Blue skies, smilin’ at me
Nothin’ but blues skies do I see
Bluebirds singin’ a song
Nothin’ but bluebirds all day long
Blue Skies — Frank Sinatra
Everyone on Grandview street in Turtle Ridge sees nothing but blue skies, hears nothing but birds singing, and thinks nothing but happy thoughts. Nothing is going to interrupt their rosy view of the housing market — not even reality. Apparently there is nothing that cannot be overcome by a positive attitude and large doses of kool aid.
Perhaps I pick on Turtle Ridge too much. It is certainly an easy target. Whenever I want to profile a WTF home, I need look no further than Turtle Ridge. There are so many to chose from, and the prices are so ridiculously high, that I have to stop myself from profiling every home for sale in this neighborhood. Perhaps it really is that valuable? Perhaps not.
Today I am going to look at two more properties on Grandview. The 25 Grandview property I skewered back in September has lowered the price by $500,000. He must be experiencing some severe kool aid withdrawals. The two neighbors are still on the sauce.
Asking Price: $4,999,000
Income Requirement: $1,249,750
Downpayment Needed: $999,800
Purchase Price: $3,397,500
Purchase Date: 7/31/2006
Address: 53 Grandview, Irvine, CA 92603
1st Loan $2,377,900
2nd Mtg. $509,624
Downpayment $509,976
Beds: 5
Baths: 5.5
Sq. Ft.: 5,700
$/Sq. Ft.: $877
Lot Size: 0.3 acres
Type: Single Family Residence
Style: Mediterranean, Other
Year Built: 2006
Stories: Two Levels
View(s): Catalina Island, City Lights, Coastline, Ocean, Panoramic
Area: Turtle Ridge
County: Orange
MLS#: S507242
Status: Active
On Redfin: 30 days
From Redfin, “Fabulous panoramic view of city lights, ocean & Catalina Island is this Luxury Estate built by Luxury Laing builder, featuring Dual master Suites(junior on main floor). 5 bedrooms suites with thier own baths. Huge upstair’s Bonusroom/balcony. Richly appointed Gourmet Kitchen/center island with top of the line granite slab counter top, complete with elegant cabinets. L. room, F. room, D. room open into gorgeous courtuyard /F. place creating an excellent flow for all your entertainments. Sparkling pool & spa”
top of the line granite slab counter top? Now we have to distinguish these granite tops from the run-of-the-mill granite tops everyone else has.
L. F. D. room? Is that where they do their kool aid?
Does anyone think this guy is going to get $5M for this place, particularly when you can buy the same house at 25 Grandview for $1,000 grand less?
Well, this owner is not the biggest dreamer on the block…
Asking Price: $5,200,000
Income Requirement: $1,300,000
Downpayment Needed: $1,040,000
Purchase Price: $3,857,500
Purchase Date: 10/16/2006
Address: 63 Grandview, Irvine, CA 92603
1st Loan $1,900,000
Downpayment $1,957,500
Beds: 5
Baths: 5.5
Sq. Ft.: 5,900
$/Sq. Ft.: $881
Lot Size: 0.36 acres
Type: Single Family Residence
Style: Mediterranean
Year Built: 2006
Stories: Two Levels
View(s): City Lights, Coastline, Ocean, Panoramic, Has View
Area: Turtle Ridge
County: Orange
MLS#: S500308
Status: Active
On Redfin: 83 days
From Redfin, “Incredible Panoramic Views from Ocean to City Lights. One of the Nicest Plan 2AX to come on to the Market. Extra Deep Backyard with a Spectacular Pool, Sunken Sit-Down Firepit and a Covered Outdoor Kitchen for Entertaining and Enjoying Spectacular Sunsets and Views. Large Expanded Jr Master Suite Downstairs with an Tranquil Expanded Loggia. Rare and Large Wine Rm. Upstairs the Main Master Suite with its Sitting Rm and Extra Long Deck, 3 Other Bedrms w/ Baths + Bonus Complete this Fabulous Home.”
This second kool aid drinker can probably hold out forever. He will need to in order to get this asking price, but with 50% down, he shouldn’t be facing near the financial distress of his neighbor above who borrowed 90% of $3.4M. How would you like to make that mortgage payment? Yikes!
.
.
