A new addition to the For Sale market this week was 8 Campanero East in Northwood’s Park Paseo neighborhood. Originally built in 1977 as a one-story, 3+2 home at just over 1300 square feet, this house was remodeled and expanded in 1989. It is now a 5+3 with a large loft and is 2,840 square feet.

The basics:

Asking Price: $889,000

Bedrooms: 5 + loft

Bathrooms: 3

Square Footage: 2,840

Lot Size: 4,185

$/Sq Ft: $313

Days on Market: 7

Property Type: Single Family Residence

Year Built: 1977; expanded in 1989

Community: Northwood

HOA dues are $85 per month and there are no Mello Roos taxes.

From the entryway, I saw a dining room to my left and a large living room to my right. Both rooms, along with the rest of the downstairs, are covered with reddish terracotta tiles. The dining room is on the smaller side, but can fit a table for eight, possibly more. The living room is actually quite large, with enough space to create two separate seating areas. One end has a fireplace and there are two sets of French sliders leading out to the backyard.

The backyard is very small and fully hardscaped in a combination of brick and wood. Most of it is covered by a white trellis. The yard is plumbed for a Jacuzzi, though it doesn’t actually have one.

Beyond the living room is the downstairs bedroom, which also has access to the backyard. This room is tiny, especially since one side is taken up almost entirely by the sliders. It has a small closet and a ceiling fan. The adjacent (not attached) bathroom has a single sink and a shower/tub combo. This is actually the only bathtub in the house suitable for small children.

A short hallway leads to the family room and kitchen. The first part of the room is perfect for a casual dining area, with space for a good-sized table, and bar seating just outside the kitchen. The kitchen itself is small and the counters are covered in large white, marble tiles that look outdated. The cabinets are white, with most of the upper cabinets having glass faces, making the small room feel a bit more open. A small center island has an expandable butcher-block top and provides much-needed extra counter space. Despite advertised stainless steel appliances, all of the appliances are black. And, while it does have a double oven as advertised, it fits into the same space as a regular single oven, so each oven is half-size. There is a walk-in pantry and direct access to the garage. The kitchen also has a door leading into the dining room.

The family room has a big fireplace in one corner and a nice set of built-ins across from it. Dark wood around the fireplace and wainscoting on the walls give the room a bit of a country feel. One large window looking out to the street provides the only natural light for the family room, kitchen and casual dining area.

The staircase is tiled to match the downstairs, but once at the top, there are dark, hardwood floors that extend down the hall and into the master bedroom. A small alcove with several windows offers space for a bright work area if desired. All of the bedrooms are off a hallway to the left and another staircase on the right leads up to the loft.

There are four bedrooms on the second level. The three secondary bedrooms come first, all in a row across the back of the house. Each one is on the smaller side and they all have new carpet, two-door mirrored closets (still with the gold trim common in 1980’s construction), and ceiling fans. The two on the ends have vaulted ceilings. At the end of the hall is the shared bathroom, which was recently remodeled. It has a single sink and a large shower with a seat, but no bathtub. Unlike the brushed nickel fixtures used in the kitchen and other bathrooms, this bathroom has bronze hardware.

The master bedroom is at the front of the house. The entry to the room is awkward, with a wall almost right in front of you to create one hallway straight ahead to the bedroom and another on the right to the bathroom. The double vanity appears newer, with dark wood and brushed nickel hardware. However, the large soaking tub is surrounded by 80’s-style tile and chrome hardware. The tub is incredibly deep with high walls and probably requires a stool to get into. It wouldn’t work well for bathing children but would be a nice place to relax. The separate shower is quite small and has not been updated.

Just inside the main door to the room is a large mirrored closet. The bedroom itself is average-sized, with vaulted ceilings and a fan. French sliders lead out to a big balcony overlooking the street. There is a large walk-in closet that doesn’t currently have doors but does have a track at the top if you wanted to install them.

