bought too late

I ran across these two homes in the Chase Ranch area of Corona. These are the kind of properties I will be looking for when I buy.

Home number one 3797 Via Zumaya ST, Corona was bought nearly a year before the peak of the market in late 06. Our seller picked up this 2483 sq/ft single story with 5 bedrooms and 4 baths on a 1/4 acre lot for $760k. The original owner bought it for $380k only 2 and a half years before. They DOUBLED their money in 2 1/2 years! (I will assume they put in the pool and landscaped the home so they may have only made $250K....). I wonder if the current owner though he would also double his money in two years. If so that would have made this house worth about 1.52 million. Anyway, back to reality and we all know what happens next. The bubble pops and the owner decided to bail out. He asking a little more than he paid 2 years ago. Just enough to cover the fees. Anyone think he will get it?

Let's look at his competition.

1713 Camino Largo, Corona, is just around the corner, only a few houses away. This home is larger at 2700 sq/ft and sits on a bigger 1/3 acre lot. It has 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. It's beautifully landscaped and also has a pool and jaccuzi. This home is for sale by the original owner that only paid $380K. He should be able to undercut home 1 by a large amount. BUT we must have a home equity issue as he is listing this as a short sale for $590k. Still $209k cheaper than his smaller neighbor. This is a nice looking home and at $590 it's getting into "almost there" territory. I'de be very tempted to look at this home if it were around $500k.

Here's a bonus home,

Now if you need something a little bigger then one block over we have this pool home.

1688 Tamarron, Corona is 3584 sq/ft 2 story home has 4 beds and 3.75 baths. It also has a pool but it looks to be just a lap pool in a small yard. The owner picked this baby up in mid 2005 for $795k. He's been trying to sell it now for a few months. He started at $650 but is now down to $495K as a short sale. That's a $300k or 38% fall since 2005 if it sells at that price.