North Oaks Murrieta | Condos in Murrieta

Today we’re going to be touring North Oaks which is a condo community in Murrieta that I really like. It has a fabulous pool, great location and excellent Murrieta schools. There’s a lot of good things about North Oaks and a few not-so-good things as well including some issues with the HOA that can cause a bit of trouble with financing that I’ll tell you all about we are starting right now.

Hi I’m Jessica Genung a realtor Realty One Group Southwest here in Murrieta, California. Don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already so you don’t miss any of my new videos which I post every week.

North Oaks is a condo development in Murrieta built by DR Horton which first sold in 2007 with the last units in the final phase completely sold over the next few years. We start here looking at the beautiful resort style pool and playground common areas the HOA is approximately $180 per month which is on the low end for the area.

In fact, the HOA board approved a $10 decrease over the last year or so which is very rare for the HOA fees to go down. More on the HOA later. 

Here are the schools that serve this community very high ranking as you can see especially at the elementary school. In our area elementary school goes all the way through the fifth grade. There are three floor plans that range from about 1,200 square feet to 1,800 square feet. The 1,200 square foot option comes with two bedrooms two bathrooms and a single car garage. 

The other two models have three bedrooms two and a half bathrooms and a two-car garage. All garages have direct access into the unit which is ideal for safety. The two-bedroom unit enters from the garage into the bottom of the stairway besides the garage the rest of the unit is on the second floor and the layout is quite striking upon entering the great room style living area with high ceilings. 

The vaulted ceilings with large windows provide plenty of light and there’s a slider that leads to a patio off the kitchen providing private outdoor space. Here is the floor plan. As you can see, the living area divides the two bedrooms and bathrooms creating great separation and privacy.

The washer/dryer is conveniently located in a hall closet. The 2-bedroom model comes with a single car garage and an additional covered carport space. A key point to note is the two-bedroom units said above the garages including the other units garages. 

The doors opening and cars parking can be heard particularly when a window is open such as the patio slider. However, we have not heard too many complaints about this garage impact and the two bedrooms are quite popular and typically do not last long on the market.

The 3 bedroom models seem a little bit more difficult for people to wrap their heads around when viewing North Oaks condos for the first time. We call the 1,450 square foot floor plan the “medium” model and the 1,760 square foot model the “big” unit. 

Once a person has been in both they will remember the significantly different layout with a wall directly in front of the entry in the “medium” model. It requires the person to go left or right into the living area or the kitchen and dining areas. Despite what I just said about the entry wall in the medium model the example we show here is the only one in North Oaks that I have seen with that wall almost entirely removed leaving just the column and opening above the kitchen sink. A lot of folks don’t love the entryway being the kitchen wall so this is to show you how the space can be opened up if you would like.

 The Big Unit has a more natural flow with a large living and dining area when entering, then an additional living room that is open to the kitchen in a separate area. Both three-bedroom models have a half back downstairs and all of the bedrooms and two full bathrooms upstairs.

Let’s talk about the issues we’ve had the financing in this community. For starters, it’s not currently FHA approved although this could change at any time. Buyers have been able to get a 5% down conventional loans approved though. Many condo complexes in the area are not FHA approved so that is not unusual. 

Here is the latest with the HOA. We have a transaction currently an escrow in North Oaks where our buyer was using his bank for the loan. It’s a very large well-known bank. He couldn’t be better qualified. He’s using conventional financing, not FHA, but his bank denied his loan because the HOA is in the middle of “pre-litigation” with the Builder which is DR Horton. 

The HOA is claiming some defects in some of the buildings and common areas and the residents are voting whether to proceed into arbitration with DR Horton. Long story short, we had to try a different lender for my client who was able to approve the loan and we’re scheduled to close next week so so far so good. 

Reach out to me if you are considering buying or selling in North Oaks and I’m happy to give you the latest up-to-date info that I have on the dispute. My cell and email are below. This is an evolving situation and it seems to vary from transaction to transaction. 

As always, thank you so much for watching my video. If you want to see more condo communities in Murrieta, check out the links that I’m gonna be putting on the screen now. Okay bye!