Welcome to Collage, an attractive 211-unit gated condo complex in Irvine's Northwood Pointe (92620 ZIP code).
It's right in between two excellent schools - Canyon View Elementary and Northwood High.
Plus, there's a community pool. It was closed recently because there was some vandalism to the pool furniture, and some broken glass ended up in the pool. The yellow caution tape is finally gone.
Other than the fact that this neighborhood suffers from an extreme parking problem (50 open parking spaces for more than 200 units, plus the fact that hardly any residents use their garages appropriately for parking cars), it's a great place to live.
But not if you're buying these days.
Let's take a look at some numbers:
2300 Timberwood, a Plan 1, sold March 13th, 2007 for $434,000, according to Zillow. This was the second time this unit sold in the past two years. It went for $400,000 in January, 2005. Assuming 6 percent selling costs, this owner only netted about $8,000.
Plan 1 is the smallest in the complex and is a 1,001 square-foot 1 bedroom plus den, 1 bath and 1-car garage model. That's a selling price of $434 per square foot.
As you can see from these two pictures below that were fused together, it's got a nice balcony, plus some nice space inside:
Here's how much this little beauty would (roughly) cost you per month:
$2,194 Principal and interest (Assuming 20% down, 6% interest rate on a 30-year fixed loan)
$168 HOA dues (Costs vary from listing to listing. This is the lowest value I saw)
$295 Property tax ($3,543 paid in 2006; this figure will go up next year because of the sale)
$100 Insurance
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Grand total: $2,760 per month
So, what if you're renting?
520 Timberwood (the same Plan 1) was recently listed for lease at $1,750 per month. I also know that some of those models are being rented for even less, but we'll stick with that $1,750 figure.
The difference between renting and owning this model in Collage is currently about $1,010 per month. Not too much in the way of recent appreciation, either.
Of course, you do get a break on taxes from paying mortgage interest. But let's be honest - hardly anyone is putting that extra money into savings. Instead, it's going to the leased Mercedes or that second trip to Hawaii.
Imagine what you could do with an extra $1,010 month by not owning a condo here right now.
Want to read about an interesting saga in this neighborhood? Check out this entry from the Irvine Housing Blog.
