What sticks out to me is not the current price or the outrageous purchase price in 2006…
It’s the purchase price of 257k on May 18th 2001.
Posted by NoWow!way on 04/17/08 at 04:44 AM
When a picture of the kitchen is missing in the current market, I immeditely wonder if there are any large appliances left or if the thing has been stripped to the wall by angry occupants who have been forced out.
seculded? This blog is a wonderful resource, very well written and informative. One thing I don’t understand is the obsession with countertop materials and other minor details in the comments. Very few note privacy issues or architecture problems. Garage doors in a front elevation is a sure sign of a tacky house so why get snarky about minor stuff? Thank you irvine renter for a timely and informative blog.
eastman
Posted by george8 on 04/17/08 at 06:01 AM
1714 Timberwood can rent for $2300/month. 160 GRM makes it $368k. Any potential knife catcher should keep this in mind.
Posted by AZDavidPhx on 04/17/08 at 06:50 AM
Realizing that they barely made it out of the burning building in time, you know that the people who sold 1512 Timberwood in 2006 to the failed flipper did a huge “HOLY S THAT WAS CLOSE!” when the credit machine stalled a week later.
SUCKER!
Posted by AZDavidPhx on 04/17/08 at 06:55 AM
Posted by Jim on 04/17/08 at 07:57 AM
We sold our one bedroom there for $260k...thinking no one would ever pay more than this for a one bedroom apartment. $100k profit in two years was too good to pass up, but they went on to go for $420k....we had no idea people would get so irrational about real estate.
Posted by Headless Unicorn Guy on 04/17/08 at 08:33 AM
Could you take a look up in North County at the new condos going up in Anaheim, both downtown (Harbor & Lincoln) and around Anaheim Stadium?
The ones at Harbor & Lincoln are zero-bedroom, 2-3 bath “Lofts” originally in the $400+K range. Building is four stories and looks like a Thirties Euro-Bauhaus industrial building, minus the “Joe the Worker” statue on top and Leon Trotsky impersonator haranguing the masses from atop a soapbox before the main entrance.
I ran across the REA for the complex, who told me the “loft units” are intended for young singles and couples fresh out of college. My experience with housing costs tells me the cost of each zero-bedroom, granite-countered “loft” (mortgage, property taxes, & HOA squeeze) comes out to over $3000/month, minimum. How many “young singles and couples fresh out of college” can afford $3000/month?
The last I saw, the starting price on them was in the $380K range, down from over $400K. When I asked, I was told that the Starting Price Was Always $380K, the Starting Price Was NEVER $400+K, Oceania had always been at peace with Eurasia, and the Chocolate Ration had always been ten grams.
Us gays just LOVE Justin but for this condo, I wouldn’t give them what it went for new (257.000.00) Does this place remind you of your fist cool apartment? Does me!
As Kathy Griffin would say, Justin is an honorary gay. A place of high Honor in American Culture.
Posted by lendingmaestro on 04/17/08 at 09:43 AM
There are IAC units that look icer inside than this place. $225/sq ft is where this is headed, or $325k
If you read the lyrics close, you can’t tell if he’s singing about a girl or a guy or a house...HHHhhmmm, interesting isn’t it?
Posted by skek on 04/17/08 at 10:47 AM
“The owner purchased in early 2006 with an 80% first mortgage which was a 1% Option ARM. There is a 10% HELOC, which was probably used as purchase money, and a 10% downpayment.”
If you aren’t a flipper who was planning to get out in a year or two, anyone who bought a house with a 1% teaser rate signed their death warrant along with their closing papers. I don’t know if these folks thought they’d move or refi, or maybe they assumed wages would eventually make the payments manageable, but they gambled with their home and credit, and now they are paying the price. Good profile, IR. There’s a lesson to be learned here.
Posted by girlbear on 04/17/08 at 10:49 AM
What is with that kitchen table and chairs? Looks like one I had in 1978.
