Selling in Irvine, Tustin or Lake Forest?A flat fee, not a commission.
Moving to Irvine, Tustin and Lake Forest?
Licensed local agents who list, negotiate and close your Orange County home for one flat fee set by its price. Set before you meet your agent. Non-exclusive. Cancel anytime. Paid only at closing.⁶
Not locked in until your home is listed. Cancel from your dashboard.
A licensed local buyer's agent for one flat fee set by the price of the home you buy, usually covered by the seller's contribution.¹
Irvine (318,764 people by the Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025 estimate), Tustin (77,843) and Lake Forest (86,333) cover the old Irvine Ranch heart of Orange County, and Landian works across all three with licensed local agents. Sellers list on the MLS with a licensed local agent for one flat fee set by the home's price, not a commission: $8,999 flat for a home around $900,000. $11,999 flat for a home around $1,300,000. $14,999 flat for a home around $1,800,000. The fee is shown before you meet the agent, written into your agreement, and paid only at closing. Buyers get a buyer's agent on the same schedule, based on the price of the home they buy, usually covered by the seller's contribution; anything the seller contributes above it comes back as a rebate or closing credit where allowed.⁶
What's your home worth in Irvine?
Enter your address. We'll look up your home's value and show your flat fee, set by its price.
Irvine, Tustin and Lake Forest at a glance
Orange County’s median single-family sale price reached $1,480,000 in September 2026, up 5.6% in a year (C.A.R.) — yet Zillow’s typical home value slipped 1.9% in Irvine over the same year, to $1,481,490, while Tustin ($1,145,586) and Lake Forest ($1,172,296) edged up. Irvine has grown 3.6% since 2020, the fastest of the three.
Irvine
Orange County
Residents
318,764
July 1, 2025 estimate
Median home value*
$1,191,500
Homeowners
44.5%
Average commute
24.7 min
Tustin
Orange County
Residents
77,843
July 1, 2025 estimate
Median home value*
$950,400
Homeowners
48.8%
Average commute
22.8 min
Lake Forest
Orange County
Residents
86,333
July 1, 2025 estimate
Median home value*
$937,000
Homeowners
70.5%
Average commute
25.5 min
U.S. Census Bureau figures: residents are the Bureau’s July 1, 2025 city population estimates; *median value of owner-occupied homes, homeowners (owner-occupied share of occupied homes) and mean travel time to work are American Community Survey 2020-2024 figures, so recent sale prices run higher. Zillow’s typical home values (ZHVI) for September 2026 and C.A.R.’s September 2026 county median appear in the intro above.
Living in Irvine, Tustin and Lake Forest
A city drawn on paper over a 110,000-acre ranch, a town whose wooden hangars dwarf everything around them, and a young city of lakes below a red rock canyon.
Office towers at the Irvine Spectrum
Irvine
The city that arrived ten years ahead of its own plan
Irvine began as a ranch: by 1878, James Irvine’s 110,000 acres stretched 23 miles from the Pacific Ocean to the Santa Ana River, and his son folded the land into The Irvine Company in 1894. When the University of California asked for 1,000 acres for a new campus in 1959, architect William Pereira and Irvine Company planners drew up a master plan for a city of 50,000 around it; villages like Turtle Rock and University Park were finished by 1970, and on December 28, 1971 residents voted to incorporate a much larger city (City of Irvine).
The plan worked faster than its authors guessed. The city once projected about 318,000 residents at build-out “sometime after 2035” — and the Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025 estimate already counts 318,764. Life here runs village by village, from Woodbridge’s lakes to the Great Park neighborhoods rising on the former El Toro air base, with the office towers of the Irvine Spectrum and the Irvine Business Complex anchoring a city that counted more than 200,000 jobs as far back as 2015 (City of Irvine).
A blimp hangar at the former Marine Corps Air Station Tustin
Tustin
Old Town streets under the world’s largest wooden roofs
Tustin’s skyline is two wooden giants. Construction began in 1942 on a pair of blimp hangars for the coastal patrols of World War II — each over 1,000 feet long and built of wood because steel was off-limits in wartime — and they still rank among the world’s largest wood-framed structures (American Society of Civil Engineers). The base became the country’s first military airfield dedicated solely to helicopter operations in 1951 and closed on July 3, 1999; the north hangar was largely destroyed by fire in November 2023, while the south hangar still stands (City of Tustin; Stars and Stripes).
