A four bedroom, 2.5 or 3 bath room house is a necessity for a middle-class family of four with an occasionally working from home parent.  For a city with a median income of $107,546, and excellent school district, Irvine offers a lot of properties in that price range. Today, we will compare two such properties priced at $699,000.

16 SANTA CATALINA AISLE, IRVINE CA 92606

Listing Price: $699,000
Beds: 4
Baths: 2.5
Sq. Ft.: 1,900
$/Sq. Ft.: $368
Lot Size: 2,928 SF
Property Type: Residential, Single Family
Style: Two Level, Contemporary
Year Built: 1996
Community: Westpark
Builders Tract Name: Ravenna
Builders Tract Code: RAVE
Builders Model Code: B

Monthly expenses:
HOA Dues: $155/month ($47+$108)
Monthly Mortgage (30 YR Fixed, 3.625%): $2,550

Pricing History:
June 08, 2012 Listed (Active) $699,000
Dec 23, 1996 Sold (Public Records) $241,000

Monthly Fixed Expenses: $2,705

Schools assigned:

Plaza Vista Elementary School
API Rank: 10
API Growth: 958

Lakeside Middle School
API Rank: 10
API Growth: 933

Woodbridge High School
API Rank: 10
API Growth: 877

11 RED COAT PLACE, IRVINE CA 92620

Listing Price: $699,000
Beds: 4
Baths: 2.5
Sq. Ft.: 2,000
$/Sq. Ft.: $350
Lot Size: 3,866 SF
Property Type: Residential, Single Family
Style: Two Level, Mediterranean
Year Built: 1998
Community: West Irvine
Builders Tract Name: LIBERTY
Builders Tract Code: LIBT
Builders Model Name/Code: Rushmore/5

Monthly expenses:
HOA Dues: $0
Monthly Mortgage (30 YR Fixed, 3.625%): $2,550

Pricing History:

July 06, 2012 Listed (Active) $699,000
Nov 13, 2002 Sold (Public Records) $465,000
June 03, 1999 Sold (Public Records) $318,000
Nov 21, 1997 Sold (Public Records) $224,000 -- Public Records

Monthly Fixed Expenses: $2,550

Schools assigned:

Myford Elementary
API Rank: 10
API Growth: 951

Pioneer Middle School
API Rank: 10
API Growth: 939

Arnold Beckman Middle School
API Rank: 10
API Growth: 866

Which one would you buy?

(Since the County Tax website is updating the information, and the property tax/Mello roos information wasn’t available, I didn’t include that in my calculation. Both the properties have a property tax rate slightly above 1%, and both have Mello Roos)

Both properties are nicely upgraded. 

West Irvine property has a larger lot size than the Westpark property.

Westpark has two HOA dues, but West Irvine doesn’t have HOA dues.

The schools for West Irvine property are under Tustin Unified School District, and even though the API rank is 10, the growth score is a little lower than Westpark schools.

I would go for the West Irvine property in a heartbeat. Which one would you buy?