Inventory Panic

.Video from our friends at the South OC Tracker.

There has been a lot of talk about the declining inventories. Inventory has been declining, and sales have been increasing, but prices have also been dropping because many of the sales are REOs going at “fire sale” prices. Increasing volume and decreasing prices is not the sign of a market recovery, it is a sign of market panic. Some lenders holding these REOs are trying to clear their books while there are still buyers to be found willing to pay our still-inflated prices. However, many lenders are not, and there is much more REO inventory out there than is widely known.

The Irvine Housing Blog now has a subscription to ForeclosureRadar.com. Their service is a good place to get a “heads up” and buy a foreclosure before it hits the market. I use it to find properties along with Redfin. I want to share with you an observation I have made while looking for properties to profile: many of the REOs are not listed yet. While looking for a house to profile for today’s post, the first four properties I found on foreclosureradar were not listed on Redfin. These included 105 Mission, 9 Timberline, 14952 Greenbrea, and 11 Bull Run. There are more. What are the lenders doing with these? In all likelihood, they are simply overwhelmed with the number of homes they own, and nobody is actively managing them or trying to secure their disposal. Someday, they will. So how many distressed properties are there in Irvine?

Red is bank owned, blue is scheduled for auction, and green is in some stage of preforeclosure. If you want to find out more, go to ForeclosureRadar.com.

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3732 Claremont

Asking Price: $650,900IrvineRenter

Income Requirement: $162,725

Downpayment Needed: $130,180

Monthly Equity Burn: $5,424

Purchase Price: $870,000

Purchase Date: 12/20/2006

Address: 3732 Claremont St., Irvine, CA 92614

Rollback

Beds: 5
Baths: 3
Sq. Ft.: 2,417
$/Sq. Ft.: $269
Lot Size: 5,473 Sq. Ft.
Type: Single Family Residence
Style: Other
Year Built: 1970
Stories: Two Levels
Area: Westpark
County: Orange
MLS#: U8000923
Status: Active
On Redfin: 29 days

REO

THIS IS THE SOUGHT AFTER CITY OF IRVINE! THE HOME FEATURES ROOM FOR ALL THE FAMILY, FIVE BEDROOMS AND TWO AND ONE HALF BATHROOMS ON ONE OF THE LARGER LOTS IN THE AREA. YOU WILL ENJOY ALL THE BEST THINGS THA LIVING IN IRVINE PROVIDES; SCHOOLS, PARKS, SHOPPING AND ENTERTAINMENT. COME HOME TO IRVINE AND START LIVING THE ‘O. C’ LIFESTYLE TODAY.

THIS IS THE SOUGHT AFTER CITY OF IRVINE! Do you get the impression this was written by someone from out of state?

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This property has a strange history. The buyer put down $175,000 of his own money when he paid $870,000 taking out a $695,000 loan. He then defaulted starting with the third payment, and the lender foreclosed on the property for $734,453 which is the total of the loan plus outstanding payments. The property records show a trustee sale amount of $593,550. I suspect there was an 80/20 involved and the lower amount represents the surviving first mortgage, but it is not clear. The buyer is out his $175,000, and the lender is not going to recoup their money either. The total loss on this property after a 6% commission, assuming they get their asking price, would be $259,000.

We generally profile 4 or 5 properties a week, and lately the average loss has been $200,000 to $250,000. We are documenting $1,000,000 a week in lender losses. It it any wonder the banks are in trouble?

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The SmithsPanic on the streets of London

Panic on the streets of Birmingham

I wonder to myself

Could life ever be sane again ?

The Leeds side-streets that you slip down

I wonder to myself

Hopes may rise on the Grasmere

But Honey Pie, you’re not safe here

So you run down

To the safety of the town

But there’s Panic on the streets of Carlisle

Dublin, Dundee, Humberside

I wonder to myself

Burn down the disco

Hang the blessed DJ

Because the music that they constantly play

IT SAYS NOTHING TO ME ABOUT MY LIFE

Hang the blessed DJ

Because the music they constantly play

Panic — The Smiths

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104 thoughts on “Inventory Panic

  1. NoWow!way

    Relatives of a coworker were lamenting that they have to come up with $60k in taxes for last year. They were in the mortgage business and it had been booming. Now they need to find the means to pay those taxes. Probably won’t be done with some equity line or a re-fi this year.

