The third time was a charm for the buyers of a 14,000-square-foot home at 23 Needle Grass in Irvine that sold for about $8.9 million in late October in an all-cash transaction.
The five-bedroom, eight-bath home in the 24-hour gated enclave of Shady Canyon fetched about $635 per square foot.
“There’s a lot of privacy and a lot of space,” said Chris Valli, an agent with Newport Beach-based Surterre Properties Inc., who represented the seller.
Mandy Zhang, an agent with Presidential Real Estate in Irvine, represented the buyers.
The buyers, from another part of California, were looking for a home that would fit a car collection and had a view, among other criteria, according to Valli. The home, perched atop a hill, has a southwest view toward Fashion Island and an eight-car garage. It’s an additional residence for the buyers.
The seller, a local businessman, wanted a home that was closer to the ocean, Valli said. Valli is assisting the seller, who owns multiple properties, in the search for another home.
“It reaffirms the fact that people will pay a good price for quality and space,” he said.
The buyers looked at the home three times before making an offer.
The first time they came by themselves.
The second time they brought advisers. The third time they brought the advisers and family members.
By then, Valli knew they were serious.
From the time they made the decision to buy, it took eight weeks to come to terms and close the deal, Valli said. The home, built in 2010, was originally listed 18 months ago for $12 million.
Other offers had been made on the home.
“We had serious offers, but we couldn’t put any of them together with the uncertainty in the financial markets,” he said.
Shady Canyon, a rural-looking neighborhood developed by the Newport Beach-based Irvine Company, is designated for a maximum of 400 homes on about 1,100 acres. Approximately 30 homes have yet to be built, Valli said. Prices range from a few million and up.
Orange County Congressman John Campbell has a home in Shady Canyon, which is surrounded by 16,000 acres of open space.
Although a public horse trail runs along the development, no horse properties are allowed behind the gates.
There is also a clubhouse with a pool, spa and tennis court, as well as the Shady Canyon Golf Club, a private course and facility.
Shady Canyon has several homes for sale, including 44 Blue Heron, listed for $16.9 million by Robert Giem of Newport Beach-based Hom Real Estate Group Inc.; 36 Boulder View, listed for $14.9 million by John McMonigle of Teles Properties Inc.; and 28 Boulder View, listed for $14.8 million by Rex McKown of Surterre Properties.
For the Record
To date, McKown has sold the most-expensive home in Orange County this year—an $18 million transaction in Newport Beach. The Crystal Cove home was incorrectly listed on redfin.com as being in Irvine. It was a private sale.
Upscale Online
Coldwell Banker Previews International is listing its properties with New York-based 1stdibs.com Inc., an online luxury marketplace that sells interior design items, estate jewelry, vintage fashion, fine art and other high-end goods.
The site gets about 2 million hits a month.
Some of the Orange County properties listed on the site include: 18 Shoreline in Newport Coast, listed for $16.5 million; 169 Emerald Way in Laguna Beach, listed for $10.9 million; and 31361 Trigo Trail in Coto de Caza, listed for $6.9 million.
The site also sells properties via “hot property picks,” a section in which prominent architects and designers highlight their favorite homes.
The listings are paid for by online sellers. The company expects its online dealers to sell more than $500 million in goods this year through the site.
The “fine homes” section is new for 1stdibs. The only other homes listed on the site are the listings of New York-based The Corcoran Group.
Coldwell Banker Previews International is the luxury homes branch of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, based in Parsippany, N.J. The broker has an office in Newport Beach.
Coldwell Banker Previews International represented buyers and sellers in 13,547 transactions priced at $1 million or more in 2010, for total sales of $25 billion.
