If you are willing to pay that much for a house in Turtle Rock, you too can use the word “Newer” as a proper noun!

It looks nice but its 30 years old. Can’t the seller just be happy with around 200k profit? Is it sentiment of everyone that you have to make double the purchased price for justification of a home purchase? Is this a disease passed around during the bubble?

Today’s title track is a welcome reprise in the sea of MJ tributes.  I like MJ, but not his whole catalog, all at once.

RIP MJ.  You certainly didn’t have peace here.

Purchase Price: $450,000 ~ 9/11/2003 <-FAIR

Asking Price: $975,000 ~ Today <-RIP OFF

Housing is suppose to be generally influenced by inflation, income advances and local economic conditions, NOT bullshit, ponzi scheme mortgages.  Since 9/11/2003 we’ve had a complete collapse in equities, the unemployment rate has skyrocketed, mortgage co’s, retailers, and banks have gone kaput.  And yet this seller is asking for a 115% premium on his 2003 cost.  LoL Incomes are going DOWN, not up.  LoL Dip buyers (including investors) be forewarned, this is not going to end well. 

Our economy is so incredibly distorted.  When we rely on asset prices and leveraged debt to create (perceived & temporary) wealth, we’re asking for more trouble.  I fear we are headed for a long, drawn-out decline, much like the Japanese.

This house has very high HOA’s at $300 and $275.  Can anyone familiar with Irvine explain why?  Also, why does the listing show one common wall?  I can’t see where the home is attached to another.

Yes, this house is a duplex.

The HOAs are high because there is a great deal of shared maintenance in this community—at least that is their justification.

“Is this a disease passed around during the bubble?”

Yes, it is all part of Southern California’s Cultural Pathology.

This home is owned by a husband/wife real estate agent team.  They lived in my neighborhood in another part of Turtle Rock when I was growing up.  The wife was pretty nice, but her husband was irritating - used to nag the kids and everyone else so much, we all learned to ignore him.  Their stock and trade is to own the home for the requisite two years, fix it up, then sell.  I think they own a couple of others in Turtle Rock at the moment (they move from one to another while working on them), and sold one down the hill a few months back.  Long story short, that’s why they’re asking a WTF price for a pretty average townhome.

wow, sheet rock, I’m guessing maybe $500 worth, that really makes this house double in price.  Also I don’t quite get the obsession with granite, it is fine if you are Fred Flinstone I suppose.

I’ve also surmised The Eagles must be on IR’s iPod after the past few days’ posts?

Why does the property tax say it’s nearly $7,000 if it was only purchased for $450,000?

I agree with you on all points.

I built a lil calculator to look at mortgage payments and the inflation AND RATE adjustments.
(I realize the calculator assumes 20% down, which is not what this owner had originally)

they bought the house in 9/2003 for $450,000 ($90,000 down, $360,000 loan)
their orig mortgage payment was: $2,219 (at 6.26%)
inflation adjusted that’d be: $2,555
$2,555 at 6.26% is a purchase of: $518,132
$2,555 at 5% is a purchase of: $594,908

http://nothinbutnetworks.com/calc.html

I didn’t even notice that. The asking price is a robbery in itself but with association fee that is like extra $100k to $200k over 30 year span.

I’d like to see hardware on those kitchen and bathroom cabinets. The patio looks small.

RIP <——- yeah thats what i usually say about child molesters when they die.  I just hope that his death gave some measure of closure to his victims.

As to the house.  Someone should let them know that 1 M is actually 1,000,000 again which as most people know is a boat load of zeros and sucks to pay back even without interest.

I live in a different part of turtle rock.  We pay about $100/month in HOA.  The largest component of that is for basic cable from cox (about $10/month).  At some point Cox sold the association on a universal everybody pay for cable plan.  It save about $2/month over Cox’s regular rates, but with digital TV, internet, DirectTV, etc I’m not sure the HOA should be deciding what everyone should be watching.

Is tihs common in Irvine?

(I’m going to hell for laughing)
When Farrah Fawcett reached heaven, God granted her one wish. 
She told God that she wished for safety for all the children of the world.