    I wonder what will be happening this tax season in relation to all the RE and mortgage related events and trends.

    That photo looks like Westpark I with the cypress tree in the background and the more traditional (dated) look. It’s about the same oldness as the El Camino and Walnut properties.

    No close ups or interior shots to share. I guess that rules out broken cement features like the more “well ventilated” home we just saw that was about the same age as this one 😉

    Kirk – you really missed your natural calling as a Real Estate Agent!
    —–

  2. ochomehunter

    That $175,000 that was put down in 2006 could very well be a cashout/HELLOC from other property by the flipper who may now end up losing that home as well. Wow! 25% in 14 months! We got a loooong way to go. I predict 60% at least looking at CDS’s market that no one seems to know what that means or is worth but its $45 trillion as compared to US Treasury of $4.5 trillion. 10 fold. Ouch!

  3. Larrygg

    It’s no doubt the market is in a death spiral seeing how these buyers in the past 5 years would pay $800K to $900K for a house that would hardly fetch $300K in most other parts of the country. Property in the southland has always sold at a premium price but not three times. And looking at the number of repos and foreclosures just proves how insane the market was. Anyone that bought within the last 5 years is pretty much undewater. This will take several years to sort itself out.

  4. AZDavidPhx

    Man! The MLS ad is oozing and dripping with snake oil. Good lord. I think the realtor has too much time on their hands and is watching a little too much television. I suppose that not having much income for the last year probably makes you start acting a little goofy too.

    COME HOME TO IRVINE AND START LIVING THE ‘O. C’ LIFESTYLE TODAY.

    Nice sales pitch!

    Let’s try this one instead:

    COME HOME TO IRVINE AND CATCH YOU FALLING KNIFE TODAY.

    or

    TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS DEAL BEFORE A BETTER ONE COMES TOMORROW AND YOU HAVE MISSED OUT FOREVER

  5. AZDavidPhx

    It’s no doubt the market is in a death spiral seeing how these buyers in the past 5 years would pay $800K to $900K for a house that would hardly fetch $300K in most other parts of the country

    Exactly right. The unfortunate part of the whole thing is that most of these buyers did not have the opportunity to realize how much money they were actually playing house with because the mortgage hustlers were playing creative financing games with monthly payments which is all anyone cared about anyway.

    With the creative financing, house flipping orgies, and 24 hour HGTV housing pornography polluting the challenged brains of our fine citizens, prices ran into stratosphere.

    Nobody bothered to think about how much money they were really borrowing until pop went the house bubble.

  6. IrvineRenter

    REOs Still Increasing

    http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/03/reos-still-increasing.html

    Foreclosures are occurring at the highest rate in decades — and as a result, lenders are acquiring homes faster than they can sell them off.

    Last year, sales of foreclosed homes rose just 4.4%, while the supply more than doubled, according to First American CoreLogic.

    This year, sales of homes owned by lenders will likely total 480,000 properties, or 10% of all sales of previously occupied homes this year, [Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com] estimates.

  7. Kirk

    The latest Case Shiller Housing Index numbers are out and January 2008 was the worst price decline yet – in percentage terms:

    01-07 268.68 -0.50%
    02-07 266.63 -0.76%
    03-07 264.58 -0.77%
    04-07 263.36 -0.46%
    05-07 263.19 -0.06%
    06-07 262.12 -0.41%
    07-07 260.84 -0.49%
    08-07 258.07 -1.06%
    09-07 254.79 -1.27%
    10-07 249.50 -2.08%
    11-07 240.43 -3.64%
    12-07 233.03 -3.08%
    01-08 224.41 -3.70%

    These are from the L.A. index. There is a two month lag with this index.

  8. zoiks

    “105 Mission, 9 Timberline, 14952 Greenbrea, and 11 Bull Run”

    Cool. So we have 4 places to choose from to have our IHB housing crash party. We should double-check that they are vacant of deadbeat former owners, first.

