OMG check out the pics

Here's a "classic" realtard listing. 17551 Dry Run Ct in Woodcrest. This home was purchased for $350k as a shorty in March 2010. I guess the buyer didn't like the country living or maybe it was picked up as a flip (doubtful). But in any case it hit the market last weekend listed for $499k! This guys thinks he can make $150k in a year in this market. I can't tell if this guy put the pool in or if it was in before. The previous listing did not mention a pool. I kinda think he added the pool and is trying to recoup the cost of that AND his other costs.

So what makes this listing "classic"? Well, 10 of the 12 pictures are UPSIDE DOWN! (just like 40% of the homeowners in the IE). Oh and the all caps and spelling errors. In addition the statement that the lot will make a great vineyard or DRIVING RANGE? Really a driving range, have you ever played golf? Most of this lot is pretty unusable. It's basically a gulley with the only flat spot being where the home is.

What are this guys chances? Basically zero at this price. A much nicer, larger home just sold down the street (with a way nicer pool) for $420k. Most of the nicer homes in Bridle Creek are selling for about $125 s/ft. So this guys price should be close to what he paid at $365k. The listing does not quite qualify for the ass clown award but it's pretty damn delusional none the less.

The big drop and some MLS hanky panky

Here's a perfect bubble poster child and possibly some MLS hanky panky. It's nothing criminal but it looks like this guy as no intention of selling this house.

17939 Timberview up in Bridle Creek was purchased right at the peak and actually closed just as the crash was starting. The home was built in 2006 but didn't close until Jan 2007. This poor fella dropped a cool $1,000,000 on this house. That's right a million dollars. Alright technically he probably dropped nothing other than his signature on some loan docs. Some idiot lender dropped $1M on this thing. He must have upgraded everything as this floorplan was "only" selling for around $800k. There's no landscaping to speak of but he poured enough concrete to build a runway.

Fast forward 3 years and he lists it in May as a short sale for $392k. So a 60% drop in value in 3 years. The price might seem like a good deal for a home in this tract, but for this floor plan with no landscaping that's actually pretty close. If it's highly upgraded inside he probably has it listed a little on the low side. The comps for that floor plan range from $375k to $450k. I actually put an offer in on the $45ok house. That one was spectacular though. All upgraded inside and out with a pool and Viking appliances.

But here's were this listing is questionable. It lists for a day and then goes on hold for a month. I'm not sure what's going on here but it seems like someone is playing games with a bank.

Jan 02, 2011	Relisted (Active)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Dec 20, 2010	Delisted (Hold)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Dec 20, 2010	Relisted (Active)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Dec 07, 2010	Delisted (Hold)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Dec 06, 2010	Relisted (Active)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Nov 11, 2010	Delisted (Hold)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Nov 10, 2010	Relisted (Active)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Oct 05, 2010	Delisted (Hold)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Oct 05, 2010	Relisted (Active)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Sep 25, 2010	Delisted (Hold)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Sep 25, 2010	Relisted (Active)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Sep 01, 2010	Delisted (Hold)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Sep 01, 2010	Relisted (Active)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Aug 17, 2010	Delisted (Hold)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Aug 15, 2010	Relisted (Active)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Jul 26, 2010	Delisted (Hold)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Jul 21, 2010	Relisted (Active)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Jun 09, 2010	Delisted (Hold)		--	--	CARETS #P738448
Jun 08, 2010	Listed (Active)		$392,000	--	CARETS #P738448

And one more to start off the new year.

Here's a tale of two foreclosures. Unfortunately it's on the same house. As the crow flies this house is probably about a mile from the Bridle Creek house. That mile and a different zip code makes this house worth about $100k less though. 19159 Eldorado is over in "the boulders" off Cajalco and Wood streets. This is technically Perris although it's actually no where near Perris. It's Perris in zip code only. Like most of the homes in this area this tract has large homes on large lots. Horsey properties or folks with lotsa toys buy these. This house was built in 2005 and sold for $523k. In July of 2008 the bank too the home back and it was sold a few months later for $310k. These people probably didn't put much money into this deal as it was foreclosed on again in May 2010. They could not have made very many payments to end up foreclosed on only 20 months after purchasing. The amount the lender was seeking at the trustee sale was actually $25k more than the purchase price. I guess they were actually trying to recoup those late fees and back payments. Now it's for sale again. You can pick this baby up for the bargain price of $280k. That's not too shabby for a newer 3000 s/f, 5 bedroom home on a 1/2 acre lot.

Happy New Year
X

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.

Asking price reduced $700K in 8 months

Back in October of last year I wrote about 17892 Glen Hollow Way in Woodcrest. This is in one of the areas I like and my wife likes this particular model of home. Back in October this home was listed for $1.1 Million. Of course, there was no chance of it selling for that amount. The poor, over his head owner had missed the money barge and was drowning in debt. At the time I wrote that post the cheapest REO's were selling in the mid- $700's. Fast forward 8 months and this home is now listed as a short sale for ...........................drum roll.................. $400K! You can almost smell the desperation. From asking $1.1 million to $400k in 8 months. You gotta love it.

