Address: 206 Garden Gate, Irvine, CA 92620 (Northwood Pointe)

Plan: 1200 sq ft – 2bd/2.5ba

MLS: S469456 DOM: 22

Sale History: 9/1/2006: $625,000

11/10/2004: $527,500

Current Price: $665,000

This Plan 2 in the Glenneyre at Lanes End tract built by California Pacific Homes in Northwood Pointe was most recently purchased on 9/1/2006 for $625,000 with 5% down. And it went back on the market less than 3 months later. Did someone really buy this home in September 2006 with the intent to flip it?!?! Or could it be a forced relocation or something else?

Anyways, it was relisted at a price $40k higher the day after Christmas. (I’m pretty sure prices did not move up 6.4% since September.) Why $40k? Well if they get their asking price of $665k and we assume 6% in selling costs.. Suprise, surprise, they will have sold their home for the same price they bought it for. Too bad this probably isn’t how it’s going to play out. For $665k there are a lot of other options in Irvine and in this market the seller will be hard pressed to find a GF.

Originally posted January 1, 2007

Address: 3141 Michelson Dr. #405, Irvine, CA 92612 (Park Place)
Plan: Plan B – 1293 sq ft – 2/2.5
MLS: S465221 DOM: 56
Sale History: 02/16/2006: $623,012
Current Price: $650,000

Our first post on the Marquee Park Place continues to get a lot of interest, so I decided to do another one. It seems like this unit is in the same building and on the same floor as the unit we first blogged about (3141 Michelson Dr. #402).

From the tax records, we see that this unit was purchased on 2/16/2006 for about $623,012. On the same day, it was put up for sale on MLS (#U6600114) at a price of $850,000! Easy money? I don’t think so.. 177 days later the listing expired even though the price was reduced to $785,000. The flippers waited a couple months before listing again – It was relisted (MLS #S465221) on 11/06/06 at the current price of $650,000. On 12/07/2006, it was also listed as a rental at $2800/month (MLS #S468478).

From what I can gather, it’s been vacant the entire time. Those holding costs must be huge (it’s been almost a WHOLE year)! Renting it out at $2800/month isn’t going to come even close to covering the mortgage on this. Remember, HOA dues themselves are over $1000/month. If you or someone you know is interested in having their luxury high rise lifestyle subsized by someone else, this is a good opportunity to try it out for only $2800/month! 🙂

At the current asking price of $650,000, this flipper stands to lose about $12,000 (assuming 6% in selling costs). The true loss will be considerably more when taking into account the holding costs.

UPDATE #1 – January 5, 2007

What? An update already?! Well thanks to a astute comment by Dog on this post, I’ve found out that the price on this property was reduced by $20,000 on January 4th. The new asking price is $630,000. If sold at this price (assuming 6% in selling costs), this flipper is facing a loss of over $30,000.

$630,000 seems like a lot at first but I’d rather live here than one of the apartment/condo units at Watermarke or Avenue One that are going for the same price:

• 3233 Watermarke Place – 2bd/2ba – 1250 sq ft – MLS #: S469343 – $630,000
• 3335 Watermarke Place – 2bd/2ba – 1137 sq ft – MLS #: S468091 – $635,000
• 3221 Watermarke Place – 2bd/2ba – 1250 sq ft – MLS #: S464778 – $659,000
• 3334 Watermarke Place – 2bd/2ba – 1250 sq ft – MLS #: U6602684 – $699,000
• 2406 Scholarship – 1bd/1ba – 923 sq ft – MLS #: P541743 – $615,000
• 2402 Scholarship – 2bd/2ba – 1213 sq ft – MLS #: S446440 – $654,900

Address: 326 Quail Ridge, Irvine, CA 92603 (Quail Hill)

Plan: 1656 sq ft – 2/2

MLS: S468816 DOM: 22

Sale History: 01/26/2006: $635,000

10/26/2005: $554,000

Current Price: $668,000

Here’s the 3rd flip we’ve spotted in the Ambridge tract in Quail Hill. This condo was purchased on 1/26/2006 at $635,000 with 10% down. Less than 11 months later and it’s back on the market for $668,000. If sold at this price, the owner is facing a loss of about $7,000 (assuming 6% in selling costs).

