Irvine Real Estate Blogger

Five Irvine Unified School District schools scored in the top ten for all of Orange County for API results in 2009.

Turtle Rock, Bonita Canyon, Canyon View and Alderwood Basics Plus Elementary Schools ranked #2, #5 ,#6, and #7 respectively, and Rancho San Joaquin Middle School ranked #9.

Turtle Rock elementary is the district school for the part of Turtle Rock village located in the 92612 zip code as well as the University Town Center. Bonita Canyon elementary encompasses homes located in Turtle Rock within the 92603 zip code.

Canyon View elementary is located in a newer part of Northwood villlage in the 92620 zip code.

Alderwood Basics Plus elementary, located in Quail Hill, serves Quail Hill and the Spectrum area residents.

Rancho San Joaquin Middle School is the district school for the villages of Quail Hill, Turtle Rock, Turtle Ridge, Rancho San Joaquin, University Park and University Town Center.

To ensure that the desired school falls within your neighborhood, please look up the street address at: http://www.iusd.org/asp-bin/whichschool

To see how your schools rank among all of Orange County, go to:

http://school.hiwhy.com/orange-county

First published yesterday in http://robin4homes.activerain.com

Photo of my very own “I Voted” Sticker

Exercise Your Political Muscle and Vote!

Exercise is good for your body and mind. Exercising your political muscle strengthens your community and the nation. Your vote matters. Just do it!

Go on, get to the polls and vote!

Crystal Cove Historic District

We have some idyllic places just a short bike ride from Irvine, CA. One of these places is a throw-back to an earlier time–Crystal Cove State Park in Corona del Mar, CA. We had a pleasant, sunny afternoon strolling on the beach, catching some raysand cogitating how fortunatewe are to live in this little piece of paradise.

Back in the 1920’s Crystal Cove was transformed into “a paradise of the south seas” by a budding silent film industry, and small cottages were built and thatched with palms to reflect the exotic appearance of Tahiti or Hawaii. Silent movies were filmed on location here as it was easily accessible by rail and much more affordable than shooting in a far off location. (more…)

Free Pacific Symphony Concert on Sat., August 16th, 2008

Photo Courtesy of Asiir

You won’t want to miss one of the highlights of this summer by attending this free performance by the Pacific Symphony, sponsored by Target, as part of their 2008 “Symphony in the Cities” concert series this Saturday evening, August 16th at 7:00 p.m. in Irvine’s Heritage Park.

It’s a great opportunity to hear our beloved Pacific Syphony, with Musical Director Carl St. Clair, while enjoying a picnic in the park with family and friends. And did I mention that it’s free! If you have children (nieces, nephews, friend’s/neighbor’s children) you definitely want to show up by 5:30 p.m. for the “musical playgound” in which the kids will participate and share in interactive and hands-on activities that include a conducting workshop and a chance to assist Maestro St. Clair during the concert. What an opportunity! It’s a sure bet to be a highlight of your summer experience here in Irvine. (more…)

Twenty-seven out of 33 Irvine Unified School District elementary, middle, and high schools placed in the top 10 percentile statewide, and approximately 82% of Irvine public schools earned the highest possible ranking on California’s Academic Performance Index or API, as compared to all schools in California.
In Orange County approximately 19% of the public schools earned the highest score of 10 out of 10. The figures released today, May 22, 2008, published in the Orange County Register, are updated scores for the 2007 Academic Performance Index first released in August of 2008.

The Academic Performance Index is a composite of standardized test scores and other measures used by the state to rate student achievement. These tests include the California Standards Tests, the California Achievement Test and the high school exit exam. Students in grades 3 through 11 undergo testing each spring.

Click here to read the article in its entirety.

Click here to see the complete list of Orange County public school rankings.

Google reminded us to turn out the lights during Earth Hour, and now while “googling” something, I am reminded that today, April 22nd, is Earth Day.

Before moving to Irvine, California, we lived in Tucson, Arizona.

Most people think of the desert as rugged and hearty, certainly not fragile and fleeting. With the temperature hovering over the century mark from April through November during the daytime, one can only imagine how difficult it is for the flora and fauna to thrive and persevere.

I am reminded of a flower that blooms only one summer night in Tucson, and closes up at sunrise the very next morning, called the Night Blooming Cereus, or Queen of the Night.