Posted by vicstah on 04/17/08 at 10:58 AM
Nice IR! Bringing out some JT…
Posted by 7 on 04/17/08 at 11:03 AM
How many “young singles and couples fresh out of college” can afford $3000/month?
Well, it suppose to be purchased by the college grad’s parent, as a graduation or wedding gift. Doesn’t everybody’s parents buy them a house and pay for their college 100%?
Seriously, I do know a few people who actually can afford to buy such a gift for their kids. I am not, BTW.
Posted by lendingmaestro on 04/17/08 at 11:38 AM
They didn’t “think” that’s the problem. I absolutely refused to ever write a purchase with an option arm loan. It’s utter stupidity. By deferring interest they are INSTANTLY losing their downpayment money.
Posted by cosmo kramer on 04/17/08 at 12:13 PM
IR, how can you call the folks at 800 Timberwood delusional? They’ve reduced the asking price by $500.
Posted by Red on 04/17/08 at 01:11 PM
“No similar recent past sales could be found. “
This looks like another cookie cutter condo, yet nothing close has sold recently?
I was expecting a bit of a bounce in prices and sales already, as those who had been looking for awhile saw these lower prices as “cheap”.
I suppose if banks now require down payments, then none of the first time buyers have them, or will have for years. So maybe no bounce.
Posted by houseonlegs on 04/17/08 at 03:21 PM
A lot of the new housing being built in Anahiem was planned to be condo’s but now they are converting them to apartments. I don’t know what they are going to do with the lofts, those would be difficult to lease as apartments too b/c the layout is not room mate friendly.
If it doesn’t sell in america - try germany!
http://immobilienusa.wordpress.com/
(still laughing)
Posted by pencipa on 04/17/08 at 04:53 PM
In doing my rent/own calculations (which I do for a different reason than most of you; I do it to keep-convincing myself to “stay rented")… I use $500/month as the HOA ("condo-fee") cost.
Am I ballpark here? What’s the “range” of HOA fee’s?
Thanks y’all…
PS>> I cashed-out of OC housing right at the peak of the bubble, started a business (going strong!). This was *not* skill… In the Navy we used to say “I’d rather be lucky than good”
Posted by Let's Go Anteaters on 04/17/08 at 05:33 PM
if the greenback rebounds against the dollar, buying usa real estate with only another 15% to fall may well be a good idea from the perspective of a euro-holder. also, one of the great things about our great country is we don’t have any nationality restrictions on real estate ownership (unlike almost all of latin america).
investing is really about absorbing inflation and jumping from overvalued entities to undervalued ones. the euro is looking pretty bubbly at the moment IMO. so are all of the spanish coastal properties that germans were loading up on a few years ago.
Posted by Alex on 04/17/08 at 06:36 PM
What I miss a little bit in your posts is an opinion about what you think a current fair market value of the property would be.... and what it might be a year from now
Posted by pencipa on 04/17/08 at 09:00 PM
Califax…
After Spain, the Germans invaded Brazil. No “deals” down there as the Germans have driven prices orbital (by our standards anyway). This info I get from my airline-pilot buddies who do the Rio routes.
In Huntington Beach (gated community, tres-upscale, $1.6M+) prices are holding (down, not-by-much) and in the past month *3* houses have sold, all to Asians (none of whom speak English). Yeah if *just 1* goes to REO, it’s all over :-(
I would *love* a place “not roommate friendly”. Everywhere I look at apartments, they are “jammed” far-above rated-capacity. Car-traffic (& parking) horrid.
Condo’s not-much-better as people use their garage as an attic, put their cars in the street.
When I was looking (via the web) at Anaheim apartments, it all seemed traffiky and I couldn’t find a 2-car direct-access garage place that was “upscale”. Likely I didn’t look hard enough.
The “loft” approach really intrigues me. I’d like to try it!
