Options, Options, Options

Failure’s Not An Option — Chamillionaire

The old adage in real estate is location, location, location. During the Great Housing Bubble, location and quality really didn’t matter much. It all came down to financing and the options it created. 100% financing gave all buyers a “Call” option on real estate. If the price went up, they got to keep all the money, and if it went down, the losses were passed on to the lender. 100% refinancing gave all owners a “Put” option on real estate. If the property went down in value, they had already extracted all their equity, so again the risk was passed on to the lender. Of course, the real bonanza for speculators was the Option ARM. This gave speculators a way to drastically reduce the carrying costs on their speculative investment. Many could even rent the property out for positive cashflow, particularly if they used a 1% teaser rate like today’s speculator. With all the incentives favoring speculative betting in the housing market, it is really any wonder people got a bit carried away? Is it any wonder lenders are now expected to lose $1,600,000,000,000? (That is $1.6 Trillion.)

129 Roadrunner Kitchen

Asking Price: $639,000IrvineRenter

Income Requirement: $159,750

Downpayment Needed: $127,800

Monthly Equity Burn: $5,325

Purchase Price: $815,000

Purchase Date: 3/15/2006

Address: 129 Roadrunner, Irvine, CA 92603

Short Sale

Beds: 2
Baths: 3
Sq. Ft.: 1,600
$/Sq. Ft.: $399
Lot Size:
Property Type: Condominium
Style: Contemporary
Year Built: 2004
Stories: 1 Level
View: Mountain
Area: Turtle Ridge
County: Orange
MLS#: L26457
Source: SoCalMLS
Status: Active
On Redfin: 45 days

ATTN INVESTORS!! PRE-FORECLOSURE!!!PLAN 4 !!!!OVERLOOKING THE
CANYON/MOUNTAINS, VERY QUIET AND SERENE LOCATION. OPEN PLAN LIVING ROOM
/ DINING ROOM AND A SEPARATE DEN/OFFICE. 2 BEDROOMS, MASTER BED HAS A
WALK IN CLOSET, SEPARATE BATH & SHOWER,BOTH BEDROOMS OVERLOOK THE
CANYON.LAUNDRY ROOM.WOOD FLOORS IN LIVING AREAS AND CARPET IN BEDROOMS.
KITCHEN HAS MEDIUM WOOD CABINETS, FORCED AIR AND HEAT, SECURITY SYSTEM.
PARK AND SCHOOLS NEARBY!!

ATTN INVESTORS!! Here is your opportunity to prove you have no idea what you are doing. Someone needs to buy this overpriced property before the lender losses any more money. HURRY!!!

Note the increasing number of exclamation points as the realtor got excited at the beginning of the description.

Don’t be surprised if this property gets multiple offers over the asking price. After all, this is Turtle Ridge, and properties there are immune to price declines — except perhaps for this one that has declined 20%…

If this property sells for its asking price, the lender stands to lose $214,340 after a 6% commission. The seller didn’t use 100% financing at first, but after 30 days, she opened a third mortgage and extracted her downpayment plus $2,000. She won’t lose anything other than her good credit.

.

Do it do it
Do it do it
Do it do it
Ain’t got to tell you I’m the truest (Truest Truest)
You better tell them i’m the truest (Truest Truest)
You better tell them i’m the truest (Truest Truest)
You better tell them i’m the truest (Truest Truest) everyday AY

Top stay dropn my trunk stay poppn
Now turn the speakers up and the beat stay knockn
Blades stay chopn and the groupies stay boppn
Pull up to the curb all the ladies they just hoppn

Hmm the Northside body rockn (Northside)
Hmm the Southside body rockn (Southside)
Hmm we got the whole world rockn
Dont have to see a victory cause failures not an option

I keep a ear to the street u can see im eves droppn
They talkn bout my buzz tryn to picture me floppn
Under ground ruler wreck on every beat knockn
Gobble gobble all the green so they call me green goblin

Failure’s Not An Option — Chamillionaire

47 thoughts on “Options, Options, Options

  1. George8

    It seems to be the only listing in Turtle Ridge with lower than $400/sf asking.

    Let’s start a bidding war. Wait a minute, but it has been in the market for 63 days. Why? ipo got his in escrow in only 5 days. Maybe, it’s asking too much still.

    I wonder if every two weeks in the market should I lower the bid by 2-5%?

  2. abdul rahim

    you pessimists are talking us into a recession.
    real estate goes only up.
    now is a great time to buy a house.
    buy now or be priced out forever!

    1. camsavem

      Where is the outrage?

      Driving down 17th st. in Tustin you can see North Hills Realty offering “Foreclosure Tours”. WTF?

      How would you feel if some realtard from there “assisted” you in locating your home/investment telling you what a great buy you just made….

      Now you are in foreclosure and they are offering tours of the wreckage in the nieghborhood?

      Do they not have any shame?

