Supersized Woodbridge Condo

55 Pinewood $999,000

If you turn off of Yale and wind back through the North Lake area of Woodbridge, there is a supersized condo all the way at the end of the cul de sac, at 55 Pinewood. This condo may be the one that most condos want to be.

Totally remodeled and expanded, the home has grown to 3,157 sq. feet with 4 bedrooms, and 3.5 baths, including a master retreat, an office and a bonus room. The end result is a sleek condo with some nice options.

Significant numbers: Built in 1977, this two level home has been on the market about 30 days, and is $315/sq. ft.

CloseUp: Double doors open into a large tiled entry with a step down family room and nicely finished patio straight ahead. Carpeted stairs to the second level are on the right and a dining area and kitchen are off to the left. The master retreat is also on the main floor around to the right.

The family room with fireplace has French doors opening onto a large professionally landscaped backyard with custom fireplace, fountain and built-in barbecue and gas range. There is also a large side yard.

Overall, this polished condo has a take charge attitude. It could hold a whole tribe of family, friends and relatives, or handle a good sized guest invasion, staging a big party and housing out of town guests. The open floor plan on the main floor and extra bedrooms can easily manage the traffic.

Newly painted throughout, the pale beige color scheme is accented with coordinating tile and thick cocoa carpeting. Striking tile insets and niches are used in the kitchen, baths and hall.

The family kitchen fits right into the main floor hub of activity with good sized granite counters, stainless appliances, custom cabinetry and recessed lighting.

The master suite is a well designed retreat with jacuzzi and shower and his and hers vanities. There are also two other good sized bedrooms with private baths on the main floor. Upstairs, the bedrooms are good sized, and one has French doors opening onto a small balcony. The laundry is inside and there is an attached double garage.

Specifics:

Bedrooms, 4

Baths, 3.5

Double garage

Cooling: Dual zone AC system, central heating

Community Barbecue, Playground, Spa

Community clubhouse(s), tennis courts

Irvine Unified School District

What is important here? The choice North Lake Woodbridge location, paired with so much space will be considered along with the immaculate finish and numerous upgrades. Single family versus condo will be the other question with individual priorities weighing in.

In a changing market it will be interesting to see how this newly remodeled and greatly expanded home will do. Recently there were several quick sales of good sized single family homes in the same price range in the South Lake area of Woodbridge.

Who will be attracted to 55 Pinewood? A large family could be looking for the top schools nearby, and all of Woodbridge’s recreational facilities. The main floor master retreat, office, den and bedrooms, offer flexible space for people who travel, work at home, and entertain a lot.

Recent nearby listings: 10 Woodflower, $1,200,000 ; 17 Brookdale, $978,000.

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3658.0.html

Inventory as of 24th March, 2013: 184.

I know, you all laugh when you hear the legendary Realtor statement “Buy now or be priced out forever”. But of late, the Irvine market has flipped, and is clearly on the seller's side, forcing people to buy before they are priced out, or the interest rates rise! Oh wait, this is Irvine. We don't care about interest rates. We buy all cash. At least most of the people I talk to are sharing stories of exorbitant down payments or all cash purchases. It's a different world from what we saw four years ago, when we looking to buy. Inventory was maximum, and even though there were multiple offers of properties, people were under bidding each other as opposed to over bidding now to get a property, guaranteed.

I have profiled the West Irvine condominiums a couple of times to show how the market has changed for them in a year, some even appreciating as much as $200,000. Today, I will profile another condominium from the 92602 zip code, but not in West Irvine.

46 Trailing Vine, Irvine CA 92602

Listing Price: $525,000

Beds/ baths: 3 Beds/ 2.5 Baths

Area: 1395 SF

Year Built: 2005

Monthly Expenses:

Mortgage: $1915

HOA Dues: $290

Mello Roos: $113

Property tax: $463

Total Monthly Expenses: $2781

Cost of owning/ SF: $2/ SF Monthly

When the market was going down a couple of years ago, there was a lot of chatter about shadow inventory. Technically, if the market performed as the graph projected, that would be the case, and we would have reached the rock bottom in the summer of 2012. But, now we all know that those who bought in the 2008-2011 time period did not catch a falling knife.

