Archive for January, 2008
January 31, 2008
Super Bowl kick-off isn’t until 3:30 p.m., so you’ve got lots of time to check out some open houses this weekend. Many folks have decided to forgo the traditional Sunday open house and opt for a Saturday one instead. Here are my top picks for this weekend.
11021 Alderman Ave #2, Tustin 92782; 2 bed/2 bath condo; 1,053 sq ft; $449,900 (down from $479,900); Open Saturday 12pm-4pm
2960 Champion Way, Tustin Ranch 92782 (Craigslist only, not yet in MLS); 2 bed/2 bath condo; $450,000; Open Friday 4pm-6pm and Saturday 10am-2pm
1312 North Sacramento St, Orange 92867; 3 bed/2 bath house; 1,550 sq ft; $524,000 ($570,000 on Craigslist); Open Saturday 1pm-4pm
13413 Verona, Tustin Ranch 92782; 3 bed/3 bath condo; 1,508 sq ft; $534,900; Open Saturday and Sunday 12pm-4pm
13342 Montecito, Tustin Ranch 92782; 3 bed/2.5 bath house; 2,340 sq ft; $775,000; Open Saturday and Sunday 12pm-4pm
6723 East Bonita Ct, Orange 92867; 4 bed/3 bath house; 2,588 sq ft; $785,000 (down from $810,000); Open Saturday 12pm-4pm
11412 Arroyo Ave, North Tustin 92705; 3 bed/3 bath house; 2,400 sq ft; $875,000 (down from $1,200,000); Open Saturday 1pm-4pm
2242 Sonbria, Tustin Ranch 92782; 5 bed/4 bath house; 3,185 sq ft; $939,900; Open Saturday and Sunday 12pm-4pm
13292 Saratoga Dr, Tustin Ranch 92782; 4 bed/3 bath house; 2,850 sq ft; $945,000; Open Saturday and Sunday 12pm-4pm
And, if you’re hosting a Super Bowl party, here are some recipes that caught my eye that might catch your’s too…
Baked Onion Dip
Spicy Citrus Chicken Wings
Texas-Style Chili (or WeightWatchers One-Point Hearty Chili)
The One and Only Beer-Can Chicken
January 31, 2008
While this postal box is approved by the Postmaster General, this post probably won’t be.
News has been hitting the street in droves - the US Postal Service intends to build a 350,000 sq ft distribution center in Aliso Viejo (basically a mass warehouse where semis truck in load after load of mail to be sorted and then ship it back out in aforementioned semis). This has been public information for a while, but the battle is continuing to heat up with no signs of dying.
If you’ve been outside a Target, at any meeting of any sort, all you have to do is mention the word and residents get steamed up like a piping hot bowl of clam chowder! The City of Aliso Viejo strongly opposes this move (read the documents here). Announcements have been made at many of the civic, religious and educational meetings I’ve been to recently and petitions fly around like the little paper confetti in Tempe will this Sunday.
The biggest concerns surrounding this distribution center seem to focus on the traffic, environmental issues, and yes, even your real estate would be affected.
Issue 1 Traffic: The City of Mission Viejo sent this letter to the Postal Service indicating their frustration with not being notified of the project since it will affect the Oso exit of I-5 (which is a pain much of the time without tons of semis exiting there). It seems that the proposal failed to do any traffic studies about where all the semis or any planned “trip generation factors” to assess how the local area would be affected by this distribution plant.
The City of Laguna Hills is also addressing this issue out of concern with traffic at the Alicia exit. Their suggestion, as reported in the OC Register, was to force the semis to use the 73 Tollroad. My guess (and what I’ve heard on the streets locally) is that while that would help, it won’t entirely stop the problem once the trucks exit 73 they have to go on the side streets we all drive on.
These semi’s would be driving through many local neighborhoods as well. Nothing says fun for the kiddos like having Mom yell out the window to “Watch out for the semis!” as you’re riding your bike down the street.
Remember, we’re talking 100 semis a day running 24/7, so if you want to take a drive down Oso (and in other local areas) and the distribution center gets put into place you better get used to looking at this outside your car window:
Issue 2 Environment: Coming straight from the appeals and petitions put out there, the environmental concerns include: 751 tons of solid waste per year, 6 million watts of electricity the facility would generate and use, ….as well as the impactsof noise, urban runoff, air quality [there will be 100 semis making daily trips to the center], and other significant impacts to the community.
