S.O.S. The Market Is Sinking

Apr 29th, 2009   by IrvineRenter  in Short Sale

Market distress is clearly working its way up the market strata. Today’s featured property is a Northwood II 4/4 asking $285/SF. 

34 Bombay front 34 Bombay kitchen

Asking Price: $680,000

Address:  34 Bombay, Irvine, CA 92620

S.O.S.—Dr. Bombay

We lived outside Calcutta in a little wooden house
I lived there with my family and 21 cows
But now they all are gone and life is not so fun
But what can you expect here in Tigerland

One of the first new communities in Irvine to start showing stress as prices weakened was Northwood II. I first profiled the abundance of listings in this small neighborhood back in March of 2007 in the post Bamboozled. I have also featured this neighborhood in Is fear gripping the market?, Bombs Away, and Bamboo Hoo. There is even a thread in our forums devoted to the observation that The gated Northwood II is getting killed.

In the first post, Bamboozled, I had this little chart:

 

Bamboo Spreadsheet

Remember when prices used to look like that?

Toxic financing has already begun wiping out owners in this tract. At this point, only those who put more than 25% down are above water; every other homeowner in Northwood II is currently underwater.

Well, some are getting out. With little or no chance of appreciation—appreciation is why most of them bought here—there isn’t much point in continuing to pay the bloated mortgage on these properties, so the owners are bailing out.

There is plenty of distress in this neighborhood to go around. Check out these properties:

34 Bombay front 34 Bombay kitchen

Asking Price: $680,000

Income Requirement: $170,000

Downpayment Needed: $136,000

Monthly Equity Burn: $5,666

Purchase Price: $789,000

Purchase Date: 9/29/2004

Address:  34 Bombay, Irvine, CA 92620

Beds: 4
Baths: 4
Sq. Ft.: 2,386
$/Sq. Ft.: $285
Lot Size: -
Property Type: Single Family Residence
Style: Other
Stories: 2
Year Built: 2005
Community: Northwood
County: Orange
MLS#: P684716
Source: SoCalMLS
Status: Active
On Redfin: 3 days

This well appointed Bella Rosa Home is located in the exclusive gated
community of Northwood II. This newer home is upgraded with granite
counter top, tile flooring, berber carpet, & very well landscaping,
Master bedroom in the downstair, and much much more!!! A must must
see!!!

How many times must I comment on the three exclamation point nonsense before realtors stop doing it? Let me put this in language every realtor understands: THREE EXCLAMATION POINTS MAKES YOU LOOK AMATEURISH!!!

The first 80% of this description is fine, then it concluded with “downstair, and much much more!!! A must must see!!!” A misspelled word followed by realtorese and exclamation points. Stop! Please!

  • This property was purchase on 9/29/2004 for $789,000. The owner used a $630,848 first mortgage and a $158,152 downpayment.
  • On 1/25/2005 he refinanced the first mortgage with a $636,600 Option ARM with a 1% teaser rate and opened a HELOC for $78,850.
  • On 3/14/2005 he opened a HELOC for $150,000 and got out his downpayment.
  • On 2/21/2006 he refinanced the first mortage with a $792,000 Option ARM with a 1% teaser rate.
  • On 3/9/2006 he opened a HELOC for $100,000.
  • Total property debt is $892,000 plus negative amortization.
  • Total mortgage equity withdrawal is $255,400 including his downpayment.

If this property sells for its current asking price, and if a 6% commission is paid, the total loss to the lender will be $252,800 plus negative amortization.

I live in Tigerland I’m an indiana man
I’m used to walk around with a snake in my hand
Dr Bombay is my name and my father has the same
But everything it changed here in Tigerland

S O S the tiger took my father
S O S the tiger took my brother
S O S the tiger took my mother
S O S the tiger took my family

We lived outside Calcutta in a little wooden house
I lived there with my family and 21 cows
But now they all are gone and life is not so fun
But what can you expect here in Tigerland


S.O.S.—Dr. Bombay


real estate home sales

Astute Observations

Astute Observation by Formerbanker
2009-04-29 05:26 AM

I never cease to be amazed at how bad the listing pictures are…why don’t sellers (or their realtors) spend 5 minutes clearing all the junk off of countertops and stashing clutter into a closet ?  My guess - they just don’t care anymore. The houses themselves look depressed. 

