Irvine Housing Blog

Reality?

“So if I can’t buy, I gotta pay 40% more or get 40% less?  What’s up with that?”

That is how far out of balance the rent-versus-own calculation has become. Rents in much of Las Vegas are around $1,000 per month. A property that rents for that much only costs about $600 per month to own.

In Orange County if you can’t buy a home, you can generally find a nicer place you can rent for less money than it costs you to own, so bad credit is actually a benefit here. In Las Vegas if you can’t buy a home, you pay a huge premium to a landlord. Nobody in their right mind is buying in Las Vegas because they believe in rapid appreciation, but many want to buy in order to cut their housing costs 40%.

Rents in Las Vegas are all over the price range.
Check yourself: http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/apa/
You can find a condo for $400, 1-bedroom for $600, etc.

It’s wise to rent in Las Vegas because the job market is very unstable.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner has plans to start another oil war in Libya. Will it hurt the city in the middle of nowhere to which you have to drive or fly from everywhere? It’s 600 miles from OC, 20-30 gallons, for $5 a gallon…

$550,000 in South Redondo?  Seriously?

Just looked it up, and it looks like it is close to Joe’s; a big plus.

Foreclosure auctions have always been a threat lenders use to compel borrower compliance. In all likelihood, the last-minute activity was part of a negotiation between the delinquent borrowers and the lender—pay us or we boot you out.

It’s nearly impossible to find and obtain a specific property at auction. Prior to 2007, when a foreclosure was scheduled, it occurred on schedule. No longer. Now, they postpone about 90% of them, and they will do so multiple times.

For instance, I have my eye on a special property in Sun City Anthem I want to buy for my parents. It was scheduled for auction back in December when I first saw it. It was postponed to January, then February, and now March 10. It is very likely it will be postponed yet again.

It’s relatively easy to find foreclosed properties
on the websites of special foreclosure divisions of the US banks. They usually have meaningless names.

For example, you can check the foreclosed properties of Bank of America here: http://www.recontrustco.com

I’ve been watching a property. First, the homeowner sued the bank by the help of a shady attorney; each month the date of the auction was changed to the next month. Now, he goes directly to the bank, and the bank charmingly postpones the auction. He told me that he was promised that he would live in the house for at least a year.

Mofa, I’m also in S. Redondo and keep a track of listings here.  Prices are definitely coming down, but like you mentioned anything decent under 600K that is priced to sell is gone quick.  I saw a cool little house on Avenue D (a block or two east of PCH) for 699K a few months back, that went quick. 

South Redondo is realy unique and definitely commands a premium.  It’s not very freeway accessible, which is either good or bad depending on where you work.  I’m presonally waiting another year or two before we bottom out and then I may pull the trigger.  If possible I would like to get a SFR on one of the Avenue streets in the low 600K range.  I imagine the land will always hold a premium in this area.  Good luck.

You’re right. We should have more pictures of the inside on the web, particularly on this house when the inside is nice.

For this property, it isn’t very good. Anything above the median in Las Vegas is probably still cashflow positive, but not to the degree the below-median properties are.