Thank you for the excellent post Larry. I must be missing something, because from the comps of recent sales on Redfin this price looks not too far out of line(?). I have to say I’m surprised at the number of recent sales over $1MM in this tract,  and even two sales at $2.4MM.

I don’t get the QH SFR prices either.  Especially given the falling comps in Turtle Ridge - why do the QH places seem to be more than this Turtle Ridge listing?  Don’t get it.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/20-Rose-Trellis-92603/home/5901098

Enormous backyard, eh?  (I’m sorry, “ENORMOUS BACKYARD” I should say.)  So, it’s on a couple acres?  No?  One acre?  Nope.  Half an acre?  Oh wait, it’s on .179 acres.  Big for Irvine, I guess.

It’s amazing that my house in Riverside on a larger lot (.2 acres) is only worth 10% as much (house is half the size as well).  Obviously, there should be a big difference (two, three, four times), but ten times?  Really?

IR,

I know when you reformatted the pricing figures a few weeks ago, you said the “net” gain and “%” appreciation was based on a <less commission> basis, but at a glance this seems to skew the seller’s WTF pricing.
Regardless of what they ‘net’, it looks like this seller is ASKING about 50% MORE THAN 2004 sales price!

Your calculations say 36%, which doesn’t seem to capture the true WTF pricing here!

Can you maybe incorporate that % increase (or decrease) in previous SALES PRICE vs. current ASKING PRICE?

I think that shows a truer picture of what’s the sellere’s are attempting to do…

That incredible imbalance you describe is very real. One of two things must happen; either the high end in OC is going to tank, or properties like yours are going to triple in a few years. I know you might prefer the latter, but the former is more likely—the OC high end must go down.

Danger alert! Why do they have a kids swing and tire swing over the flagstore? Dumb and dumber.

Something to be aware of in showing a FSBO: We know of an owner showing a couple thru their house when one of the “potential buyers” asked to be excused to go to the car. On her way she stole several items of jewelry while out of sight of the owner who was still showing the other “potential buyer”. Good idea to be sure you tour as a group.

those swings astonish me more than price!

From the NRF: ... a National Retail Federation survey conducted over the weekend confirms the expected: more people spent less. According to NRF’s Black Friday shopping survey, conducted by BIGresearch, 195 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up from 172 million last year. However, the average spending over the weekend dropped to $343.31 per person from $372.57 a year ago. ... “Shoppers proved this weekend that they were willing to open their wallets for a bargain, heading out to take advantage of great deals on less expensive items like toys, small appliances and winter clothes,” said Tracy Mullin, NRF President and CEO. ... “During a more robust economy, people may be inclined to hit the “snooze” button on Black Friday, but high unemployment and a focus on price caused shoppers to visit stores early in anticipation of the best deals,” said Phil Rist, Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, BIGresearch. * NRF’s definition of “Black Friday weekend” includes Thursday, Friday, Saturday and projected spending for Sunday. This is for “stores and websites” - not just brick and mortar.

I wish the govt and RE were this clear.

I went the FSBO route on two properties because I thought the 6% was outrageous for the work involved and found most real estate salespeople clueless.

When we getting ready to sell a condo, my wife told a neighbor, who happened to be an agent, or our plans. The neighbor asked if we’d like a copy of the comps for the area and we said yes. In twenty minutes she returned with 2 pages of comps. Nice of her. Later when I told her that we planned to sell it ourselves, she was livid. How could we do that after she had done all that work (ran the comps off her computer). True story.

When we advertised and ran a few open houses, naturally some agents showed up. Some wanted us to list with them. We politely turned them down. They would call back time after time, telling us when ‘we got serious’ to hire them.

I researched what it took to sell a property on your own, and it didn’t seem like rocket science. But one thing we had to provide the prospective buyer with was an earthquake study. When I asked people who were agents about this, most were clueless.

I guess the 20/80 Pareto Rule applies.