Around the hangars, the city has been building Tustin Legacy, the redevelopment of the old base, while Old Town Tustin keeps the storefronts and bungalows of one of Orange County’s oldest downtowns. Tustin Ranch adds golf-course streets to the north, and the hillside homes of Tustin’s border with North Tustin look over the whole valley (City of Tustin).
Lake Forest is one of Orange County’s youngest cities — founded on the lands of Don José Serrano, it incorporated on December 20, 1991 and merged the areas of Foothill Ranch and El Toro, taking its motto from its own story: “remember the past, challenge the future” (City of Lake Forest). The neighborhoods around its lakes, like the Lake Forest Keys, put docks and waterfront paths in the middle of suburban Orange County.
The city’s wild side is Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park: roughly 2,500 acres of oak canyons, grassland hills and coastal sage scrub above Foothill Ranch, with 23 trails totaling about 17 miles — Red Rock Canyon’s formations are the showpiece (OC Parks). With no large undeveloped parcels left, the city says its focus has turned to maintaining what three decades of growth built (City of Lake Forest).
What is changing on the old Irvine Ranch, and what the numbers say about the market this fall.
Irvine cooled while the county climbed
C.A.R. put Orange County’s median single-family sale price at $1,480,000 in September 2026, up 5.6% from a year earlier — but Zillow’s typical value in Irvine slipped 1.9% over the same year, while Tustin and Lake Forest edged up. For buyers priced out of Irvine a year ago, and for sellers deciding what the first week’s price should be, that gap is the story.
The Great Park keeps growing
The 194-acre Great Park Sports Complex is one of the largest sports complexes in the United States, and the city has approved a public-private partnership to build parkland on 688 acres of the Orange County Great Park, on the former El Toro base (City of Irvine).
Professional baseball is coming
In July 2026, the City of Irvine and Innovation Baseball Partners announced a new professional baseball franchise set to begin play in the summer of 2027 (City of Irvine).
Tustin Legacy keeps filling in
Since MCAS Tustin closed on July 3, 1999, the City of Tustin has led the redevelopment of the base as Tustin Legacy — new neighborhoods, schools and shopping on land the Navy’s blimps once patrolled from (City of Tustin).
The Great Park Balloon, Irvine
What homes here look like
Ownership runs in opposite directions across the three cities. Lake Forest is the homeowners’ city, with 70.5% of occupied homes owner-occupied; in Irvine, where apartments fill whole villages, 44.5% of households own, and Tustin sits between at 48.8% (ACS 2020-2024). The ACS median owner-occupied home runs $1,191,500 in Irvine, $950,400 in Tustin and $937,000 in Lake Forest.
Irvine
Zillow’s typical value was $1,481,490 in September 2026, down 1.9% in a year. Each village prices differently — new construction in the Great Park neighborhoods, lakefront in Woodbridge, hillside in Turtle Rock — and HOA and special-tax lines vary village by village.
Tustin
Zillow’s typical value was $1,145,586 in September 2026, up 0.5% in a year. Old Town bungalows, Tustin Ranch golf-course streets and the newer rows of Tustin Legacy cover three different decades of Orange County building.
Lake Forest
Zillow’s typical value was $1,172,296 in September 2026, up 1.3% in a year — the strongest of the three. The Keys’ waterfront homes, Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills on the canyon side, and Baker Ranch’s newer blocks anchor the range.
Schools
Three unified districts cover the three cities. The Irvine Unified School District serves more than 38,000 TK-12 students across 24 elementary schools, five K-8 schools, six middle schools and five high schools plus alternative and virtual options (IUSD). The Tustin Unified School District runs sixteen elementary schools, two TK-8 campuses, four middle schools, Legacy Magnet Academy and four high schools — Beckman, Foothill, Hillview and Tustin. Lake Forest sits in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District. District lines don’t follow city limits — parts of Irvine are in Tustin Unified — so check a specific home with each district’s boundary lookup.