      These people ALL make me sick; and why do they think we want to see their mug on everything they print?

      Personally I would rather deal with a used car salesman or a government employee……well maybe just the used car salesman.

    1. Kirk

      I have an extra bath that I have dedicated to washing away my sins. It is very practical as I only have one room where I have to deal with blood stains. A handy tip: Use hydrogen peroxide.

      1. pencipa

        Kirk… You are awesome.. I’ll laugh for hours when thinking of your post… 🙂

    2. beerdude

      Because, like every other property in Irvine, it is an “entertainer’s dream”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      😉

  3. AZDavidPhx

    Looks like the realtor has some unsatisfied customers. I love it.

    http://www.incredibleagents.com/real-estate-agents/CA/Newport-Beach/Properties-Plus/Susan-Green/review/2008-01-02/index.html

    Susan Green – A Difficult Agent.
    Laurie McDermott, Wednesday, January 2, 2008

    Comments: “Susan Green of Properties Plus is an agent to be avoided. Our experience has found Susan to be sneaky, dishonest, ethically unfair and downright evil. She is not to be trusted. I guess you could say, “I’ll use her to buy a house becasue she’ll be a tough agent.” But being tough and fighting for clients is fine. Being dishonst, being unreasonable and lying to both buyers and sellers is not fine and could hurt the sale in the long run. There are so many decent, good, fair agents in the LA area – why would you choose to work with someone so volatile and risk messing up selling your home or buying your home. My husband and I are kind, decent people and in we look at all instances where she was unruly or unfair, we are helpless and dumbfounded. Susan has a deep anger in her. And truthfully, we feel bad for Susan Green, but I would never, ever work with her or recommend anyone to work with her.”
    Overall Rating: (1 out of 5 stars)
    Knowledge: (4 out of 5 stars)
    Courtesy: (1 out of 5 stars)
    Communication: (1 out of 5 stars)
    Website: (1 out of 5 stars)
    Effectiveness: (1 out of 5 stars)

  4. AZDavidPhx

    Email sent to Susan:

    Susan, we need to send you back to elementary school and have the fifth graders give you some pointers on how to write an effective listing ad for a house.

    I read your following ad for

    129 Roadrunner Irvine, CA 92603

    ATTN INVESTORS!! PRE-FORECLOSURE!!!PLAN 4 !!!!OVERLOOKING THE CANYON/MOUNTAINS, VERY QUIET AND SERENE LOCATION. OPEN PLAN LIVING ROOM / DINING ROOM AND A SEPARATE DEN/OFFICE. 2 BEDROOMS, MASTER BED HAS A WALK IN CLOSET, SEPARATE BATH & SHOWER,BOTH BEDROOMS OVERLOOK THE CANYON.LAUNDRY ROOM.WOOD FLOORS IN LIVING AREAS AND CARPET IN BEDROOMS. KITCHEN HAS MEDIUM WOOD CABINETS, FORCED AIR AND HEAT, SECURITY SYSTEM. PARK AND SCHOOLS NEARBY!!

    Good lord! Your ad looks like a diarrhea of text exploded all over the screen.

    Get it together, stupid. If I were your client, I would be highly offended at the prospect of you taking a 6% middle man commission for such unprofessional/lazy/amateur/slipshod work.

    1. NoWowway

      lol.

      Too bad she doesn’t respond to criticism (per the note attached at “Incredible Agents” site.

      Sneaky people can be so entertaining when they come back at you 😉

  5. William E. Jones

    Here I go again…over $500K for two bedrooms is an insult. There should be a law that a house with an asking price of over $500K MUST have at least three bedrooms, unless it’s on the beach.

  6. E

    I wonder if it’s time to change the commission figure when potential loss to lender is calculated.

    Are the banks paying 6%? I’ve read elsewhere that they are pretty stingy with commissions on short sales and foreclosures.

    1. JesusCrispy

      Banks are stingy with commisions, I recently bought a house (not in Cal.) that was a short sale. HSBC cut the commision to the realators but what could they do? Seriously, they could I guess sue a huge bank and get eaten alive by legal fees or queitly go away. They choose the later.

  7. Boston2theBay

    would you rather have this in TR w/premier IHS schools for $639K or Casa de IPO for $600K? Lots of families would trade the location with all it brings for the extra BR. This is still WTF.

    1. jhill

      Speaking as someone who has raised a family, a 2-bedroom, 1600 sq ft place with no yard and even one kid is living cramped and house poor. I’d do it for the amenities of New York City, but Irvine? This is certainly not a place designed for families. I don’t notice any interior dedicated play areas, for instance. That said, I thought it was a really attractive place, I just can’t figure out who on earth it is FOR! Are there that many wealthy singles, wealthy retirees, wealthy childless working couples out there??? Note the year built — 2004. This is a mindless speculative bubble product that had “foreclosure” written all over it from Day One.