The staircase leading up to the third floor is somewhat steep, especially at the top where the railings felt a bit low. The loft is a good-sized room that could easily be a bedroom, office, playroom, etc. It has angled ceilings that are lower on the sides, so an adult couldn’t stand at full height, but are tall enough to put a couch, bed or desk against. It has one small window overlooking the backyard. Like the secondary bedrooms, it has new carpet. Currently, the loft is closed in, but with what is clearly a temporary wall. Per the agent, it is made to be easily removable, so owners can choose whether to have it open or closed in. The wall is solid, but thinner than a regular wall and with visible seam lines and cracks around the edges.

Overall, this house offers many rooms and plenty of space. It is well located on a quiet cul-de-sac and just steps away from Santiago Hills Elementary School and the association pool, spa, clubhouse and tennis courts. The floors, carpet, and paint are new throughout most of the house and everything is clean and well maintained. The downfalls are that many of the rooms are small, most notably the kitchen and all secondary bedrooms, as well as the backyard. Personally, I dislike the terracotta floors downstairs, but they may appeal to others. The other big negative in my opinion is the lack of a bathtub on the second floor. It is a good house and definitely worth checking out if you need a lot of rooms, want a good association with low dues, and don’t mind that the rooms and yard are small. The large living room and extra loft do provide extra space to make up for the smaller bedrooms and kitchen.

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3526.0.html

420 E. Yale Loop #31 $574,000

Woodbridge Condo Returns to Market

Driving over to this Woodbridge condo in the South Lake area I was interested to see what the total package would be. On the market about 45 days, this home was first shown vacant, and later staged, playing up the spacious floor plan and numerous upgrades.

Significant numbers: This two level, three bedroom, three bath home is 1,749 sq. ft., at $328/sq. ft. with HOA dues of $467. Built in 1985, the home was listed in December at $598,000. It is now listed at $574,000. It was sold for $430,000 last October. There is no Mello Roos.

Close-Up: Stepping inside there is a crisp feel to the overall upgrades with a new wrought iron staircase, new lighting and chandelier, designer tile, carpeting and paint effectively setting the stage. A good sized living room with fireplace and a formal dining area ringed with shuttered windows leads to an all new kitchen with granite counters, stainless appliances and designer wood cabinets. The breakfast nook and family room complete the flow of the floor plan.

The bathrooms have been remodeled with spa and tub in the master suite. There are double vanities, walk-in closet and mirrored closet doors too.

The outside covered patio has planter areas and room for a barbecue.

Specifics:

Bedrooms, 3

Baths, 3

One common wall attached

Double garage

Association pool and spa

Double garage

2 parking spaces

Irvine Unified School District

What will be considered? Woodbridge’s lakes and many recreational facilities coupled with a roomy floor plan with 3 bedrooms and 3 baths and an overall remodeling will give this condo an edge. The sales history in a shrinking market will also be reviewed.

Who will be moving here? An active family looking for excellent schools and the Woodbridge park and lake setting will be attracted to this home. Buyers looking for a first home in Irvine or an investment in the Woodbridge area will also be attracted.

Recent listings: 16 Carnation, $575,000; 3 Pearleaf, $559,000.

Recent sales: 1 Spring flower #144, $519,000; 164 Greenmoor, #70, $485,000.

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3521.0.html

Inventory as of February 2nd, 2013: 223.

As Irvinites take the Christmas lights off, and drag their tree away for recycling, they couldn't help but notice that the property prices are on the rise. Now that the house was getting professionally cleaned post-holidays, many thought why not, lets test the market – if WTF listing price works, might as well make some money and trade up!

As I scanned through the twenty listed properties in North Park/ West Irvine area, I noticed a familiar address. 10 Mineral King. I had covered this blog in my previous blog “Kings of their domain“. The property was listed at $699,800 then, and delisted, and now it's listed at $719,000.

Listing Price: $719,000

Beds: 4

Baths: 2.5

Sq. Ft.: 2,477

Price/Sq. Ft.: $328

Property Type: Residential, Single Family

Style: Two Level, Other

Year Built: 2000

Community: North Park

Builders Tract Name: Evergreen

Builders Tract Code: EVRG

Builders Model Code: 4

Monthly Mortgage: $2,563

HOA Dues: $328/month ($183+$145)

Property Tax ( 1.0593%): $7616 Annually

Mello Roos: $1,401 Annually

Monthly Property Tax+ Mello Roos: $751

Fixed Monthly Expenses: $3,642

Here is a brief sales history for 2012:

12 Millbrae $292/SF

7 Three Rivers $300/SF

17 Crescent City $276/SF

16 Crescent City $278/SF

16 Apple Vly $289/SF

14 Apple Vly $278/SF

Why do these Single Family Residences sell for much lower than the trending $350/SF+ in North Park?