    Who brings the keg? Shall we get Elliot Spitzer to order the strippers? Who’s gonna DJ?

  9. kis

    We are documenting $1,000,000 a week in lender losses. It it any wonder the banks are in trouble?

    And that is just one microcosm of the nationwide problem.

    When does the next batch of Subprime and Alt-A’s reset?

  10. tenmagnet

    I like the comment the guy made about Pasadena only accepting Euros for payment of taxes.

  11. Alan

    I’m just shocked that no one has posted on Hillary’s $300+ billion Wall Street Banker Buddy taxpayer bailout plan unveiled last night under the guise of a homeowner bailout. I couldn’t listen to the whole thing, what I heard just made me sick.

  12. jhill

    Snake oil apparently doesn’t just grease the realtorese in Irvine. I couldn’t help noticing that what looks like a bike path between the backyard of this house and the sound wall on the 405 is described as the “Culverdale Wilderness Park”. “Wilderness” has shifted in Irvine to the same Orwellian section of the lexicon as “estate-sized lot” and “gourmet kitchen”.

  13. jerry1921

    This is very related with today’s discussion but I can’t agree that banks actually are selling homes anywhere near the 45-60 days they are hoping for:

    Bank Sees California Dreaming Turn Nightmarish

    Wachovia Corp., with its acquisition of mortgage lender Golden West Financial Corp. in October 2006, exposed itself to greater delinquency and default risks on the West Coast when the mortgage crisis erupted last year.

    “California is the big gorilla right now,” Wachovia’s chief risk officer, Don Truslow, said during a conference call last week held by Deutsche Bank.

    “The most problematic markets we’re dealing with right now are the Central Valley of California and the Inland Empire,” he said.

    Truslow calls a subset of Wachovia’s mortgage loans “sticky non-performers.”

    “In the Golden West and the residential real estate portfolio, we are seeing extended periods of time to go through the foreclosure process – either driven by [state] requirements or because the process has backed up,” he said.

    In these cases, the loan defaults and the home forecloses but the bank can’t do anything until the title is returned, which can take nine months or a year following foreclosure, after which “we are acting very aggressively to get the property sold.”

    The lag means Wachovia will record an increasing amount of non-performing loans throughout this year, and that may “distort somewhat our loan loss allowance to non-performing loan ratio … because of the stickiness.”

    Wachovia, he said, is trying to get foreclosed homes sold within 45 to 60 days. The bank provides the servicing, has its own appraisers and strong relationships with real estate agents, “[so we] can make very quick decisions. We think we’ve got a [slight] competitive advantage in getting properties moved.”

    Because home values appear to be slipping yet, appraisals are extremely individual, by market, said Truslow. Appraisals are difficult in a less-certain market and because Wachovia is adjusting its “loan-to-value hurdles, you can imagine [the appraisals] would tend to get pretty conservative.”

    There is no silver bullet for the mortgage market’s recovery, said Truslow.

    “There’s an overhang of inventory that built up because there was a lot of speculation. I think there was far more investor buying than a lot of participants in the market understood was going on,” he remarked, adding that this was true for Wachovia as well.
    “It’s going to take awhile for the market to absorb that inventory. Until that happens, we’re going to continue to see softness in housing prices.”

    Meanwhile, however, Truslow acknowledged that some homeowners are just walking away, even those who can afford the payments, because of the inverted loan-to-value ratio. “We are seeing it, and you’re seeing Web sites popping up [that offer to] help people to do it. That’s unprecedented,” he said.

    Wachovia forecasts a 20% decline in housing values between mid-2007 to the end of 2008, Truslow said, adding that “there are markets in California where we are seeing 25%, 35%, 40% declines in values, particularly in certain neighborhoods.

    “2008 is going to be a pretty choppy year,” he said.

    © 2008 CreditandCollectionsWorld.com and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. cdm

    In regards to the many REO’s that are not yet listed. One of the reasons why there is often times a lag between Trustee Sale and a listing is that California Tenancy Law favors the tennant.