As a departure from my normal Friday sign off, I would like to leave you with the words of Frank Sinatra (and the link to the music video.) They express how I feel when writing for the Irvine Housing Blog.
Now this could only happen to a guy like me
And only happen in a town like this
So may I say to each of you most gratef’lly
As I throw each one of you a kiss
This is my kind of town
Its hard to comment on this sort of foolishness. These are nice homes and are worth about $1.5 million each. These places will sit on the market for 10-20 years before they sell at these prices.
—–
My theory is that neither owner of these two houses wants to sell. It’s a status thing. They have an image to maintain and they are saying(mostly, to their friends) that their house has not and will not decline in this market. Their communication vehicles are MLS and the glossy flyers sitting on their foyer table.
I suspect that their agents aren’t bothering to suggest that they should consider the 12 step program. How impressive it is to have a $5M house as one of your listings!
If I spent 5 Million on a house? I’d want a driveway that I could park more than two cars on. My limo would hardly fit on this one!! I agree, these houses are worth around 1.5 Mil tops!
Construction is expensive. Construction cost is probably over 2.5 mil. It’s probably even more in Florida. I still hate Sinatra!
Hey IR, how do you get the loan info on these homes?
Interestingly enough, the Zillow estimate is approximately $1.5M.
Ouch both of these were purchased in the middle of ’06. I imagine the owners are like fish fresh out of the water…just flopping around everywhere.
They are obvious cookie cutter houses that look exactly like so many others in the hood. The location is unique, as they all are, so you get to look at the smog cloud alot. Are these people aware of what you can get in other cities like Laguna & Newport Beach for that price?
It makes one want to dump stock in OC companies, knowing that they will end up owned by management with more dollars than sense.
Construction cost $438/sq ft, Liz? What are they using, gold plated pipes? $200 sq ft is expensive for a custom house. This is a tract, mass produced house.
The prices at which these are listed are solely to console the tattered financial egos of the owners. They bought at the top, paid WAY too much, and want confirmation that they haven’t lost everything. These are people who are used to winning (ie, had lots of cash sitting around) and can’t stand the thought of being suckers in the game of Real Estate Musical Chairs. So they list a price that will simply give comfort to each other — these prices are “Grief Therapy” for people completely slaughtered in the RE shell game. It goes like this, “No, no sweetheart, we haven’t lost it all. The Gilman’s down the street listed their property even higher than ours. And the Dortworth’s two streets over also listed higher than us.” The truth is they got slaughtered, even more so because they had more to lose.
Or maybe they don’t want their friends and colleagues to know how foolish they were. It’s pretty tough for a somebody with a big ego to admit they lost a million or more in just one year. Instead they list it at some crazy price and brag, we’re going to MAKE money on this, just like we always do. Hey, maybe they can throw in some of their Global Crossing stock along with this….
Who would install a wine room upstairs? Shouldn’t it be in the basement with temperature control?
Sheesh,
In IRVINE?
I don’t know how IR can write about this stuff. It pains me to even read it. I want to stick daggers in my eyes every time I see such stupidity; gouge them out so the inhumanity of the world is wiped from my memory.
Newport Coast… maybe for a magnificent estate. For an IRVINE Tract home? Wow, just wow. How people can be so deluded is truly a testament to our state as a nation. It’s not good.
This is the Irvine equivalent of Marie Antoinette’s “Let them eat cake”. Talk about out-of-touch aristocracy.
Chuck Ponzi
What kind of fool pays over $1 Million for something called “Plan 2AX”? On second thought, if 936 sq ft apartments were selling for $485k then why shouldn’t nice TRACT homes sell for 5mil.
Once again IR shows how absolutely crazy this market WAS.
Side note, I followed my kids around on Halloween and picked up flyers from the for sale signs. One that caught my eye had color photos on the top sheet and the details from the MLS on the second sheet. The second sheet had some data covered up with white out tape! Looking through a light revealed 115DOM and all the price reductions. The Seller is just as stupid and lazy as the REALTARD® for not demanding better quality marketing.
Also, most for sale signs are tiny compared to the old 4×4 posts, these are 2×4 with a sign that is about 12”x10”. It doesn’t look so pathetic to see a street lined with those. I think I will post some photos of them and one street with a forest of the old style…anyone interested?
