Making a Small Fortune in Real Estate
Mack the Knife - Frank Sinatra
The people who bought properties as flips in 2007 had to put their own money into the transaction. All of these people made a small fortune by starting out with a larger one.
One of the myths of the real estate bulls is the rich-foreigners-will-save-us fallacy. This myth has a hint of racism to it: foreigners must be culturally superior to have the money to come to the rescue of us poor Americans. Whenever I see this argument raised, I always link to a post done by Rich Toscano at Piggington.com called The Dumb Money. As stated in the article, "Far from being a positive fundamental, a sudden excess of foreign participation in an asset market is indicative of ill-informed speculative money at work. When the foreigners really start piling on, it's always a good sign that the end of the bubble is nigh." As you might have surmised, today's featured property was a flip attempt by someone with a non-Westernized name (as was yesterday's.) The stupidity of this particular flip is breathtaking to me. It was purchased as REO for well over what the lender paid, and now it is being offered for much less. The entire loss is going to be the flipper's money.
If the property looks familiar, it is because we have featured it before: Brookside Comp Killer.
Asking Price: $660,000
Income Requirement: $165,000
Downpayment Needed: $132,000
Monthly Equity Burn: $5,500
Purchase Price: $740,000
Purchase Date: 12/19/2007
Address: 4342 Brookside Street, Irvine, CA 92604
| Beds: | 4 |
| Baths: | 1 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 2,200 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $300 |
| Lot Size: | 5,623 Sq. Ft. |
| Property Type: | Single Family Residence |
| Style: | Contemporary |
| Year Built: | 1971 |
| Stories: | 1 Level |
| Area: | Portola Springs |
| County: | Orange |
| MLS#: | Y803965 |
| Source: | SoCalMLS |
| Status: | Active |
| On Redfin: | 3 days |
That description is a lie (and annoying for several reasons.) This is not REO. Do you think the seller is so embarrassed that they are losing so much money on the deal so quickly that they are pretending it is still bank owned?
This property was REO when the bank purchased it on 12/17/2007 for $678,340. It was sold to a woman "as her sole and separate property" on 12/19/2007 for $740,000. Perhaps the husband knew it was a dumb idea? The lender had to be thankful someone was foolish enough to purchase a house for over $60,000 more than they paid at auction, particularly given the sorry state of the market last December. A lender was willing to loan 80% of the $740,000 purchase price, but the owner had to put $148,000 down. If this property sells for its asking price, the owner stands to lose $119,600 after a 6% commission. Basically, they lost $120K in 6 months. That knife was quite sharp.
I doubt a regular reader of the IHB would have made that deal. I must admit, I feel a bit of schadenfreude on that one 
Thus concludes another week at the Irvine Housing Blog. Come back next week as we continue chronicling ‘the seventh circle of real estate hell.’ Have a great weekend.
.
Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear
And he shows 'em, pearly white
Just a jack knife has Macheath, dear
And he keeps it, keeps it way out of sight
When that shark bites with his teeth, dear
Scarlet billows, they begin to spread
Fancy white gloves though has Macheath, dear
So there's rarely, never one trace of red
On the sidewalk, one Sunday mornin'
Lies a body oozin' life
Someone's sneaking 'round the corner
Could that someone, perhaps, perchance, be Mack the Knife?
From a tugboat on the river goin' slow
A cement bag, it is dropping down
Yeah, the cement is just for the weight, dear
You can make a large bet Macheath is back in town
My man Louie Miller, he split the scene, babe
After drawin' out all the bread from his stash
Now Macheath spends just like a pimp, babe
Do you suppose that our boy, he did something rash?
Ah, old Satchmo, Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darrin
They did this song nice, Lady Ella too
They all sang it, with so much feeling
That Old Blue Eyes, he ain't gonna add nothing new
But with Quincy's big band, right behind me
Swinging hard, Jack, I know I can't lose
When I tell you, all about Mack the Knife babe
It's an offer, you can never refuse
We got George Benson, we got Newman & Foster
We got the Brecker Brothers, and Hampton's bringing up the rear
All these bad cats, and more, are in the band now
They make the greatest sounds, you ever gonna hear
Hey Sookie Taudry, Jenny Diver, Polly Peachum, Old Miss Lulu Brown
Oh the line forms, on the right dear
Now that Macheath, I mean that man Macheath
Yeah he's bad, mercy mercy
Yeah he's badder than old Leroy Brown
You better lock your door, and call the law
Because Macheath's, that bum,
He's back in town
Mack the Knife - Frank Sinatra
WOW!! Flippers 0-2 on this one.
I don’t think anything can illustrate the downward spiral better than this property is doing.
LOL!
Good to have you back, AZDavidPhx.
Thanks. Been awhile!
LOL
My daughter is a new dedicated reader. She loves the fact that songs are tied to each of the new threads. I bet she comments on this picture. Thanks for the laugh this am David
Are images done just with img tags?
Another flipper turned rental? No photos of interior? 4 bed and 1 bath? Is this correct?
This flipper is flopping big. Another dumb knife catcher with dumb money at $660k at this time will be hard to come by. Well, that is what I think.