Granite does have a few advantages…  Best part is it’s completely impervious to heat.  You can move a hot pan onto it without damage.

Now, ceramic tiles or granite tiles are also impervious to heat.  However, they’re a pain in the butt to keep clean.  A granite slab has a nice smooth surface, and wipe it down with no scrubbing of grout lines, etc.

That being said, granite slab isn’t as expensive to install as most places would have you believe.  If you shop around you can find it for ~$30 a square foot.

What I don’t understand is the stainless steel appliances.  They’re a pain to keep clean.  The slightest bit of grease looks like a huge blemish, fingerprints show up immediately, and it scratches so easily!  Give me a nice durable black lacquer paint finish.

Almost a million for half of a duplex? Irvine is nioe, but in a fake, kind of Disneyland sense. Underneath, it is cheap mickey mouse stuff. It is the product of corporate mass production and marketing. Too bad that people really take this stuff seriously.

Garages must include fireproofing (aka sheetrock) when attached to the house connecting to living spaces. I am not sure what the exact building code states, but you will never see a garage without sheetrock when it is located under a bedroom, for instance. Cars contain gasoline, and catch on fire more often than is comfortable for me.

A $1M duplex?  Gah!  I’m blind!

where would you go to get 30/sq ft granite?

“sucks to pay back”

What is this this concept, this “paying back” of which you speak?

I’m a life-long Californian, so I have no knowledge of this term.

Nice driveway, but dream-on.  Only a day dreamer will buy at one million.  Once the higher end market implodes,  they’ll find out the some dreams are nightmares. 

Maybe the feds can bring back 100% financing or negative downpayment?  Any way, 3% to 5% will do for now with PMI that will declare BK when time to collect.

I am curious, what people think the premium for Turtle Rock should be compared to other parts of Irvine.  If you are OK with, say, $300/sq.ft. for Woodbridge, how high would you pay for Turtle Rock?  $350? $400?

For the same house and same size lot, I would pay more to live in Woodbridge just because my preference would be to have the ability to walk places.  Turtle Rock is just too isolated.

I noticed another townhome that has a WTF price in the Highlands Garden that I think is owned by another realtor who owns several Turtle Rock properties.  Maybe that’s what is keeping the prices so high in Turtle Rock - they’re all owned by realtors.

IR et al.,
Any data on zip codes and showing:
% homes with loans
% homes with negative equility
% homes with less than 5% equility

And subdivisions in each with:
% with the type of loans.
% of homes in FCed
% of home in FC process and duration (years of non-payment)

Yesterday, the Duetsche Bank Report was a poor analysis.  Do they not understand stat or are they trying to twist the data set to reach a conclusion?  I would of given a student a C-/D+ for such a report (boosted upward for effort).

This appears to be a one story house.  It is quite possible that the wall connecting the house to the garage had drywall but the others originally did not, as well as the ceiling, and that this owner is saying they added such.

I dunno.  Looks like the market can bear such a price.

From Redfin:

40 Morning Vw
Irvine, CA 92603
Price: $975,000
Beds:  3
Baths:  2
Sq. Ft.:  2,036
$/Sq. Ft.: $479

Median House Values
Select a neighborhood, zip code, or city for more stats.  List $ $/Sq. Ft. Sale/List
Turtle Rock $1,097,000 $457  -
92603 $2,639,000 $613 96.3% 
Irvine $949,000 $374 96.8% 

Nearby Similar SalesMore Info
Closest homes similar to 40 Morning Vw, which sold within the past six months:
$965,000
1 Night Star
Sold on Mar 27, 2009 0.13 miles
2 bd / 2 ba
1,972 Sq. Ft. 
$880,000
8 Sunrise
Sold on May 01, 2009 0.29 miles
2 bd / 2 ba
1,972 Sq. Ft. 
$780,000
20 Silver Cres
Sold on Apr 20, 2009 0.71 miles
4 bd / 2 ba
2,175 Sq. Ft. 
$1,082,400
1 Silver Cres
Sold on Jan 13, 2009 0.82 miles
3 bd / 2 ba
1,830 Sq. Ft. 
Range: $780,000 - $1,082,400
Average: $471/Sq. Ft. 
This home at $471/Sq. Ft.: $959,811

They will probably get list, or maybe 2-3% less.  It might take several months to sell, but they will get what they want for it.

