See the curtains hanging in the window
In the evening on a Friday night
A little light a-shining through the window
Lets me know every thing’s all right
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer Breeze — Seals and Crofts
Link to Live Performance Video
This property was previously featured in June: Woodbridge Knife-Catchers.
A reader has been watching this property and has emailed me with some juicy details I want to share with you today.
Old Asking Price: $599,900
New Asking Price: $549,000
Purchase Price: $490,100
Purchase Date: 4/30/2007
Address: 17 Seawind, Irvine, CA 92604
Beds: 2
Baths: 2
Sq. Ft.: 1,058
Year Built: 1984
Stories: 1
Type: Condominium
County: Orange
Neighborhood: Woodbridge
$/Sq. Ft.: $519
MLS#: P594916
Status: Active on market
On Redfin: 15 days
From Redfin, “Beautifully upgraded home in Woodbridge near the lake. Highly upgraded with hardwood floor thru entire house, tile floor in the bathroom, granite counter top, crown & base moulding, just painted, private spa in the backyard. Walk to lake, park, and lots lots more!!”
.
.
This unit does not see the lake, it isn’t on a park, it doesn’t even have a yard, it is a nondescript, tiny tract home in the middle of Woodbridge — for sale in a declining market. WTF?
Well, this unit was purchased by a realtor. Perhaps business is slow this year? Not long after she put this unit on the market for $599,900, a comparable property at 29 Whitecloud came on the market for $599,000. This unit is 30% larger than 17 Seawind, and it is overpriced as well. Not daunted by the competition, our kool aid addicted realtor actually raised her price to $605,000. WTF?
When both properties languished on the market, the owner of 29 Whitehead lowered their price to the current $569,000. So how does our realtor/flipper/knife-catcher respond? She raises the price to $610,000. WTF?
Well, as you might imagine, neither property sold and they were pulled from the market in order to reset the “days on market” number. Now they are both back for sale, and they are both still overpriced.
At least this realtor has something to do. She can sit in her homedebtor’s prison each weekend running an open house. Perhaps she finds some leads on some other overpriced stucco boxes she can fail to sell?
Great update. Appreciate having the light turned on the MLS relist process. What a scam.
and excuse me, but half a million dollars? HALF A MILLION DOLLARS? For this concrete bunker? Does the yellow fire hydrant out front qualify as “landscaping,” or is that part of the spa? Sure, they can run open house after open house. Maybe bake some bread or make cookies to make it smell nice inside. Play soft music. Stage this soon-to-be crackhouse within an inch of it’s life, because it’s never gonna sell. I hope this realtor/flipper loses it all on this pit.
—–
I reallly love the granite countertops in the kitchen. What is it, about 8 sq feet of counterspace in the kitchen? I’ve stayed in budget hotels with bigger kitchens. But at least there’s a nearby fire hydrant in case of fire.
OK, so even after the price reductions, if I put down 20% (cuz this mansion requires a jumbo loan) my monthly P+I is almost $3200 + $603 for Taxes/insurance. What kind of income will this require? >135k? Should be doable.
How many people making that kind of $$ could fit their families in this thing.
Sure I live on flyover country, but $600k will buy a house with a big enough garage to build this place INSIDE….with 50 sqft left over!
BTW, has anyone here sent emails or letters to agents/FB’s pointing them to here? Might be fun to see if they react to some of the wit and criticism posted about them.
I am happy to know that another flipper will get burned here, one after one after one, sooner or later all these parasites will disappear and create a good entry point for us…..Hey, wait, Bush may bail you out! Like he bailed all Katrina victims 🙁
Can we stop these “in my neck of the woods, that would only cost …” comments? That doesn’t mean anything. The market has determined that your neck of the woods sells at a discount. We get it.
We all agree that the housing market is on a down turn, the question is how far down is it going to go? Can anyone post price per square foot stats from 1999-2002? I am especially concerned with 5 bed properties with more than 2400 sf. Does anyone care to make a prediction as to a reasonable price per square foot for a 5 bed property with 2500 sf?
Thank you for that. I too feel the “we get waaaay more space for our money in BFE” crowd has been stating that obvious point far too long. Yes, we get it, you can buy a huge house with lots of land where you live. Enjoy it. SoCal is too crowded anyway.
Disagree. I love the reality check aspect of hearing what these castles would cost in place like Iowa. Keep em coming.
Please, please, please tell me this realtor paid cash.
Is the fact that this Realtor drank their own Kool-Aid a good thing or a bad thing? This Realtor is:
1) An ethical person who really believed the crap they were shoveling to their clients and they proved that by “putting their money where their mouth is.”
2) A sucker who believed the lies their industry was telling them and got caught up in the deception like other suckers. Another victim in the Realtor spin machine.
3) A flipper who thought they knew everything and is paying the price for their greed and arrogance.
I vote for #2
An interesting search on that is to go to Redfin, resize the map to the area you’re interested in, then search for sold properties that fit in the last 3 months. You get prices and addresses but no square footage.