    I have been told by people that work with REO’s that if there is any evidence that someone is living at the property (i.e. personal belongings at the property after the trustee sale), the bank will go the extra distance to insure that there will not be an eveiction issue while the property is being marketed.

  15. buster

    Thanks for the addresses. Tax time is coming up and I need to sell some scrap copper piping and wiring and some brass plumbing fixtures to pay my taxes. Hopefully I can beat the vandalizing kids and move-up junkies to the good stuff.

  16. buster

    Anybody know how long someone can stay living “rent-free, property tax-free, HOA-free” after they decide (wisely) to quit paying on their debt-anchor home? Are there techniques (like bankruptcy, renting to your son or daughter, donating the property to sisters-of-homedebtor church, etc.) that can be used to drag the process out? A friend of mine was “just asking.”

  17. camsavem

    I noticed that bike path too, so I zoomed out on the map to see where it goes and saw that it was actually a “Wilderness Park”. Since when is a green belt or freeway easment and Park?

    I too, got a good chuckle out of that one.

  18. ipoplaya

    I’ll take care of the DJing zoiky. It’s been quite some time since I spun, and all the vinyl I have is 80’s and early 90’s, but I can probably still work the Technics. Wow, I’m old… DJs now probably don’t even use coffins. A laptop would probably do.

  19. ipoplaya

    If Irvine is a good indicator, I think February CS numbers will show over a 4% decline, but the March decline will be significantly lower, like maybe 1-2%.

  20. irvine123

    IR, you mentioned you have a sub now for foreclosureradar.com. Can you share the list for Irvine?

    I actually noticed several bank owned homes are not listed on MLS in woodbury.

  21. Jim Jones aka Angry Renter

    Mortage meltdown! housing crisis! foreclosure disaster!

    I don’t quite understand why what is happening in the mortgagereal estate industry is being characterized as a crisis that requires government intervention and bailouts of lenders and homeowners. The fact of the matter is that those who took out 30 year fixed loans with affordable payments and who resisted the urge to treat their homes as an ATM are not being impacted by the current mortgagerealstate downturn.

    The only people who are being impacted are those who took out loans that would offer an affordable payment for only a limited time period. Why did these people take out these types of loans? Because they couldn’t afford the payments on a 30 year fixed. They chose to do this. I don’t understand why when a group of people individually make poor financial decisions that this rises to the level of a “crisis.” Ditto for the lenders. They chose to give loans to people who they should have known could not afford them beyond the teaser period.

    Enough with all this bailout talk. I’m a Democrat but when I hear Hillary or Obama talk about assisting homeowners with loans they never should have taken out in the first place I get pretty irritated as this is just going to make it harder for responsible people to ever afford a decent home. The cold hard reality is that frequently there are consequences to making poor financial decisions. Enough with all the Realitor housing Bull snake oil. Some of us just want a nice home to live in and don’t see a house as a financial vehicle that can be leveraged to pay for vacations and Bling.

  22. ipoplaya

    Here’s a list of the last 50 Irvine places to go back to the bank per realtytrac.com:

    68 Oak Tree Ln
    1608 Terra Bella
    28 Desert Willow
    9 Helena # 26
    37 Olivehurst
    9 Helena # 26
    6 El Cajon
    144 Saint James # 54
    6 El Cajon # 16
    2401 Ladrillo Aisle # 50
    305 Streamwood
    1 Helena # 22
    21 Nightshade
    39 Alcoba
    105 Mission
    115 Remington # 327
    70 Oak Tree Ln
    237 Huntington
    14 Carlyle
    115 Remington # 327
    125 Islington
    370 Monroe
    3 Acorn
    27 Kelsey
    56 Arborwood
    111 Remington # 332
    2238 Watermarke Pl
    33 Streamwood
    106 Kazan St
    40 Greenmoor # 20
    106 Kazan St # 48
    43 Redwood Tree Ln
    16 Salton # 65
    4 Moss Gln # 13
    210 Tuberose
    4052 Belvedere St
    13551 Espirit Way
    609 Newcastle
    3732 Claremont St
    3 Zuma
    15 Windarbor Ln
    17 Greenleaf
    7 Andalucia
    2406 Scholarship
    36 League
    97 Remington # 219
    10 Columbia
    7 Milagra
    3 Zuma # 34
    23 Rossano