On a big picture note - wow - stunning price drops.

Astute Observation by Lee in Irvine
2009-04-29 06:53 AM

I’ve asked the same question.  I’ve seen a lot of photos in listings that are out of focus or noisy.  This is completely unacceptable ... photos are a very important element of the listing.  Along with price, photos attract people to strike an interest to spend more time looking at the listing.  I think photos are more important than the description.  But that’s just me.

If I were a realtor, one of my first business expenses would be a modern SLR camera with a ultra wide lens.

Astute Observation by Geotpf
2009-04-29 07:56 AM

On the low end in Riverside, you are lucky if you get ONE photo of the outside of the house.  The REO condo listed yesterday is typical of this type of listing.  (BTW, it appears that condo sold-it’s off the market now.)

Astute Observation by AZDavidPhx
2009-04-29 08:11 AM

.
Simpsons_Bombay.jpg

Astute Observation by CougBear
2009-04-29 09:41 AM

LOL. That’s awesome!!!

Astute Observation by IrvineRenter
2009-04-29 10:35 AM

That one is a keeper. I love how you put the Scream with Homer over the mantle.

Astute Observation by Lolz
2009-04-29 01:36 PM

I always thought Irvine looked like Springfield. Now I know it’s true!

Astute Observation by doug r
2009-05-02 04:45 PM

http://www.thesoundarchive.com/play-wav-files.asp?sound=simpsons/barney/belching.wav

snake

Astute Observation by Walter
2009-04-29 09:08 AM

For a short sale, those pics are not that bad. Agents don’t want to spend much time on short sales, and the owner is depressed, drinking away their troubles, or could care less what happens because they are not going to be profiting from the sale.

Astute Observation by Chuck in Newport
2009-04-29 05:36 AM

You forgot to mention “very well landscaping.”  Nice.

Astute Observation by Freetrader
2009-04-29 06:06 AM

Obviously, “very well” is a landscaping technique that is, um, very well known to realtors like this one, but not so well known to us non-professionals.

Either that, or their is a very deep cistern in the back yard.

Astute Observation by louisrasera
2009-04-29 02:06 PM

I love the pointing out the faults of others whilst you fumble.. hillbilly speak..their is a deep cistern up in them their hills…dee ta dee

Astute Observation by AZDavidPhx
2009-04-29 06:38 AM

“very well” landscaping.  I love it.

You did good Mr. listing agent.  I’m sure you’ll do an even weller job in the future.

Astute Observation by MalibuRenter
2009-04-29 08:11 AM

A “very well”, like the related “artesian well” taps the underground aquifer, providing free water with no chlorination or other treatment.  Excellent for growing food, and also does not stain/bleach building exteriors.

Astute Observation by Boston2theBay
2009-04-29 10:00 AM

I had a 500’ artesian well when I lived in New England. You need substantial filtering and well pumps go out if you run them too hard (like for spinklers on a big lot). I was always scared about what happened if the well ran dry.

Astute Observation by Jumparound
2009-04-29 05:44 AM

What scares me the most is that every week IR reports more than $ 1,000,000 in losses to lender. For the last 2 years.
Thats 5 houses a week @ an avarage of 200 grand.
Hmm, it might even be closer to 1,5 mil a week..

Now, picture an iceberg :D
And now think about the enormous losses thats is per week per bubblestate…

Astute Observation by Lee in Irvine
2009-04-29 07:20 AM

The toxic asset problems are not over.

The gov’t stress test assumes the worst case scenario is 10.3 percent unemployment by 2010.  That’s laughable.  The baseline and more adverse scenarios are so optimistic that actual data for 2009 could be worse than the adverse scenario.  In fact, it’s April and we’ve almost reached the base line unemployment for next year.

Hate to sound so gloomy, but most of these banks will undoubtedly become much closer wards of the federal gov’t.

I think it’s time for the gov’t to stop bullshiting people.

Astute Observation by Geotpf
2009-04-29 07:57 AM

10.3% nationwide sounds right.  California will be higher than that, of course.

Astute Observation by AZDavidPhx
2009-04-29 08:32 AM

Well it can’t stay that way for long. 

