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How Sub-Prime Lending Created the Housing Bubble
2007-03-06 01:05:18
A real estate market decline, like any market decline, is part technical, part fundamental, and part psychological. In my previous post “How Inflated are House Prices?” I discussed the fundamental value of real estate and described how and why prices fall to their fundamental values once a bubble has burst. In this post, I intend to describe the technical and psychological factors at work during a speculative mania, and demonstrate how sub-prime lending created this bubble. A Thought Experiment I would like to start with a thought experiment. Imagine a room with 100 people representing the pool of sub-prime borrowers. These are new entrants to the market. They were previously unable to buy due to bad credit, lack of savings, etc. All of them are told they are going to bid on an asset that never goes down in value, and they will be given the ability to borrow unlimited funds (stated income loans, aka “liar loans”) The only caveat is the borrowed money must be paid back w
Read more: Bubble , Housing , Housing Bubble , Lending

How Inflated are House Prices?
2007-03-04 06:51:49
One of the main contentions of the bearish argument is that house prices are overvalued. To determine whether or not that premise is true, there must be some way to appraise the fundamental value of a house. Once determined, this fundamental value serves as a point of comparison to the prices at which houses are currently being bought and sold. If current prices are shown to be above fundamental value, it establishes that house prices are inflated, and it also provides a measure of the degree of that inflation. The corollary argument made by housing bears is that inflated housing prices have not historically remained inflated and have for good reason fallen back to fundamental valuations at each market decline. If this corollary argument can also be demonstrated to be true, it provides a way of projecting the market decline we can expect to see in the future. The fundamental value of all housing prices is comparative rents. Rents define the fundamental value of real estate because ren
Read more: House , Inflated , Prices

Financially Conservative Home Financing
2007-03-02 07:37:05
In my first post, I said I was financially conservative. What does that mean with respect to financing a home purchase? It occurred to me that exotic financing terms are not exotic anymore. Interest-only, adjustable rates, and negative amortization have become so ubiquitous that nobody seems to remember why 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are used (or were used, they aren’t common in OC anymore). That is the focus of this post. To be financially conservative is to be risk adverse. A fixed-rate conventionally-amortized mortgage is the least risky kind of mortgage obligation. If you can make the payment – a payment that will not change over time – you get to keep your home. A 30-year term is most common, but if you make bi-weekly payments (makes two extra per year), you can pay the loan off in 22 years. If you can afford a larger payment in the future, you can increase your payment and amortize over 15 years and pay off your mortgage quickly. The best insurance you can have to de
Read more: Financially , Financing

Bainbridge - A 6 month flip in Northwood Pointe
2007-03-01 15:54:50
Address: 7 Green Hollow, Irvine, CA 92620 (Northwood Pointe ) Plan: 3004 sq ft - 5bd/4ba MLS: S470910 DOM: 51 Sale History: 7/28/2006: $1,230,000 6/6/1997: $337,000 Current Price: $1,249,900 Here we’ve got a plan 3 in the Bainbridge tract built by California Pacific Homes in Northwood Pointe. It was purchased at the peak(?) in the summer of 2006 for $1,230,000 and subsequently listed 5 months later at $1,249,900. Ummm… prices have gone DOWN in the last 5 months, not UP. But sure, I understand that no one wants to lose money. From what I can gather, it was purchased with 20% down and in December 2006 they refinanced the 80% and took out a 10% HELOC. There’s definitely some room to bring the price down on this depending upon how motivated the sellers are. Is this is a greedy flip or a corporate relo? Who knows? But I do know that the pictures put up for this home on MLS are of horrible quality which is surprising since the agent is a pretty big producer in Irv