In a great day, she will lose $120k in 6 month. In a bad day, she will lose all her money in this plus endless emotional torture until it ends.
I suspect the 1 bath is incorrect. Redfin has been giving strange bathroom numbers lately.
It is interesting to speculate what must have gone through her head on this flip. There must have been a great deal of enthusiasm when it was purchased 2 days after the auction for $60,000 more than the auction price. She really wanted this property. Somewhere over the following couple of months, she went through all the stages of grief and came to realize if she didn’t sell now, the property would become a short sale and she would lose both her money and her credit. I give her some respect for moving through denial, anger and fear so quickly and getting to acceptance before the problem got much worse.
I love this site but I must protest - Mack the Knife is one of my favorite songs of all time, as performed by the late great Bobby Darrin, not old blue eyes (despite the fact that he covered every song known to man).
one of my fav songs too, but I always sing it while doing the hand puppet shark with my pinky as jaws!
I’d hedge my bet that the 120K down payment was nothing more than some bubbly froth from a 2006 sale. That would explain the rapid progression through the denial stage; the loss being more paper in nature.
Well, if she had the cash from a 2006 sale, then it was no longer just on paper. She could have just saved the cash instead of diving back into the RE market. So I’d say it’s a genuine cash loss for the buyer. I wonder what percentage of flippers actually stopped reinvesting at the right time. We always think of the big shot RE speculators from ‘06, but I’ll bet almost all of them still owned “investment properties” when the bubble popped.
Paper? That’s the same BS the casino’s try to make you believe - Oh, I won big so I’m playing with the casino’s money. No—once those chips get plopped in front of you, it’s YOUR money.
This flopper lost their OWN money - and rightly so. One more greedy flopper burned out of the market.
I’m in amazement that someone would purchase a house in Orange County in DECEMBER of 2007! Not only that, but that she would try to do it as a flip.
I could probably understand purchasing, if it were a home you really wanted to live in, and you planned on staying there. But buying it as an investment is just dumb.
Wow.
How can you blame her? In December 2007 the market was flush with great deals on houses that were priced below December 2006 prices. Great deals were to be had by all - it was a “great time to buy” in a “buyers market”. All those sky-is-falling chicken-littles missed the boat.
Considering the number of “there’s never been a better time to buy a new home” ads I keep hearing on the radio on my way to work, I suspect that a lot of people thought that same exact way. “The market’s dropped, but it’s stopped, so if I buy now, I’ll make a fortune in six months when everything rebounds!“
IPO, where are thou, this is what would have happened to you had you drank too much koolaid in 2007
“IPO, where are thou, this is what would have happened to you had you drank too much koolaid in 2007”
Perhps he’s out catching falling knives ?
Maybe she was in it for the “long haul” and it did and does not matter to her if she loses 10% or 20%.
Yeah ... right!
Maybe she thought this was the original Brady Bunch house, and planned to turn it into a tourist attraction?
who would flip a house with 20% down? they she also get a 30 year fix loan? it doesn’t make sense at all. ....
...and the “separate property” designation is unusual, too. Means she was married, but buying the house outside of the marital estate. I think there’s more to this story than a failed flip. I don’t have much sympathy for flippers in this environment, but I do have sympathy for people who are forced to sell in this market due to life’s circumstances. I hope the seller doesn’t fall in the latter category—that’s a lot of money to lose.
IR wrote: “One of the myths of the real estate bulls is the rich-foreigners-will-save-us fallacy. This myth has a hint of racism to it: foreigners must be culturally superior to have the money to come to the rescue of us poor Americans”.
This from bloomberg.com: “The $2.19 trillion of government debt held abroad was equivalent to 16 percent of the $13.6 trillion GDP as of March 31. The last time foreigners owned so much U.S. debt was in the mid-19th century, when state and corporate bonds for the construction of railroads, canals and highways were purchased by Europeans, said Taylor, the University of California professor.“
Great point about the real estate market. Hopefully that same logic does not hold true for our massive debt (last time I checked $30,903 per citizen). After all, someone needs to finance the loans (stimulus checks), wars and entitlement programs bankrupting this country. It isn’t so much “poor Americans” as it is spend-happy Americans.
Did you notice the price of gas lately?
Did you notice that the US Dollar is being devalued?
Those “foreigners” are getting hosed.
Ahhhhhhhh, the foriegn money that’s supposed to come flooding in and rescue all the developers and flippers!
It’s just another rescue fantasy of the type people have when they are in very deep trouble. Miami and Chicago high rise condo developers are sitting there praying for all this Euro money that’s surely going to come in and soak up all that inventory at ask prices, just like I’m gonna win the megamillions in tonight’s drawing- except I’m not buying any tickets, and the handful of European investors eyeballing these condos are very scared and skeptical, and want to buy for 15 cents on the dollar, with guarantees against any future liabilities for the building as a whole.
The amazing thing is that the wannabe-flippers don’t even negotiate their purchase prices.They just buy at the same price the place has not sold at for 8 months and wonder why they can’t sell even higher.