The Census puts the average commute at 24.7 minutes in Irvine, 22.8 in Tustin and 25.5 in Lake Forest (ACS 2020-2024). Metrolink commuter trains stop at the Irvine and Tustin stations on the Orange County Line, and John Wayne Airport sits on Irvine’s western edge.
By road, everything organizes around the meeting of I-5 and I-405 at the El Toro Y, with the 133 and 241 toll roads carrying traffic up the canyons and Jamboree Road and Irvine Boulevard tying the three cities together.
A balloon, a canyon and 17 miles of ranch trails
The master plan left room to breathe. The Great Park’s orange balloon floats over the former El Toro runways, and the wilderness parks on the eastern edge keep real canyon country minutes from the freeway.
Orange County Great Park
The Great Park Balloon and carousel, the 194-acre Sports Complex with its championship soccer stadium, the Palm Court Arts Complex and the restored Hangar 244’s aviation exhibition — all on the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro (City of Irvine).
Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park
Roughly 2,500 acres of riparian and oak woodland canyons above Lake Forest, with 23 trails totaling about 17 miles and the red sandstone walls of Red Rock Canyon reserved for hikers (OC Parks).
The south hangar
Tustin’s surviving blimp hangar — over 1,000 feet long, with a clear span of 234.5 feet and a 157-foot clear height at the crown — remains one of the world’s largest wood-framed structures and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark (ASCE).
Buying in Irvine, Tustin or Lake Forest: taxes and the fine print
California’s Proposition 13 limits the property tax rate to 1 percent of assessed value plus voter-approved debt, and limits most assessment increases to 2 percent a year — until a sale resets the base to what you paid (California State Board of Equalization). Budget from the price you offer, not the seller’s old bill.
The second line to read is the special taxes. Many newer villages sit in Mello-Roos community facilities districts, whose special taxes are charged annually and collected with the regular property taxes on the county bill (City of Rancho Santa Margarita). Between CFD lines and homeowners association dues, two homes at the same price can carry very different monthly costs, so ask for the exact tax bill and HOA documents early.
Three example prices across Irvine, Tustin and Lake Forest, and the listing side at each against a traditional 2.5%. One flat fee instead of a percentage: $8,999 flat for a home around $900,000. $11,999 flat for a home around $1,300,000. $14,999 flat for a home around $1,800,000.⁶
On a home around $900,000
Traditional listing side (2.5%)$22,500
1% service (about $3,000 minimum)$9,000
Landian flat fee$8,999
$13,501⁵⁶
more in your pocket than a traditional listing
On a home around $1,300,000
Traditional listing side (2.5%)$32,500
1% service (about $3,000 minimum)$13,000
Landian flat fee$11,999
$20,501⁵⁶
more in your pocket than a traditional listing
On a home around $1,800,000
Traditional listing side (2.5%)$45,000
1% service (about $3,000 minimum)$18,000
Landian flat fee$14,999
$30,001⁵⁶
more in your pocket than a traditional listing
Landian flat fee⁶1% of the price$11,999 flat for a home around $1,300,000. That’s 0.92%, and it never becomes a percentage.
Under $500,000, the fee you see is final. From $500,000, an agent may propose a different fee before you choose them, with a reason and always under 1% of your expected price. You can say no and wait for an agent who accepts.
How Landian works in Irvine, Tustin and Lake Forest
The same three steps as everywhere on Landian, with licensed agents who work Irvine, Tustin, Lake Forest and the rest of Orange County.
1
Book online
Enter your address and expected price. Your flat fee shows right away; pick a consultation time.
2
Compare agents
Licensed local agents who accept your fee answer. You compare their cards (rating, experience, response time) and choose.
3
Meet and list
Meet your agent, then decide. Nothing is exclusive until your home is listed, and you can cancel from your dashboard.
Moving to Irvine, Tustin and Lake Forest?How buying in Irvine, Tustin and Lake Forest works
Moving for a job on the Spectrum, a village with a lake or a trailhead at the end of the street? Tell us which neighborhoods you are watching and you are matched with a licensed buyer’s agent who works central Orange County.
A licensed buyer's agent for a flat fee from the same schedule, based on the price of the home you buy. The fee is usually covered by the seller's contribution, and anything the seller contributes above it comes back to you as a rebate or closing-cost credit where allowed.¹
How much does it cost to sell a house in Irvine, Tustin or Lake Forest with Landian?