    This list only goes back to February 11th, so more than one property in Irvine has been foreclosed on since that date…

  23. tenmagnet

    That’s quite a list. Any idea which ones are over $1M?
    Preferably, Northpark, NW Pointe, or Woodbury locations.
    Just curious

  24. ipoplaya

    Sorry ten, no $1M properties on that list. The last $1M property I see went back to the bank in January. That was in Quail Hill. Most of the properties in Irvine are smaller or older or smaller and older…

  25. tenmagnet

    Wow, no kidding, didn’t know you DJ’d.
    Can’t picture you lording over a club so my guess is you were a bedroom DJ, maybe a wedding or two.
    Either way, my impression of you is constantly changing.
    All this time I thought you were the guy that was president of the Captain Picard Star Trek TNG fan club.

  26. Genius

    Dammit Ipo, I was gonna do it. And yes, the true djs still work the Tech 12s, although most have moved over the CDJs or laptops.

    All the vinyl I have is from the late 90s and 2000s 😀 We could probably throw down quite the set.

  27. skek

    It looks like there are some blues and greens in Shady Canyon and Turtle Ridge. Can anyone elaborate?

  28. Major Schadenfreude

    “Blessed are the savers, for they shall inherit the earth.”
    – The Bible

    “Blessed are the savers, for they shall pay for the mess.”
    – Future President of USA?

  29. AZDavidPhx

    Holy cow, does a member from the HOA come over once a month to clean your place, do your dishes, and walk your dog? That’s only way I would ever agree to those junk fees.

  30. Kanigetts

    If you own a home, you are being impacted. Your house is losing value every day even if it is totally paid off. If you sell it now you can buy it back in a couple of years and pocket a couple hundred grand. Just because you can pay doesn’t mean you should. Opportunity cost is real if you act on it.
    There is no bailout of homeowners, they are just trying to get as many people as possible to keep paying their mortgages when it really doesn’t make financial sense to a homeowner. All of these plans are simply trying to soften the landing of the world economy into the worst recession since the 1930’s. I think these things are necessary even though they are mostly ineffective. They keep panic away a little longer. Unfortunately, we can’t let our investment banks fail even though they screwed up royally. The worldwide financial turmoil would probably drive us into a depression. These banks are not going to be allowed to fail if there is anything we can do about it. That being the case, they should be tightly regulated to keep us out of this mess again in a few years. There is probably a commodity bubble being created right now partly caused by financial innovation in derivatives.

  31. ipoplaya

    LOL skek. I was probably the only mini in the IE crankin’ Joy Division, Bronski Beat and Art of Noise. My poppin’ and break-dancin’ days were over before I could ever drive…

    Ten – I spun during high school and the first few years of college, mostly because it is one of the best ways to make some great side/party money. IE house parties, weddings, high school dances, etc. then frat and house parties in college… Free booze, free food, access to the ladies. Truly a great gig. I was a kicka$$ Dungeon Master when I was younger, not too far removed from your Trekky characterization, but every geek has to hit puberty right?!

    Two Tech 1600s somewhere in storage Genius along with crates of vinyl. They are probably so warped from heat/cold that they’d not even be usable. I dug out a Gen-X album a year or two ago to convert to MP3, and it was in rough shape.

  32. Major Schadenfreude

    OMG! I had the Simpson’s theme song playing in my head while I read that article (that dude is Homer all the way) and the other one about additional RE “professionals” who lost their shirts.

    Thank you for that schadenfreude hit.

  33. Priced_Out_IT_Guy

    I hate pulling the big brother card, but you really do need to protect idiots from themselves. Not only do they drive up home prices, which will ultimately collapse and ruin them financially, they price the financially responsible out of the market.

    Everyone in the Southland during the last 8 years was winning the lottery every year. And we all know what happens to most lotto winners a few years after they get their payout–they spend everything and go broke.