“One of the Nicest Plan 2AX to come on to the Market.”
WTF is a statement like that doing in the MLS listing of a one million dollar home let alone a five million dollar home.
Tract home, plain and simple.
Loan info is public records in most cases, trusts sometimes show N/A. There are sites out there that provide these services, but usually for a cost. I used to work for a lender and I still have access to Sitex, which shows the lien info, rates, lender, sales price, vesting, etc. records on a property. I agree with the status quo factor for these homeowners.
I say 1 Million….How many wtbcks would it take to maintain this place and were would they park. I’m thinking a staff of about 3 for inside and out and add a personal assitstant and now we have four cars in the yard/street/driveway before I can park my own 4 SUV’s my boat and my 45 foot long bus. I just dont think this will work. I can just feel the tension in the neighborhood and the HOA fines stacking up.
No Thanks!
REALTARD
…………………………..you made me laugh.
Definitely qualified as major WTF homes.
There is no way those places are worth what was originally paid.
These suckers caught the top of the market and they are going to pay big time.
They either had enough money that they could afford to take risks such as this, or they are morons who inherited their money who are about to get a fat dose of reality.
Either way, I think its hilarious.
Apparently they still have enough money left to afford whatever they are smoking.
Huh?
Sorry, was that tongue in cheek? The internet doesn’t convey well.
Speaking of which, I was recently talking to a friend who had a custom-built home just completed outside of Dallas. Total in was 950K, including the lakefront lot with 350 ft of frontage, a boatslip, and a boathouse. His house was 7,500 sq ft with 12ft ceilings throughout. It is truly magnificent. I admit that land is valuable… but is it worth 4 mil for a 1/3 acre? That would mean land would be selling for 12megasize per acre. That’s a lotta moolah.
Chuck Ponzi
“No warning can save a people determined
to grow suddenly rich.” – Lord Overstone
I live in a similar tract home. Need 3 to take care of everything. They sleep in my basement.
Just curious, why is it that the only commenters here who feel the need to share their profession in their “Name” are the ones with the prefix “Law,” “Lawyer,” etc.?
A list of the homes from the same tract as the ones mentioned in “Blue Skies” post. Notice the last 6 months contrasts to the previous 18. Scary.
address price date
51 HIDDEN TRL 2250000 10/10/2007
28 RESERVE 3275000 7/23/2007
43 HIDDEN TRL 2320000 7/16/2007
31 SUMMER HOUSE 1875000 7/3/2007
29 RESERVE 3940000 5/1/2007
27 RESERVE 4508000 4/27/2007
41 HIDDEN TRL 2100000 4/24/2007
30 RESERVE 4201000 3/28/2007
26 RESERVE 3057000 3/26/2007
23 RIDGEVIEW 4006500 1/2/2007
21 EDGEVIEW 5169000 12/29/2006
27 EDGEVIEW 4299500 12/28/2006
29 EDGEVIEW 4344500 12/22/2006
25 RIDGEVIEW 3953500 12/22/2006
23 EDGEVIEW 4231000 12/22/2006
25 EDGEVIEW 4377000 12/21/2006
21 RIDGEVIEW 4311500 12/11/2006
33 RIDGEVIEW 3880000 12/11/2006
23 COBALT SKY 4500000 12/8/2006
31 RIDGEVIEW 3303000 12/6/2006
27 RIDGEVIEW 3387000 12/4/2006
35 RIDGEVIEW 3916500 11/30/2006
29 RIDGEVIEW 3778000 11/28/2006
29 STARVIEW 3200000 11/21/2006
50 GRANDVIEW 3713000 11/16/2006
45 SUMMER HOUSE 1833000 11/3/2006
71 GRANDVIEW 4665000 10/24/2006
67 GRANDVIEW 4217000 10/18/2006
63 GRANDVIEW 3857500 10/16/2006
28 VIEW TER 2000000 10/16/2006
65 GRANDVIEW 3518000 10/16/2006