Issue 3 Real Estate: As if our home values weren’t taking enough of a beating, I can only venture to guess that this wouldn’t help. When a family is house hunting, the thunderous sound of 100 semis barreling down the street on a given day takesw away from the pristine setting of Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo and Aliso Viejo as “family friendly” communities where OCers can enjoy our beautiful weather. That is, after they sit through all the traffic from the semi’s backed up on the 5. In fact there’s enough concern, the local Realtors were notified of this concern as well. An appeal was made to the Orange County Association of Realtors to oppose the construction of such a facility.
As you can see, this issue has been dragging out since last fall, but it’s not going away any time soon and it’s of concern for all local residents! It affects your life, health and potentially home values! We all want our mail delivered, but at what cost?
January 30, 2008
I was listening to the news today and heard that California is number one in foreclosures. We’re talking 250,000 of them in 2007!
No shock as we continue to hear that The Fed is cutting rates, which it did again this morning according to bankrate.com and we hear day in and day out that people are struggling to make their mortgage payments. According to a report on DQNews.com the number of foreclosures is going to continue to rise as we move through 2008, sorry folks.
The report also says: The median price paid for a California home peaked at $484,000 last March and declined to $402,000 by the end of 2007, although much of that decline was caused by significant shifts in the types of homes that were sold.
So, with all of these housing problems, is it still possible to get the best-bang-for-your-buck or is that something that has fallen into the has-been file along with “Furby,” “Pet Rocks” and “Disco?”
Here’s a look at what Dana Point has to offer that might still be considered your best-bang-for-your-buck:
25701 Fisherman Dr. #211 This 3 br/3 baths, 1,883 sq. foot, two-level condo built in 1986 is back on the market and has bright floorplan. It is selling for $530,000. Price per square foot? $281.00
24732 Meridian Dr. This 3 br/3 bath, 2,065 sq. foot, two-level condo, built in 1978 and located in Sea Ridge community. It is selling for $720,000. Price per square foot? $349.00.
32782 Shipside Dr. This 5 br/2.5 bath, 2,578 sq. foot, single-family residence built in 1976 has two levels, large entertainer’s backyard and is selling for $899,000. Price per square foot? $349.00.
January 30, 2008
In a time when it’s incredibly hard to be a seller in Orange County, I thought it would be good to hear from sellers that have had recent success.
Meet the previous owners of 7157 E. Magdalena Drive in Orange. Due to a relocation out of state from a job transfer, this family was forced to put their house up for sale. It was a gorgeous newer home in east Orange: five bedrooms, three baths, and 3,662 square feet.
Their house was listed for 93 days before they accepted an offer. They put the house on the market in August and escrow finally closed in mid-December, selling for $865,000.
After no activity for months, the family had reduced their price from over $1M to $899,000. While they bought in 2001 for only $582,500 and had room to go down even further, their goal was to leave with enough for a down payment for their new home. Eventually, they received three offers. And, as they were told repeatedly throughout the whole selling process (and were getting a little sick of hearing it), “It only takes one!” finally applied.
When asked if they had any concerns about how the market was fairing when they decided to put the house up for sale, they responded, “Yes, the market had been falling for the past year so we were concerned that it would continue downward and we would not get as much for the house. We were also concerned about people not wanting to buy now and wait for prices to drop further. The amount of foreclosures on the market was also a concern since that drove our price down.” The sellers were dealing with a foreclosure just a block away, which can be crippling to nearby prices as many consider foreclosures fair comps.
Selling a house is stressful. If you’re a seller, I don’t need to tell you that. How do you think these sellers responded when asked to rate their house-selling stress on a scale of 1 to 10 (with a 1 being no added stress and a 10 being the most stressful experience you’ve ever faced in your life)? They responded with a “9″. Yeah, that stressful.
Does having experience selling a home help? These sellers had sold a residential property before (in San Diego in 2000). They remarked, “That experience was less stressful since the market was better and we did not have any children.” If that isn’t an understatement, I don’t know what is.