Mendocino North - Flip sighted in Northpark
2007-02-28 14:00:49
Address: 18 Oroville, Irvine, CA 92602 (North park) Plan: 2402 sq ft - 4bd/3ba MLS: S476394 DOM: 8 Sale History: 8/1/2005: $1,039,000 12/2/2002?: $660,000 3/19/2002: $539,500 Current Price: $1,089,000 This Plan 2 in the Mendocino North tract built by Lennar Homes in Northpark was most recently purchased on 8/1/2005. It’s been about a year and a half and now the home is back on the market. From the pictures, the home looks pretty sweet but almost $1.1 mil for a 2400 sq ft house?? It looks like it was purchased with almost 35% down. Can anyone confirm or deny that? If so, these sellers definitely have room to negotiate. If sold at the current asking price and assuming 6% in selling costs, there’ll be a $15,000 loss for the seller. The latest sale I’ve found for this plan just closed escrow on 2/14/2007: 19 Vacaville - Mendocino North Plan 2 - Sold for $1,050,000 $1,050,000 puts us back around the prices in summer 2005. We’ll have to wait and see what 18 O


I am IrvineRenter (Inventory Cholesterol)
2007-02-27 19:28:19
Hello Everyone, I would like to say a special “thank you” to Zovall and IrvineSingleMom for inviting me to join them as a poster on the Irvine Housing Blog. I have not been a reader or contributor to housing blogs very long; in fact, my wife regrets ever showing me these blogs as I spend too much time with them. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a bit more about myself and summarize my outlook for the Irvine real estate market. First, I need to remain anonymous. I will share some facts about myself and some generalities, but for reasons of paranoid self-preservation (I wear a tinfoil hat); I must keep my identity a secret. I have lived in Irvine since 2003, and I lived in San Diego from 2001 to 2003. I sold my house in Florida before moving to San Diego and I chose not to buy in 2001 because I thought the prices were too high. Little did I know a massive speculative bubble was about to take off. I am fairly financially conservative: I am unwilling to financ
Read more: Cholesterol , Inventory

IrvineRenter joins the Irvine Housing Blog!
2007-02-24 15:07:23
Yup, he’s officially joined the team! If you don’t know who Irvine Renter is, check out several of his forum posts. He’s been pretty active on the blogosphere and has made some great contributions. But I’ll let him introduce himself in more detail. For now, let’s all give him a warm welcome!
Read more: Housing

Treo - What’s Flippin’ in Woodbury - UPDATE #1
2007-02-20 17:11:23
Originally posted November 6, 2006 Address: 61 Chantilly, Irvine, CA 92620 (Woodbury ) Plan: 1824 sq ft - 2/2.5 MLS: U6603358 DOM: 25 Sale History: 7/25/2005: $689,055 Prior Listing: 06/20/06 — $832,000 (64 DOM - MLS U6601754) - Reduced to $799,000 Prior Listing: 08/24/06 — $765,000 (48 DOM - MLS U6602644) Current Price: $749,000 Here we’ve got a Plan 1 condo in the Treo tract built by Brookfield Homes in 2005. The Treo tract is located in the village of Woodbury. It looks like this condo was purchased from the builder on July 25, 2005. The flipper couldn’t wait even a year before trying to sell the home (hoping to make an easy $142k)! The funny thing here is that the seller is playing the infamous Re-List game. The current listing is actually the 3rd listing since June. If you add up all the DOMs, you realize that this home has been on the market for 137 days (as opposed to the 25 days you might be led to believe). At the current price (and assuming 6% in selling


Sienna - Yet Another Quail Hill Flop - UPDATE #2
2007-02-20 16:49:34
Originally posted: January 4, 2007 Address: 108 Mosaic, Irvine, CA 92603 (Quail Hill) Plan: 3500 sq ft - 5/4.5 MLS: S466112 DOM: 51 Sale History: 4/24/2006: $1,725,000 2/17/2004: $1,043,500 Current Price: $1,749,000 The Sienna tract built by Standard Pacific is one of the higher end neighborhoods in the village of Quail Hill. As you can see from the Sales History, the original owners made a killing thanks to a little bit of luck. The new owners listed the home about 6 months after they bought it. The notes say the seller is relocating. That’s just gotta suck. They are facing a loss of about $80,000 (assuming 6% in selling costs) if they get their asking price. Is this home worth more (even $24,000 more) than it was in April 2006? I don’t think so. UPDATE #1 - January 23, 2007 This is pretty quick for an update but I just noticed the price on this home has already been lowered twice: Price Reduced: 01/16/07 — $1,749,000 to $1,729,000 Price Reduced: 01/22/07 &