61 GRANDVIEW 3451000 10/5/2006
53 HIDDEN TRL 2500000 9/13/2006
21 COBALT SKY 0 9/1/2006
53 GRANDVIEW 3397500 7/31/2006
59 GRANDVIEW 3474500 7/31/2006
57 GRANDVIEW 4349000 7/27/2006
55 GRANDVIEW 3792500 7/25/2006
35 HIDDEN TRL 2250000 7/13/2006
35 VIEW TER 2250000 7/7/2006
51 GRANDVIEW 3624000 7/6/2006
25 VIEW TER 2280000 6/29/2006
21 GRANDVIEW 3618000 5/25/2006
25 GRANDVIEW 3387000 5/19/2006
29 GRANDVIEW 2850500 5/17/2006
27 GRANDVIEW 2136500 5/12/2006
21 STARVIEW 3252500 12/8/2005
23 STARVIEW 2864500 12/5/2005
25 STARVIEW 2393500 11/23/2005
27 STARVIEW 2514000 11/22/2005
31 STARVIEW 1970500 11/15/2005
25 COBALT SKY 3458000 7/29/2005
64 SUMMER HOUSE 1783500 3/24/2005
27 VILLAGE WAY 2050000 3/23/2005
66 SUMMER HOUSE 1820500 3/10/2005
68 SUMMER HOUSE 2346000 3/4/2005
60 SUMMER HOUSE 1590000 2/28/2005
63 SUMMER HOUSE 2050000 2/25/2005
62 SUMMER HOUSE 1498000 2/24/2005
58 SUMMER HOUSE 1845500 2/15/2005
67 SUMMER HOUSE 2355500 2/11/2005
61 SUMMER HOUSE 2073000 2/1/2005
57 SUMMER HOUSE 2091000 1/31/2005
65 SUMMER HOUSE 2455000 1/31/2005
49 VIEW TER 1750000 1/27/2005
59 SUMMER HOUSE 2220500 1/27/2005
50 SUMMER HOUSE 1486000 12/27/2004
56 SUMMER HOUSE 1659000 12/21/2004
23 SUMMER HOUSE 1715000 12/15/2004
55 SUMMER HOUSE 2131000 12/14/2004
53 SUMMER HOUSE 2108000 12/10/2004
23 VILLAGE WAY 2094000 12/1/2004
54 SUMMER HOUSE 1747500 11/23/2004
52 SUMMER HOUSE 1765500 11/19/2004
21 VILLAGE WAY 2243500 11/19/2004
25 VILLAGE WAY 2290500 11/15/2004
29 VILLAGE WAY 2066500 10/29/2004
33 VILLAGE WAY 1992500 10/28/2004
I wonder how many of these buyers are in real estate??? I bet more than one. Man, the last 6 months must have been really depressing for them. There are a hell of a lot of people that paid well over 4 million and thats not counting their $200k landscaping and pool area costs with an additional $150k on ridiculous furnishings and adornments for the interior. Looks like these homes will be depreciate 50%!!!!!
Marcus Aurelius said:
The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.
These folks probably fancied themselves as pretty smart when they bought these tract homes . Turns out they are a pack of fools.
Mark……
Nano is a profession…..I run around looking at small stuff all the time….
Okay, I am changing mine to LoserAwgee
Welcome to OC.
I’m going to change my screen name. How about “Pompous Arsehole”? does that work fine?
And then there is: GynoGraphrix, TrooperTrooper, LovelyEva, BadAssIrvineRenter, ZookeeperZovall, WinoWinex, JanitorCapitalismWorks (just kidding)
lmao! Not at the comment, but the fact my head is spinning to keep up with whether or not this is the real lawyerliz. The user name must still be hijacked. lol.
DBR – Could you please be kind enough to keep the pejoratives at your house and not bring them here?
I’ve been watching 92603 for awhile, there have been green dots all over TR, Quail Hill, Shady Canyon for quite awhile.
Maybe some of your “newer” listings are the usual trick of delisting, then relisting on MLS to create more interest in the “new” listing.
There is no user registration system. It’s free for all.
Never mind .. didn’t read that right. Didn’t realize those are sales prices and sales dates. Not listing prices and listing dates.
In reality Janitor is fairly accurate! I am just glad to be included 😉
BTW, you forgot one:
LendingMaetro-Bater
DeadBeatRenter:
How many “wtbcks” do you have? Do you also hate Jews? After all they killed your beloved Jesus.
Who takes out a second mortgage on a $3.5M house? That is insane.