As has been pointed out by some astute observers here in the past - California has all of the country’s finest talent.  The country cannot afford to have this pool of awesomeness out of work for too long if we plan on continuing to improve our society and make better progress so that the lower rungs of civilization in the remaining 49 can eek their way by.

Astute Observation by OC Progressive
2009-04-29 08:46 AM

LOL!!!

The awesomeness is most awesome in the smug, satisfied world of South Orange County, where we made our houses pay us with tax-free income every year, unlike the chumps in the rest of the country who were paying for their houses.

Astute Observation by Lee in Irvine
2009-04-29 08:51 AM

Well Said ... +1

Astute Observation by lowrydr310
2009-04-29 10:19 AM

Not everyone in South OC relied on their house as a source of income. My brotha is Laguna Niguel bought his house in 98 for $350K and never tapped the equity, instead choosing to responsibly pay the loan.

He’s in great shape now; he has a very nice home that has a reasonable mortgage payment and very reasonable property taxes and HOA dues.


Just for fun, I checked Zillow and it still says the house is worth $750K+ but that is still hyperinflated. The 1998 purchase price of $350K is in line with what household incomes in the neighborhood can afford.

Prices NEED to fall back to these levels, that’s the only way to restore order in the market and the only way to free up cash so us consumers can start spending again. Any government trickery is just delaying the inevitable. Always remember that the lower the mortgage payment, the more money there is to spend and keep our economy going.

Astute Observation by lowrydr310
2009-04-29 10:22 AM

I should also mention that he’s currently unemployed and looking for work, however he’s not struggling. His wife is still employed and her salary is more than adequate to cover their living expenses. See where being responsible gets you?

Does anyone have any estimate on how many people have lost their jobs, where they completely relied on those jobs to pay their high debt servicing costs? What effect does that have on the housing market?

Astute Observation by Geotpf
2009-04-29 01:00 PM

Zillow is, not to mince words, completely fucked up.  Their numbers are pulled from thin air, as far as I can tell.  The fact that they seem to count bank foreclosures as actual purchases (even though they supposedly don’t) makes matters worse.  Lots of REOs I see have a Zillow chart that’s falling, falling, until the bank takes it back for a fictional price, and then it shoots up to that price, even though the house is really worth half that.

Their numbers are like short sales and Bank of America-just ignore them and pretend they aren’t there.

Astute Observation by Chris
2009-04-29 02:02 PM

“As has been pointed out by some astute observers here in the past - California has all of the country’s finest talent.  The country cannot afford to have this pool of awesomeness out of work for too long if we plan on continuing to improve our society and make better progress so that the lower rungs of civilization in the remaining 49 can eek their way by.”

Yes and Californicators can start by finding a vaccine for the swine flu.

Oink grin

Astute Observation by Chris
2009-04-29 02:05 PM

Being “really” responsible is being able to be live frugally during unemployment when you save a lot during the bubble years while anticipating for this disaster to occur.

Now how many Americans fall into this category?

Astute Observation by darms
2009-04-29 03:26 PM

Me, laid off a year ago today…
cool smile

Astute Observation by Chris
2009-04-29 09:58 PM

Good for you. I’m in the same boat except I’m still employed.

Still waiting for that sev pkg…...........

Astute Observation by Lee in Irvine
2009-04-29 08:34 AM

You may be right ... 10.3 percent ... however, that’s not the gov’t baseline for unemployment ... it’s the most adverse scenario.  The gov’t says the baseline for unemployment is 8.8 percent next year.  This is way too opportunistic.

The stress test also assumes -3.3% in GDP negative growth for the most adverse scenario.  Yet this morning the gov’t released the actual GDP numbers ... a drop of -6.1% for the quarter.

Astute Observation by Chris M
2009-04-29 09:30 AM

So of course the market is up today. ???

Astute Observation by Nomono
2009-04-29 10:11 AM

Usually when the market ignores bad news, it’s a signal of something bad to come. The market has ignored bad news in the beginning of January and in the beginning of February before.

Astute Observation by Lee in Irvine
2009-04-29 12:22 PM

I stopped looking at the stock market as a forward looking indicator a long time ago.  Go back to Oct 2007, the DOW was trading at all-time highs (14k+), right in the face of the worst economic crisis since The Great Depression.

