me, since it will be the only play area for my son until at least 2011 or so.
 
[quote author="irvinesinglemom" date=1220941015]



6. Two single car garages instead of one double. I guess I should be happy - the townhouse is the only plan in the community with two garages. And since it's just me, I'll be able to use the second garage for storage. That is a big thing - certainly makes the high rent seem a little more justifiable.

</blockquote>


I don't know about you using that 2nd garage for storage. IAC is pretty strict about parking regulations even for half empty properties (i.e. OH & PS). They normally do a garage inspection 2-3 times per year and require you to have enough space in the garage to park your car. They don't want people using their garages as permanent business centers, storage units, or even ping pong courts while at the same time leaving their vehicle out in the open parking lots. Maybe you can tell them your 2nd garage is for your <a href="http://www.smartusa.com/">Smart car</a> ;-)
 
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