Lastly, when asked what would you say to someone who is currently trying to sell their home, these successful sellers said, “You will get frustrated, but as long as you are a conscientious seller by keeping your home clean and neat, there will be a buyer for it.” Inspirational words from a true success story.
Recent Sweet Digs Posts:
Singing for Condos on Singingwood
How To Measure A Bubble
At least you didn’t move to Santa Ana?
January 29, 2008
One small street in Orange that runs parallel to East Chapman Avenue was developed in the early-to-mid 1980s. Condos and townhomes abound, this street offers a variety of options for quality family residential living (and on a budget). Singingwood will surely make you sing! (sorry, couldn’t resist!) Anyhow, here are some sold properties stats, and, if you want your own slice of heaven on Singingwood, check out the properties currently listed.
Sold
245 North Singingwood Street Unit 6
3 bed/2.5 bath; 1,258 sq ft
Sold price: $391,000; Sold date: 12/4/07
Last sale: $499,000 on 5/31/06.
285 North Singingwood Street Unit 1
3 bed/2.5 bath; 1,258 sq ft
Sold price: $391,000; Sold date: 10/31/07
Last sale: $463,000 on 10/26/05.
152 North Singingwood Street Unit 13
2 bed/2.5 bath; 1,555 sq ft
Sold price: $450,000; Sold date: 10/31/07
Last sale: $510,000 on 7/6/05.
Currently Listed
155 North Singingwood St #4; 2 bed/2 bath; 1,260 sq ft; $367,000
209 North Singingwood St #12; 2 bed/2.5 bath; 1,100 sq ft; $415,000
177 North Singingwood St #21; 3 bed/2.5 bath; 1,256 sq ft; $424,900
222 North Singingwood St #15; 2 bed/2.5 bath; 1,683 sq ft; $515,000
166 North Singingwood St #7, 2 bed/2.5 bath; 1,690 sq ft; $524,000
January 29, 2008
Just how do you measure a bubble?
LA Times blogger Peter Viles is reporting on the S&P/Case-Shiller housing price index results. The news is not surprising, home prices are falling. If you haven’t figured that out you’ve been sitting under a rock. But just how do you measure a bubble?
My 3 year old uses terms to measure his bubbles - “Big one!” “Bigger!” “Big as my head!” “Big as the HOUSE big!”. But how do you quantify the price values. Well, the S&P/Case-Shiller helps give us a number to understand this. They report that since 2000 the house values in LA have gone up 240.43% (Miami, Washington & DC all follow suit with an increase of 200%+). So it’s no surprise that our area is taking the biggest hit as the market is “correcting itself” a bit.
We’ll look at a few homes and how they’ve been affected by the bubble deflating…
22836 Driftstone, Mission Viejo
5 bed/3.5 bath,
3,400 Sq Ft Single Family Residence
Previously Purchased: 12.28.99 for $478,500
Listed on 10.23.07 for $1,049,000
Reduced 12.9.07 to $1,019,000
Reduced 1.28.08 to $999,000
Moral of this story - Still going to make a healthy profit even if continues to reduce
25031 Mackenzie ST, Laguna Hills
5 bed / 2 bath
2,606 Sq Ft Single Family Residence
Previously Purchased: 2.13.01 for $320,000
Listed on: 9.9.07 for $805,000
Reduced 9.12.07 to $775,000
Reduced 10.11.07 to $755,000
Reduced 12.1.07 to $730.000
Reduced 1.10.08 to $729,000
Reduced 10.26.08 to $728,000
Moral of this story: The same thing - still coming out way ahead! Kudos to the seller…
While the prices are dropping, if you bought at least 5 years ago, most people seem to be in good shape selling. For those who bought in the last few years, the story isn’t as sweet.
January 28, 2008
Redfin blogger Susan Brady up in San Francisco posted “At Least You Didn’t Move to Stockton” today. She remarked on the 60 Minutes‘ “House of Cards” segment which highlighted Stockon as the foreclosure capital of America. She went on to talk about San Joaquin County’s record highs in foreclosures and the despair/bargains to be seen in Stockton.
In reading her post, I could think of only one place in Orange County: Santa Ana. According to Jon Lansner’s post today, Santa Ana has the highest share of distressed homes on the market, at 49%. Of the 1,523 homes listed, a whopping 748 are considered distressed properties (foreclosures or short sales). Anaheim and Lake Forest are not far behind Santa Ana at 48% and 45%, respectively. However, Santa Ana is clearly Orange County’s leader in foreclosures and short sales.