Quant boxes have more influence on market activity than individual investors.  They are mindless computers without economic understanding ... they look for trading anomalies, and act on them within seconds.

Astute Observation by tazman
2009-04-29 12:02 PM

The actual GDP (and it’s not for the 1st quarter, it’s the annualized rate that is reported) loss is about 3.3%.  The 6.1% number also includes a reduction in inventories.  It’s kind of phony to think of inventory draw-downs as GDP loss, as they have already been made.

Also, for anyone who cares, remember that the Guvmint’s unemployment rate does NOT count people who gave up looking for a job (whether they went back to grad school, or just decided to be a house dad,mom) nor people who are working part-time when they want full-time work.  So any unemployment number you see, you should add at least 2-3% on top to get the true unemployment rate.

Astute Observation by Lee in Irvine
2009-04-29 12:54 PM

<i>The actual GDP (and it’s not for the 1st quarter, it’s the annualized rate that is reported) loss is about 3.3%<i>

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)—The U.S. economy contracted violently again in the first quarter of the year as business investment declined at a record rate, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

BTW, We know it’s annualized, but it’s also based on economic activity for the 1st Q.  It is the 1st Q GDP.

Astute Observation by MalibuRenter
2009-04-29 08:17 AM

I have a feeling other scenarios have been run, but only the two announced scenarios will be revealed.  Either that, or a week after the announcement they run new scenarios.

If I had been in charge of the project, I would have used a technique which avoids the problem with scenarios.  I would have run a simulation with various combinations of unemployment, home price declines, and GDP declines.  Then, I would see what circumstances put each bank below required capital levels, and what circumstances put them into insolvency.

That kind of a technique also tends to show what kind of risk is most severe for each type of lender.  If you are primarily a credit card issuer, unemployment will be your worst problem.  If you are primarily a mortgage lender, home price declines will be more important.  If you are a commercial lender, GDP will be more important to you.

Astute Observation by AZDavidPhx
2009-04-29 08:26 AM

What scares me the most is that every week IR reports more than $ 1,000,000 in losses to lender. For the last 2 years.

Yea, but the NEWS just reported yesterday that consumers are feeling a lot more “confident” now.  So you need not worry. 

I know-I know… I know what you are thinking; tremendous financial losses, foreclosures, unemployment, bailouts, etc.  I say irrelevant .  If we all just cuddle up together, stick our heads in the sand, and pretend everything is cool then things will get better.  It’s just a big mind game is all… 

We are going to pray our way out of this and think happy-thoughts.

Now, let’s all go and get ourselves into some debt. On 3! 1…2…3!

Astute Observation by Lee in Irvine
2009-04-29 09:14 AM

We are going to pray our way out of this and think happy-thoughts.

1) Know exactly what you want.
2) Ask the universe for it.
3) Feel, behave and know as if the object of your desire is on its way.
4) Be open to receive it and let go of (the attachment to) the outcome.

Now repeat after me, “there is no recession, I’m not at risk of losing my job, I will sell my home for a 100% profit next year” ~ See, it’s already working!!!

Astute Observation by AZDavidPhx
2009-04-29 09:55 AM

.
recession_is_over_think_happy.jpg

Astute Observation by Major Schadenfreude
2009-04-29 12:44 PM

You guys are sounding like Tim Geithner.

Astute Observation by Bitter Renter
2009-04-30 10:58 PM

Wow, that’s a pretty freaky and demented one, AZ!  Nicely done.  cool smile

Astute Observation by lowrydr310
2009-04-29 10:25 AM

That makes me think of a bumper sticker I saw last week:

“I REFUSE to participate in a recession”

Astute Observation by newbie2008
2009-04-29 02:09 PM

Possible if you live off the grid.

Astute Observation by louisrasera
2009-04-29 04:23 PM

archie was poolside basking in the sun and veronica said..how can you lay by the pool with all the problems in the world and archie said if everyone laid by the pool…there would be no problems in the world…

Astute Observation by winstongator
2009-04-29 05:55 AM

I’ve seen the complete price erosion of a couple of WCI communities in FL.  One where most of the construction completed in late 2006/early 2007, putting every buyer underwater.  Whole blocks of 20-30 $1Mln range homes where every home has problems on the horizon.  One street has 4 homes owned by one speculator.  Another development where prices are falling below 2002-3 new construction pricing levels.