Citrus - Corporate Flop in Turtle Ridge
2007-02-19 16:59:56
Address: 35 Hidden Trail, Irvine, CA 92603 (Turtle Ridge ) Plan: 3675 sq ft - 4/4.5 MLS: S446750 DOM: 241 Sale History: 7/13/2006: $2,250,000 Price Reduced: 07/19/06 — $2,499,000 to $2,350,000 Price Reduced: 09/19/06 — $2,350,000 to $2,225,000 Price Reduced: 01/04/07 — $2,225,000 to $2,150,000 Current Price: $2,150,000 Thanks to waitingtill08, we’ve found our first flip inside The Summit at Turtle Ridge! This is a Plan 3 in the Cirtus tract built by Brookfield Homes. It was first listed on the market on June 26, 2006. That is BEFORE they even closed escrow on the purchase on July 13, 2006! Doesn’t that smell like a flip to you? The description reads “Corporate relocation. Outstanding panoramic view - city lights, ocean. Highly upgraded with hardwood floors, crown molding, plantation shutters, custom built-ins. Main floor master bedroom. Extra large bonus room.” This makes you think that the seller is relocating. When I looked into the ti
Read more: Citrus

What is Past is Prologue
2007-03-07 03:09:00
In my last post “How Sub-Prime Lending Created the Housing Bubble,” I went through a thought experiment to demonstrate how the psychological and technical factors interrelate to create a speculative mania. In this post I intend to examine the details of the most recent Southern California residential real estate bubble to deflate, and see what it portends for the future. Today, we are just past the market top. Predicting when a top will occur is very difficult, but recognizing when one has occurred is not: The market has topped. Volume is down as the pool of buyers is exhausted, and inventories are increasing. Flippers are looking for renters, and everyone is praying for the big spring selling season to bail them out. Denial and bargaining dominates the mindset of sellers. Since prices are softening, there will be one last push of buyers entering the market: those who felt they were “priced out” but see this softening as an opportunity. These buyers actually be
Read more: Prologue

Tamarisk - Flip in Northpark?
2007-03-08 17:48:35
Address: 27 Trailing Vine, Irvine, CA 92602 (Northpark) Plan: 1500 sq ft - 3/2.5 MLS: S476804 DOM: 13 Sale History: 05/11/2006: $616,500 Current Price: $679,900 This Plan 3 condo in the Tamarisk tract built by William Lyon Homes was purchased from the builder in May of 2006 with 20% down. Although it’s in the 92602 Zip, this tract (and the Mericort tract by California Pacific Homes) have nothing else around it (except for an affordable? housing apartment complex) - so I don’t believe it’s actually in the village of Northpark. I just wasn’t sure what to call it. Although the tract doesn’t belong to a proper village, it is in a pretty convenient location (near I-5 and Culver). It was listed on the market 1-2 weeks ago and the private remarks on the listing say “HOME IS VACANT. GO DIRECT. SELLER WANTS TO SELL NOW, WRITE ANY OFFER. THANK YOU FOR SHOWING”. Was this home purchased with the intent to flip? Was it a job relocation? YOU decide!


Silverado - Another 2006 Flip in Northwood Pointe
2007-03-07 19:49:19
Address: 2 Bramblewood, Irvine, CA 92620 (Northwood Pointe ) Plan: 3000 sq ft - 4/4 MLS: S472587 DOM: 45 Sale History: 07/05/2006: $1,150,000 Current Price: $1,289,000 Just a quick glance at the numbers above will tell you that this flip isn’t a flop quite yet. The featured home is a Plan 3? in the Silverado tract built by California Pacific Homes in the village of Northwood Pointe. The sellers purchased this home on 7/5/2006 for $1,150,000. It was originally listed by the previous seller at $1,245,000 so it seems like the current owners tried to catch a falling knife last summer. Bad timing… Looking at title information, I’ve found one loan for $920k (80%), so they may have put 20% down. It’s interesting how the home is priced HIGHER than it was when it didn’t sell last year. The description on MLS says “MOTIVATED SELLERS!!!”. If they are motivated, then why are they still hoping for a nice profit here? Assuming 6% in selling costs