Note I’m not inclined to rent “somebody’s condo” as this means buying a w/d/fridge and that’s too “homey” for me. The Gypsy lifestyle rocks! Lets me do things like extended-trips e.g. (from my website)…
Amazing Americana! (Part 1)
Amazing Americana! Driggs ID, Park City UT, ‘Vegas! (Part 2)
...which as a homeowner (for me) was out-of-the-question.
I’ve said this before: America has no “professional renter class” (as does Europe). Too bad.
Ok, getting serious, I can’t imagine how stupid one has to be to buy an american house from germany right now.
Yes, the euro is high, dollar is low, but betting on future money exchange rates AND an early soft landing for american house prices is a bit too much balls for a sound brain.
It’s too much a gamble even for greencard winners. If I was to move to the USA I’d go for renting a home for the first risky years.
Posted by Ken on 04/23/08 at 09:51 AM
Is that the kitchen in the background or a closet?
Closet with granite flipper countertops and whatever big-bucks brand of appliances was TREN-DY last year.
Posted by Red on 05/27/08 at 10:33 AM
Hey! I HAVE that kitchen table and chairs! At least they didn’t blow it all on buying new furnishings they didn’t need. My butt still fits just fine in my 20 year old chairs.
Bought em about the same time I bought the house. Cost $78 a square foot, I paid too much but you had to buy before you got priced out, you know.
Posted by WaitingToBuyByAndBy on 05/27/08 at 08:57 PM
I don’t think people are getting hung up on these little details, it’s just a running joke that flippers would replace the countertops, carpets, and appliances and then sell for twice what they paid (for the house).
That behavior is kind of a downside for me. Our kids are getting older, but I hate to think what our family would do to wood floors (or whatever they replaced the carpet with). Maybe I’m a ‘70s guy but I always found carpet to be comfy. Anyway, I’m outa luck because in the race to get rich flippers have re-modeled just about every property from here to Barstow.
Posted by lendingmaestro on 05/26/08 at 08:55 PM
What sticks out to me is not the current price or the outrageous purchase price in 2006…
It’s the purchase price of 257k on May 18th 2001.
Posted by NoWow!way on 04/17/08 at 04:44 AM
When a picture of the kitchen is missing in the current market, I immeditely wonder if there are any large appliances left or if the thing has been stripped to the wall by angry occupants who have been forced out.
Posted by alan porter on 04/17/08 at 05:39 AM
eastman
Posted by george8 on 04/17/08 at 06:01 AM
1714 Timberwood can rent for $2300/month. 160 GRM makes it $368k. Any potential knife catcher should keep this in mind.
Posted by AZDavidPhx on 04/17/08 at 06:50 AM
Realizing that they barely made it out of the burning building in time, you know that the people who sold 1512 Timberwood in 2006 to the failed flipper did a huge “HOLY S THAT WAS CLOSE!” when the credit machine stalled a week later.
SUCKER!
Posted by AZDavidPhx on 04/17/08 at 06:55 AM
Posted by Jim on 04/17/08 at 07:57 AM
We sold our one bedroom there for $260k...thinking no one would ever pay more than this for a one bedroom apartment. $100k profit in two years was too good to pass up, but they went on to go for $420k....we had no idea people would get so irrational about real estate.
Posted by Headless Unicorn Guy on 04/17/08 at 08:33 AM
Could you take a look up in North County at the new condos going up in Anaheim, both downtown (Harbor & Lincoln) and around Anaheim Stadium?
The ones at Harbor & Lincoln are zero-bedroom, 2-3 bath “Lofts” originally in the $400+K range. Building is four stories and looks like a Thirties Euro-Bauhaus industrial building, minus the “Joe the Worker” statue on top and Leon Trotsky impersonator haranguing the masses from atop a soapbox before the main entrance.
I ran across the REA for the complex, who told me the “loft units” are intended for young singles and couples fresh out of college. My experience with housing costs tells me the cost of each zero-bedroom, granite-countered “loft” (mortgage, property taxes, & HOA squeeze) comes out to over $3000/month, minimum. How many “young singles and couples fresh out of college” can afford $3000/month?