Recent list prices on Bamboo
62 - $900k
65 - $830k
64 - $759k (was listed at $1050k, prev sale $950)
43 - $589k

Astute Observation by AZDavidPhx
2009-04-29 08:28 AM

One street has 4 homes owned by one speculator.

Like in the Monopoly board game?  Man, he should raze those houses and start putting up hotels - much more money to be made on those.

Astute Observation by ICNIC
2009-04-29 08:48 AM

He should get the card “go to prison” for abusing the system.

Astute Observation by Sue in Irvine
2009-04-29 09:50 AM

Hey David..don’t you mean your speculator owns four caves? smile

Astute Observation by AZDavidPhx
2009-04-29 09:59 AM

Nah, caves are only for people in AZ.  We are trying to appeal to a broader - more sophisticated audience.

Astute Observation by winstongator
2009-04-29 07:05 AM

A lot of homes like this represent the whole being worth less than the sum of its parts.  Seeing that ~50” TV less than 6’ from the couch is a living room that was not thought out very well.  You can put a lot of expensive ‘stuff’ (counters/cabinets/floors) into a home, but if the underlying home won’t support that level of extras, the value of the ‘stuff’ goes down.

What blew me away about any home show on TV during the bubble was how installing something in a home increased the value of the home more than the cost of the install.  If any corporation tried to account like that, it would be illegal.  Things depreciate.

Astute Observation by Walter
2009-04-29 09:26 AM

The only way this would make sense is if the cost mentioned was only the cost of materials and the flipper did the work themselves.

Astute Observation by newbie2008
2009-04-29 02:12 PM

Corp do that all the time.  It called goodwill, value added, etc.

Astute Observation by kevin
2009-04-29 07:58 AM

Vary impressive and funny title!

Astute Observation by MalibuRenter
2009-04-29 08:09 AM

The good news is, if the house you paid $800,000 for has a market value which drops to $400,000, you save about $400-$430 per month in property taxes.

Note that in many parts of the US, mortgage payments are $400-430/mo.

Astute Observation by AZDavidPhx
2009-04-29 08:36 AM

Note that in many parts of the US, mortgage payments are $400-430/mo.

It’s a good thing too.  We are going to need their extra cash to pay for the deadbeats in CA. 

We are extremely fortunate that some people played it safe otherwise we would be totally screwed and have nobody to steal from.

Astute Observation by AZDavidPhx
2009-04-29 08:39 AM

I should have also included deadbeats in AZ, NV, and FL. 

CA is not the only offender, although they did start it and infected the others.

Astute Observation by MalibuRenter
2009-04-29 08:56 AM

Depending on your view of things, the taxpayers are either subsidizing deadbeats or subsidizing stupid lenders.  Maybe both.

Astute Observation by Anthony
2009-04-29 09:59 AM

BOTH.
Didn’t you know that Obama’s Mortgage Rescue Team has already started expanding into rescuing 2nd mortgages, i.e., HELOC loans.
Spend, spend, spend!  And our big uncle will come to the rescue.

Astute Observation by freedomCM
2009-04-29 10:18 AM

Note that the $400/mo in “saved” property taxes just about covers the HOA and Mello Roos fees for this fine abode.

Astute Observation by MalibuRenter
2009-04-29 08:19 AM

It’s my understanding that if someone purchases the property at a price way above market, the assessor will put in the market price.  If not, the buyer can ask the assessor to adjust it.

Astute Observation by OC Progressive
2009-04-29 08:32 AM

Wow! The current owners are paying $11,481 a year or $957 a month in taxes on a taxable value of $820,335. That works out to 1.4% of the property value in taxes. I’m always amazed by these tax numbers, especially when you have to pay your HOA for your local streets, street lighting, and other infrastructure instead of having them provided by the city.

Does that mean that the new owner would be paying $785 a month if this sells at $680K?

And what’s with the HOA fees?
This property shows $202 a month.
65 Bamboo shows $120 a month.
43 Bamboo shows $254 a month.
25 Grape Arbor at $142.

What’s with that?

And what’s with this subdivision lay-out where they have the garages on alleys? This is bizarro new urbanism.

