Irvine Real Estate

Smart home automation is slowly becoming the norm in today's homes in the Irvine area.  It was only a few years ago that we first started to see homes start to incorporate technology into ever room in the house.  Now, many of the builders in the new home communities in Irvine are starting to implement them into these homes since it's become mainstream.  What exactly is a smart home?  Think about anything that can be automated like window blinds that open and close at certain times, smart light switches and thermostats, camera operated doorbells and locks that can be accessed through your smart phone.  Several years ago a smart home was often controlled by an iPad looking control panel but now everything is being sent through an app on your phone.

Some

One of the newest communities in 2020 in Irvine, California is the CitySquare neighborhoods.  Built by Heritage homes, these homes are marketed by Heritage as being energy efficient which in the long run they tell us will save us a lot of money in utility bills.  The location is so brand new that's its hard to located on a map right now but the location is near the major intersection off Main Street and MacArthur Blvd.  The location is so ideal that is just a few minutes drive to John Wayne Airport and the 405 freeway making commuting to work ideal.  This area of Irvine is known for many corporate buildings so it's nice to see a residential neighborhood pop up in this prime real estate area.

Real Estate prices in our multiple listing service currently

Irvine is one of the best places to find larger homes that come with a guest casita.  This of course will all depend on your price range as many luxury homes can average well over $4 million dollars.  However, it's not impossible to find homes with a guest casita in the $1.5 million dollar range if you know where to look.  Casitas are really ideal for those who have extended family members or just need some extra space away from the main part of the house.  Here is a quick guide on where to look.

The number one place to start your search would be the Shady Canyon community.  This is an exclusive guard gated community that has crazy security.  Once you pass through the 24 hour guard gate you then have to pass through another set of gates for each of the

There are a lot of new construction homes being built right now in Irvine, California that offer the latest modern finishes and style.  A lot of people gravitate to these types of properties since they have never been lived in and are located on a new community with lots of amenities for residents to use.  Many buyers get excited about these new homes until they break down the costs to live there.  On top of paying a monthly mortgage (if not all cash) you will have monthly homeowners association dues and an additional tax that is referred to as Mello Roos.  

What exactly is Mello Roos?  It's best explained from the builders point of view.  When a builder is building a new community and doesn't want to pay for the sidewalks, streets, parks, etc they can

The city of Irvine has many neighborhoods to choose from with many of these communities having monthly association dues and a Mello Roos tax attached to them.  This is a big factor when considering purchasing a home as these fee's are on top of a monthly mortgage payment, annual taxes and insurance.  Smart buyers look at what each community has to offer in relationship to the amount of monthly fee's they will charge.  New construction homes are notorious for having an added Mello Roos tax in addition to association fee's which can make buying a home very expensive.  For example, a $1 million dollar home may have a monthly association dues of $500 a month plus a Mello Roos tax which could average around $300 a month as well.  So that is $800 that is to be

Irvine has a lot different types of homes and residential condos to choose from.  Many of these will have limited views due to the high density of neighborhoods here.  There are several neighborhoods that do offer very nice sunset view properties which tend to be very high in demand.  These are broken into two separate categories, one for residential single family homes and one for condos and townhomes.  The place where we find a lot of sunset view properties is located in the Portola Springs neighborhood.  The city of Irvine is relatively flat except for certain sections that are elevated like Portola Springs.  Because of this unique topography many homes will offer some kind of a view.  This is also true for communities like Orchard Hills and Great Park

Irvine is a true gem for those looking for a current or former model home listed for sale.  One of the reasons for this is that there always seems to be brand new construction neighborhoods being constructed all of the time.  Each neighborhood often has 3 model homes that have been highly upgraded to show off the potential for what a buyer can buy in that particular neighborhood. These properties are initially not offered for sale since the builder is trying to sell all of the other homes in the community first before they even think of selling some of the models.  Of course, once the neighborhood is close to being sold out the model homes are often released out to the public for sale.  Prices for these homes will vary a lot and depends on how motivated

The city of Irvine is located in the interior part of Orange County and one does not normally think of buying a water front home in this location.  There is a section of homes located in the Woodbridge community in Irvine where there are two body of waters known and North and South Lake.  Surrounding the lake are wonderful lakefront homes that have become very desirable.  The inventory of these types of properties tends to be very limited as there is a small number of houses that are located directly on the water.  Gated communities like Arborlake are a great place to look for lake front homes in the North Lake area with close proximity to the North Lake Beach Club and Lagoon.  There is a good mixture of residential homes and condos to choose from similar

The Hidden Canyon community in Irvine has arguably become on the most sought after neighborhoods in Irvine.  Many of the new construction homes have been built with many re-sale properties on the market for sale.  For those not ready to purchase a home right now there are several rental properties that have come on the market for lease here.

Hidden Canyon is an excellent place to find an approximate 6,000 square foot home that was built in the last 2 years.  Many of these rental properties will come with an attached 4 car garage and located on lots that can over 10,000 square feet.  There are currently 2 homes on the rental market right now listed at $11,000 and $12,000 a month.  Both of these are long term leases which means the owner is initially

We get a lot of calls from new owners and tenants that are currently living in many of the high-rise condos in Irvine and seeking out a phone number in order to contact the homeowners association.  This can be for a variety of reasons that include wanting to know the pet policy, parking situation, hours of operation, etc.  We have looked and haven't found any one place that provides all of this contact information and think it's important to let the consumer know the correct way to contact each of these individual associations.  Here is our guide to in contacting these property management companies.

First, high-rise condos in Irvine consist of The Plaza, Marquee Park Place, Avenue One Condos, Central Park West, Metropolitan and Watermarke.  It's also