that house in foreclosure on Pasadena – I believe that is a LAKEFRONT house. I personally would NOT pay a premium b/c it’s on the lake…but most of the homes ON the lake..are priced a good 100k above the others that are not. if you have been to harveston..it has a large manmade lake/pond/whatever yuo want to call it.. i think it’s roughly .25 mile around… maybe a bit more…. it’s long and narrow..and is lined on both banks by houses… those houses sold for a premium…and right now there are 3-4 of them on the market..that one on padadena went into foreclosure. the problem is that the owners of these units WANT a premium for the lakefront address..but the property itself is basicallya botu 2000 sq ft…and it’s hard to justify a 500-600k price tag for soemthign that size…lakefront or not…
you could buy that same pasadena house OFF the lake…one street away for that 400-450k range. some of the cottages like these are stripped with NO upgrades, others ar eloaded up to the hilt with granite, travertine, cabinets, carpet…
one downside of cottages is that they have VERY small lots…almost NO yard..and they are VERY close together. given the layout you really have no privacy in your yard. one thing i dislike about a lot of these neighborhoods in harveston is the lack of any private yards. the houses back up on one another so that you go itno your backyard to relax/bbq/enjoy some peace and quiet..and you are SURROUNDED by two stories..wtih countless windows…you get that feeling of being watched. now I dont’ do any nude sunbathing…so it’s not REAQLLY much of an issue..but it is nice to feel like your backyard is sort of private….
there are a few areas in haerveston where you can not back up on rear neighbors, and NOT back up on a street – but not many of them.
overall – Harveston is a very nice community. it is well kept. just last night to help the kids falls asleep my wife and i drove through the french valley areas…we drove through the communites JUST north of latour and the other DR horton one..and the Lennas Spencers Crossing. we were suprised at how run down the neighborhoods looked. there wer a lot of brown lawn homes…and a lot of what I would consieer JUNK cars in driveways. lots of houses with what looked like service trucks – one guy actualy had a large giant car carrier..those thigns that they use to transport cars..parked on his cul de sac… you don’t see that crap in harveston. nor do you see it in many o the other more upscale areas of tem or murr – if you want to call them “upscale”.
overall – harveston is a nice place. i kind of think the lennar properties – one is prescott – is too far from the lake. you get to pay all the harveston HOAs and you’ll be too far to utilize them w/out driving in the car, which will make it that much more of a pITA to enjoy it. from my house, i can walk to the lake or parks. it makes a difference. i’m sure i’d go there less if i had to load up 3 kids into carseats for a quick walk at the lake..when you can just put them in a stroller and walk over, it’s a lot mroe convenient.
$ per square foot – here is q uestion. when you compare the price of a 2700-3000 sq ft home and come up with a price per square foot…vs comparing a 1900-2100 sq ft house – it’s not really fair to compare the price. a good part of what you are apying for is really teh lot. so if the lots are similar in size, and similar in cost…the hosue may be larger..but to just say a 3000 sq ft house is 175/sq ft…but a 2000 one is 200/sq ft.. you can’t really compare a 2000 sq ft home to a 3000 sq ft home in te4rms of makign an apples to apples comparison of price per sq ft.
you’d need to compare that 2000 sq ft house to other homes of roughly the same size. as you go bigger, i tend to find that you will get lower prices per square foot…since you are spreading the cost of the land across more square feet…. make sense? it’s almost like you get a bit of a break on price per sq ft if you buid a larger house on a lot instead of the smaller house.. since you still have the cost of the land in there.. regardless of how big the house is.
so while you may get more “bang for the buck” on those larger houses..you’ll still pay more.
how much house do you really need anyway? people here in temecula seem to think they can’t be happy unless they have 4000 sq ft, a 4 car garage..to hold all their toys and their hummer… i grew up in a 4 bedroom hosue that was just under 2000 sq ft and it was FINE. 20 years ago, familes if 5-6 people would live in a 3 bedroom 1200-1500sq ft house….
you have to heat, cool, maintain, etc that HUGE house. not worth it to me unless you absolutely gotta have a room for EVERY kid, and a ROOM for your computer, and a ROOM for a guest who stays over once every 6 months, and ROOM for your workout stuff, and an entire EXTRA 3rd or 4th bay garage to store all your extra goodies from costco..
anyway..i stopped at charleson and aberdeen and it looks like they are advertising the 2300 sq ft home – smallest aberdeen home – for $450k. with about $40k in incetives. so they rip you off on flooring… and closing costs..and you have spent $450k on a 2300 sq ft house.
you can pick up a 2000 sq ft home in harveston for $400k if you negotiate well. mabye less if you watch for deals. if you find one that has been fixed up alrady, the previosu owner will ahve done all the landscaping, flooring upgrades, and window coverings.
i walked into a hosue that has $10,000 worth of shutters, and $20,000 wroth of flooring, and a $20,000 backyard…
you have to remember if you buy new – you’ll be adding all those little extras..and if you aren’t handy dandy..you’ll be paying someone to do your backyard (unless you want to have a sandbox out back) , you’ll need window coverings..nice shutters can run 5-10k for a normal sized house…. it adds up.
as an aside..i saw a HUGE house in french valley…driveway have a new MItsubishi EVO, some other sports car, garage was a 4 bay job, there were 3-4 quads and a motorcycle in the garage…… and the house had NOT ONE SINGLE BLIND on the whole thign.. idiot… bought toys..and has no money..not even for the cheapy paper blinds… that’s french valley… no thanks.
i say if you are going to buy in tem – harveston is a nice area. if you like what you get and can get a good deal..whenever that might be… maybe now, maybe ayear or two from now..but harveston is a cute very nice family oriented area. we have been there for a year and like it a lot.