I am reminded how fortunate we are here in Irvine, California to live so close to the Upper Newport Ecological Preserve, a sanctuary for migratory birds, and other critters including ourselves.

I am reminded that Sabino Canyon–a desert oasis in Tucson’s Coronado National Forest–had as a reminder of its fragility at its entrance which read:

Leave only footsteps, and take only memories…

I usually make it a point to scan the Real Estate sections of the L.A. Times, the Orange County Register, and the New York Times at some point over the weekend. However, I overlooked an article regarding 10 zip codes in Southern California that actually experienced price appreciation in the 1st quarter of 2008 as compared with the 1st quarter of 2007. Thankfully I came across Elaine Carlson’s article in PalosVerdesSource.com entitled Hottest SoCal Zip Codes.

The numbers were based on at least 20 sales in each of the zip codes as reported by DataQuick Information Systems. In Orange County, Irvine’s zip code 92603, which encompasses the villages of Quail Hill, Turtle Rock (including Shady Canyon), and Turtle Ridge, experienced an 18.0% increase in the median sales prices for existing single family detached homes as compared to the 1st quarter of 2007, Newport Coast’s 92657 zip code had an increase of 27.4% in the median sales price, and Newport Beach’s 92663 zip code encompassing Lido Isle and Balboa Peninsula had a 66.8% in the median sales price as compared to the 1st quarter of 2007.

Why do “some markets sizzle, while others fizzle?” Proximity to the beach where demand is high and inventory is relatively low has a great deal to do with price appreciation. These coastal areas have buyers who are able to qualify for good fixed rate loans, whereas the interior part of the state had borrowers who were stretching to afford homes, many of whom fell victim to the sub-prime mortgage debacle. (See my article entitled Which Cities are on Top for Home Sellers in California).

To view the cities with the biggest losses, Click here.

Not all city of Irvine addresses are served by the Irvine Unified School District.

The question arises time and time again: If I buy such and such property in Irvine, will my child be able to attend X elementary, middle, high school? The answer is: Don’t assume anything! If you want your child to attend a specific school within the Irvine Unified School District, the best course of action is to check, and then, double-check again!

All too often, buyers do not verify the school boundaries prior to purchasing a home. They assume that if a particular school is within a few blocks of the property they wish to purchase, then it follows that the school is within the property’s school attendance boundary. Wrong! In fact, a school can be within walking distance of the property, and still be outside the school’s designated attendance boundary.

I’ve seen real estate agents make the mistake of inputing the wrong school in the multiple listing service. In so doing, they are unwittingly misleading prospective buyers. For instance, today I had a prospective buyer e-mail me regarding whether University High School is within the attendance boundary of the high-rise condos in the 92612 zip code. This would include the airport area’s mid and high-rise condos of Watermarke, Avenue One, the Plaza, and the Marquee–all of which happen to fall within the Santa Ana Unified School District, not the Irvine Unified School District. There are some buyers (and, indeed, even some real estate agents) who are under the assumption that just because these condos are located in the city of Irvine (92612), that they necessarily fall within the Irvine Unified School District’s attendance boundaries. Not so.

One other caveat: Be sure to check the attendance boundary changes for future years. Just because a school is located in an attendance boundary for 2008 doesn’t preclude the school from a future boundary change. Again, in the airport area, the Metropolitan neighborhood used to be within the Irvine Unified School District’s boundary. However, now the attendance boundary of the Metropolitan falls within the Santa Ana Unified School District. Similarly, the neighborhood of Las Palmas, within the village of Westpark, used to be within the University High School attendance boundary. A homeowner of a Las Palmas condo wound up selling her condo and moving to the University Town Center just so her daughter would be able to attend University High School. She sold her condo because University High was removed from the attendance boundary of Las Palmas a few years ago. To her chagrin, her former neighborhood was recently re-installed and is now again within the University High School attendance boundary.

Therefore, I always recommend that if parents are bent on having their child/children attend a specific school, then the best way to verify if a particular school falls within the desired attendance boundary is to go to the Irvine Unified School District’s web site and check. This is very easy do. Scroll down to Enrollment, and then over to Assigned Neighborhood Schools. Click on this and it will bring you to an area where you can type in the address of the property, and it will display the elementary, middle, and high school attendance area for that particular address. You may also wish to click on the Irvine Unified School District’s School Boundaries. The site also provides a future map indicating boundary changes.