Partly because all these are listed as “attached” Single Family Residences.

What are attached Single Family Residences?

They share a wall with their neighbor, just like Condominiums, but you own the land below your building. Also, this particular property has two HOA dues just like a condominium, adding up to $328 per month.

Floor Plan:

At 2477 SF, the house is spacious, but all the bedrooms, and retreats and full size bathrooms are upstairs. There is no guest bedroom, or home office downstairs. Also, the for the house this size, the kitchen looks cramped. There is no significant yard either. Most of the condominiums have bigger yards. Also, two and a half bathrooms are too little for a four bedroom house.

For the same price, what else is on the market close-by?

12 Proclamation Way. Comparing a property from West Irvine to North Park isn't a fair comparison, but unless you are hung up on a particular builder, these do fall under the same zip code and share the same sales statistics.

Listing Price: $799,000

Monthly mortgage: $2864

Mello Roos: $1129

Property taxes: $8463

Taxes + Mello Roos Monthly: $799

Fixed Monthly Expenses: $3663

What would you do?

Would you buy an attached property in a guard gated community with all bells and whistles, or a detached property? Would the builder's name change your decision? Do you check pending litigations, and past records of the builder before buying?

Share your thoughts at Talk Irvine.

This week I visited a townhouse in Woodbridge’s gated Arborlake community. At 2700 square feet, it is bigger than many townhomes; however, the layout is so confusing that all of the families touring it when I was there (three others) couldn’t figure out how it all fit together.

The basics:

Asking Price: $749,900

Bedrooms: 4 + extra room

Bathrooms: 3

Square Footage: 2,700

Lot Size: N/A

$/Sq Ft: $278

Days on Market: 22

Property Type: Attached Townhouse

Year Built: 1978

Community: Woodbridge

HOA dues are $497 per month and there are no Mello Roos taxes.

This townhouse has its own two-car garage facing the street and a gate leading to a private courtyard as you enter the property. The courtyard is large, with two separate stairways leading up to the building, causing many of the visitors (including me) to think it was a shared space leading to multiple units. However, both stairways lead to this home – the front one is the main entry and the one on the side leads to some of the bedrooms.

The main entry features a wall of windows and, as soon as you go inside, a newly-tiled travertine staircase takes you up to the first floor of the house. The living room is at the top of the stairs. A fireplace is surrounded by frosted glass half-walls that overlook the entry. On the opposite side of the room, sliding doors lead out to a long balcony that runs the entire length of the unit. The balcony overlooks the sports fields of Lakeside Middle School so, while it is a nice view, I imagine it gets noisy on school days.

The living room flows into the dining room, which has space for a large table and a huge window looking out to the balcony. A wetbar with granite counters and white cupboards line another wall.

A door from the dining room leads into the eat-in area of the kitchen, which has more sliding doors to the balcony. This space is so large that it needs to be filled with more than just a table to avoid looking empty. It could serve as a casual family room, a replacement for the formal dining room (freeing up that space instead), an office, etc. The kitchen has been recently remodeled, with granite counters and white cupboards matching those in the dining room. It features stainless steel appliances and travertine floors matching the entryway. It is a good size and well-laid out, with a small window to bring in some light.

Next to the kitchen is a laundry room (no sink) and, across from that, a small bathroom with a single sink and a small stall shower. The downstairs hallway has a coat closet and two sets of floor-to-ceiling linen cupboards. At the end of the hall is the first bedroom, currently set up as an office. Big double doors lead into the average-sized room. It has a small closet, a window overlooking the courtyard, and a door out the back.