Then go to google and search the addresses. In many cases, as the sale was less than 3 months old, you can find it listed on some realtors or real estate blog and find out the # of bedrooms and square footage.
Interesting way to see what the market’s been actually selling for.
Note though that Redfin can’t tell the difference between a sale and a bank REO, they both show as “SOLD PROPERTY”
For example, here’s one from Quail Hill
From Redfin:
SOLD PROPERTY
104 SYMPHONY
IRVINE, CA
LAST SALE: $1,430,000 (07/06/2007)
Googling the internet:
MLS #:S443137 Realtor:Frank Agahi
104 SYMPHONY, Irvine, CA 92603 $1,629,000
Listing Date:2006-06-02 4 bedrooms
Lot:0 sq feet 4 bathrooms
Built:2003 3,500 sq feet
Status:Off Market DOM:153
Luxury home with over $225,000 in upgrades, main floor bedroom & bath, living room with fireplace,gourmet kitchen with upgraded cherry cabinets, granite counter top, and stainless steel appliances (including trash compactor,built-in refrigerator,commercial grade 8 burner stove), formal dining room, 2 master suites, both with roman jacuzzi tubs& separate shower, custom designer tile flooring,shutters,cat-5 system, sec system, great backyard w. Bbq island…
From this distance, I had no idea there even WERE houses of such low quality in Irvine as this.
This compares very unfavorably to every other property you’ve featured on this blog.
So, if those weren’t worth the $400K-$500K ask prices, what is this little piece of garbage worth? I’d say $150K at the most, or even less- teardown value only. What would that lot be worth just as raw property?
Tear it down and start over.
What’s the difference between #1 and #2?
I think all three would apply.
Here’s another realtor drinking Koolaid. She listed her property (she purchased it in 1988 for $152K) 50 Tangerine in March for $610k, lowered it to $590k on 6/28, and to $579K on 8/23. No bites. Then she takes it off the MLS, and advertises it on Craigslist for $610k, the initial asking price!
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/rfs/412570664.html
What are these realtors thinking?
She has another property for sale in the same neighborhood: http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/rfs/412573388.html
Not sure if she’s pulling the same stunt with that one.
Yeah.. and let’s see the pictures of those castles when it snows… and when the humidity and heat are at 90 and the mosquitos swarm..
What? You can’t see the castle behind the swarm of summer mosquitos…. hmmm…
This is virtually the same size as the one-bedroom and den I’m in now. Don’t think I want to see how two bedrooms can be squeezed into this size square footage.
BTW, I like Woodbridge – just don’t think it should command prices anywhere near where they’re at.
check out his listing along with his pic here
http://kwanglee.newstarrealty.com/
I prefer to compare Irvine to Irvine, and Iowa to Iowa.
Places like Iowa and Ohio only look cheap compared to expensive coastal metro areas.
However, if you look at the economic fundamentals in these “cheap” areas, they don’t look so cheap.
I mean, a beautiful 2-bed, 6-room, 2000 sq ft apt in a distinguished vintage bldg in elite Shaker Heights OH, for $144K, may look like a gift to the denizens of Irvine or Chicago.
But when you consider the economy of Cleveland OH, it looks pretty darn expensive. $144K may be an over-the-top price in a metro area with skyrocketing unemployment and a rapidly shrinking economy. The debt service, including monthly assesments of about $500 and property taxes & insurance, on such a place, given 20% down, comes to about $1500-$1800, which is a big mountain to climb when you are unemployed.
The best yardsticks by which to measure a particular area is by local fundamentals, such as median income and prices of rents.
http://lansner.freedomblogging.com/2007/09/04/first-american-to-cut-1300-jobs/
First American to cut 1,300 jobs
Santa Ana-based title insurer First American announced this morning that it plans to cut about 1,300 jobs this month. The job cuts are in addition to 600 jobs eliminated earlier this year.
Great post. Nice to see this exposed.
UPDATE 1-Poor demand sidelines Freddie Mac mortgage issue
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKN0439437820070904?rpc=44&sp=true
National Mortgage News Online
What We’re Hearing
http://data.nationalmortgagenews.com/columns/hearing/
The California Association of Mortgage Brokers recently held its annual convention. The exhibit hall had 110 booths. About 15 of them were empty because of no-shows…
I would say $250 – $300 per sq. ft.
Upscale to snapped up: Hernando Oaks hurting
The developing subdivision once short on inventory now has the opposite problem.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/09/04/Pasco/Upscale_to_snapped_up.shtml
The Andersons joined with two friends to purchase five houses from home-building giant Lennar Corp. The couple ended up paying $110,000 and $115,000 for two houses, each of them selling for more than $60,000 less than the market value, according to the Hernando County Property Appraiser’s Office.
“These are the first two houses we’ve bought,” said Anderson, 40, of Lutz, who is renting the houses. “I consider it a blessing from the Lord.”