Here is a brief history of trailing vine properties:

2007: $419/SF

2008: $349/SF – $367/SF

2009: $311/SF – $329/SF

2010: $302/SF – $342/SF

2011: $297/SF – $306/SF

2012: $274/SF – $295/SF

2013: 81 Trailing Vine, $330/SF

92 Trailing Vine, $294/SF

33 Trailing Vine, $329/SF

38 League, $354/SF

From $419/SF to $274/SF, Tamarisk has seen it all.

What do you think?

Would you buy a Tamarisk house fearing that you might actually be priced out very soon if the trend continues?

Are you willing to pay half a million dollars to buy a house with a tiny patio, and view of the freeway from the bedrooms?

Share your views at Talk Irvine.

This week, I visited 18 Miners Trail in Northwood. While it has many upgrades, there is also still plenty of room for improvement.

The basics:

Asking Price: $779,000

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 3

Square Footage: 2,213

Lot Size: 4,560

$/Sq Ft: $352

Days on Market: 23

Property Type: single family residence

Year Built: 1979

There are no HOA dues or Mello Roos taxes.

The first thing I noticed was a large sideyard leading up to the front door and wrapping around to the backyard. Because it is a smaller lot, it is nice to see a bit of extra space on the side.

Downstairs, the flooring is all new, with a combo of tile in the entry and kitchen and wood throughout the rest of the rooms. In contrast, the upstairs carpet is shabby and needs to be replaced. While the upstairs bedrooms all have new windows, the downstairs windows are original. The ceilings were scraped throughout the whole house.

The living room is just off the entryway and is a step down from the hall. It has a vaulted ceiling and, despite having three windows, feels dark due to all of the trees in the front yard.

The dining room is on the other side of the entry. It has a sliding door out to the sideyard and, like the living room, has a vaulted ceiling.

The dining room leads into the kitchen, which has been nicely remodeled. In addition to the new marble floor, it has granite counters, attractive new cabinetry, and stainless steel appliances. A large garden window looks out to the backyard. The kitchen doesn’t have quite as many cabinets as most others I have seen, so space will have to be used efficiently.

The family room is at the back of the house, right off the kitchen. It has space for a breakfast table at the back wall. There are sliding doors out to the backyard and a fireplace in the middle of another wall. It also has a skylight over the breakfast table. Because all of the natural light is at the far end of the room, most of the space is pretty dark.

There is a downstairs bedroom off the family room. It has built in shelves along one wall. Like the family room, it’s only light source is a sliding door to the backyard, so it is a dark room. It is big, but long and narrow, so somewhat awkwardly shaped for a bedroom. The closet is also pretty small, leading me to think it makes a better office or playroom. There is a remodeled en suite bathroom with a single sink and a shower/tub combo. This bathroom also has hallway access (via the laundry room) and is the only downstairs bath.

Upstairs, there are three more bedrooms. The master is a pretty big room. It has a fireplace and a balcony, along with a vaulted ceiling. The bathroom has been partially redone, with newer counters and tile around the separate shower and tub, but the original cabinets. The old carpet and cabinets make the otherwise nice bathroom look shabby.

The other bathroom upstairs has also been remodeled. It only has one sink, though it’s set in a very long counter. It has a combo shower/tub and newer granite and tile.

The two secondary bedrooms are very typical for an older home in Northwood. They are average sized, each with one window facing the street. One has a standard closet and the other has a walk in; neither is particularly large.

The home backs to Northwood, a somewhat quiet but non-residential street. It is also directly across from the back side of a shopping center, so it probably gets noise from delivery trucks. The outside of the home suffered some damage from termites and dry rot. The owners are willing to fix this at their own expense as long as the clause is included in the offer.

Older homes in Northwood have seen a fairly wide range of prices lately, both in those that have recently sold and those currently on the market. At $352 per square foot, this house is somewhere in the middle of that range. The two biggest drawbacks are the location and the lack of natural light, neither of which can be changed. Which one do you think is keeping it from selling?

Discuss on Talk Irvine: http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3646.0.html