What if Prices Dropped to Fundamental Values?
2007-03-09 19:24:18
We have speculated a great deal on this board about the future of home prices in our area. The arguments all boil down to a simple conjecture: will prices fall to back to their fundamental values, or are prices going to remain permanently detached and inflated? I make no attempt to answer that question here. The chart link below is a graphical representation of what it would look like if home prices fall back to their fundamental valuations in Orange County. Below is a link to the excel file I used. It is a bit messy, but experienced users can probably navigate it. Orange County Median Price Projections Worksheet BTW, I was thinking about the current state of the market, and Wile E. Coyote came to mind: An allegory for our times. The greedy FB’s chasing their fortunes leading to their destruction. I found it particularly poignant the moment of realization when Wile E discovers he has a serious problem.
Read more: Dropped , Fundamental , Prices , Values

Predictions for the Irvine Housing Market
2007-03-12 00:55:13
This is the final installment in my series of related posts pertaining to the Irvine residential real estate market. It is my intention in this post to bring it all together, make a prediction as to the timing and depth of the upcoming crash, and describe the variables that will influence the market decline. Below is a chart I created to demonstrate what I believe will occur in the Irvine Housing market between 2007 and 2013. Median sales price will decline approximately 40% from near $700,000 to near $400,000 over the next 5 years. There will be a multi-year flattening of prices at the bottom. Sustained appreciation will not return until 2013 or later. Peak bubble prices will not be seen until 2027 (unless we get another bubble). Irvine Housing Market Prediction Spreadsheet Due to the psychology of the market participants, I believe market prices will display the same general timing and pattern of the price decline of the early 90’s. The difference will be the depth of the d
Read more: Predictions

Where are the flippers when you need them?
2007-03-14 21:30:23
For as much as flippers annoy use because they drove prices up to such dizzying heights, in a healthy market, they do serve a legitimate function. When a property becomes distressed, a flipper can come in, perform the necessary repairs and make a buck or two. This rehabilitates our ailing housing stock and keeps our neighborhoods in good condition. This house is at 4741 Lindstrom Ave., Irvine, CA 92604. The property is being offered on Craigslist for 647,000. See virtual tour video here. Zillow puts the zestimate at $782,126 (for whatever that is worth). A comparable property a few doors down just sold on 11/17/2006 for $732,000. The comp is smaller, but updated inside (it was listed as a rental just before the sale at $2,800 a month). The Craigslist ad says “Comps come in at $750,000–$775,000!” (again, for whatever that is worth). In a healthy market, a flipper would buy this property, and fix some of its problems. This property is a mess, but it does not seem tha


Why the Sub-Prime Meltdown is a Problem
2007-03-14 19:29:37
The big discussion on Wall Street today is whether or not the problems with sub-prime will impact alt-A and prime loans and if all of this will impact housing markets and the economy as a whole. I want to examine why and how sub-prime’s implosion will impact the housing market. It is estimated that tightening lending standards are going to eliminate 21% of the buyers from the market. We all know intuitively this sounds bad. But what is the impact? For a deeper understanding read The Plankton Theory Meets Minsky. This will result in lower prices. If prices are lower and standards are tightening, serial refinance will come to an end. Many, if not most of the borrowers needing to refinance over the next 5 years will be underwater when the loan resets resulting in more foreclosures. As you can see, it will take 5 years for the existing ARM’s to reset. For these people to be able to refinance, they must either have enough cash to buy down the loan (do you think any of them
Read more: Meltdown , Problem