What I find interesting about this one is that the original owner/flipper bought the condo from William Lyon Homes towards the end of 2005 yet still managed to find someone to pay $80,000 more only 3 months later! Let me know if I’m mistaken but I don’t recall it being that hard to buy a home straight from the builder at that time.

What do you think this property would realistically sell for today?

Originally posted October 25, 2006

Address: 126 Cherrybrook Lane, Irvine, CA 92618 (Oak Creek)
Plan: 1200 sq ft – 2/2.5
MLS: S463666 DOM: 2
Sale History: 6/16/2006: $615,000
4/18/2003: $390,000
10/8/1999: $220,000
Current Price: $612,000-$639,000

This is a detached (I believe) Plan 1 condo in the Cobblestone tract built by John Laing. It was purchased this summer with 0% down (ok ok, they actually put a whopping $300 down). I’m not sure what the flippers have been doing for the last few months but they just put it on the market a couple days ago. It’s listed using range pricing of $612k-$639k. After 6% in selling costs, these sellers will lose anywhere from $14,000 – $40,000 if they get a price in the asking range. To get rid of the home, I think they will have to bring that much money to the table since they don’t have any equity in the house.

UPDATE #1 – January 3, 2007

Price Reduced: 12/15/06 — $639,000 to $603,000

If sold at $603,000, the seller (or lender in this case) is facing a loss of over $48,000 (assuming 6% selling costs). I don’t think it will sell anytime soon because there is some competition just down the street:

• 146 Cherrybrook Lane – 1200 sq ft – 2/2.5

  • Listed on 12/06/2006 at $607,500
  • Price Reduced: 12/15/06 — $607,500 to $605,000
  • Price Reduced: 12/19/06 — $605,000 to $603,000
  • Price Reduced: 12/29/06 — $603,000 to $580,000
  • Current Price: $580,000

146 Cherrybrook was purchased on 1/16/2004 for $445,000. The seller is relocating (according to the MLS comments) and I’d imagine that would be some motivation to get this sold soon. They’ll still make out with a nice profit. But it looks like our flipper at 126 Cherrybrook will be even more in the hole.

Address: 25 Golden Eagle, Irvine, CA 92603 (Shady Canyon)
Plan: ?? sq ft – 4/4.5
MLS: S452978 DOM: 62
Sale History: 1/6/2006: $4,030,000
Price Reduced: 09/28/06 — $4,480,000 to $4,280,000
Current Price: $4,280,000

For those that might not know, Shady Canyon is one the most prestigious and exclusive communities in Orange County. This village in Irvine consists mostly of custom homes although there are a few ‘tract’ homes as well. Prices currently range from $3,495,000 – $17,900,000.

While scouring MLS looking for flips, I came across 25 Golden Eagle. You’ll want to look it up in ZipRealty to check out the rest of the pictures. A gorgeous home in a beautiful setting but you need mucho dinero to play in this part of Irvine.

This home was custom built in 2003 and it appears the original owner listed the home in November 2005 and sold it in January 2006. The new owner is a RE broker and put the home back on the market in August 2006 looking to make $450,000. The price was lowered a couple weeks ago reducing the potential profit to about $250,000. The broker is offering 3% for someone to bring a buyer and that will decrease his profit to about $122,000. I’ve been unable to find any loan information so if someone else is able to dig that up, please post. Imagine what the carrying costs on something like this would be. This one may take a while to sell but I’ll keep checking.

UPDATE #1 – November 16, 2006

This listing fell off the market on November 2nd. If it gets relisted I’ll update the post. In the meanwhile, check out another $4+ Million Flip at OC Renter’s blog.

UPDATE #2 – December 15, 2006

And now it’s BACK on the market at a price of $4,295,000. It’s also now listed with Uber realtor John McMonigle. I’d bump up the selling costs to be about 6% now which would give the seller a profit of about $7,000. Nice 😉