      1. Kelja

        I guess the real question did he make enough money from his poetry(rap) to buy a home during the peak of the bubble.

        Hope so!

  8. lowrydr310

    Based on the two pictures above, that looks like a very nice place, something my wife and I would like to live in.

    Unfortunately we can’t afford it, at the WTF price or even at the current asking price, or even 20% less than the current asking price.

    I don’t want much more than 30% of my income (not my household income; just mine) to go to housing (including mortgage, taxes, HOA, and mello-roos). Call me silly, but I’d much rather live in a less desirable place that may not be new and shiny to have some extra cash in my pocket to save and spend on my toys.

    1. buster

      You are so clearly a communist for not wanting to mortgage your entire life so someone else can make money. Shame on you. You need to be a REAL American and step up to finance somebody else’s retirement!

      1. Mikee

        I currently work in Europe (old Europe) and get asked a lot questions about our economy.
        I had to explain yesterday to a colleague how people use credit cards in the States. She couldn’t believe the bank would actually allow you to carry a balance. (I have a Visa and MC from a bank here, it gets swept every month. So I better have enough in my current account to pay it.)
        Then I explained the idea of interest and how banks are profiting off of everyone carrying so much debt. Then she got it, but shook her head and said something to the effect of ‘you crazy Americans.’

      1. AZDavidPhx

        The masses do not care what a house costs. They only care what the monthly payment is.

        1. dick

          “The masses do not care what a house costs. They only care what the monthly payment is.”

          EXACTLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  9. freedomCM

    Great place if you don’t mind traffic noise, since those fabulous “canyon views” are really of the 73fwy and the development site across the toll road.

    At least it doesn’t back to the 405fwy!

    1. buster

      I think that development across the way got went into bankruptcy, and now they’re going to put a combination motocross / shooting range in there.

  10. alan

    I’m surprised no one put up the rental equivalent value yet. Rent will be limited by having only 2 bedrooms, the 1/2 bath (cat litter room) wouldn’t help increase rent. So let’s say max rent for 2 bdrm condo is $2,000 – $2,200. At IR’s GRM of 160, that puts the rental equivalent at $320 – $350K.

    This place has a long way to go. And condo’s really got hammered in the last downturn for just this reason.

    1. anybear

      some places charge ‘pet rent’ of up to $100 a month, so maybe the fair rental equivalent price, including use of the cat litter room is $368,000.

  11. Genius

    $640k to live in a box? No thanks, I don’t care if it is in North Quail Riding on a Turtle Canyon.

    Pre-forclosure means it will be a lot cheaper in a month or so after the bank has to unload it. What a waste.

  12. granite

    IR,

    I recall challenging you to an article on the “what if Fannie and Freddie fail?” scenario. I didn’t really expect it to happen then but now it looks probable. Since this could have a MAJOR effect on local (and national) real estate prices please look into your crystal ball and tell us. Does this mean we really could see the $800K house go to $300K instead of $450K, in Irvine no less? And could it crash faster than anyone predicted?

    A penny for your thoughts!

    1. Craig

      If Fannie and Freddie collapse, house prices will fall to what people can pay IN CASH. Think $100K to $200K, not $300-450K.

  13. ice weasel

    “SECURITY SYSTEM”

    The first thing I think of when I see this is, “why do they need a security system?” I have to assume the area isn’t dangerous so the current owners must have a vast collection of very expensive paintings to protect, right?

    “OVERLOOKING THE CANYON/MOUNTAINS, VERY QUIET AND SERENE LOCATION”

    This is the “SERENE” location that needs an alarm system, right?

    One might assume from this description that this property lies on top of a promontory of some kind.

    Then again, assuming is a never a good thing, is it?

    “BOTH BEDROOMS OVERLOOK THE CANYON.”

    Oh, and I presume the bedrooms face the street (or whatever is in front of the condo) because it appears the back windows face into the side of hill. No. Let me clarify that, the images posted clearly show the home is not on the crest of anything, it’s on the side of hill. So maybe they can see over their neighbors across the condo parking lot from them.

    I guess that could be the “SERENE” part. What? No “city lights” in the description?

  14. Troy

    What is with the random end tables and small bits of furniture sitting in some rooms, while other rooms are empty? And the dwindling roll of paper towels and the two spice jars in the otherwise abandoned kitchen, why are they there?

    Is this supposed to be “Staging”, or is this stuff just junk the homeowners couldn’t fit into the moving van when they moved out in the middle of the night while they avoided eye contact with the neighbors?

    I’m thinking it’s the latter. But seriously, shouldn’t the Realtard have removed these bits of junk and debris before picture day?

    These types of sales just make me laugh hysterically at the idiocy of not only OC’s Real Estate market, but also of the clients and Realtards who are intimately involved in it. There couldn’t be a more pathetic group of people in the modern world. But someone please thank them for all the laughs!

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