The last I saw, the starting price on them was in the $380K range, down from over $400K. When I asked, I was told that the Starting Price Was Always $380K, the Starting Price Was NEVER $400+K, Oceania had always been at peace with Eurasia, and the Chocolate Ration had always been ten grams.
Die.
Yuppie.
Scum.
Posted by DeadBeatRenter on 04/17/08 at 08:51 AM
Us gays just LOVE Justin but for this condo, I wouldn’t give them what it went for new (257.000.00) Does this place remind you of your fist cool apartment? Does me!
As Kathy Griffin would say, Justin is an honorary gay. A place of high Honor in American Culture.
Posted by lendingmaestro on 04/17/08 at 09:43 AM
There are IAC units that look icer inside than this place. $225/sq ft is where this is headed, or $325k
Posted by DeadBeatRenter on 04/17/08 at 10:06 AM
Timberlake / Timberwood --UUuurrrggg, get it!
If you read the lyrics close, you can’t tell if he’s singing about a girl or a guy or a house...HHHhhmmm, interesting isn’t it?
Posted by skek on 04/17/08 at 10:47 AM
“The owner purchased in early 2006 with an 80% first mortgage which was a 1% Option ARM. There is a 10% HELOC, which was probably used as purchase money, and a 10% downpayment.”
If you aren’t a flipper who was planning to get out in a year or two, anyone who bought a house with a 1% teaser rate signed their death warrant along with their closing papers. I don’t know if these folks thought they’d move or refi, or maybe they assumed wages would eventually make the payments manageable, but they gambled with their home and credit, and now they are paying the price. Good profile, IR. There’s a lesson to be learned here.
Posted by girlbear on 04/17/08 at 10:49 AM
What is with that kitchen table and chairs? Looks like one I had in 1978.
Posted by vicstah on 04/17/08 at 10:58 AM
Nice IR! Bringing out some JT…
Posted by 7 on 04/17/08 at 11:03 AM
How many “young singles and couples fresh out of college” can afford $3000/month?
Well, it suppose to be purchased by the college grad’s parent, as a graduation or wedding gift. Doesn’t everybody’s parents buy them a house and pay for their college 100%?
Seriously, I do know a few people who actually can afford to buy such a gift for their kids. I am not, BTW.
Posted by lendingmaestro on 04/17/08 at 11:38 AM
They didn’t “think” that’s the problem. I absolutely refused to ever write a purchase with an option arm loan. It’s utter stupidity. By deferring interest they are INSTANTLY losing their downpayment money.
Posted by cosmo kramer on 04/17/08 at 12:13 PM
IR, how can you call the folks at 800 Timberwood delusional? They’ve reduced the asking price by $500.
Posted by Red on 04/17/08 at 01:11 PM
“No similar recent past sales could be found. “
This looks like another cookie cutter condo, yet nothing close has sold recently?
I was expecting a bit of a bounce in prices and sales already, as those who had been looking for awhile saw these lower prices as “cheap”.
I suppose if banks now require down payments, then none of the first time buyers have them, or will have for years. So maybe no bounce.
Posted by houseonlegs on 04/17/08 at 03:21 PM
A lot of the new housing being built in Anahiem was planned to be condo’s but now they are converting them to apartments. I don’t know what they are going to do with the lofts, those would be difficult to lease as apartments too b/c the layout is not room mate friendly.
Posted by alan on 04/17/08 at 03:35 PM
Drop the price?
Posted by califax on 04/17/08 at 04:23 PM
If it doesn’t sell in america - try germany!
http://immobilienusa.wordpress.com/
(still laughing)
Posted by pencipa on 04/17/08 at 04:53 PM
In doing my rent/own calculations (which I do for a different reason than most of you; I do it to keep-convincing myself to “stay rented")… I use $500/month as the HOA ("condo-fee") cost.