A back door from the office leads to the side stairway that I originally saw from the courtyard. It has stairs going both up and down, as well as a door across the hall, which is why so many of us were confused and thought there were multiple units. The door across the hall actually leads to another large room that is part of the same house, but not accessible from the inside at all. It has a sloped ceiling that is very low on one side and a couple of big storage closets, that aren’t fully finished and have lower ceilings. The carpet was very dirty and would have to be replaced. This room could make a great home office, especially for someone who saw clients and needed a truly private space. A skylight helps to brighten the room.

The upper floor of the house is accessible from the outside stairwell and from an inside staircase in the main hallway. There are three bedrooms, including the master, and an additional bathroom. The two secondary bedrooms are a good size, one with bigger windows and a bigger closet. Both have standard, 6-paneled door closets. The bathroom they share has only one sink and a shower/tub combo. One of them has a door leading out to the side stairwell.

The master bedroom is big, with vaulted ceilings and a large balcony overlooking the middle school. The bathroom has travertine floors, granite counters, and two sinks. It also has a large bathtub, with a showerhead as well, but it lacks doors or even a curtain rod, so something would have to be installed to use it as a shower. The master has two large closets (neither is a walk-in).

The parts of the house that have been remodeled are really well done. However, the carpet throughout the house is dirty and definitely needs to be replaced. The side stairwell is also grungy and, since it does only belong to this unit, I would probably clean it up and make it nicer. The garage is extra long, so there is plenty of space for storage or a work area; however, it doesn’t have direct access to the house (only to the courtyard).

The windows are original and most don’t have any sort of window treatment, so people at the middle school would easily be able to see in the large, rear-facing windows. There are other units on both sides, so several of the rooms, including most bedrooms), share walls with the neighbors. The HOA fees are astronomical. On the plus side, it’s incredibly large for a townhouse, has an association pool, and is extremely close to the North Lake Beach Club and lagoon area. The strange layout and high HOA fees would keep me from making an offer, so I am curious to see how long this one stays on the market.

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3505.0.html

Turtle Rock Peters View Townhome

10 Morning Glory – $1,099,000

Winding up the hill and turning onto Morning Glory I discovered another special spot in Turtle Rock. Having just seen a single family home at 14 Hillgrass, a short distance away I was wondering how this home would compare.

The answer was obvious, from the secluded location to the elegant interior and splendid views this Peters View home on Morning Glory competes quite well.

Significant Numbers: New to the market, this 3 bedroom, two bath split level single family townhome is 1,998 sq. ft. on a 7,182 sq. ft. lot with city lights and hill views. Built in 1979, the HOA dues are $379. The $/sq.ft. is $550. There is no Mello Roos and this is a standard sale.

Close-Up: A dramatic entry and living room with two story ceilings, sleek fireplace, and light filled windows easily commands attention. The home is vacant but the floor plan and dynamic design is a winner and it is easy to imagine the flow of a party around the brick floored atrium or festive dinners in the formal dining room. Plantation shutters, ceramic tile, carpet and marble flooring are all effectively used.

The kitchen is remodeled with maple cabinets, pull out drawers, granite counters and a breakfast bar. There is also a garden window with a view. The family room with built-ins, and atrium complete the flow of the split level floor plan. There is also an enclosed patio.

There are two main floor bedrooms with bathroom. Upstairs there is a private master suite with double vanity, dressing area and views.

Specifics:

Bedrooms 3

Baths 2

Sq. Ft. 1,998

Lot size 7,182 sq. ft.

Double garage

1 common wall

Laundry in garage

Irvine Unified School District

Association pool and spa

What will be considered here: The 7,182 sq. ft. view lot and good sized distinctive townhome will weigh in along with a prime Turtle Rock location, and excellent schools and recreational facilities.

Who will move into 10 Morning Glory? An active family will see this home as a natural in a great setting. Someone looking for a prime spot in Irvine will be attracted too. Two downstairs bedrooms with bath adds to the home’s flexibility for guests and a home office.

Recent listings nearby: 107 Weathervane, $1,275,000.

Recent sales: 5 Morning Glory, $1,000,000 in November; 5 Starlight, $869,900 in October and 18 Southern Wood for $965,000 in September.

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3498.0.html