When dove's cry

14324 Dove Canyon is a 2802 sq/ft 3 bed, 2.5 bath home with a pool, sitting on nearly an acre. The home is located in the Mockingbird Canyon area of Riverside. The home last sold in Nov 2005 for a whopping $670k. Today it's owned by some unfortunate bank. It's currently listed for $285k. That is a fall of 58%! A loss of $385K.

$285k sounds like a decent price for this home and it would be if there were some decent roads into it. I'm not sure how many people reading this have been in that tract. It's an absolute maze. You need GPS, a guide dog and a sherpa to find your way in and out of there. Still for a newer home (built in 2002) with a pool, on nearly an acre it looks like a decent price.

(please forgive the Price reference, it just popped into my head when I say the address)

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.

58% off?

14407 Four Winds DR Riverside, CA 92503, MLS#I08004338
I ran across this while perusing Redfin this evening. This home is really funky looking from the pic. It looks like it might be built into a hillside with the garage on the bottom and the living area above. It's 3013 sq/ft and has 3 bedrooms and two baths. It says it was built in 2005. It sold in Feb 06 for $625k. Another sale is recorded in July 07 for $624,517. I'm guessing that would be the bank getting it back. It's now listed for $264,900! I almost think this is a typo 624...264? I also found it listed on Movoto for the same price. If this is the real price that would be a fall of 58% ($361k) from the 06 sales price. And that would put this home close to where it should be. $264k is probably still a little high considering the area. If anyone has driven through this area they will know what a mess it is. It's a bunch of tiny twisting roads that are a nightmare to navigate. Now, while I think this home is price close to where it should be, I'm more inclined to think this is a typo.

I'm glad I waited.....Woodcrest/Mockingbird Canyon

I've been looking at homes in the Woodcrest/Mockingbird Canyon area of Riverside. It's close to where the wife works and would cut a few miles off my commute too. I've been looking at the large horse properties with lots of 1 acre and larger. I looked in this area in 2003/4 and these homes were selling in the high $400s back then. Now of course they are closer to a million than they are to the 400s. Lately though cracks have been showing and the builders are sitting on homes, some of them over 6 months old. Naturally the prices are starting to creep down. There are also a few REOs showing up. Let's take a look at a few.

17892 GLEN HOLLOW WAY is the model I really like. If these were under $500k I would be very tempted to buy one. The home is a 4 bed/4 bath 3385 sq/ft single story with a 3 or 4 car garage. It has a cool courtyard in the center of the home. These sell new from the builder for $850k+. This particular home was purchased 9/05 for $773k. Other than pouring a little concrete and planting a palm tree in the yard I don't see that much done. Our intrepid homeowner thinks his palm tree is worth $327k! His asking price is $1,099,00.

What's his competition?



Well the builder has a larger model for sale for $749K at 17601 Deer Ct, Riverside 92504, this 5 bed/4 bath and is 3701 sq ft. Very similar layout just bigger. This is 32% less than home #1 and it's bigger


17622 LAUREL GROVE RD is another 3701 sq/ft model, this one is a REO and is listed for $714k undercutting the builder by $35k. This is 35% less than home #1 and it's bigger. This one was on the market for nearly a year at $899k before the bank took it back

Nice pic!

If these are too spendy or maybe a bit bigger than you need we have another REO at 17008 BIRCH HILL RD, this home is only a 3 bed/4bath and is 2966 sq/ft. the bank is trying to unload this one for $574k. This is 48% less than home #1 although slightly smaller.
On a side note 17916 CANYONWOOD DR is the same model as this one and they are asking $999,999. Gotta be a WTF are they thinking candidate!

Homeowner #1 would seem to be in bad shape but he only paid $773k (unless he Helod'c the hell out of the place). If we take a number between the bigger house at $714 and the smaller house at $574 that makes his place worth about $650 (since nothing is selling it's hard to say). So he is still looking at a loss of $120k plus fees ($39k). If you factor in holding costs of 3k/mo ($72K and that's generous) plus 2 years propery tax ($20K) he is looking at a total loss of $251k. In other words it cost him $10,458 a month to live in that house for 2 years.