Make me move; no, just let me out!
2007-03-16 02:23:54
Asking Price: $675,000 Purchase Price: $659,000 Purchase Date: 8/8/2005 Address: 19 Calabria, Irvine, CA 92620 Beds: 3 Baths: 2.5 Size: 1,547 sq. ft* Housing: Residential Year Built: 1982 Craigslist, Redfin, Zillow. As many of you know, Zillow has a feature called the “Make Me Move Price” where owners can provide asking prices that would get them to move out. To me it seems like a good place to look for “wishing prices” because that is exactly what they are. This flipper/seller must not have been very motivated when they first started because they went to Zillow and put in a Make Me Move Price of $725,000. The Zestimate is only $686,460. Obviously, the house didn’t sell. Come forward in time, and our flipper is a bit more motivated. There is an add on Craigslist where it seems our flipper is just looking for someone to take over his payments, and he will walk. I don’t have the mortgage data, but I smell 100% financing


New Century Condo - 2005 Flip
2007-03-18 02:25:56
Asking Price: $610,000 Purchase Price: $565,000 Purchase Date: 5/26/2005 Address: 1 MONTGOMERY 46, Irvine, CA 92604 Beds: 3 Baths: 2.5 Sq. Ft.*: 1,639 Year Built: 1977 Stories: 2 $/Sq. Ft.*: $381 MLS: I700005 Status: Active on market Craigslist, Zillow. This property is located in the triangular area between the 5, Walnut and Yale. It is very near the 5 (in other words, it is noisy.) It was purchased on May 26, 2005 for $565,000. There is a first mortgage from New Century for $452,000 and a second from New Century for $113,000. This is a 100% financed property. The current owner is asking $610,000. If sold at the current asking price and assuming 6% in selling costs, the sellers are looking at a profit of around $7,500. This leaves them a bit of negotiating room to break even. It looks like they might need it: Zillow thinks it is only worth $603,830. Do you think they will get it? Or, perhaps, New Century will have to eat another one? . P.S.
Read more: Condo

The Plot Thickens in Fraud Park
2007-03-19 14:00:48
Back in October, we did a post on a property in North Park and discovered some fraud going on. Even Casey Serin stopped by and posted a comment. Recently, I’ve gotten some excellent leads on even more fraud going on in Irvine and beyond. I’d like to thank graphrix, brealiving, and IrvineMom for all their help in uncovering this. This thread in our forums was extremely helpful. Figuring out how all the fraud is connected is a lot of work. Writing a post to explain it is even more difficult. So please accept my apologies if this is hard to follow. Also, because I’m convinced there is something shady going on here, I’m not going to go through the extra work of jumbling names, etc. It’s all public information anyways. OC Renter at Bubble Tracking and his readers have made some inroads as far as getting the Main Stream Media to notice what’s being said on the blogs (regarding flippers, fraud, etc.). Hopefully, we can get some exposure to this sto


Flipper is a Whale
2007-03-22 16:52:54
Asking Price: $2,299,500 Purchase Price: $2,050,000 Purchase Date: 5/23/2006 Address: 29 Mahogany Drive, Irvine, CA 92620 Beds: 7 Baths: 6.5 Sq. Ft.*: 4,200 Lot Sq. Ft.*: 12,000 Year Built: 1996 Stories: 2 Neighborhood: Northwood $/Sq. Ft.*: $548 MLS: S478955 Status: Active on market On Redfin: 6 days Craigslist, Redfin, Zillow Does anybody remember the TV show about the dolphin Flipper ? In the world of sea mammals, whales are bigger than dolphins, and in the parlance of Las Vegas, Whale s are the biggest of the high rollers. The flipper of this property is a whale. Who else would try to flip a $2,050,000 property? Assuming a 6% sales commission, if he gets his $2,299,500 asking price, he will make a profit of $111,530. Not bad for simply owing real estate for 10 months. Isn’t 15% “in the bag?” This guy isn’t greedy, he is only looking for 10% or about 1% a month. Unfortunately, the market seems to have moved the other d