Astute Observation by Chuck in Newport
2009-04-29 09:06 AM

I grew up in Long Beach, and our house in Belmont Heights had an alley- - it’s way better than maing the garage the focal point of the “look” from the front of the house (so many new houses these days look “all garage” and no house).  The trash guys come through the alley, so no need to drag your “dirty laundry” to the front curb for all to see (and pick through) - you can hide your excess consumption from your neighbors.  Plus in front of the garage doors in our old house was a huge concrete area I used to play basketball in - -very flat, very safe, and balls don’t go bouncing into the street as they often do when the portable hoops get set up in the streets (a result of the switch from alley garages to street front garages, it seems).  You can wash your car in privacy as well, which may not be a huge perk, but still.  So I would vote for a return to alleys, if it was up to me!

Astute Observation by pdxsteve
2009-04-29 09:40 AM

The problem with alleys is that they become avenues for prowlers.

Astute Observation by tlc8386
2009-04-29 10:11 AM

In Dallas and Plano most homes have these alley ways as well. I didn’t really like the look. A lot of wasted space as well. As for washing your cars I do mine in the driveway and yes a wifey already said to me why do you wash your own cars? Take it somewhere. I told her I like to take care of our cars, I like to wash them. And I still do!

Astute Observation by lowrydr310
2009-04-29 10:29 AM

I found it cheaper and less time consuming to simply take my car somewhere. $10 for a complete wash twice a month was so worth it as opposed to sweating over it myself.

Astute Observation by tlc8386
2009-04-29 11:24 AM

We have four cars so that would be more expensive compared to me washing them. I use a bucket to keep the water usage low. I need to sell one of them since my daughter moved to a city and no longer needs her car.

Astute Observation by IrvineRenter
2009-04-29 10:41 AM

Personally, I like alleys and New Urbanism. If you drive around Woodbury, it is hard to find a garage door. I think it makes for a much better street presentation.

Astute Observation by Geotpf
2009-04-29 01:17 PM

New urbanism only really works if you can walk to shopping, entertainment, restraunts, services.

Astute Observation by IrvineRenter
2009-04-29 03:24 PM

That is one of the things I like about Woodbury; you can walk to the commercial center from anywhere in the community without crossing a major arterial.

Astute Observation by OC Progressive
2009-04-29 11:07 AM

I love new urbanism, and I’ve lived in an old urbanism neighborhood with alleys. But the neighborhood that benefits from alleys doesn’t have cul-de-sacs or McMansions.

Instead it is far more efficient in its use of land, with grid streets and far less asphalt.

Astute Observation by Sue in Irvine
2009-04-29 09:54 AM

Does Mello Roos count in as part of the taxes?

Astute Observation by AZDavidPhx
2009-04-29 09:30 AM

Stop living in a fantasy world.  This is real life where things are much more complicated.

Our gameboard has no such card.  We don’t even use Chance cards.  Instead we use two stacks of Community Chest cards.

He shall pass go, collect 200$ stimulus cash, receive a tax cut, and a subsidized mortgage renegotiation, and remain hopeful and confident.

