Originally posted October 5, 2006
Address: 27 Maywood, Irvine, CA 92602 (Northpark)
Plan: 3250 sq ft - 5/3
MLS: P513737 DOM: 139
Sale History: 4/22/2005: $1,250,000
3/19/2001: $578,500
Price Reduced: 06/25/06 -- $1,359,900 to $1,329,000
Price Reduced: 08/05/06 -- $1,329,000 to $1,299,900
Current Price: $1,299,000
Here's a Plan 2 in the Brentwood tract built by Warmington Homes in 2001. The flipper bought it in April 2005 and listed it in May 2006 hoping to make around $100,000. It looks like the flipper has loans totaling $1,200,000 on his $1,250,000 purchase! If sold at the current asking price and factoring in 6% in selling costs, he is facing a loss of about $29,000. I just noticed the property is listed as vacant so once you account for carrying costs, the pain is even greater!
UPDATE #1 - January 30, 2007
First of all, I want to mention that this flip was first uncovered by OC Fliptrack. I can't believe I didn't realize that when I featured this flip here in October (especially given that I commented on the original thread at OC Fliptrack!). All I can say is that I apologize and that it wasn't done intentionally. Are we still cool OC Fliptrack?
Now to the update. This home finally closed escrow on January 25, 2007 (241 DOM) at a price of $1,175,000. Assuming 6% in selling costs, the seller probably lost around $145,000! And that does NOT include the carrying costs for having a vacant $1.25mil place for 8 months.
Comments have been purged and reopened. Play nice this time! 
Address: 45 Nightshade, Irvine, CA 92603 (Quail Hill)
Plan: 1553 sq ft - 3/3
MLS: S469390 DOM: 37
Sale History: 3/31/2005: $647,000
11/26/2003: $438,000
Price Reduced: 01/10/07 -- $709,000 to $685,000
Current Price: $685,000
This is a former model home in the Casalon tract built by John Laing Homes in the village of Quail Hill. The current owners bought this place almost 2 years ago with 10% down. In December 2006 they put it on the market for $709,000. I'm pretty sure they didn't get a good response so a few weeks later they dropped the price by $24,000.
It's also available as a rental (MLS #S469388) for $2700/month (originally at $3000). My guess is that if it sells soon, the price will be pretty close to what they paid for it. If sold at the current asking price (assuming 6% in selling costs), they are looking at a loss of around $3000. And that does NOT include the money they are losing every month while it is sitting there vacant!
You would think that everyone at this point would understand that real estate cannot continue to appreciate indefinitely. But I'm sure there are still tons of misinformed buyers out there. If you come across one, send them this way!
Address: 206 Garden Gate, Irvine, CA 92620 (Northwood Pointe)
Plan: 1200 sq ft - 2bd/2.5ba
MLS: S469456 DOM: 22
Sale History: 9/1/2006: $625,000
11/10/2004: $527,500
Current Price: $665,000
This Plan 2 in the Glenneyre at Lanes End tract built by California Pacific Homes in Northwood Pointe was most recently purchased on 9/1/2006 for $625,000 with 5% down. And it went back on the market less than 3 months later. Did someone really buy this home in September 2006 with the intent to flip it?!?! Or could it be a forced relocation or something else?
Anyways, it was relisted at a price $40k higher the day after Christmas. (I'm pretty sure prices did not move up 6.4% since September.) Why $40k? Well if they get their asking price of $665k and we assume 6% in selling costs.. Suprise, surprise, they will have sold their home for the same price they bought it for. Too bad this probably isn't how it's going to play out. For $665k there are a lot of other options in Irvine and in this market the seller will be hard pressed to find a GF.
Originally posted January 1, 2007
Address: 3141 Michelson Dr. #405, Irvine, CA 92612 (Park Place)
Plan: Plan B - 1293 sq ft - 2/2.5
MLS: S465221 DOM: 56
Sale History: 02/16/2006: $623,012
Current Price: $650,000
Our first post on the Marquee Park Place continues to get a lot of interest, so I decided to do another one. It seems like this unit is in the same building and on the same floor as the unit we first blogged about (3141 Michelson Dr. #402).
From the tax records, we see that this unit was purchased on 2/16/2006 for about $623,012. On the same day, it was put up for sale on MLS (#U6600114) at a price of $850,000! Easy money? I don't think so.. 177 days later the listing expired even though the price was reduced to $785,000. The flippers waited a couple months before listing again - It was relisted (MLS #S465221) on 11/06/06 at the current price of $650,000. On 12/07/2006, it was also listed as a rental at $2800/month (MLS #S468478).
From what I can gather, it's been vacant the entire time. Those holding costs must be huge (it's been almost a WHOLE year)! Renting it out at $2800/month isn't going to come even close to covering the mortgage on this. Remember, HOA dues themselves are over $1000/month. If you or someone you know is interested in having their luxury high rise lifestyle subsized by someone else, this is a good opportunity to try it out for only $2800/month!
At the current asking price of $650,000, this flipper stands to lose about $12,000 (assuming 6% in selling costs). The true loss will be considerably more when taking into account the holding costs.
UPDATE #1 - January 5, 2007
What? An update already?! Well thanks to a astute comment by Dog on this post, I've found out that the price on this property was reduced by $20,000 on January 4th. The new asking price is $630,000. If sold at this price (assuming 6% in selling costs), this flipper is facing a loss of over $30,000.
$630,000 seems like a lot at first but I'd rather live here than one of the apartment/condo units at Watermarke or Avenue One that are going for the same price:
- 3233 Watermarke Place - 2bd/2ba - 1250 sq ft - MLS #: S469343 - $630,000
- 3335 Watermarke Place - 2bd/2ba - 1137 sq ft - MLS #: S468091 - $635,000
- 3221 Watermarke Place - 2bd/2ba - 1250 sq ft - MLS #: S464778 - $659,000
- 3334 Watermarke Place - 2bd/2ba - 1250 sq ft - MLS #: U6602684 - $699,000
- 2406 Scholarship - 1bd/1ba - 923 sq ft - MLS #: P541743 - $615,000
- 2402 Scholarship - 2bd/2ba - 1213 sq ft - MLS #: S446440 - $654,900
Address: 326 Quail Ridge, Irvine, CA 92603 (Quail Hill)
Plan: 1656 sq ft - 2/2
MLS: S468816 DOM: 22
Sale History: 01/26/2006: $635,000
10/26/2005: $554,000
Current Price: $668,000
Here’s the 3rd flip we've spotted in the Ambridge tract in Quail Hill. This condo was purchased on 1/26/2006 at $635,000 with 10% down. Less than 11 months later and it's back on the market for $668,000. If sold at this price, the owner is facing a loss of about $7,000 (assuming 6% in selling costs).
What I find interesting about this one is that the original owner/flipper bought the condo from William Lyon Homes towards the end of 2005 yet still managed to find someone to pay $80,000 more only 3 months later! Let me know if I'm mistaken but I don't recall it being that hard to buy a home straight from the builder at that time.
What do you think this property would realistically sell for today?