Am I ballpark here? What’s the “range” of HOA fee’s?
Thanks y’all…
PS>> I cashed-out of OC housing right at the peak of the bubble, started a business (going strong!). This was *not* skill… In the Navy we used to say “I’d rather be lucky than good”
Posted by Let's Go Anteaters on 04/17/08 at 05:33 PM
if the greenback rebounds against the dollar, buying usa real estate with only another 15% to fall may well be a good idea from the perspective of a euro-holder. also, one of the great things about our great country is we don’t have any nationality restrictions on real estate ownership (unlike almost all of latin america).
investing is really about absorbing inflation and jumping from overvalued entities to undervalued ones. the euro is looking pretty bubbly at the moment IMO. so are all of the spanish coastal properties that germans were loading up on a few years ago.
Posted by Alex on 04/17/08 at 06:36 PM
What I miss a little bit in your posts is an opinion about what you think a current fair market value of the property would be.... and what it might be a year from now
Posted by pencipa on 04/17/08 at 09:00 PM
Califax…
After Spain, the Germans invaded Brazil. No “deals” down there as the Germans have driven prices orbital (by our standards anyway). This info I get from my airline-pilot buddies who do the Rio routes.
In Huntington Beach (gated community, tres-upscale, $1.6M+) prices are holding (down, not-by-much) and in the past month *3* houses have sold, all to Asians (none of whom speak English). Yeah if *just 1* goes to REO, it’s all over :-(
Posted by pencipa on 04/17/08 at 09:15 PM
I would *love* a place “not roommate friendly”. Everywhere I look at apartments, they are “jammed” far-above rated-capacity. Car-traffic (& parking) horrid.
Condo’s not-much-better as people use their garage as an attic, put their cars in the street.
When I was looking (via the web) at Anaheim apartments, it all seemed traffiky and I couldn’t find a 2-car direct-access garage place that was “upscale”. Likely I didn’t look hard enough.
The “loft” approach really intrigues me. I’d like to try it!
Note I’m not inclined to rent “somebody’s condo” as this means buying a w/d/fridge and that’s too “homey” for me. The Gypsy lifestyle rocks! Lets me do things like extended-trips e.g. (from my website)…
Amazing Americana! (Part 1)
Amazing Americana! Driggs ID, Park City UT, ‘Vegas! (Part 2)
...which as a homeowner (for me) was out-of-the-question.
I’ve said this before: America has no “professional renter class” (as does Europe). Too bad.
Posted by califax on 04/21/08 at 02:35 PM
Ok, getting serious, I can’t imagine how stupid one has to be to buy an american house from germany right now.
Yes, the euro is high, dollar is low, but betting on future money exchange rates AND an early soft landing for american house prices is a bit too much balls for a sound brain.
It’s too much a gamble even for greencard winners. If I was to move to the USA I’d go for renting a home for the first risky years.
Posted by Ken on 04/23/08 at 09:51 AM
Is that the kitchen in the background or a closet?
Closet with granite flipper countertops and whatever big-bucks brand of appliances was TREN-DY last year.
Posted by Red on 05/27/08 at 10:33 AM
Hey! I HAVE that kitchen table and chairs! At least they didn’t blow it all on buying new furnishings they didn’t need. My butt still fits just fine in my 20 year old chairs.
Bought em about the same time I bought the house. Cost $78 a square foot, I paid too much but you had to buy before you got priced out, you know.
Posted by WaitingToBuyByAndBy on 05/27/08 at 08:57 PM
I don’t think people are getting hung up on these little details, it’s just a running joke that flippers would replace the countertops, carpets, and appliances and then sell for twice what they paid (for the house).
That behavior is kind of a downside for me. Our kids are getting older, but I hate to think what our family would do to wood floors (or whatever they replaced the carpet with). Maybe I’m a ‘70s guy but I always found carpet to be comfy. Anyway, I’m outa luck because in the race to get rich flippers have re-modeled just about every property from here to Barstow.