Astute Observation by Lisa
2009-04-29 09:48 AM

This is location in Northwood II, or so called new Northwood community, I was about to invest in Celia and Bella Rosa because of selling another investment condo, but I decided to hold because I always fell the price is so unreasonable. And from the experience along with some of my friends’ experiences, I firmly believe Irvine company cross the legal and moral line to drive the home prices high. Now because people just give the house back to lender and become REO, but remember, at the end of day, the tax payers will pay for this mess. So I fell there is a need to fire class action against IAC, not for the justice but also to ensure the future home buyers.
(Sample claims, IMHO.
1. From 2003 to 2005 and first half of 2006, Irvine company and contracted builders use illegal, unfair and unconstitutional methods to prioritize home buyers to manipulate home prices to mislead home buyers. During this period, Irvine company release home by phases, and each phase price can go up to $25,000 to $50,000 (such as Bella Rosa and Celia) with some additional mandatory upgrade, the total phases of each model is various, and each phase may include two sub-phases. The master plan communities include Entire Northwood II, Quail hills, most part of Turtle ridge and half of Woodbury.
2. The method of claim 1, the home buyer priority number is not determined by first-come-first-serve policy or the buyer’s qualification, but rather the buyer’s financial strength. Even if a buyer submit the application early and can get a loan from a lending constitution and is well qualified but the specific buyer still will be pushed to later phase because a buyer does not make ‘more’ money than other buyers even if they submit the application form later. So the later buyer will need to pay much more money to own a home because the buyer is pushed to later. If a buyer is pushed to later phase because of weak financial strength than others, than the buyer should not be qualified for later phase, but this mean more financial burden.
3. The method of claim 1, in order to further manipulate the prices, in most case, they require buyers to register in IAC web site first with very detailed buyer’s financial info, and in a case the web site indicate this is first-come-first-service, so the buyer has incentive to fill in all the personal info that in additional enough to use to determine the qualification. However in some of the cases, the priority policy changes in the grand opening day from first-come-first-service to undisclosed measurement method and therefore IAC use it to manipulate prices. With this intentionally misleading first-come-first-service method, IAC able to gather more people and therefore to create a illusion for demand at each phase release and therefore the raise the price during each phase.
4. the method of claim 1, in the grand open day, it may further announces a lottery system to determine phase one buyers, which may only include specific person can be in the draw, all the draw is per-defined to only include builder’s employee and IAC executive’s relatives, and in some cases, each phase is spitted into phase A and phase B with different qualification buyers but release at same day where the prices may also jump up 5% of selling prices.

Astute Observation by T
2009-04-29 10:42 AM

I am so sick of whiny people seeking redress in courts for the stupidity of choosing to take part in a deal where the odds were clearly stacked against them.
No one made you buy from them so quit whining. IF you were unwise enough to part with your money you signed the contract, you knew at least some of the onerous crap being handed out as a condition to do biz with them. If you went ahead and got reamed, to be honest, you were greedy, suck it up.

separate and general question - these guys re-fi’d and took money out - Are they on the hook for repaying any of the loan, given that they re-fi’d?
I know if it was a straight home loan, they’d have gotten away with the equity extraction from the idiot lenders… but do they succeed in keeping their paws on the money when a re-fi is involved?
and are there any it depends to that answer?

Astute Observation by IrvineRenter
2009-04-29 10:47 AM

Your proposal is interesting, but I wouldn’t give it much chance of success. First, the Irvine Company can lawyer any suit like that to death, and ultimately they can make the argument they were merely reacting to market forces. They were doing what any business would do and worked to maximize their revenues. There isn’t anything illegal about it.

Astute Observation by Nana
2009-04-29 11:42 AM

Yes, you can do it, we can do it, as long as we have faith. If Obama can do it, why we can’t do it and fight against with IAC, what are you afraid of?

Obama has a new dream now!

Astute Observation by tazman
2009-04-29 12:16 PM

Seriously, WTF were you trying to say here Nana?

Astute Observation by Geotpf
2009-04-29 01:07 PM

I think Nana is saying that Ron Paul will save the world.

Astute Observation by Jane
2009-04-29 11:25 AM

Looking into claim 2, something wrong with this business practices, this is type of Wall St. running the CDO and which cause the big chaos of our nation.
Button line, bases on the spirit of our constitution, once a buyer is qualified by a well-known lender with prove of income and down payment, the specific buyer should not be pushed back because of weaker financial strengths than others - especially this will lead the buyer pay more money and hence more financial burden.

Astute Observation by jwinston2
2009-04-29 12:48 PM

Why not?

This is a private company selling property, as long as they are not discriminating due to race I cannot see an illegal issue with this practice. They never entered into a binding agreement with you or any other buyer that you would be the first to receive the opportunity to buy the property. If you did not like this practice you had the opportunity at any time to walk away, if you did not that was your decision.

Can you point out in the constitution where it is written that “once a buyer is qualified by a well-known lender the specific buyer has a right to buy a house from a private company?”

I would disagree with your sentiment, the constitution does not provide, imply, or even remotely hint what you are suggesting.

Astute Observation by Lisa
2009-04-29 05:15 PM

Congratulations on Irvine Company, what you have done last few years even Wall St smartest smugglers should learn from you how to legally maximize the profit and in certain way the tax payers and our nation will pay for it.
While Obama and the nation were basing Wall St, but all the people in this blog believe and praise you that this is a super smart business practice and that you can walk away with clean hand.
The only challenge left for you is to just let all the new comers sign a real-live slaver contract with you directly without buying a piece of cage.