Anyway, everything went well. We sold at top price without any problems. That was one of two properties we sold on our own.

Were buyers represented by an agent? If not, what forms were used for purchase agreement?

Yours is certainly an FSBO success story. Does anyone in your family have any related training or experience, or did you just figure it out on your own?

Oh come on folks!  Don’t you think a black rubber mat under the swingset would ruin the entire look and feel of that fabulous yard?  So the kids skin a knee or two.  At least they didn’t sacrife looks.  Come on, this is Irvine!

You’re right. Plus, you can swing from the tire and grab a burger from the grill

See what $800K buys you a scant 3 hours from here:

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/forums/viewthread/3724/P50/#138128

There is a luxury property in every sense of the word.

no_vaseline, what city was that in?  Unfortunately, the link in the forum is dead.

“There are a myriad of details and disclosures most FSBOs know little about. Without assistance in preparing the documents, even preparing escrow instructions will be difficult as key terms may be missing or contradictory.”

I closed today on an investment condo in TX.  And yes, I found an error in the escrow docs. 

On a positive note, the home inspection guy was really really good.  Everything tested and checked, specialty gear where appropriate.  He checked the temperature of everything, fridge, oven, heat, cooling.  Checked all outlets for power and polarity.  Ran all of the appliances.  Noticed the one upgrade which was not to code.  Probably no coincidence he is also a contractor.

It’s in Lemoore, south of Fresno about 30 miles.

http://www.trulia.com/property/1045724636-19785-Lacey-Blvd-Lemoore-CA-93245

Redfin doesn’t cover Kings County so you’ll have to suffer through the Trulia listing.  Click on “more info” for better pictures.

MalibuRenter,
Congrads and best of living in your new digs and your investment condo.

6% fees don’t seem as if they are related to the work involved.  The work is essentially the same for a $400,000 house in the midwest and for a $2,000,000 house in Irvine, but the dollar fee is 5 times higher in Irvine than in the mid-west.  Both places a McMansion style house, but the mid-west house will likely include a large lot and thicker walls.

I’ve been involved in buy/sell on 5 properties and the majority have been without agents (2 were agricultural).  The only problems I have had is with agents involved - not mine but the other party’s. 

The real key isn’t the real estate agent, its getting a good real estate attorney that understands the local market and players.  They’re generally less than $ 500 and well worth it.  Two of them gave me advice above and beyond the transactions that saved me thousands. They have also steered me around problems because they see all of the hands in the game and know the real score.

Money well spent (and saved).

Fish Head

It really needs a torture chamber.

In both transactions, buyers were represented by agents. I used forms readily available online as well as in how-to books. Nolo press publishes excellent manuals with forms for doing your own real estate transactions.

Congratulations on the investment. Does this mean you plan to be in Tx to manage the property? If you move back to California, how will it be managed?

I have bought and sold by owner in NY and in CA and as stated in the thread above by Kelja the info from nolo is excellent.

In NY, both parties and the bank (if used) were represented by their own attorneys and in CA the title company does the bulk of the work. I basically could not tell you what a real estate agent would have done to help me in these sales for their 6%. I think it would have amounted to driving me around in a nice car and kissing my a55.

absolutely.
the recent sales indicate a good price for the size 3700 sq.ft and lot size 7900 sq ft
36 silhouette (a Short sale) $1,445,000
{3700 sq ft and lot of 6200sq ft
104 Capeberry 3200 sq ft sold @$1,320,0000 lot size 6000 sq.ft(4bd not 5bd)
WTF should be changed to PDG!
larry, you might considr the rag business because you are always throwing s**t @ homes that matter to line your pockets not help fellow bloggers,
bet this doesn’t make it in because it doesn’t fit your bias.
cool but hot

for fun!!!!!

IrvineRenter writes:
“There are many pratfalls that prevent deals from closing”

LOL.  You meant “pitfalls”, but I enjoyed the mental image. 

Thanks to you and to astute observers like Fishhead for this useful info on FSBOs.