Dew Drop Inn
2007-03-21 16:42:58
Asking Price: $539,000 Purchase Price: $560,000 Purchase Date: 8/17/2006 Address: 239 Dewdrop, Irvine, CA 92603-0650 Beds: 2 Baths: 2 Sq. Ft.*: 1,200 Year Built: 2003 Stories: 3 Type: Condominium Neighborhood: Quail Hill $/Sq. Ft.*: $450 MLS: S476844 Status: Active on market On Redfin: 22 days Redfin, Zillow When the owner of this property bought near the peak in August of 2006, she probably had visions of the fortune she was going to make flipping condos. Perhaps she even had visions of watching live jazz at the Dew Drop Inn during Mardi Gras. Apparently, she changed her plans. Now, she just wants out. After sitting vacant for six months (and burning a big hole in her wallet), she is trying to sell for whatever she can get. Good luck. Assuming a 6% commission, if she gets her asking price, she is looking at a $53,340 loss. However, a neighbor of hers is trying to sell 318 Dewdrop for $519,900, and it has been languishing on the market for


Dream Big
2007-03-23 16:03:31
Asking Price: $2,275,000 Purchase Price: $1,471,500 Purchase Date: 2/24/2005 Address: 35 Tall Hedge, Irvine, CA 92603 Beds: 4 Baths: 4.5 Sq. Ft.*: 2,825 Lot Sq. Ft.*: 6,300 Year Built: 2005 Stories: 2 Type: Single Family Residence View: Catalina Island, City Lights, Ocean, Panoramic, Water, Other Neighborhood: Turtle Ridge $/Sq. Ft.*: $805 MLS: U7000721 Status: Active on market On Redfin: 31 days Craigslist, Zillow, Redfin This one was bought two years ago, so it might be argued it isn’t really a flip, but when you believe your house has gone up in value 50% over the last two years (particularly the last two), you are certainly thinking like a flipper. This is a nice home full of the requisite pretentious accouterments one would expect in a Tuscan Villa / Irvine Tract Home. To quote Redfin: “Tuscan style home in Turtle Ridge offers 4 bdrms. , 4.5 bths. , 3 car ga rage. This highly upgraded home has walnut hardwood floo
Read more: Dream

Bitter Buyers say William’s Lyin’
2007-03-25 03:00:32
Today was a beautiful, blue-sky kind of day, the kind of day that reminds me why I love Irvine so much. My little boy and I played for quite a while at “Bob the Builder Park” (aka, Colonel Bill Barber) as well as a small pocket park in Westpark. But first, on our way over to Bob the Builder park, I couldn’t resist making a short detour. I pulled into Columbus Grove and saw the line-up of protest signs along the main thoroughfare, Sweet Shade. I pulled up to the curb, put on my blinkers, gave my boy his Clifford Reading game on his LeapPad, and chatted for a few minutes with homeowner Bob Spillar. He was sitting in a beach chair with, at the time I was there, two other men whom he identified as neighbors. I told Bob I was a blogger, writing for a blog on the local housing bubble, and Bob didn’t quite seem to get what I was referring to. (First clue, right? Too bad Bob hadn’t spent some time here, or over on Ben’s housing bubble blog or on R
Read more: Bitter , Buyers , William

Who is responsible for this mess?
2007-03-24 16:52:26
I launched into a diatribe on Quiggleme.com on who bears responsibility for the bubble we are now watching deflate. I wanted to share it here. So who is responsible? Borrowers, lenders, investors, the FED: IMO, they are all responsible; it is only a matter of degree. Irresponsible borrowers are like children, if you offer them something they want, no matter the terms, they will take it. The federal government realized this basic fact years ago when they passed predatory lending laws. Does that make the borrower any less responsible? No, but by definition, sub-prime borrowers are irresponsible. If they took responsibility for their debts, they wouldn’t be sub-prime. So if you offer a bunch of money to the most irresponsible among us, what would you expect? I would expect them to spend it irresponsibly and not worry about paying it back. That is their history, is it logical to expect anything different from these people? In my opinion, it shouldn’t have taken a rocket scienti


