Whisler Ridge - Lake Forest

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blitzjs

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I've read through the related thread about KB and Whisler Ridgehttp://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,1617.0.html

Its been out for over a year now and I finally went to go see it and I liked it more than I thought I would.  I was wondering if anyone else has any opinions or know about some gotchas that might not be so obvious. 

I really thought that we would only consider Irvine, but having patiently searched for the past 3 years, I feel its hard to justify the expense of staying here.  With a recent addition to our family, we were ready to move on Saratoga, but paying nearly 800k for < 2200 sq ft home with no driveway or backyard felt wrong to me.  I kept thinking that all these new homes would be a hard sell, but I was proven wrong with each phase.  Even San Mateo 3 is inching near 700k. 

As for Whisler Ridge itself...

Pros:
[list type=decimal]
[*]I felt for the price, you get a lot of house (to be expected I guess once you leave Irvine), especially since there was no mello roos.  For the same monthly payment, you get nearly 700 more sq ft plus a driveway and a decent (for Irvine standards) backyard.
[*]Lots of green features, with the 3.2 kW system from SunPower, you would produce roughly 350 kWh per month which would greatly reduce my electricity bill
[/list]

Cons:
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[*]It's a KB home so I'm a bit concerned about the quality.  To be honest, I'm concerned with Irvine Pacific's as well with the rate they are putting out new homes and some of the stories I've heard.
[*]The homes are built extremely close together but I'm use to by now having only looked at Irvine real estate.
[*] The school system isn't as highly rated as Irvine, on greatschools.org they are 8s compared to 9's and 10's in Irvine
[/list] 

Unsure:
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[*]I think the HOA is pretty high for a community that has ... no amenities.  The big sports park is being built nearby which I guess mitigates the lack of amenities a bit but I would have really preferred some pocket parks in the community
[/list]

They also changed the plan 2 a bit.  It reminded me of LV 3 in Portola Springs with an awkward layout downstairs in the living room, but they have since changed it and made it a bit more traditional (no more slanted wall). 
 
The quality is questionable with all builders. I'm glad they changed the wall in plan 2. We told them that would be their worst seller because of the slanted wall. Don't worry about the hoa, just look at total cost and cash flow. Whisler is a much better deal than irvine. 
 
Just curious - what do you guys mean about a slanted wall? Like an entire full length wall in a common area? Pics?
 
SoCal said:
Just curious - what do you guys mean about a slanted wall? Like an entire full length wall in a common area? Pics?
Click to expand...
http://www.kbhome.com/new-homes-orange-county/whisler-ridge/plan-2-modeled

Use the slideshow and go to picture 3/8 where it shows the great room and a den with a piano in it.  The slanted wall has a tv (displaying a ferris wheel) above a fireplace.  The room with the piano in it is triangular which is quite strange.  They basically redid that section so the room is rectangular and the wall where you can put a tv is no longer slanted, its parallel to the wall across from it.  Picture 4/8 is a close-up of the wall in question.

 
Hmm. They must have changed the photos. I don't see a slanted wall or a ferris wheel on the T.V. I also don't really see a slideshow. I see a virtual tour but the photos are not numbered but there are 10 of the interior. I can't tell if the wall with the TV turned off is slanted ever so slightly but I don't think so. Hmm. I don't get it.
 
When they say monthly payment and say principal, interest, taxes and insurance included, is it property taxes and home owner's insurance or something else?
 
O.k. I did what you said, Iho, but I still don't get it. I see a diagonal wall from the drawing but not a slanted wall. I thought slanted meant it's not vertical at a 90 degree angle from the floor or ceiling...?
 
SoCal said:
O.k. I did what you said, Iho, but I still don't get it. I see a diagonal wall from the drawing but not a slanted wall. I thought slanted meant it's not vertical at a 90 degree angle from the floor or ceiling...?
Click to expand...

No.. they just mean one of the walls isn't perpendicular to the other on the plan.. it shoots off at an angle..
 
SoCal said:
O.k. I did what you said, Iho, but I still don't get it. I see a diagonal wall from the drawing but not a slanted wall. I thought slanted meant it's not vertical at a 90 degree angle from the floor or ceiling...?
Click to expand...

That's the same wall we were talking about. Slanted = diagonal
 
SoCal said:
Hmm. They must have changed the photos. I don't see a slanted wall or a ferris wheel on the T.V. I also don't really see a slideshow. I see a virtual tour but the photos are not numbered but there are 10 of the interior. I can't tell if the wall with the TV turned off is slanted ever so slightly but I don't think so. Hmm. I don't get it.
Click to expand...

When you go to the link, you should see a large picture of the outside of the house.  There's a nav bar on the top with "Communities and Floor Plans," "Built to Order" as well as the KB logo to the top left.  If you wait a bit (the graphics scroll a bit and controls appear on the image itself).

See attached pictures.


SoCal said:
O.k. I did what you said, Iho, but I still don't get it. I see a diagonal wall from the drawing but not a slanted wall. I thought slanted meant it's not vertical at a 90 degree angle from the floor or ceiling...?
Click to expand...

Sorry I meant still perpendicular to the ground but not parallel to the opposite side wall.
 

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So did they change the interior of the Model 2 on site?

I never got around to looking at these because I felt the floor plans were too boxy. I like the 1st floor of Plan 3 but the 2nd floor of Plan 2. Plus unlke Summit Ridge, this tract had no pocket park of its own... high HOAs to pay for the retaining walls and that's it.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
So did they change the interior of the Model 2 on site?

I never got around to looking at these because I felt the floor plans were too boxy. I like the 1st floor of Plan 3 but the 2nd floor of Plan 2. Plus unlke Summit Ridge, this tract had no pocket park of its own... high HOAs to pay for the retaining walls and that's it.
Click to expand...

They didn't change it on the model, but if you ask you can go see it in one of the available lots.
 
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