On another note, I noticed a couple of days ago that the New Century building in Irvine has partially lost its signage and now just reads “New C.” I kept wondering when that would finally happen.
I’m not sure what they are selling in that house. I’m guessing they think the panoramic view has recently improved to the tune of some 1.6M dollars. Maybe they just had their windows “detailed”?
Look at these Mcmansions: peel away the tile and “top grade” granite and it is all white-painted drywall — just gussied-up tract homes. These folks need to see a multi-million dollar home that is actually worth a few million.
This is the real Lawyerliz, with only one z.
What did I do to deserve this? In the real world, nobody has ever stolen my identity. My posts must have been extremely wise and trenchant to have attracted this attention.
Let me understand something.
Why are these houses worth 1.5MIL more than last year?
I figure at most the outside work was 250K….. so what gives in the minds of these people? Why should these homes have appreciate 20% in one year?
See? This is the overhang of the bubble. People who bought in the first phases expected 50%+ year to year increases… the ones who bought last, on top of the hill, surely expected that their “select” mansions would go up even higher.
However, in a slow market, they figure that 20% year on year is reasonable.
Idiots.
I don’t use the word “HATE”. As I study the bible, Jesus himself was Jewish. My law firm is run by mostly Jewish men and my CPA firm is made up entirely of Jewish men. My husband is Jewish. And I as a GAY man think you are what I would call a nut job for trying to twist my comments in such a way that you have.
I do believe that people that illegally cross the border in the heat of day can be fairly represented as WTBCKS.
I have been an Orange County Resident since 1959, the year I was born. My county/country has been overrun by illegal aliens, mostly from Mexico and I do employ many of them because most white people are too lazy to work and produce the level of quality of craftsmanship my customers demand.
I did not write this. I don’t hate Sinatra. I don’t love him,
but I don’t hate him either.
He was probably an obnoxious human being, but he could belt out a tune.
How did this get hijacked? This time the name is spelled right.
Nice house. 5 mil? Hmmmm. Seems like for 5 mil you should be getting a really nice ocean view.
As far as our hopes for major price reductions. It all comes down to supply and demand right? The problem has been that “demand” became divorced from reality by lax lending standards and exotic loan products that allowed people to purchase homes that they could never afford based on traditional lending practices. The thing that blows me away is why people would sign up for these products knowing that it would only keep them in the house for a very short period before they would be forced out by reseting mortgage payments. I don’t quite understand what their plan was. Did they assume 20 percent appreciation every year and they they would simply refi every 2 years into another exotic loan product forever, always making teaser rate payments? It just seemed so nutty to me.
As far as 5 million dollar houses go, I assume that most folks who can afford a 5 mil house aren’t bound by the same calculations as the rest of us. Of course it would seem to me that 6000 sqf tract houses rose in price to 5 million due to the upward pressure of lesser priced homes.
It was the folks who were making 50kyear and who were getting approved for 500k loans who caused the feeding frenzy for starter homes that drove all price points skyward. So once the bottom drops out from under 5 mil houses is it to be assumed that these 5 mil house will fall as well?
So I my question for is: How does everyone see price reductions playing out across the various price points now that those folks who were getting approved for 600k loans now only qualify for 250k loans.
Help, Irvine Renter, and all. Do I have to change my handle? Does this happen to other people? Why are the posts so evil and stupid today?
I posted on this blog because the people were so well-informed and
interested in the same thing as me.
It must be a vengeful realtor.
By the way fake Lawyerliz, people in Florida don’t have basements because the water table is so high
Built on a slab. No basement.
$5 mill gets a house in Newport Coast’s Crystal Cove. Yes those homes are also fancy tract homes but they at least they are in an incomparable neighborhood.
It just seems like you’re a flake. Like Larry Craig type.
Are you sure you not fake? What’s your real cupsize?
You should know better than that, because you are a lawyer.
Just like downloading music is NOT theft, someone using “lawyerliz” to post isn’t stealing anything from anyone. There is no user registration system on this board.
lawyerliz is right that people who post under her handle or various other handles will be asked to stop. So Frank, Dr. Ruth and all your other names that you chose need to stop. And I am not very patient today since your comments are inappropriate as well as lacking any meaningful content. So consider this your one and only warning or you will be banned.