Astute Observation by .
2009-04-29 10:03 AM

What does it mean when you click on a listing and it says “Backup Offers Accepted”?

Do you think it is possible that there are lots of people who think that $700,000 for a 2400 Sq Ft sfr is an excellent price?

Astute Observation by IrvineRenter
2009-04-29 10:44 AM

Yes, that is exactly what is happening in the market. Because of the influx of short sales—which are not really for sale—and the organic sales with WTF pricing, the only real market in Irvine is REO, and there is not much of that on the market right now. There are plenty of knife catchers and little real inventory. That dynamic will be completely reversed this fall and winter.

Astute Observation by AZDavidPhx
2009-04-29 10:45 AM

Because the banks like to turn the tables on the pending buyers and re-arrange the goal posts once they have them in the prone position. 

The buyer will suddenly find out that the bank is requiring more upfront money to complete the closing or maybe the interest rate is changed to a higher percentage, etc.  There are all kinds of shell games that they run on you once they think you are committed to debt slavery.

In the event that the buyer balks and does not complete the transaction, it’s good to have another sucker lined up and ready to throw down so that all the hustlers involved get their commissions/fees quicker without having to start over from square 1. 

It also gives the hustlers extra leverage over their victim; he will be more likely to go with the flow if he thinks other buyers are ready to swoop in and turn his loss into their gain.

Pretty good mind game if you ask me.

Astute Observation by Waterdog
2009-04-29 10:04 AM

I’ve been checking out a lot of MLSs in SoCal and it seems like $680-$699k are the hot numbers this month for homes. That’s still a lot of money for very little product but I’m encouraged because these same homes were asking $950k during the summer of ‘07. Hopefully $620k will become the next resting point as the spiral continues.
On a side note, I agree with the folks sold on ‘99 prices but how do you determine what a ‘99 price is for a home that was built in 2005? I hope this won’t involve “interpolation”.

Astute Observation by AZDavidPhx
2009-04-29 10:17 AM

how do you determine what a ‘99 price is for a home that was built in 2005? I hope this won’t involve “interpolation”.

You don’t need to.  Just compare the house to others in the neighborhood.

If all the other houses are valued at 400K, you are going to have a tough time appraising it for a whole lot higher even if it is the most awesome place on the block.  If some builder spent a million building it in 2005 - oh well, that’s too bad.  Chalk it up to a misallocation of resources, I guess. 

Like they say - “location location location”

Astute Observation by AVRenter
2009-04-29 10:25 AM

bomb bay?


bombs away

Astute Observation by jess
2009-04-29 02:23 PM

Keep your property value up… for water damage restoration and carpet cleaning services visit http://www.citrusfreshcom

Astute Observation by freedomCM
2009-04-29 02:54 PM

I’m not sure which is worse, this spam, or the lawsuit against the IC thingey….

Astute Observation by IrvineRenter
2009-04-29 03:28 PM

Our spam filter caught the first one, but this poster was persistent, and the second one got in.

Astute Observation by louisrasera
2009-04-29 04:44 PM

I think you should let that crap in and watch it work to their detriment..

Astute Observation by tlc8386
2009-04-29 05:25 PM

Anti-competitive practices
Monopolization
Collusion
Formation of cartels
Price fixing
Bid rigging
Product bundling and tying
Refusal to deal
Group boycott
Exclusive dealing
Dividing territories
Conscious parallelism
Predatory pricing
Misuse of patents and copyrights
Laws and doctrines
United States

Sherman Antitrust Act
Clayton Antitrust Act
Robinson-Patman Act
FTC Act
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act
Merger guidelines
Essential facilities doctrine
Noerr-Pennington doctrine
Rule of reason
Europe

Trade Practices Act 1974
Enforcement authorities and organizations
International Competition Network
List of competition regulators

Collusion is an agreement, usually secretive, which occurs between two or more persons to deceive, mislead, or defraud others of their legal rights, or to obtain an objective forbidden by law typically involving fraud or gaining an unfair advantage. It is an agreement among firms to divide the market, set prices, or limit production. [1] It can involve “wage fixing, kickbacks, or misrepresenting the independence of the relationship between the colluding parties.”[2] All acts affected by collusion are considered void.[3]

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