…
That irked not only other builders but also some residents, who had signed contracts designed to limit speculation – forbidding them either to rent their houses or to resell them within a year.
Andee Clancy’s four-bedroom house is on the same street as the Andersons’ and is valued the same as the home the Andersons bought for $115,000. She and her husband, John, paid $207,000 for their Lennar home in April and were forbidden to rent it for two years.
Though Andee Clancy has no problems with her neighbors – mostly renters in investment homes – she worries they will devalue her neighborhood.
“My understanding was that we could not rent the place out. But as you can see, this whole neighborhood is rentals,” she said.
Mark Metheny, president of Lennar’s Tampa division, said the company reserves the right to sell some homes to investors who do not face rental and resale restrictions. Others buyers know this, he said, because it is written into their sales contracts.
I have a post coming out later this week with a Westpark 5 bedroom asking $281/SF.
I think these will break below the $200/SF mark.
You are right; I forgot to mention the mosquitoes. We spend all summer, the whole 2 weeks, killing mosquitoes that are the size of my hand. The rest of the time we shovel snow! Houses are cheap because our winter gas bills are $400-$500/mo. Besides that there is no work..dont move here.
I guess this must be a sensitive topic, I follow this blog as closely as the next guy but I don’t see to enough “we get waaaay more space for our money in BFE” posts to warrant this kind of response. But I must remind myself how uptight I once was, you know I haven’t had the need to give anyone the finger in traffic since I moved!
Iblis, thanks for understanding, I lived in Woodbridge for 14 years and loved it. Yes it is a reality check, or perhaps not, since I would be able to even find a property like mine anywhere in Socal..even in the valley of the dirt people (909). As for the rest of you, moving here is not for everybody (thank God)
I also don’t mind the comparisons with Irvine substitutes like Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo, Yorba Linda, Laguna Niguel. Some more color on these areas is actually helpful, given that on some level prices in all these areas should be correlated.
The interesting thing I notice when I am talking to home owners nowadays is that those home owners who are not first time buyers and who own a decent amount of equity in their second/third homes are being forced to agree that housing is not an investment necessarily. These folks profess the house is a ‘home’ that you want to come back to each day. Oh well, I guess with eyes tight shut, many of these people are praying secretly that they do not go substantially underwater.
Additionally, I would expect the Irvine price trend to follow these “less ideally located” areas. I don’t have the figures but I have heard from residents of Ladera Ranch and Talega that things are getting pretty ugly.
I owned in Aliso Viejo a year or so ago and I track what’s going on in that neighborhood now versus when I was trying to sell. Sort of a weak RE barometer.
When I was selling in summer of ’06 there were 49 comparable properties in my area. Today there are 127.
The fact of the matter is the “flippers” featured here don’t know what they are doing and as pointed out are drinkin’ the Kool-Aid. Paying 5-10% under “market value” is not the way to flip property; its the way to loose your shirt. Secondly, you should always stick to starter homes. A 500k tool shed is not a starter home (except in the time of ridiculous lending standards like we have seen). And condos? Forget it. Maybe if you could pick it up for stupid cheap (like less than 50 cent on the dollar). Condo are notoriously a bad investment. I’m not wizard of real estate, but done a few successful flip and stay the heck away from alliagtors (cash consuming properties) such as featured here.
SawItComing: You said, “Yes it is a reality check, or perhaps not, since I would be able to even find a property like mine anywhere in Socal..even in the valley of the dirt people (909)”.
I’m a native of San Bernardino (in the 909 area code, for non-SoCal’ers), but I don’t understand your reference to “dirt people.” Could you please explain?
KN, Your query had me wondering so here’s the top two links from Google:
Urban Dictionary
http://tinyurl.com/yvmtha
OC Weekly
http://tinyurl.com/2t6hss
Off topic, but I thought you’all might be amused by this:
“Rancho Cucamonga, considered to be the Irvine of the Inland Empire.”
It’s from http://leasehousesranchocucamonga.com/default.aspx
Cheap rentals on McMansions…
How hot was RC this weekend? Maybe the smog reflected the sun.
Inland OC is almost as bad.
Is this REALTOR (TM) a “Flipper” or one of the first “Foreclosure Investor” to get burned?
I’m looking at the December 2004 sale of $560K and the follow-on April 2007 sale of $490,100 to think that’s just low enough to be 80% fist plus several missed interest payments and fees.
200 per sf for a nice upgraded place.
Property Speculators first to default.
http://thegreatloanblog.blogspot.com
Yes this is indeed a feeble attempt to make a buck. I wonder which one of the 15 TV shows this agent watched about flipping property. Flip this house? Flip that house? Flip your house? Flip my house? House flip? .. the list goes on and on.
I think the price check posts serve to reinforce the notion that prices for Southern California real estate increased too much in the last few years. Although it’s always been more expensive here than in most other parts of the country, price growth in (most) other locales has been much more restrained and this is nicely illustrated by a post like this one.