Nanowest, you are starting to make alot of sense these days,
You might want to consider disemvowling trolling comments as well.
For some reason, I think the army of liz is rather humorous.
Typical DBR, all too typical. You use them and you hate them.
I’ll give you credit for being upfront with your rather tasteless diatribes. Why hide it, right? It’s clear you crave respect from no one else so why offer it to others.
That said, your comments tend to be a mental speedbump when reading through these otherwise excellent threads here at the IHB.
Just one person’s opinion.
Hi, i just stumbled upon this site and found it fascinating and informative. Its so hard to find any good Sinatra blogs. Anybody got any good ratpack pics to trade?
Tell that to “Hater” over on the lanser blog,,,,,she wants me to get sick and die.
I’ve never made any musial suggestions before, by how about “Love Potion Number Nine”. It would make an interesting substitutiion for Kook Aide for a while at least.
And, upon thinking about it, I think that my musings are distinctive enuf that they can be distinguished from anybody trying to imitate me.
To the real Lawyerliz: looks like you’ve got yourself a real die-hard fan. Kind of like a remora.
To the annoying identity thief: You are boring us. Go away.
The only thing that Orange County is overrun with is self-important, entitled bigots who think that picking on the poor is their mission in life.
Oops, musical.
I think that people are suffering from a contact high of WTF, and are acting stupid and disrespectful, only after ten minutes on the floor rolling around and laughing.
I think it is time for healing and forgiveness. Let’s move on.
There is many ways to value real estate. Your idea of comparing apples to oranges is the second to worst way to determine the value of real estate (old vs new or ocean view vs hills view), you cannot measure the differences accurately. We all know the worst method is the price per sq ft “algorithm” created by realtors to manipulate buyers into feeling good about overpaying.
A house is worth what someone will pay for it, today, with available financing or cash. Not what a realtor says its worth, an appraisal with comps from 6 months ago subjectively estimates, and certainly not what a seller needs in proceeds to cover his ass.
A home just sold in the same tract for $2.25 mil…It has an ocean view similar to home in this post. It is 3600 sq ft (minus 2000 sq ft of useless space), no private pool area, and the lot is half the size. That’s it. Smaller home, no private pool and a smaller lot.
Would you yourself, let your friends, or advise anyone to pay an additional $2.75 million for 2000 sq ft of living area (I bet 1000 sq ft is giant bonus room that sits empty), 7500 sq ft of a useless hill, and a private pool when you already pay 400 bucks/ mo for an Olympic size community pool??? I dont think so. This place (the Grandiew home) will be worth $1.75 million very soon. These are nice tract homes. Uniqueness does not exist, so there is no way to adjust values once the bank foreclosures get marketed and sold in this area. Most homes anywhere are now being compared to bank foreclosure sales which are selling at 15 to 20% below what a lived in home is selling for.
I suspect there are a lot of people in the real estate industry living in Turtle Ridge. Hope they saved.
Actually, there is a difference in the granite tops.
If you go to one of the cheap renovations (ex. someone bought a stock place, then threw the cheapest possible granite top on it before flipping it), and knock on the counter, it’s pretty obvious it’s a thin, thin top.
If you go to a properly built place and knock on the top, it has a much more solid sound (ie. it’s thicker, higher grade granite).
Median asking price in Irvine just broke 600k, according to housing-watch.com. I’m sure all the speculators are happy about that. Just in the last 12 months it’s down more than 11%. (IIRC, it was already down somewhat a year ago.)
Oh and by the way IrvineRenter, please, how does one look up loan info on homes? Is it a trade secret, or is there someway us mortals can do it?
Indeed.. why would home in the barrio (Santa Ana) would run over $200K to begin with?
Cal – The term was disemvoweled.
Hey Irvinerenter. Instead of cherry picking losers why don’t you profile homes that have sold at the same prices as 06? Oh wait, that would mean that you would actually present other viewpoints. Silly me. I forgot this is an Armegedon blog.
Someone seems to be much angrier than the renters he decries.
Dr Ruth,
“Just like downloading music is NOT theft,”….
Do you people ever step out of the mold? Taking or using somebody else’s property without paying for it is theft, even if your culture justifes it.
Are there any? I have nothing vested in this being 3,000 miles away.
Why don’t you post some?