    With all of the money banks were throwing around during the bubble is it really a surprise that we’re in this mess? A fool and his money…

  34. AZDavidPhx

    And we all know what happens to most lotto winners a few years after they get their payout–they spend everything and go broke

    A fool and his money

    Look no further than people buying a house in today’s market with their bubbly lottery winnings. It’s all being sucked back into the system. Or as I look to call it “PFFFF!”

  35. IrvineRenter

    Did you know that the average increase in the median house price from 2000-2006 exceeded the median income? Literally, it was as if every homeowner had another breadwinner in their household bringing in the median income.

  36. IrvineRenter

    That Woodleaf property is 20% off and it has still been on the market 135 days…

    Keep posting.

  37. AZDavidPhx

    they are just trying to get as many people as possible to keep paying their mortgages when it really doesn’t make financial sense to a homeowner.

    They are also trying to shake the tree to get as many knife catchers as possible to fall out and piss their money back into the system. Could you imagine if everyone stopped buying today? It would be catastrophic.

    Right now we need a lot of knife catchers to step up and give back their bubble money for the greater good of society and help soften the landing.

    I salute them.

    Thank god I don’t have to be one of those suckers! I’m keeping my CA$H.

  38. AZDavidPhx

    Man, who seriously “BUYS” a house in 2007?

    That’s like picking up a gun, checking the chamber to make sure a bullet is there, double checking the chamber to make sure a bullet is there, attaching a laser site, aiming the red dot at your foot, and pulling the trigger.

    It’s not like it was bad timing and buying at peak. The cat was LONG out of the bag!

  39. kis

    Why did these people take out these types of loans? Because they couldn’t afford the payments on a 30 year fixed.

    False assumption. There are actually really good reasons for not always doing a 30 year loan. For instance, if you only plan on staying in a house for 5-10 years (say a small starter house, and you plan on kids later), you can often get much better rates on 5, 7 or 10yr ARMS (fixed for that period, then switches to an ARM).

    Why should I pay the points and rate premium on a 30year if I only need the loan for 5-7 years? It’s not always about affordability, it’s about being smart with your financial and family planning.

    Don’t presume that everybody who doesn’t do a 30year is poor or stupid.

  40. ice weasel

    As someone who made his living in the music industry during that time I just wanted to thank all of you. The checks were great while they lasted.

  41. Jack-Booted EULA

    You make it sound like economic depression is a bad thing, whereas others view it as a long overdue wakeup call.

    Our economy is a house of cards, too dependent on dwindling resources.

    :o)

  42. Jim Jones aka Angry Renter

    If their decision to take out an ARM leads to unaffordable payments and subsequent foreclosure then obviously the results speak to the wisdom of their choice.

  43. former_irvine_resident

    Looks like I made the right move when I sold in 2006 and took my money to Charlotte. I do not expect the trend to hold of course. The housing market will suffer here as well but price corrections will not be nearly as severe as other parts of the country.

    http://tinyurl.com/3agds9

    I posted a picture of my “McMansion” here last year and was teased about it. Let’s just say that I am very comfortable and don’t feel a bit bad about it.

  44. AZDavidPhx

    Pretty shocking.

    I just figured that there was a sudden influx of talented/wealthy people into the area while all of the local talentless failures/malcontents earning the median incomes left for Arizona.

  45. 25w100k+

    You mean you can’t play D&D when you’re married? Or you won’t get married if you play d&d….hmmmm….

  46. ipoplaya

    Yeah that was sad to hear… Gygax’s games (I started playing his first RPG Boot Hill) kept me out of trouble for a good 4-5 years and got me thinking there was more to the world than the helacious heat and smog of the IE.

  47. ipoplaya

    “You mean you can’t play D&D when you’re married? Or you won’t get married if you play d&d….hmmmm….”

    Man that would so hilarious if my wife came home one day to find me sitting at the table with some buddies, a Dungeons Masters Guide, some 20-sided dice, lead figurines and graph paper. I should rig that up just to see what she’d do!

  48. skek

    We had a local book store that after hours once a week would host a D&D session. About 20 regular players. My dad was friends with the owner of the bookstore, so even though the group was teenagers and older, little 12-13 yr old skek got dropped off to play and picked up when it was over. Good times.