Other commentary on the 60 Minutes‘ “House of Cards” can be found on the The Rancid Truth: An Orange County Real Estate Housing Blog and the Inman Blog. Sounds like 60 Minutes is a little behind the times.
Want to see tangible evidence behind all the numbers? Check out these Santa Ana distressed properties:
901 South Cypress Ave, Santa Ana 92701
3 bed/1 bath; 1,014 sq ft house
Listed at: $480,000
Last sale: $610,000 on 1/16/07
821 South Garnsey St, Santa Ana 92701
3 bed/1 bath; 1,130 sq ft house
Listed at: $319,900
Last sale: $466,070 on 11/29/06
1032 North Van Ness Ave, Santa Ana 92701
2 bed/1 bath; 825 sq ft house
Listed at: $205,000
Last sale: $505,000 on 10/10/06
521 South Lyon St #115; Santa Ana 92701
2 bed/1.5 bath; 980 sq ft condo
Listed at: $195,000
Last sale: $282,000 on 4/20/05
January 28, 2008
Three respected and influential OC residents gave their two cents on the housing market last week at a luncheon at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach. According to the OC Register’s article “Nobel prize-winner comes to town,” George Argyros, “real-estate mogul and former ambassador”, and James Dotti, Chapman University President and economist, were at the luncheon to honor the addition of Nobel laureate Vernon L. Smith (”father of ‘experimental economics’”) to Chapman’s faculty. The three were willing to share their thoughts on the market. Some excerpts from the article of interest…
“Asked how long he thought it would take for the housing market to get back on its feet, Smith said he expects it will take longer than the previous housing slump, because this bubble was bigger when it burst, and there is a larger backlog of unsold homes…
Argyros, a real-estate-investor, and Doti each said they expect it to take 10 years for the market to rebound to last year’s prices.
Asked about the volatility in the recent stock market, Smith said he was surprised by the New Year crash because he believed stock prices ‘were actually very reasonable’ except for housing and mortgage companies. ‘And it isn’t as if nobody knew about that.’
‘What kind of blindsided us is the extent to which that (housing crash) has bubbled over into other areas of the economy,’ he said.”
In Jeff Collins’ post on Lansner’s blog, Collins compares these comments to other “experts” and adds a historical view from the 90’s:
“The slump of the 1990s lasted seven years. Argyros’ and Doti’s view that recovery is 10 years off is longer than other economists have said. Economists speaking at the California Association of Realtors convention in Anaheim last fall, for example, put the recovery at 2 1/2 to three years off. Others expect a long, slow recovery to begin sometime in 2009.”
What do you think? Is recovery 10 years off? Or will be feeling some relief sooner?
Recent Sweet Digs Posts:
Jumbo, Dumbo and Mumbo Jumbo!
Raining Price Reductions in Costa Mesa
Discounted Homes In Aliso Viejo
What’s Selling in the IBC? Not Much
Beach Pit BBQ Makes Debut in Old Town Tustin
Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel
Irvine’s Watermarke in the IBC
January 27, 2008
Photo from Disney.com
It seems the catch phrase of last week was “stimulus plan.” No matter where you turned the word was catching up with you - it was on the TV news, radio, heck, even the Presidential candidates rang in their thoughts during the respective debates. Both parties have finally agreed that we’re nearing the brink of the “R” word (recession….) and are trying to do something about it.
”What does this have to do with real estate?”, you ask. Bear with me.
Bloomberg gives a great overview of the plan that is expected to be implemented (assuming it passes the Senate). The idea - give rebate checks to families in order to pump some money back into the economy, give $50 billion in tax breaks to businesses to help buffer hiring freezes and job cuts, and also try to help protect homeowners who got in over their heads with subprime mortgages during the housing boom from having to foreclose.
How do they plan on doing this? On Friday, it was reported that government sponsored mortgage buyers will be able to purchase jumbo loans with temporarily raised limits. The limits, which used to sit at $417,000, will be raised up to about $625,000. The goal is to stablize the higher end housing markets.
Will this work? It depends on how you look at it. In my humble opinion, kind of.