Currently the attendance boundaries for University High School include the villages of Quail Hill, Rancho San Joaquin, Turtle Ridge, Turtle Rock, University Park, and University Town Center.
Better to be informed than sorry!

Two elementary schools within the Irvine Unified School District were named a California Distinguished School for 2008, the state’s top honor for individual schools. Based on the results of test scores, only 5% of all schools statewide are awarded this prize, and the award rotates between the elementary, middle, and high school campuses each year. This prestigious prize was awarded to Alderwood Basics Plus elementary school, located in the village of Quail Hill and Canyon View elementary school, situated in the village of Northwood in Irvine, CA.

Everyone has his/her own reason for moving from one place to another. Over the past century we have become an increasingly mobile people. We uproot ourselves and our families seeking a better life, reinventing ourselves.

We move for a job relocation. We move to improve the quality of our lives and of those of our children or grandchildren. We are looking for a vacation or second home. We are looking for a retirement community. We are looking to move near excellent schools for our children or future families. We are seeking to move close to a university environment. We are looking to move from a colder to a milder climate. We are looking to move from a large single family home into a condo, town home or high-rise. We are seeking to move from a condo or town home into a larger single family home. We are looking to move to a golf course community. We are seeking to move to a coastal or a beach community. We are looking to move to a safer environment. We are looking for cultural enrichment.

In short, welcome to Irvine, CA whose everyday motto is “another day in paradise.” Irvine, CA has a dynamic and healthy business environment. Irvine, CA has real estate catering to the taste of one and all: homes, properties, condos, high rise and low rise town homes, second homes, vacation properties, golf course communities, beach communities, and retirement communities.

Welcome, home to Irvine, CA where lifestyle and real estate meet and fulfill the wants and needs of people of all ages in which one and all find their very own piece of paradise.

Coffee and tea lovers will have another option for their early morning-midday-evening pick-me-up. An endearing and enduring fixture known widely in the Bay area as Peet’s Coffee and Tea has arrived near the campus of U.C. Irvine in the University Center adjacent to Trader Joe’s. Peet’s replaces Dietrich’s in the same locale.

Peet’s was founded by Alfred Peet, on April 1, 1966 in Berkeley, CA., determined to provide an alternative to the poor quality of coffee being consumed by Americans at the time. His style of coffee was a radical departure from what was then available, “emphasizing smaller batches, freshness, superior quality beans, and a darker roasting style that produced coffee with richness and complexity. ”

The new store will have its opening this coming Saturday, March 29th at 6:00 a.m. As part of their grand opening, customers will receive a half-pound of coffee beans withthe purchase of any espresso drink, and complimentary coffee and tea will be served throughout the day.

The Annual Persian New Year celebration will take place in Irvine’s Mason Regional Park this coming Sunday, March 30th. This day long celebration is the culmination of the Persian New Year, “Norooz,” which began on the first day of Spring. On the 13th day of the New Year or “Sizdeh Bedar,” families and friends gather in the park to picnic as an annual rite of renewal to start the New Year fresh. Thousands of people are expected to partake in the New Year’s celebration. We wish all our friends a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

We were visiting our son over Easter weekend up in the Bay area and happened on a delightful fair in Yountville, a small but notable community in Napa valley. We had decided on visiting Napa for a little bit of wine-tasting, and wound up discovering an annual festival replete with wine-tasting, live music, and delectable hors d’oeuvres offered up by the local wineries and notable area restaurants.

It was perfect in that one could park one’s car and saunter from booth to booth sampling each distinctive treat. Oh, did we mention reasonably priced as well. We purchased a number of tickets which we used as script toward food and drink. A generous sampling of wine was equivalent to two dollars (two tickets), as were many samplings of tasty tidbits. The firemen served up a great sampling of BBQ ribs, and bistro Bouchon offered up their signature chocolate delight.

For those of you who haven’t yet experienced Yountville, it is home to one of the best restaurants, and several great bistros in the region and, perhaps, the country. For a very special occasion, such as a round-numbered birthday or important anniversary, you might want to make plans to visit the French Laundry, housed in an unassuming building in the heart of town. It is one of the most divine and memorable dining experiences you will ever have. However, it requires planning. One cannot decide to go on the spur of the moment. Rather you must make reservations 60 days in advance of the date you plan to dine.