Canyon’s Edge - Is it worth more than it was in May 2005? - UPDATE #1
2007-03-26 10:01:11
Originally posted November 17, 2006 Address: 29 Shade Tree, Irvine, CA 92603 (Turtle Ridge) Plan: 1993 sq ft - 3/2.5 MLS: U6603755 DOM: 4 Sale History: 5/13/2005: $1,010,000 06/02/2003 — $701,500 Current Price: $1,150,000 Here we have a detached condo in the Canyon ’s Edge tract built by Standard Pacific in Turtle Ridge. This home was purchased in May 2005 with 5% down. I don’t have much to say on this one yet. If they get their asking price, they stand to make about $71k after 6% in selling costs. Pretty nice return on their $50,500 investment in 18 months. Has anyone been inside this tract? It’s part of Turtle Ridge but it is completely separated from the rest of the homes in Turtle Ridge which are all off Summit Park. Strange location… UPDATE #1 - March 26, 2007 Thanks to a tip from Owen in the forums, I’ve come to realize that this home has been relisted (MLS U7000708) and the price has now been reduced to $1,099,000.  Assuming 6% in selling cos


Fine Spanish Lace
2007-03-27 17:35:42
Asking Price: $513,000 or $507,000 Purchase Price: $486,000 Purchase Date: 6/9/2006 Address: 39 Spanish Lace, Irvine, CA 92620 Beds: 1 Baths: 1.5 Sq. Ft.*: 1,135 Year Built: 2006 Stories: 1 Type: Condominium View: Mountain Neighborhood: Woodbury $/Sq. Ft.*: $452 MLS: S477287 Status: Active on market On Redfin: 20 days Redfin, Zillow, FirstTeam From the listing: “Truly better than any Model Home, owner spared no expense was planning to stay forever! Upgraded everything, Carpets, Tile, Paint. Kitchen has Stainless Steel appliances and custom backsplash. Recessed lights throughout, Ceiling Fan in Master Bedroom, Living Room is Prewired for Fan. Additional Cabinets added in Laundry Room, Closet Organizers in Master Bedroom Walk-In Closet. Desirable Street Front Location, Great Mountain Views from Private Front Balcony” Notice there are no granite tops in this truly-better-than-any-model condo. Maybe the 80’s style white


Bamboozled
2007-03-29 17:55:40
Asking Price: $879,500 Purchase Price: $869,000 Purchase Date: unknown Address: 39 Bamboo, Irvine, CA 92620 Beds: 4 Baths: 4 Sq. Ft.*: 2,492 Year Built: 2004 Stories: 2 Type: Condominium Neighborhood: Northwood $/Sq. Ft.*: $353 MLS: S477978 Status: Active on market On Redfin: 23 days Redfin, Zillow Do you get the feeling flippers are getting nervous? There are 46 addresses on Bamboo Street in the Northpark neighborhood adjacent to Woodbury; 7 of them are for sale. 41 Bamboo just sold on 2/13/2007 for $820,000, so there is activity in the area. There are 7 other homedebtors looking for the greater fool to save them. The owners at 39 Bamboo just got nervous and decided to sell even if it is at a loss. Zillow thinks the property is worth over a million dollars. Apparently the market does not agree. Real estate always goes up, or so buyers are bamboozled into believing by realtors. It only takes a few nervous neighbors to drive down property val


Blaze of Glory
2007-04-02 02:22:23
Asking Price: $829,000 Purchase Price: $740,000 Purchase Date: 3/12/2007 Address: 11 Glorieta West, Irvine, CA 92620 Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Sq. Ft.*: 1,707 Lot Sq. Ft.*: 6,600 Year Built: 1979 Stories: 1 Type: Single Family Residence Neighborhood: Northwood $/Sq. Ft.*: $486 MLS: S480860 Status: Active on market On Redfin: 6 days Redfin, Zillow In the forum the question was raised, “I’m dying to understand why there is so much hostility to “flipping homes.”” This is why. Those who are still drinking the kool-aid believe this temporary softness in the market will be short lived, and we will soon return to annual double digit appreciation. Housing bears believe these people are falling into a bull trap. Let’s assume for a second the kool-aid crowd is right. If they are, potential homebuyers will not get any of the benefit of lower prices because flippers like this guy are going to come in and buy any property selling a
Read more: Blaze

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