Woodbridge area of Irvine? (Orange, Tustin: mortgage, lawyer, house prices)

[cobhlad]

I've seen some major differences between house prices in Irvine, e.g the Turtle Ridge area vs the Woodbridge area.
What's the main driver behind that? From what I've been able to find I think I can afford Woodbridge, but not much in the TR area.
We have two 4th graders so need good schools. Are there major differences between the various Irvine schools?

The reason I ask is because I could possibly get a job in the Irvine business district so we'd have to relocate from the east coast.

[nurserosie]

All irvine schools are top notch. Price may vary because Woodbridge. Is an older community than tr.

[Coldjensens]

Woodbridge has a "lake" (Actually a big puddle with dyed water in it), some people with little kids might see that as a danger. I think that the houses in woodbridge are smaller. Some are townhomes. I think TR is primarily or entirly SFRs, but I do not know TR that well.

[nurserosie]

Actually two lakes!! I agree the homes are a bit small. Hard to find one. Over 2000 sq ft
We livd in Woodbridge for 10 years in late ,70!s. Tho it was technically a townhouse. It was spacious. 2 story 4 beds 3 baths. And backyard quite large. AND. Our garages were off a back "alley". So no unsightly garages. In front. Also tho tract homes. They were not identical. Not beige stucco.
Unfortunately that area was built in 70's. So not as up to date. As those in tr

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by nurserosie

And backyard quite large.

I always love when people in OC say this. To me a "quite large" back yard is a house on at least an acre. In OC a "large" back yard means it might be 80' x 80' and even that is unusually large for OC.

[nurserosie]

I hear what u mean. But this place really did have a nice space between back patio and the garage which was separate .....many folks in that area put in smaller pool a or spas. The later places in Woodbridge were as u describe

Btw. We are up in north Tustin hills. Half acre lot. View. Pool and 3000 sf. Built in 73 by John little. Coveted areacuz of the space. All homes. 16 in our 2 cul de sacs are single story. Not matched in design. And most are not beige!!

Rarely go on the market. 2 doors down. Just did. Old lady original owner. 3100 sq ft on half acre. Fabulous view. Foothill high

Yikes. Price 1.2 million. Needs interior updating ....otherwise a unique place.

[Coldjensens]

I really like the tustin hills (good high school there too). That area is unique and does nto match the rest of OC. There is one big lot that has hundreds of tress planted around the house. You cannot even see the house. I always wondered what the house was like. I love the lot.

There was a little gift shop in a strip mall right at the base of those hills. It had everything that was a perfect gift for my wife (i forget the name but there was a fish store next door that had a big tank with large sharks in it and a fancy resturuant on the corner - you probably know where I am talking about). Our kids went to Tustin Memorial Academy in that general area.

Tustin huills was on our short list of possible places to move in OC (Old town, Orange Park Acres, Silverado Canyon and Tustin hills).

[cobhlad]

thanks for the replies folks. I'm in a house now that's over 3,000 sf and to be honest we don't use a lot of it. there's only 4 of us after all.
I'd rather a smaller house, 1800 to 2,000 sf or so, with the smaller mortgage to go with it. also not too worried about the lot size if that's what's the norm for that community, plus less work for me

Coldjensens: it might be a silly question but is Tustin Hills in Irivine school district? if not, what are the elem & middles schools like in Tustin Hills?

[Coldjensens]

Tustin hills is in the Tustin school district. The only schools I know are Tustin Memorail Academy a public charter school. It is super competitive. Our kids came home crying regularly. Parents were offensive - "My kid speaks seven languages, how many can your kid speak?" "Only English, but he can identify all 50 Pokemon and tell you all of their powers" "Go away, you are beneath my greatness as exhibited by my seven language child."

We left the school, but it is certainly a high achiever school.

Foothill High School is a good to excellent high school. It has its problems just like any large public high school, but it is very very good.


I think that achievers can excel regardless of where they go to school as long as they are taught and nurtured. although our kids hated TMA, we really likes it until we got to know some of the hyper competitive parents. We took our kids out and they did very well attending much less highly regarded schools and they are now in college with substantial scholarships, so I guess they were not hurt by leaving TMA.

TMA was absolutely fabulous at first. then it became known for academic excellence and all the hyper competitive parents moved in. Then tma was other than fabulous.

I remember an invention convention winner from 3rd grade: "My invention will be made through a occupatal foam extrusion process that will maximize efficiency and reduce overhead . . . " He could not even pronounce most of the words(occupatal is not a word, I ust made it up, they used some word I have no seen before). So Dad won the invention convention by using his engineering degree to beat out all of the inventions submitted by lawyer dads and doctor dads. It was stupid. There were biology projects and chemistry, engineering. .. .then our kids invented "The Lunch Picker" to help decide what to eat today. Funny to compare the inventions that actually came from the kids with the parents inventions submitted in their kids names.

Anyway, it got awful.

In general most tustin schools are pretty good, not Irvine, but very good schools are good enough for me. I do not need "the best" Especially when it brings that hyper competitive atmosphere and makes kids neurotic and causes them to hate school.

[Coldjensens]

You will get a smaller house, but not likely a smaller mortgage. Have you looked at prices? 1800 - 2000 s.f. in a nice area will run around $650,000.