    Come to think of it, some of those guys were in their late 30s, single and still playing D&D with 12 year old kids…Yikes, Dad, what the hell were you thinking?

  49. Food

    Yes, I have noticed that one as well. It is a good reason to keep the likes of her out of the office if we can.

    The homeowners f*cked up by buying properties at stratosphere prices. They rightfully get their homes foreclosed. Clinton and her evil cohorts just want to use government money to bail out her elite friends.

    This proves once again the United States is not a country for the people and by the people but a despotism disguised as a democracy for the elites by the elites.

    Thanks for bringing it up again. I am very angry now.

  50. IrvineRenter

    We had a long debate about this on this blog and in our forum. I am of the opinion everyone who takes out an ARM, particularly with interest rates at historic lows, is foolish. You are almost guaranteed to be facing a higher payment in the future or an inability to refinance. Who “knows” for certain they are only going to live in a house for 5-7 years? That is the normal tenure, but how can you predict your life circumstances that far in advance? You may need to stay in a property longer than you would like, and taking out a time-bomb loan just limits your options.

  51. Kirk

    Weird… my other replies never showed up. I think it’s because I had at signs in them. Oh well.

    I was just saying that I don’t see March declining at 1%. 2%-4% maybe.

    Also, I wanted to mention that my Case Shiller percentages are month over month if anyone was confused. The media generally references year over year which I suppose is useful for something. I personally don’t care about year over year.

  52. Laura Louzader

    All the candidates are pandering, and proposing bailout plans.

    I’ll write in the name of the first bum who walks through the turnstile at the nearby el train station, when I vote.

    We’ve become a country of whiny, self-indulgent crybabies and their enablers; and of entrenched elites who will destroy the population to take care of their cronies.

  53. Kirk

    I agree with you IR. My parents were in an ARM when rates were high and it worked out for them as rates fell, but I probably would not have done it. You can always refi a fixed loan if rates go down. In addition, some credit unions will apparently just adjust the rate for a flat fee without going through a whole refi. But, I never verified this myself. People that chose ARM’s when rates were at record lows did not put enough thought into their purchase. We all make mistakes. The important thing is to learn from them rather than try to make excuses.

  54. Boston2TheBay

    Whenever I hear “White Lines” it takes me back to my youth in the 80s and massive DJ house parties in the Pasadena/San Marino/Arcadia area. Hundreds of people would be at these. The big ritual was the Pasadena Police helicopter flying overhead and everyone in unison flipping them off.

    I always wanted to DJ. Looked like a blast.

  55. Genius

    Glory days my ass, I’m still spinning at the ancient age of 31. It’s always been about fun; I sure as hell never intended to make a career about it. When I stop caring about having fun I’ll stop flipping records.

    If Morrissey tries to hang me I’ll choke him with his pompadour.

    Kirk was the man. Some people prefer Picard:
    I was out at a club on ‘Sci-Fi Night’ and saw some guy dressed up as Picard. I commented that I liked his costume, to which he responded “I prefer Slut Trek,” and walked past showing that his pants were, in fact, assless. I laughed and wept simultaneously.

  56. granite

    IR,

    I entered 92620 in a Foreclosure Radar search. The 11 Bull Run didn’t show but a nearby Bluecoat did as Preforeclosure. Has it been taken off that quick?

  57. Genius

    I assume with your gains you paid cash for your house?

    Some of my friends moved out to Raleigh and really seem to like it there.

  58. irvinesinglemom

    Who buys a house in 2007? Well, you can start with my ex and his new, young, blonde, thin wife. A McMansion, no less. In Coto. Tee heee hee, I just can’t help the schadenfraude, just for a minute…

    Okay, I’m composed again and once again have them in my thoughts and prayers, for the good of my son.

  59. former_irvine_resident

    I didn’t pay full cash but have a very reasonable 30 year fixed at 4.75% plus a more substantial savings slush fund. I admit that while I did recognize the prices in Irvine were insane which was a primary motivation to cash out and leave, I was tempted to keep the home and rent it. I was intoxicated like a lot of people in thinking that prices might continue to go up. Thank goodness my better senses kicked in and I dumped it when I left. I could only imagine being a long distance landlord right now. Financially it would have worked because I bought in 2001, but it would not have been pleasant. I’m far better off having sold it obviously.

