Irvine Housing Blog

This property is worth at most $200/sqft

Only if the RE bubble had continued to inflate, the asking price would have been $1.1 million for 14% increase a year. And it would have been sold in a day with multiple offers over asking. The owners would have walked away with additional $250k from the closing table after paying off $850k in mortgage and HELOC. The price would have been $740/sf.

At least, that was plan A.

Well, plan B is not too bad either. The owner walks away with $196k-$296k already consumed in luxury. The lenders and other tax payers hold the bag.

The market in Quail Hill must be better than I thought—it looks like they actually increased the price by $50K  

I think it is pretty obvious that they parked renters in the unit.  Absolutely no pictures that show the interior that would have all those pride of ownership upgrades on display.

I remember going thru the models in Quail Hill and being astounded at the amount of activity and the high prices that people were willing to pay.  Many shared the idea that this was entry housing and they’d sell it in a couple of years for a whole lot more and move up or cash out when their kid finished up in college. 

Some of those condos had three levels in them and the RE estate agent told me that grannies were buying those up.  If that is not some kind of short term $$$ scheme cooking, then I’d like to meet those grannies and see how spry they are and how many years exactly did they plan on being a little mountain goat in their own homes. 

There are elevators that can be placed in older homes with staircases, but these units are not designed with that in mind.

The three level thing did attract UCI students and beginning professionals because they could jointly purchase the unit and live on their own level for an illusion of privacy. 

Quail Hill didn’t do much in the way of negotiating with buyers back then and all those people who overpaid because they just wanted a piece of the action are in for some nasty travails ahead.

I’ve been following Quail Hill for some time. Although I love the location, that area has some of the most WTF prices in all of Irvine. There must be oil sitting under that development or something. Reality will hit them eventually, but it is going to hurt a lot more the longer that community stays in denial.

Don’t underestimate the power of Denial and ego.      Especially in a city that prides itself on image and perception.

Even Ed McMahon drank the HELOC Kool-Aid!!!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121254369208443705.html?mod=blogs

“ReconTrust, a unit of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, on Feb. 28 filed a notice of default on a $4.8 million Countrywide loan backed by Mr. McMahon’s home. The notice was filed with the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office but hasn’t previously come to light. According to the filing, Mr. McMahon was then about $644,000 in arrears on the loan. It isn’t clear whether Countrywide still owns the loan or is acting on behalf of investors who acquired it. Public records also show that Mr. McMahon had a separate home-equity line of credit from Countrywide of up to $300,000 secured by the same house…”

Why you make fun my friend Engrish. listing make perfect sense. He good agent. work hard. support family. make good money for self and for investor. why you make fun of “countertops with full back flash”? you see picture of camera flash in window no? that what he talking about. you lucky they no have platinum sound package. then this condo sell for one million $$$

As our local Grand Dragon Cal has so slyly tried to point out, QH is a magnet for Asian buyers.  A lot of them are from outside the U.S.  With the weakness of the peso, uh, I mean dollar, QH must look absolutely dirt cheap for them.  But eventually even FOBs must figure out that they can be living in Beverly Hill vs. Quail Hill for the price.  Make no mistake, QH is going down, and the longer the slump is, the harder will be the fall.

The fact is that prices have dropped more than 20% and they continue their downward decent

Uh… I think that’d be descent.

$800,000.  Probably $48,000 in commissions if it would sell for that.

For the possible $48,000 commission.  We get a photo of the outside. A picture of a valance.  A cheap valance at that which they probably paid $200 for at Z Gallery that has $5 of cloth and workmanship in it.  And a second picture of an outside which looks to be a completely different unit.

Either way,  $800,000 and the best they have to show is a picture of a valance.

This is just me but I always feel a little twinge for the realtor on these things.

They have to pay the MLS listing fee, print the fliers and buy chicken wings at Ralphs for the broker open and all that.

And then it expires.

Like it had never been….......

Here’s a plan (for a builder): do a 2-for-1 sale!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/06/in-escondido-bu.html

I have no idea if it’s coming for Irvine as well.

I think they moved on from kool aid to crack.  Note to idiot homeowners, your house is not an ATM.

My Offer
After giving this property a thorough look, my offer today is $170,900.00. I believe this is what this property is worth.

Nothing above $250,000.

Or, since the owner still keeps INCREASING his asking price, he could rent it out.  He’ll only need $8000 a month rent to break even; with 3BR, 3BA, and separate Family room, there shouldn’t be a problem with turning it into a Mexiflopper and putting four or more full Mexican FAMILIES in it to make that rent.  That big pergraniteel kitchen could keep several five-gallon pots of menudo going at all times…

Hey, wait a minute!

Don’t we have highly paid real estate professionals on the case here?

Don’t they use finely tuned tools to determine a realistic price that’s expected to result in a successful sale in a reasonable time at the best possible price?

WTF?

Does Holly just need a bunch of busy work to keep her off the street? without making any real money?

If so, I think she should take a listing for everyone posting here starting at $2M…

We can help with some lovely pictures too.

On a serious note, this is one great reason why the bubble will take so long to deflate.

Any agent valuing their time should honestly tell the owner what’s it’s worth and walk if the number doesn’t fit into the plans.

This “vanity” listing is wasting 0’s and 1’s—and lots of everyones time.

Some used car salesperson, I mean real estate professional she’s turning out to be.

OFF TOPIC: My friend recently had his HELOC reduced from 100K to 30K.  He was shocked.  Not that he was using it, but he likes to have it around just in case.

I am not sure that realtor knows what they are doing (or is this something that the owner listed).  Who takes picture of a window treatment to sell a house? And while I am on the subject of window treatments, that is not a good one for the kitchen. That is one for the living room, dining room, or master bedroom.

IR…

Maybe you should add the Zillow estimate to your listings for comparison.

Zillow estimate is $577k and the other service was $615 so these owners are asking $300k over zillow.  In the past Zillow was estimating on the high side but since their update last month they seem to be tracking much better with current sales.

Don’t you think people look a zillow before they list?

Full Back Flash?

I think they mean back splash:) Am I now entitled to a 6% comission?

Does the house actually make ATM machine beeps when you rob it?

I feel bad for Holly (if she is the listing agent).  I think someone should pay her the asking price of $800k plus another $100k on top of that for just gracing us with her presence, their first-born child and a promise to wash her car every Saturday.  Priceless gems like her are getting rarer by the day…..appreciate them people…before they go extinct!