Where would you live if you could afford a 1.5m-2m home?

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frebay_IHB

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Hi,

Been lurking on this site for a while, and finally decided to post. On today's frontpage, the author writes:



" There are some outstanding Irvine tract homes. Second, I would like to say that anyone who pays over $2,000,000 for an Irvine tract home is crazy."



With that being said, where would everyone live if they could afford a 1.5m - 2m home in the next year to year and a half. what are good areas of non tract homes in this price range? It doesn't have to be irvine although this is an Irvine blog. The areas i've been looking are:



brightwater huntington beach - but getting to the freeway is a PITA

pacific ridge in newport - right now it's 3m range, but my wishful thinking hopes prices go down, but it's also a tract home. what's the chances of this area going down in price?

manhattan beach - nice beach community, easy freeway access and great schools

palos verdes - half the city is on sale, and u get a decent home on a 1/2 acre lot for 1.2, but no freeway access.

turtle ridge - but like the author states, they are tract homes.
 
<p>I would live here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=828303">http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=828303</a></p>

<p>Currently listed at $2.8M, but with a tax assessed value of $1.8M (assume from 2002 when it was built), I'd be happy to take this off their hands for about 2 mil in early 2010.</p>
 
Manhattan Beach. I currently live in Redondo Beach and hope to buy in Manhattan Beach in the next couple of years when prices fall some more. Like you said good schools, can walk to beach, close to freeways (but not too close) and last but not least, beautiful women. Ive considered PV in the past, but its too damn far from everything.
 
<p>Well if I had that kind of money it wouldn't be Irvine. I like Irvine but for the same money I want the Newport or Laguna views.</p>

<p>I would prefer a view of the ocean to a view of the foothills. I cheated because it is 2.5 but the owners bought at 450k so I think there is room for negotiation.</p>

<p>http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=870075</p>
 
<p>what do you guys think about mission viejo? near the Lake especially? i went to a couple of open houses over there, not sure about the school district and the area.</p>
 
Do you really think u can get a 2m house in newport in a year? The builder is still still selling homes at pacific ridge for 3m+, i don't think crystal cove can drop under 2m
 
<p>frebay -- I do think it can drop under $2M in a couple of years because it was there just a few years ago. Just like a 2,500 sq ft house in Irvine can drop under $700k. But I'm not going to worry about Crystal Cove too much, because it will be a hell of a lot longer than a year before I can afford anything near $2M. My focus is on Irvine going below $700k.</p>
 
<p>How is palos verde real estate .Cheaper than irvine or not?</p>

<p>Also want to what type of school district they have compared to irvine.</p>

<p>Anybody with kids lived there?</p>

<p> </p>
 
<p>NoSuchReality, you are talking about retirement! If you buy a $2M house, you don't have $2M in the bank, but can get a loan of $2M.</p>

<p>I would live in Newport Coast, something with a view like this: </p>

<p>http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=965989</p>
 
<p>Roo, only in California. Anywhere else, if you're buying a $2 million dollar property, you probably have $4 million in the bank.</p>

<p>From a buying as part of a normal living expenses, well, a $2 Million dollar property will require about $500,000 down payment. Now, how much of your equity are you going to roll into your California 1960s ranch or newer tract home? 1/3? 1/4? slightly less? It also will require about $500,000 of yearly income. Yeah, there's quite a few out there making that much, just not as many as there are homes.</p>

<p>So retirement? Sure, I'll retire earlier. A lot earlier. </p>

<p>Instead of spending, $10,000 - $11,000 on a month a mortgage payment, I'll use the down payment to just buy for cash a reasonable place, take the payment I would be making on the $1.5 million dollar loan and bank it. I'll also pocket the extra $1500 a month in property taxes I'm not paying and basically slug away. </p>

<p>So all in all, I'll just bank about $12,000 a month, live in modest 3/2 or 4/2 in Woodbridge after the correction and take two pretty sweet vacations for $12,000 a piece each year, while banking $120,000. After seven years, I'll ask myself what I should do with the extra million I have laying around.</p>
 
I'm with <a href="../../../account/406/">No_Such_Reality</a>: With that kind of money, I'd go for a modest, but comfortable, home and invest everything else. I'd spend the rest of my days working to help unfortunate children, assist at animal shelters, and donate money to my favorite charities.





Of course, I'd still work part-time (doing what I enjoy) for extra money, pay for traveling expenses, and buy a 911 Turbo.
 
<p>No_Such_Reality, nobody has twice has much money in the bank then the value of the home they purchase. Savings 401(k) should be set aside of your other money. People shoulkd buy a home when they have at least 10% down, maybe 20%. If you make $500,000, I'm sure you will buy a $2M home if you have $400,000 down. Why? Because you will also have enough money to do the vacations you are talking about and put money aside on your 401(k) or other retirement vehicules.</p>

<p>I do agree with you that there are way to many homes valued above $2M for the number of people who should normally buy $2M homes. That's going to drop in the next few years, but it will stay higher than you would expect. It's SoCal for one, and people with a lot of money buy expensive homes here even if they might not be working here (second home or vacation homes).</p>

<p>You make it sound it's stupid to buy a $2M home if you ahve the income to do so.</p>

<p>Your house will also be used as a retirement savings account, since when you'll down grade later to a smaller home, you'll have plenty of cash coming from the increase in property value. If you invested wisely and maxed your 401(k) and other savings, you should still be ready to retire early.</p>
 
<i>" nobody has twice as much money in the bank then the value of the home they purchase"</i><p>


When you say nobody, you don't really mean nobody, do you?
 
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