Irvine Housing Forums

Falling rents aid homeowners in mortgage trouble

2009-11-29T17:02:08Z

Falling rents aid homeowners in mortgage trouble
Southern Californians facing the loss of their homes are finding refuge in rentals. At larger apartment complexes, monthly rents have declined an average of 4.9% in the last year.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cover-rentals29-2009nov29,0,7731217,full.story

Dataquick October Numbers - Houses Above $2M in Laguna are Overpriced

2009-11-25T05:04:02Z

The October dataquick numbers are in and the median price is flat for Laguna Beach, compared to recent months.
The median single family home price in Laguna for October was $1.195 million, but this is down a whopping 36.4% from October, 2008.

The interesting thing is that while the median price has been flat in the recent months, the economy and the lack of good financing is just killing the homes priced above the median, for which one would borrow more than the current $729,000 conforming jumbo limit. Specifically, sales of homes above $2,000,000 have been frittering away to nothing as the year has progressed. No sales of these homes in October. None at all. This means that homes in Laguna Beach that are listed for above $2 million are SEVERELY OVERPRICED.

I wouldn’t want to be a buyer of one of these homes earlier in the year - If I was, I would be listening to my home value deflating below the purchase price. sinking underwater…...
more info on Laguna Beach’s real estate market at
www.bluemove.blogspot.com

OC Register: Housing threat looms in South County

2009-11-24T01:36:09Z

http://mortgage.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/23/housing-threat-looms-in-south-county/21617/

Greenbrier by MBK Homes in Yorba Linda

2009-11-22T07:19:53Z

One of my buyers is potentially interested in buying Plan 3 or 4 @ Greenbrier by MBK Homes in Yorba Linda (Vista Del Verde area). Anyone familiar with this development and this home builder?

What is wrong with this house?

2009-11-19T17:08:41Z

Do any of you IHB realtors have any insight on what might be wrong with this property? Maybe there is something in the Realtor’s notes that would indicate that it has major problems.

Barrett House

It it in a very nice area, but has been on and off the market several times, so I know it must have some issues. It looks nice on the outside. THe price is right, but not if it is a gut job. Any information would be appreciated.

Yorba Linda Listing - why this price

2009-11-16T08:09:05Z

I understand teaser list prices for Short Sales, to kick-start the bidding wars. But this list price for this house if beyond me

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Yorba-Linda/5362-Ohio-St-92886/home/4243092

Anybody knows the story behind this one

Appraisal

2009-11-13T00:44:10Z

We still have not been able to take advantage of the low rates to refinance because we have what is called lender paid PMI and our LTV is definitely not 80:20. However, it looks like there could still be a savings to us if we did do a loan with PMI if the LTV is 90:10. There are currently three properties in escrow in the neighborhood.

1). slighly smaller and fewer updates at $450K

2). approximately equal size and fewer updates at $420K

3). approximately equal size and completely updated/renovated for $499K

All three have the same bed and bath count.

There is a 4th that closed the end of Sept at $399K that is smaller but updated.

All the others are more than 90 days old. What is the likelihood that an appraisal would be at least $425K?

OC Register: Foreclosure notices hit record 8,800

2009-11-11T17:10:39Z

http://mortgage.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/11/foreclosure-notices-hit-record-8800/21021/

Thinking of going FHA 3.5% downpayment

2009-11-09T18:24:46Z

I’ve been searching for a home for the past 6 months and have gotten pretty frustrated with the current situation of the RE market. We are currently renting a townhouse in the SGV area, but my wife really wants to move to a more humid place with no carpet (she is very sensitive). I’m pretty convinced that prices need to drop in the future with the “shadow inventory”, unemployment and foreclosure rates. When, and the rate that this will happen is obviously unknown to most of us. I’ve found some REO that seem to be priced “right”, but have lost in the retarded bidding wars that ensue. Most other properties are pretty overpriced IMO. I’m entertaining the idea of buying a small new condo/townhose in OC using FHA 3.5% downpayment. I would look to buy something under $400K That way I don’t risk the the downpayment that I have saved if RE prices really take a dip in the future, and can use the downpayment to really buy the house that we want. Also, the monthly payment wouldn’t be too high (hopefully). Few questions:

- Is this a sensible idea?
- I’m thinking that it might be easier to buy a brand new condo/townhouse using FHA loan. Decently priced properties under 450K in decent areas are getting snapped up in bidding wars. Is this a correct assumption?
- I’m thinking the new condos in Irvine might be an option or maybe the new construction around Mainplace in Santa Ana. Any other ideas?

I need to take a look at HOA and Mello Roos rates of new developments to really calculate the monthly burden. I know renting a different place is also an option, but if somehow I can work out a monthly payment similar to my rent using only 3.5% downpayment then this would look like a better option.

Bon Voyage Irvine, Hello Fullerton: Story of Finding our Dream Home

2009-11-05T23:58:34Z

The two year house hunt has finally come to a close. The process was certainly tiring and tested our patience many times but we found a home that was worth the wait.

We began looking for a home in the winter of 2007. Our search for a home first began in Irvine and gradually branched out across Orange County. We put offers on homes ALL OVER the place but luckily none of them panned out.

My husband and I could never agree on any of the homes. Everything he liked, I would hate and vice versus. Many times, either he or I probably could have pushed one another into to settling for X house. But we kept at it, looking for “the one” that would make us both happy. Our dissimilarity was quite a blessing in disguise, though, as some of the houses we came very close to buying declined tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Quite frankly, I don’t think either one of us knew exactly what we were looking for. I’m glad we explored many different options. We feel extremely confident now, the home we bought couldn’t be any better.

We bought a house like this. It’s in Fullerton, close to the downtown. I hope it has the Bk stamp of approval.

Irvine Renter, I was a good student. I exercised self control on the WTF houses above rental parity. The IHB calculator says my cost to own this house is $500 less than the cost to rent. Big thanks to you as if it wasn’t for my daily Blog studies I’d probably be trapped in an ill-suited house and severely underwater right now.

I can assure you, T (aka USCTrojanCPA), is not being paid for his rave reviews. He is just providing full service to his clients for half cost. And he is just the easiest person to work with. We started our journey with T in January. Even after 11 months of looking, never once did I feel pressure from him to buy. I truly felt he had put my interest ahead of his. When I did ask for his opinion he was always eager to help & brainstorm with me. And had it not been for him contacting me first thing in the morning, the day my prefect house, for the prefect price, in my prefect neighborhood, on the exact street I told him I wanted to live on, I would have probably been crying right now about how I let my dream home slip through my fingers. We love ya, T!

Well, that’s all I got for now. Stay tune for the update on whether my dream house & neighborhood turns out how I envisioned it to be. And stay tune for the big house party in honor of all my IHB forum comrades that provide the savviest guidance on the web!