On the other hand, you can dine more spontaneously in one of the other well-acclaimed bistros in town. Check out Bouchon Bistro, Bistro Jeanty, or Ad Hoc for a very satisfying culinary experience.

So if you happen to be in the Bay area on the Saturday following the Spring Equinox next year, plan on venturing up to Yountville in Napa for a most enjoyable day.

Venturing into real estate can be compared to jogging in that just as you would want to get a health check-up before embarking on any serious exercise program, so too would you also want to get pre-approved by a lender to see if your current financial “health” can support a housing payment.

Exercising, like real estate, can seem daunting: it takes research and commitment to do both right. But while you can exercise on your own, some choose to seek the assistance of a fitness trainer or coach to help follow an exercise program; similarly, some find that looking for real estate on their own suits their needs just fine, while others, though, recognize and seek the value that a real estate professional can provide to the process.

While jogging ultimately enhances your overall well-being, energizes both your body and your mind, and allows you to take charge of your life, real estate instills a sense of pride of ownership, enhances your self-esteem, and allows you to be the master/mistress of your own castle.

Furthermore, as jogging or any consistent aerobic exercise will stave off diseases and extend the quality of your life, owning your own home has historically been a source of tax relief, enhancing your net income, and allowing you to have more disposable income for even a little self-indulgence on occasion. (Like, for example, enjoying that aged-to-perfection glass of wine—which, coincidentally, could help break down plaque build-up in your arteries just as a morning or afternoon jog would!)

As jogging and exercising regularly could actually add quantitative and qualitative years to your life (if coupled with other healthful lifestyle changes and activities, of course), owning your own home is a major step towards enhancing your future, securing your retirement—and fulfilling the American Dream of home ownership.

The return of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano has become a symbol associated with Saint Joseph’s Day on March 19th of each year and is celebrated as the day that marks the annual arrival of springtime, a time of renewal and rebirth.

However, Eric and I have come to view the first day of spring, as the date upon which we first sight the red-winged blackbirds by the Upper Newport Ecological Preserve where we have jogged since 1999. Like clockwork, the red-winged blackbirds arrive and announce that it is indeed springtime.

Their name reflects the fact that the male birds have red shoulder patches when they are in flight. They migrate over the Pacific Flyway and inhabit the wetland areas of the fresh and saltwater marshes making the Back Bay one of the places where come to nest.

Last week we were sure that we would have our first sighting. But the weather turned cold as strong winds swept through Irvine. Today we went on our usual jog, and Eric observed, looking at the snow-capped mountains of Mt. Baldy against the clear blue sky that the blackbirds intuitively knew that winter was still with us. Indeed, we’ll just have to wait and see. But it is certain that once we sight the red-winged blackbirds at the Back Bay, we can be assured that Spring will have arrived just as sure as the sparrows return to the beloved Mission at San Juan Capistrano.

I came across an article entitled “Buyers jump into murky housing market,” by Zack Fox, a staff writer for the North County Times. The story is about how home prices in San Diego county’s Oceanside are finally becoming affordable enough for some buyers to “take the plunge,” while others still are playing “the waiting game.” This concern can, of course, be extrapolated to our local market as well, here in Irvine, CA.

The article features a couple of buyers who have been waiting to buy for years, and with median prices falling, the question for them is whether to buy now or to continue their wait. Some real estate agents suggest that prices will not go any lower and first-time buyers should act now. Some economists, on the other hand “laugh at the notion and advise patience.” One buyer’s view is voiced by an Oceanside teacher, Julie Beck, who is not as concerned with whether the real estate market has bottomed out or not, but rather she is “tired of dumping $2,000 a month in rent into a property where she cannot paint the walls.” “I’m not looking at a home for an investment. I’m looking at a home for a home,” said Beck, who said she plans to keep her 4-year-old twin daughters and 8-year-old son in Oceanside schools through graduation. “I won’t be ready to sell for the next 12 years, so it doesn’t matter if prices drop some more.”