As far as those who got over their heads with their mortgages (60 Minutes ran a great segment on these buyers tonight which can be viewed here), this might afford them the opportunity to refinance so they won’t have to walk. Which, believe it or not, is what many of them are doing - just walking away from the home and leaving it as you would a hotel room.
On the other hand, the aforementioned LA Times article was stating that the National Association of Realtors was lobbying this bill hard because they speculate, “increasing the conforming loan limit to $625,000 would strengthen current home prices by 2% to 3% and generate $42 billion in increased economic activity.”
What?!?! Just because people are able to refinance their home and not have to pay huge mortgages won’t do much for the 10+ months worth of inventory sitting on the market, oodles of new construction that’s ground to a halt because there are no potential buyers, or the fact that some areas in the Southwest have seen home prices drop between 20-30%. Somehow raising the current home value (already down 20-30%) up 2% seems like small beans in the chili pot to me.
The fact of the matter is, that the market’s already tumbling downward and there’s no indication that it’s slowing down yet. ForeclosureRadar.com released a December 2007 Foreclosure Report. It seems that house prices keep falling as more and more California homes are slipping into default. In December alone, there was a 45.9% increase in default notices (this does not mean the homes are in foreclosure, but that the homeowners received their first failure to pay notice). In the OC the rate was smaller with an 18% increase from November 2007. The most startling number was the fact that the number of default notices in the OC from December 2006 to December 2007 increased 469%!! No wonder neighborhood values are continuing to drop!
This stimulus plan seems to have lofty dreams. I’m not sure it will really do all that it’s cracked up to do. Sure, maybe a few more people will fill up their gas tanks more freely, take a quick vacation or hit the mall for retail therapy to put their check back into the economy (not me…it’s going into the kids’ college funds….that is, if we even see the checks).
But as far as So Cal residents go, this won’t be the one stop solution to correct a very troubled market.
January 27, 2008
Let it rain, let it pour.
Let it rain a whole lot more.
—Deep River Blues
Nothing new here. A lot of rain. A lot of price reductions.
They are kicking and screaming all the way, but slowly, bit by bit, homeowners hoping to sell their homes are recognizing that if they want to sell, sell, sell, they must reduce, reduce, reduce.
Here are some recent price reductions for some homes in Costa Mesa. Will it be enough? Maybe, but I think housing prices still have a way to go before they hit bottom.
Asking price: $729,900 ($377 per square foot)
383 Bay View Terrace, Costa Mesa 92627
What: 1979 condo, 3 beds/2.5 baths, 1936 sf
Neighborhood: East Costa Mesa
Extra: view of bay, two stories
The list price was $745,900 and changed to $729,900.
Asking price: $998,000 ($624 per square foot)
402 East 19th Street, Costa Mesa 92627
What: 1950 detached, 3 beds/2 baths, 1600 sf, 9000 sf lot
Neighborhood: East Costa Mesa
Extras: upgrades
The list price was $1,029,000 and changed to $998,000.
Asking price: $799,000 ($266 per square foot)
1638 Beechwood, Costa Mesa 92626
What: 2001 detached, 5 beds/3 baths, 3000 sf, 5500 sf lot
Neighborhood: Mesa Verde
Extra: last sold on 03/22/2004 for $830,000
The list price was $899,000 and changed to $799,000.
Asking price: $727,000 ($403 per square foot)
1605 Corsica Place, Costa Mesa 92626
What: 1958 detached, 3 bed/3 bath, 1804 sf, 640 sf lot
Neighborhood: Mesa Verde
Extra: remodeled
The list price was $774,000 and changed to $727,000.
Asking price: $475,000 ($365 per square foot)
357 West Wilson Street #J, Costa Mesa 92627
What: 1993 condo, 3 beds/2 baths, 1300 sf
Neighborhood: Central Costa Mesa
Extra: three+ levels, overlooking a greenbelt, last sold on 08/23/2005 for $530,000
The list price was $499,000 and changed to $475,000.
Asking price: $935,000 ($312 per square foot)
1573 Amberleaf, Costa Mesa 92626
What: 2001 detached, 4 beds/3 baths, 3000 sf, 5500 sf lot
Neighborhood: Mesa Verde
Extras: two levels, one owner since built
The list price was $995,000 and changed to $935,000.