Last time I checked in with this blog (many months ago) there were no realatard ads… haha My how things have changed!

^ ^

Need help selling your house?

Shevy Akason
Evergreen Realty

shevy.akason@evergreenrealty.net
949.769.1599

My wife looked at various counter coverings several years ago - from ceramic tile to granite, etc. Her opinion was that plain ol’ ceramic tile was easily the best investment. In addition to being impervious to heat, if it cracks for any reason, you can replace the individual tile(s); just remember to get a few extra. People complain about keeping grout clean; the answer is to use a darker grout. Granite also requires periodic sealing. I’m told granite backsplash can act like a sponge over time if there is a crack between it and the counter top.
I do agree that granite is prettier. Unfortunately, I prefer function to form and need to live within a budget.

Maybe instead of just music, IrvineRenter can use movie outtakes?

“Are you taking any prescription medication” from Rain Man would be good with this listing.

I don’t recall the name of the place.  Basically it was the least expensive slab we could find…  The stone was about $400.  Then another $1000 or so for installation.  But we did have to manage the workers heavily.  They did a few things wrong, and we had to call them back several times.

It was some small shop that probably is out of business by now anyway.

Having grown up in TR, I would agree, especially for people who don’t drive.  If I missed the bus to Rancho, it would take forever to bike down the hill.  Want to meet your friends at the movies?  You’ll have to build at least 30 min-1 hour into your time, depending on whether you have a bike or have to walk.  And there would be no way to reasonably acquire groceries with a bike or on foot, unless you trained as a sherpa.

What do people in Irvine do?

Sell houses to each other?

This house needs to come down 70% in price.

Never mind me… priced out forever so my opinion doesn’t count.

We get one _real_ drought in this state…

No.  Our HOA in TR does not get Cox for us.  You must be in one of the Sierra?

OTOH, I want to shoot our HOA… ;-D

This condo is simply overpriced.  No way in hell are you gonna get twice 2003 prices today. 

And, how can they call his an SFH when it’s a duplex.  I see lots of this in TR and Woodbridge.

Caeserstone is the best we found.  It’s made from quartz pressed into slabs.  It has the hot/cold behavior of granite, but none of the maintenance or cleaning of all other materials.

Cost wise it’s just like granite.  It comes in several colors, it has a 3D look to it being made from small “rocks” some of which have been polished to make the top flat, and thus are transparent.

I’ve lived in TR for 22 years.  IMHO, SFHs in TR are around 25% or more above the “houses” in Woodbrige.  It’s also much higher than the attatched condos. 

As far as TR being out of the way, that’s exactly why it’s fetches higher prices.  It’s nearer the coast, has better weather and we’re not overrun by commuter traffic like Woodbridge is.

Also, with the exception of the very few homes on the lake, most of Woodbridge has no view.

found this listing on redfin today: 6 Montelegro,
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/6-Montelegro-92614/home/4663784

purchased on may 26 2009 for $616,259.
Listed today for $799,999.00. Where else can you make a profit of $187k in one month. Will this sell faster than abderdeen?

An odd sold price in May - but it doesn’t say REO.  Behavior suspicious of a realtor or someone who knows one. Their market knowledge amounts to a right of first refusal to buy before a property ever hits the mls.

A couple notes, since people asked.
- Our HOAs are $300 and $75, not $300+275. Not cheap, but not obscene. And the neighborhood is very well kept up.
- Many of the garages of these homes were built unfinished, so a full drywalling is a nice touch.
- A couple other units have just recently sold in the 900’s, so those thinking this is a crack price, probably not as bad as you think. This unit doesn’t have the great view that neighbors have, of course.
- As tonyE mentioned, this area has little traffic, nice views (for Irvine) and a completely different feel. That’s why I was happy to pay more for my place on the next street, and (I hope) others will continue to do so.

Agreed—Turtle Rock is definitely worth paying a premium for.  I’d rather have an older duplex in Turtle Rock than a newer house in any other part of Irvine.