Does her sentiment make sense? In our experience it makes perfect sense, if…and this is a big if

1. The buyer has a secure job, that is, no chance of being laid off or relocated in the next few years
2. The buyer plans to stay in the home for at least five to seven years (the normal course of a real estate cycle to come full circle)
3. The buyer has good credit (these days a FICO score above 700 is a must)
4. The buyer has the down payment, income requirements, credit history, job history, and can afford to make a housing payment (Principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and association) does not exceed approximately one-third of the gross monthly income
5. The buyer’s debt to income ratio does not exceed 38% of the gross monthly income (that is the total housing payment in #4 + revolving credit card debt (car payment, student loans, store credit card debt, etc.)
6. The buyer has access to a down payment (either from savings, gift, investments, etc.) of 20% of the purchase price (again, this is the “old school way”)

If you can say yes to the above, then, yes, it makes sense to move off of the fence/rental and into your very own home.

1. Irvine, CA named Safest City in U.S. for Population Over 100,000 by F.B.I. for 3rd Straight Year in the fall 2007.
-Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2007-
2. Irvine Unified School District has six of the top elementary schools, five of the top ten middle schools (including the top two), and four of the top ten high schools in Orange County
-California Department of Education, 2007-
3. Irvine’s University High School ranked #76 out of the top 100 high schools in the U.S. for 2007 and Irvine’s University of California, Irvine, ranked the 13th best public university in the nation by U.S. News & World Report

4. One-Third of the city of Irvine is set aside for parks, trails and permanent open space, as Irvine voters approved an Open Space Initiative back in June of 1988 which was a collaborative effort involving the city and The Irvine Company.

5. 37,000 acres have been designated by the federal government as The Irvine Ranch National Natural Landmark (NLL), offering a protection to a wide variety of plant and animals, some of which are on the endangered species list. The areas include Bommer Canyon in Irvine, as well as Limestone and Fremont Canyons north of Irvine, Crystal Cove State Park and Laguna Coast Wilderness Park south of Irvine.

One of the first questions that buyers ask at Open Houses relates specifically to whether a home or condo falls within a particular school boundary. There is indeed a correlation between home values and great schools. It goes without saying that parents begin worrying about their children’s education as early as preschool. As more students vie to secure a spot in the top colleges and universities, the competition has become greater to give one’s child an edge and at an earlier age than in years past.

Prospective homeowners research schools when they begin to think about starting a family, and it is a driving force in the purchase of a home whose neighborhood falls within the boundaries of top-scoring schools.

One of the primary reasons we decided to move to Irvine was because of the great reputation of the Irvine public schools. When families have to decide whether to pay thousands of dollars for a private school education to ensure that their children receive the best education possible, we realize how blessed we are that we have a fabulous public school system. Indeed, great schools not only benefit our children’s education and opportunities to succeed in a competitive world, but a school’s reputation can add thousands of dollars to your property’s value.

Here in the villages of the University Town Center and Quail Hill in Irvine, we are privileged to have Turtle Rock Elementary and Alderwood Basics Plus elementary schools, respectively, both of which have been named California Distinguished Schools, as well as University High School, which is nationally-ranked among the top 100 high schools in the United States (#76 in 2008 according to the U.S. News & World Report). Moreover, in 2008 there were 31 students named National Merit Semi-Finalists, and University High continues to rank among the top high schools in Orange County for SAT scores. We are also fortunate to have one of the top rated universities in the University of California at Irvine also named as one of the top 100 in this year’s edition of U.S. News & World Report (#44 ) for America’s best colleges.

So irrespective of whether or not you have children of school age, you will be a seller at some point in the future. And the people to whom you will more than likely be selling will ultimately care about the quality of their neighborhood schools and the value they add to their children’s and grand children’s future educational success as well as the added value to the properties in which these schools are located.

For more information on the local schools go to the Irvine Unified School District. For more information University High School, see SchoolMatters.

While falling home prices continue to get the big headlines, falling crime rates will certainly be of interest to families who are considering a move to a new community. The City of Irvine was honored by being named “America’s Safest Big City” for the third year in a row according to F.B.I. statistics published this past fall of 2007. Irvine had the lowest rate of violent crimes of any big city in the United States – including homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Safest Cities

The following list shows the top 20 large cities (with populations over 100,000) with the lowest violent crime rates.

Just one more reason to move to Irvine–another day in paradise in sunny, southern California