I'm reading these comments with great interest since we're a block away over in Saratoga. It's odd though, that noone seems to mention these homes in any of the forums. Noone is considering their value when calculating the worth of a DH. Is it because they are almost all situated on the main road or is there some other reason?
And what about those Saratogas with oversized lots that sold for 1 mil plus. Don't they insulate the price of a DH further from an older comp (Belmont?)
With all due respect. I feel Saratoga were all overpriced. These homes I believe are roughly 2400-2800 sqft. Most of these units do not have a view, and most are not north/south facing. Saratoga's comparables are not the likes of DH, Belmont, etc. The more comparables are complexes in Torrey Hills including Sands, Shores, Sansonet. I would even venture Sea Ridge and the complex behind Sea Ridge would be comparable (Sea Ridge homes i feel are nicer, but get dinged for being so close to power lines). I wouldn't consider them also comparable to La Strada and Montecito (as these two complexes are problem 1 step above Saratoga and the Shores/Sands/Sansonet complexes but below DH , Belmont, Breakers,etc..
Either way, several of these homes (Shores Sands Sansonets) in Torrey Hills not only have views, but sliver of ocean view, with the ocean breeze. As such, these homes are currently in the $800-$950 range. So I would say Saratoga probably is around this range too. And that's current prices. I would expect that these homes would fall moving forward. People who live in these homes generally aren't as immune to a contraction, and I would even venture probably depend more on a loan than those that spend in the high end.
Over 1 million for saratoga was just plan nuts imho. Because if you walk inside a saratoga and go to one of the comparables, it's about the same ceiling height, same floor plan, same sqft. If you add on top of that and additional $100k in landscape, it's out of the price range of the comparables. Also, I believe both DH and Saratoga have $100-$200/month HOA, as compared to the Torrey Hills side, which is like $20/month. That's a lot imho.
Also, one possible selling point was access to Sage Canyon elementary. But it's to my understanding that residence in the new Pardee communities will not be going to Sage Canyon, but to the new elementary behind the Montecito complex. Not that it really matters. All public elementaries in CV are pretty good (the difference between #1 and anything else is probably made up by the variance in parental involvement).
That said, if you enjoy living an a brand new home, and aren't really trying to make money off of it, who really cares what people say are think, or what the actual house value is?