    The Charlotte area definitely takes some getting used to, but the job was just too good to pass up. I make 25k more than in Irvine and I get to work from home full time so I enjoy my McMansion every day. I don’t plan on being here forever but while I am here I might as well live the good life. This will definitely be the nicest home I ever own – no doubt about that.

  60. belle waring

    is Beaumont a total shithole or something? that’s actually a somewhat attractive, free-standing sfh, one of the most reasonably priced I’ve ever seen on this blog…must be in the middle of nowhere? 2/3 of the way to vegas?

  61. Brea

    When they built this bike trail, it sounded like the place to go if you were looking to get attacked.

  62. centralcoastobserver

    Beaumont is 2/3’s the way to Palm Springs, east on the 60. It used to be rural, lots of retirement mobile home parks, but now it’s just part of the IE sprawl. Way too far to commute to OC.

  63. ipoplaya

    Beaumont is a total $hithole, no offense to any Beaumont lurkers. It makes Riverside look metropolitan and Corona look downright sophisticated. Beaumont has a very high redneck / WT quotient…

  64. Surfing in Newport

    This is the most disturbing part of the whole housing bubble. Complete neighborhoods that make absolutely no sense for the area. Doesn’t matter what the features or sq. ft. of the house; you can only spend what you can afford in the long run. There are going to be some pretty happy Redneck/WT’s enjoying the good life in a couple of years.

    I guess this is one way of transferring wealth.

  65. CubicZ

    Wow! Few houses on my list like 92 Chantilly, 75 Chantilly, Nightbloom and 27 Crestline are all inactive. Oh, add 65 Ardmore to that.

    I almost got hit by the “inventory panic” and came to visit my shrink at IHB, and guess what, my mind was read, and blog was rolled already 😉

    Does anyone know how to find out if those houses are in escrow or just pulled out of the market?

    Thanks,
    CZ

  66. CubicZ

    Thanks for the list. But most of these properties are in a distressed condition, have poor planning or other non-salable issues. I am still waiting for the day when everything is perfect, including the price 🙂

    CZ

  67. CubicZ

    There are builder direct sales in Valencia too. Almost give-aways.

    Also, John Laing homes is sending emails about their 4.85 fixed 30 yrs with another cheaper first year rate to sell their homes in Santa Ana and other places. No sign of that yet in Woodbury/ Quail Hill.

    But, it will soon be done everywhere.

    CZ

  68. CubicZ

    Have you noticed that once you start going North of 5 (towards valencia) and towards Palm Springs, home prices fall at least 100k for every 15 miles that you travel?

    CZ

  69. CubicZ

    Debatable.

    I know a few people who knew that it would all end very soon, and cashed out immediately two to three years after they bought, rather than wait to sell till the ARM reset. They made big money!

    I think it is always advisable to know the in-s and out-s of the deal you are getting into and plan accordingly rather than “trust” your Realtor and lender, and their experience of so many years.

    CZ

  70. CubicZ

    Some people trusted their ever-optimistic Realtors who sold the idea that “Irvine only corrects so much- because Irvine is different from rest of the OC”.

    A point to ponder is how would you make the biggest decision of your life based on what your Realtor has to say- you won’t even buy Jimmy Choos without cross-checking the price on froogle- Right? I have no sympathy to people who make a long face on evening news and blame it all on the Realtor.

    CZ

  71. CubicZ

    Did you check out the style on the listing?”Bungalow”.
    It’s still a good thing that the interior walls are not done, and the value is in “land” only.

    During the boom days, this would be sold as a “fixer-upper” to build as you please 🙂

    CZ

  72. Cubic Z

    Nice listing ipoplaya!

    Prices aren’t going that low that I expected. Olivehurst for 580k when you have Lockford for 558k? Wonder what they were thinking. I am not saying that sarcastically- I do want to know what goes in their head when they make such a deal.

    CZ

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