My youngest brother was forced out of his old apartment in New York last year by a landlord who wanted to convert the place into condos to sell to those same phantom foreigners. I’m certain that he’s doing a great job of paying his bills with phantom money, because apparently the building is nearly empty.
the foreign money may come in, but generally it’s not going to buy crappy houses like this one. Maybe the high-rise apartment people are being more realistic. I’m thinking the foreign money is going to be buying up properties that are actually valuable.
Of all the properties we’ve seen with HELOC abuse or ill-timed attempted flips, this is the first one that makes me truly wonder if it wasn’t an attempted flip. That there’s some backstory here that would make sense. It is head-scratching as to why she would pay so much over the auction price at a terrible time in the market. Put 20% of her own money. And then be selling so quickly. One can only speculate in thought as to why she would speculate in Real Estate.
“ It is head-scratching as to why she would pay so much over the auction price at a terrible time in the market. Put 20% of her own money. And then be selling so quickly. One can only speculate in thought as to why she would speculate in Real Estate. “
Its called DUMB MONEY.
And this fool and her money will soon be parted.
snicker.
Either that, or someone told her that the previous owner had left a million-dollar stash of drugs in the wall, and wanted to be the first to get at it.
Redfin says sellers entertain lease offers. Any idea of what $ they would lease for?
I suspect that the rental equivalent value is still in the $450,000 range.
I’m sure that most of us are aware that “Mack the Knife” is from Kurt Weill’s “Three Penny Opera”? He used the same tune in the finale, and here are the words (my translation - no attempt at a “singing translation”):
And so it comes to a good end,
Everything under one roof.
If the money is good,
The end is usually good.
Will the story stand as a hint,
Or as a threat?
Finally united at the table of the poor,
they eat bread.
Because on one hand, some are in the dark,
And others are in light.
And you watch in the light
What we see in the dark.
My Offer
After giving this property a thorough look, my offer today is $264,100.00. I believe this is what this property is worth.
Based on info on lexis.com, the buyer purchased the following properties:
Garden Grove in 11/2007
9342 CENTRAL AVE, GARDEN GROVE, CA 92844 from PMC Bancorp, same as the Irvine lender.
Antioch, CA in 11/2007
5652 LEITRIM WAY, ANTIOCH, CA 94531 from PMC.
Oakland, CA in 11/2007
7823 NEY AVE, OAKLAND, CA 94605-3309 from PMC.
Inheritance?
It was “found money” (money never actually earned by the holder - thus there is a detachment of real ownership), perhaps?
All those properties at the same time. Looks like the bubbleheads during the stockmarket entering with found money. Dumb and fast in losses.
BTW: I didnt know that portola springs had housing this old?
Drums, please!
Ladies and Gentleman.
I’d like to take this opportunity to propose the creation of a new honor at the Irvine Housing Blog: The Chainsaw Catcher.
This dubious distinction goes to all the flippers that were living under a rock (I can’t find other explanation) and decided to “invest” in this declining real estate market ignoring all the media headlines about real estate bubble bursting, foreclosures, credit crunch, etc. and they gambled anyways, which they started to show up after the credit crunch officially started on 08/2007.
LOL awesome idea rocker.
Come to think of it this property really suites the new Chainsaw Catcher Title. At first glance one might assume that the giant stain on the street in MLS photo was oil, but it is in fact blood!
LOL! That is great. I will use it.
After losing $20K a month for the last 6 months, the knife catcher title felt a little small, undersized, therefore the creation of a new honor was needed, something that describes the speed at which the equity wounds were inflicted, therefore a chainsaw was the appropriate object that came to mind.
I’m all for it, Rocker, but you’ll need one more: the Colostomy Bag Catcher. Trying to catch a running chainsaw is bad enough, but there’s nothing quite like frantically trying to catch a falling bag of shit and having it splatter all over you in the process. And no, please don’t ask me how I know this.
IR—>That knife was quite sharp.
you mean that AXE was quite sharp
I’ve got to wonder if this was some inside fraud re-flip to a relative.
Weirdly, this MLS listing has the exact same photo as was used in the attempted short sale last spring.
Either this is a truly lazy real estate agent who stole the photo from last year instead of driving over to take a new one, or a seller supplied photo.
“Either this is a truly lazy real estate agent who stole the photo from last year instead of driving over to take a new one, or a seller supplied photo”
I would bet its a truly lazy realturd.
Something tells me this wasn’t a flip-gone-bad. No flipper on earth would EVER put 20% down in a declining market. To me, it smells like a divorce.
I’m guessing an inheritance.
Either divorce, or inheritance doesnt matter…
The bottom line is this:
This sucker lost a shit load of money within 7 months. OUCH ! DUMB MONEY FOR SURE !
At least she wont be alone though, because there are many more people out there in the OC just like her. Im sure if she does a google search, she can find a support group near where she lives….
Misery LOVES company.
Next…
I’m thinking $408,000.00 and falling to about $390,000.00
Only 1 bath?
This is a really nice house, but i like the mercedes e-class better:) I´ve got the same.