Sunday, July 27, 2008

Bridle Creek under $400k

Bridle Creek is a horsey development in Southern Riverside near Lake Mathews. The homes are being built by Lyon and are decent sized houses on one acre lots. I like a couple of the floor plans in this tract so I keep an eye on it. Last year the builder was trying to get $700k to over a million for these units. Being a relatively new development it's now peppered with REO's and homes in various stages of foreclosure. Lately there have been some big price reductions on some of the REO's. A few were down in the mid $400s. Those reductions must have gotten some interest as I see a few have gone pending. We will have to wait and see what the selling price was on those. This weekend I see a new listing hit the market and it's an attention getter if you are interested in this area.



17741 Canyonwood Dr. is a 3266 sq/ft 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath home. It's plan number 2 if I remember correctly. It's not one of my favorites but it is a nice floor plan. This home was purchased in Oct 2004 for $638k. It went back to the bank in April for $539K and it hit the market this weekend for $377K. From the pics the home does not look to have much in the way of upgrades. On the bright side it does not look like the last owners thrashed it on the way out either. If you can pick this up for asking price it's probably a decent deal. The asking price is very close to what homes of this size on lots this size were selling for in 2000/2001. I think this will probably sell for quite a bit over asking. My guess is it will go for around $420k~$430k.

8 comments:

Martin Burtin said...

I love the way the dead palm trees accent the brown weeds, they really give it that "bank owned" look I like. No need for a "for sale" sign. It just screams at you, I'm abandoned, buy me, vandalize me, treat me like the whore that I am! Opps, got a little carried away there...

golfer_X said...

Compared to most of the homes in this tract the dead grass on this one is a plus. Most of the yards are just an acre of dirt. It's amazing after 3 or 4 years how many of these homes have ZERO landscaping.

tyrone said...

Poor house... poor bank too..

I hate idiots who buy houses they can't afford......

Oldtimer said...

$377K seems like a pretty good deal for a house and an acre of land. Not long ago people were paying more than $377K for an acre and no house was included.

Twenty miles west, $377K won't buy you a half acre (and no house).

sodonewithit said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
sodonewithit said...

Hey Golfer Dude!

What are you doing? Who do you work for? The house on Canyonwood now has 9 offers...all over asking price. I put in an offer at asking...and was beat by ALL 9?????

I am confused, I have been following your blog; actually very funny. But encouraging people to bid higher than asking price is wild, given your suggested focus is to see house prices that are more in line with incomes.

How the heck do folks find a house they can afford if these stupid bidding wars occur on anything in their price range? I have been through this now 4 times.

I assume a bank has done their diligence by getting solid BPO's and putting properties on the market for "market price".

Then these investor numb nuts and other idiots bid above the asking price???

(When was the last time you walked into a car dealer and offered more than the asking price??? Target? Costco? Anywhere?

That is not going to get this market to settle down.

This is the greed hangover the banks, realtors, and speculators have from the good old days.

It feels normal...but PEOPLE ITS NOT NORMAL TO PAY OVER ASKING PRICE!!! IT IS JUST ONE MORE GAME THESE BANKS, REALTORS, AND THE REST OF THE JERKS THAT MADE OUT DURING THE BUBBLE WANT TO PLAY...AT THE EXPENSE AND FRUSTRATION OF OTHERS.

THE VERY SAME PEOPLE THAT MADE THESE EXPENSIVE HOMES "AFFORDABLE"..OH DID WE FORGET TO MENTION THE $200 A MONTH FOR ASSESSMENTS TO GET THE WATER THAT COSTS YOU AN ARM AND A LEG AND MAKES IT NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE A LAWN??? OH AND THE HOA'S...THAT DON'T/WON'T STOP PEOPLE FROM THEIR GHETTO INCLINATIONS AND THE RIVERSIDE ADDICTION TO CHAIN LINK FENCING.

Maybe its a California thing. In the midwest the asking price is the starting point and typically will sell for list or at max 7 percent lower than list. But NOT more than asking price.

They say this is a buyers market??? We make more than double the median income and can't find a decent home at or under $400k - in RIVERSIDE????

Sure, I could buy one of the ghetto rat homes with trash all over the yard, bed bugs, fleas, and crack addicts on either side... but heck at that point, renting in OC sounds a whole lot more appealing.

I have been home shopping now for 7 months. I am approved by 4 banks.
An my husband is a Vet.

Finding and buying a home in a market as down turned as Riverside should not be this stinking hard!

golfer_X said...

I'm not encouraging anyone to bid over asking. This is a tactic brokers are using now. They list homes well under market, well under the other listed homes in the area and that sets up bidding wars. That house was listed at least $70k under any other house in that tract with the exception of 2 short sale listings. Unless it sells for well over listing it is still going to bring the comps down. I think it will go for $420k to $430k based on what's currently for sale in the area and what's sold in the last few months (not much). I'll be surprised if it sells higher but it could. There are still plenty of knife catchers out there. If those homes go back to what they would have sold for in 2000/2001 (they were not built then) they would be in the high $300s to low $400s for the smaller ones and probably around $500k for the big monsters. So if that home sells in the low $400s it's probably close to where I feel the bottom will be.

Right now listing price means nothing. Market price is the only important thing. Market price is hard to put a finger on because it's a moving target. If they guess to high the listing sits. If they guess too low they get gobs of offers. I mean, take a look at what hits the market every day. 75% of the stuff still lists at laughable prices. Regular people and even brokers have no idea what to price stuff at. I like the practice of listing low and letting the market decide. The problem is that too few brokers and banks are doing it. If they all did it market values would quickly be established.

If you constantly bid on the lowest priced homes, and you bid listing price, you are constantly going to get out bid. Right now there are a lot of people jumping off the fence. Many of them think prices are going to shoot back up again. That's not gonna happen. Let the knife catchers get worked out of the system. Make low ball offers if you want. You might snag one, who knows. Once winter hits and the summer rush dissipates the banks should be more willing to deal. There's also the small matter of the thousands and thousands of foreclosures that are still happening every month.

I'm really hoping to get into a place this winter. But I'm not going to buy more than I'm comfortable with. And I'm not going to settle for a home in a so-so area. If prices in my target areas are still too high and there are still signs of declining prices I will wait. We make well over 3 times the median income and I would sweat like a pig buying a house higher than $450k (really wanting to pay around $400k). I like to take vacations, I like maxing out my 401k, I like to eat out and I'm not going to sacrifice those by buying too soon or buying too much. Homes in my target areas are getting tantalizingly close to my target price but they are not there yet. We stopped looking last fall but come Oct I suspect we will get serious and start shopping again if the prices are close to my target range.

sodonewithit said...

Golfer X,

Hey thanks for your thoughtful reply. Please accept my apology for implying any collusion on your part. I was just venting out of frustration.

Your approach is very sound.

You make an excellent point on the opposite side of the equation for the bidding wars. It is just so frustrating.

Knife catchers...ah now I get it!

October isn't far. I hope you find something wonderful. Based on RealtyTrac data today, there are several headed to auction in that area and a few that were just taken back that are not listed yet.

Best wishes! And thanks for the wonderful blog!