One flat fee set by your home's price, not a percentage: $8,999 flat for a home around $900,000. $11,999 flat for a home around $1,300,000. $14,999 flat for a home around $1,800,000. It is shown before you meet your agent, written into your agreement, and paid from your proceeds at closing. Nothing upfront.
Is the fee the same in Irvine, Tustin and Lake Forest?
Yes. The schedule is set by the home's price, not by the town, so a home at the same price pays the same flat fee anywhere in California. Under $500,000, the fee you see is final. From $500,000, an agent may propose a different fee before you choose them, with a reason and always under 1% of your expected price. You can say no and wait for an agent who accepts.
Does Landian have agents in Irvine, Tustin and Lake Forest?
Yes. Landian has office pages for Irvine, Tustin, Mission Viejo, Orange and Newport Beach and matches you with licensed local agents within about 75 miles of your home, so all three cities and the rest of Orange County are covered. Agents who accept your fee answer, and you compare them before anyone calls.
What is Mello-Roos, and will my home have it?
A Mello-Roos community facilities district levies a special tax to pay for public improvements like roads, schools and water systems; it is charged annually and collected with your regular property taxes on the county bill (City of Rancho Santa Margarita). Many newer villages carry one and many older neighborhoods do not, so ask for the exact tax bill on any home you are weighing.
Which school districts serve Irvine, Tustin and Lake Forest?
Irvine Unified, with more than 38,000 students, serves most of Irvine; Tustin Unified serves Tustin and parts of Irvine; and Saddleback Valley Unified serves Lake Forest. District lines don’t follow city limits, so run any specific address through the district’s own boundary lookup.
Were the Tustin hangars really the world’s largest wooden buildings?
They still rank among the world’s largest wood-framed structures: each over 1,000 feet long and built starting in 1942 of wood because steel was unavailable in wartime (American Society of Civil Engineers). The north hangar was largely destroyed by fire in November 2023; the south hangar still stands.
Did Irvine really reach its planned size early?
The City of Irvine projected about 318,000 residents at build-out “sometime after 2035,” and the Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025 estimate already counts 318,764 — the master-planned city effectively arrived a decade ahead of its own schedule.
How do home prices compare across the three cities?
Zillow’s typical home value for September 2026 was $1,481,490 in Irvine, $1,172,296 in Lake Forest and $1,145,586 in Tustin, against a county median single-family sale price of $1,480,000 in September 2026 (C.A.R.).
How does buying a home in Irvine, Tustin or Lake Forest work with Landian?
You get a licensed buyer's agent for a flat fee from the same schedule, based on the price of the home you buy. The fee is usually covered by the seller's contribution, and anything the seller contributes above it comes back to you as a rebate or closing-cost credit where allowed.
What's your home worth in Irvine?
Enter your address. We'll look up your home's value and show your flat fee, set by its price.
Looking at homes in Irvine?
Get matched with a licensed buyer's agent who works the area, for a flat fee set by the price of the home you buy.
⁶Flat listing fee by expected price: $5,999 from $600K; $6,999 from $700K; $7,999 from $800K; $8,999 from $900K; $9,999 from $1M; $11,999 from $1.25M; $14,999 from $1.5M; $19,999 from $2M; lower below $600K. Based on the higher of the price you enter and a third-party estimate of your home’s value, and written into your Client Agreement before you meet an agent. If your listing price falls in a higher step, the fee follows the schedule; it never rises after your home is listed. Under $500K the fee you see is final; from $500K an agent may propose a different amount before you choose them, always under 1% of your expected price. Payable only at closing. Buyer-side fees use the same steps on the price of the home you buy and are usually covered by the seller’s contribution.
⁵Seller savings are estimated against a 2.5% listing-side commission on the final sale price. Commissions are not set by law and are negotiable, so actual savings vary by market, agent and property. The fee shown is the flat listing-side fee for the home’s price, set on Landian before the seller met the agent.
¹Rebates available where jurisdictional laws permit. Excludes AL, AK, KS, LA, MS, MO, OK, OR, TN. Seller credits may be requested as an alternative to rebates in restricted jurisdictions.