The listing vanished for a few months, I guess the guy pulled his head out and realized he was not getting his $1.1 million wishing price. It hit the market again about 3 months ago priced at a some what more realistic, but still too high $700k. He has chopped the price twice now to his current $400k.

By the way, I think $400k is a decent deal for this house. If it was not a short sale I would probably get off my ass and fire off an offer. I'de take that house in a heartbeat at $400k. But I can't be bothered with short sales and especially short sales that are not approved. This guy is dreaming, hoping the short sale fairy will swoop in and rescue his tattered credit rating. If anyone is keeping score, there are now currently 4 homes in this tract listed under $500k.

Lyon takes a big bite out of prices in Bridle Creek

Me and the wife took a drive over to Bridle Creek today to see a REO property. It was a bust, the house was in bad shape and they wanted way too much for it. On the way out I stopped in at the sales office and picked up the latest sales sheet. Everyone in that tract that is trying to sell a home is now hosed. Lyon has dropped the prices $230k+ for the new phase. Homes that were starting at $725k now start at $499k. That's gotta sting for those desperate sellers and it even undercuts all of the bank owned homes. The REO property we looked at was priced at $700k and now they are $648k new from the builder. Hmmm let's see, $648k for a new one where I pick my own options or $700k for a half thrashed one painted green in most of the rooms and pale pink in one of the small bedrooms. The 2 year old's artwork on the walls is no additional charge!

I have two price sheets from Bridle Creek. The old one is from July of 2007 and I picked up the current one today. So these prices are 7 months apart.

Plan 1 Appaloosa, 2899 sq/ft.... was $744k.... Now $499k

Plan 2 Chestnut, 3266 sq/ft.... was (none avail) Now $525K

Plan 3 Lippizan, 3512 sq/ft,...was (none avail) Now $547k

Plan 4 Palomiono 3385 sq/ft, was $863k....Now $585k

Plan 5 Pinto, 3701 sq/ft, was $891k....Now (none avail)

Plan 6 Shetland, 4023 sq/ft, was $899k, Now $579k

Plan 7 Dapple, 3512 sq/ft, was $783, Now (none avail)

Plan 8 Andalusian 4364 sq/ft, was $952k, Now $648k

Plan 9 Breton 4830 sq/ft, was $950k, Now $599k

As you can see some of these homes are down over $300k from last July. It looks like they dropped the price by approx 30% from July. I don't have any price sheets from later in the year to compare. I did pick one up in Nov and the prices were still quite high but I think they were lower than the July price sheet I have. I guess it does not matter though. What matters is the huge price drop. This will put pressure on the other builders in the area to compete. It will make the agents and banks cringe when they see it. Every resale home in the tract is now overpriced by a bunch.

This little afternoon trip made my weekend!

Auction action

17622 Laurel Grove RD

Riverside, CA 92504

I found a sale of one of the properties I had been watching on Realtybid.com. This home is up in the Bridle Creek development in Riverside. It was a bank owned home that they took back last Sept. They have been trying to unload it ever since. They started out at $899 and dropped the price again and again. It is currently listed for $609k. The bank is into it for $720k.

It was auctioned off on Realtybid.com last week. The winning bid appears to be $539k. To me that still seems a bit much for this particular property. It has ZERO landscaping and there are several other similar properties in the development for sale around $600k. I would think that he could have worked a better deal by getting the other properties to fight for the sale. No matter, $539k if it closes will be a step in the right direction. That home sold new in June 05 for $779k. So that is a $240k haircut or a 31% drop from the 05 price. Compared to the prices of the other homes this looks like a good buy. Looking at foreclosure.com shows me that there are a lot more of these homes going to be REOs later this year. I think that home has another $100K to go down. I'm thinking these will bottom out in the mid $400s.

Retarted bank of the week

It was looking like the banks were getting the hang of this REO problem. But then today I ran across this listing.

17864 Glen Hollow WAY, Riverside, CA 92504, this is the smallest home in the Bridle Creek development up in the Woodcrest area of Riverside. This home is a 3 bedroom, bath home, it's 2898 sq/ft and sits on an acre lot. The home looks alright but the lot is still basically dirt. This home sold new in 2005 for $699k. The bank got it back and they listed it yesterday for $614k.

Now the reason I'm a little confused by this listing is that there is another REO of the same model in this tract. That home, 17008 Birch Hill RD has been for sale since July. It started out at $699 if I remember right and they've been lowering it ever since. It's down to $529k after sitting at $545k for over a month. This home has some landscaping done, including a patio slab and BBQ. It also sits on a larger lot at 1.21 acres. So if they cannot sell this home at $529k how did the other bank figure they had a chance at $85k more.

A couple of months ago in this tract there was only one home under $700k. That home was our REO here on Birch Hill Rd. Today there are 12 homes under $700k, and of those 9 are under $650 with our REO as the prices leader at $529k. I betting on these hitting $400k in a year or two. So far these price leaders are only down about 20% to 30% below the price paid from the builder.