Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 7:57 PM
Deadbeats
Here’s a sample of the frenzy-like activity spotted all around the county. The zip code for this street is Kensington’s 92116, but one block away is Talmadge, 92115, and City Heights, 92105, and although it may be north of El Cajon Blvd. (by just 1.5 blocks), the negatives here weigh heavily – condition of property, proximity to busy street, tougher neighborhood nearby, plus the house is dark inside.
And there are 5-6 offers in on it!
Here’s the youtube video tour:



Stay classy San Diego!
Great work jim as always
LM | May 21st, 2009 at 8:45 pmNice retro bathroom.
doug r | May 21st, 2009 at 8:46 pmLaughed out loud at the picture in the other bathroom.
Wow. The defining video? Detroit river, graffiti, black toilet, multiple offers!
Stephen Waits | May 21st, 2009 at 9:01 pmIt could be.
I’m not surprised that there’s one person out there who is motivated enough just to get their hands on something that they’d offer, but 5-6?
This is what happens when inventory tightens – those who really want/need to buy end up moving aggressively.
Jim the Realtor | May 21st, 2009 at 9:12 pmI surely don’t know the area, but this house has good bones, in spite of the traffic. If it was in BH it would be $1.7. The retro bath is definitely a plus. Too bad about the Picassos on meth – hope the federales got them.
Desert Realtor | May 21st, 2009 at 9:27 pmThis state is seriously screwed. Not even sure if it’s worth staying.
Chuck
I remember, perhaps naiively in my youth, a boy scout’s motto to leave a place better than you found it. Some people are beyond help.
Chuck Ponzi | May 21st, 2009 at 9:31 pmBy the way, hat tip to SW for sending this along – people are now tipping me to houses around town for videos, keep ‘em coming!
Jim the Realtor | May 21st, 2009 at 9:33 pmThe picture in the bathroom is hilarious.
The neighborhood, outside, and backyard freeway kill it.
I like the inside though, and the retro bathroom looks great. Gives it some personality. Some graffiti cleanup and I think it’d look real nice.
sdnerd | May 21st, 2009 at 10:39 pmNice house (seriously).
CA renter | May 21st, 2009 at 11:01 pmsdnerd,
“Some graffiti cleanup and I think it’d look real nice.”
I think the idea is for the money that you pay for this house you shouldn’t need to clean up graffiti. Also having to clean up graffiti is a bad sign when buying a house.
Kensington, and Talmadge are oasis’s of nice houses in an area that’s generally pretty rough. Jerry Sanders (our mayor) lives in Keningston. Talmadage is one of San Diego’s first suburbs built in the 1920’s on the whim of a silent movie star. Both area’s home prices go up the further away from El Cajon Blvd the house is located. The best locations are on the edge of the ridge overlooking Mission Valley.
If you buy in either area and have kids plan on private school.
shadash | May 22nd, 2009 at 6:13 amI like Kensington. Unfortunately, the middle school and high school for that area are scary. Friends who live there send their kids to charter schools to avoid that problem.
I love the retro bathroom. I wish they’d kept some of the other original stuff… instead they went crazy with slate.
UCGal | May 22nd, 2009 at 6:38 amI just reread the post above the video. This is closer to El Cajon blvd than Adams and is south of Adams. (north of Adams adds value). Looks like things are still frothy in that area if that many bids are going in on at that price on a house south of Adams. This is definitely a neighborhood where what block you’re on matters.
UCGal | May 22nd, 2009 at 6:56 amLets try 299 at best.The previous owner ia a total loser.Hope they like renting an apartment or living in moms basement.
arizonadude | May 22nd, 2009 at 7:13 amThat’s discouraging. We were hoping to buy something in central SD for up to 350K anywhere from North Park to La Mesa. Are we now back to the insanity of the bubble years? In any case, I was unsure as to whether you, Jim, work in central SD. I guess you do, so we’ll definitely contact.
Steve | May 22nd, 2009 at 7:23 amDeadbeats… most appropriate description. And like angry infants they kick and scream because “it’s not fair”. I wonder if they liquidated the equity out of the place too. Banks don’t seem to want to waste their time going after recourse anyway.
You’re right, Jim. Inventory tightens and it’s feeling like 2005 again. This is what happens when they manipulate the housing market. Squeeze the buyers, keep the assets off of the markets. That foreclosure moratorium was a terrible idea.
kevin | May 22nd, 2009 at 7:39 amShadash,
I wouldn’t pay that price for the house.
Maybe I’m too used to seeing JimTV videos with ‘mold like activity’, trains stations in the back yard, purple shag carpet, etc.
I’ve liked the houses in the last two videos. Just not the locations or the prices.
sdnerd | May 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 amReally, spray paint? Is that the best that you could do? Whatever happened to holes in the walls, dead animals in the attic, cut a few water lines? You could at least have gone with a few satanic symbols to really spice things up.
Mozart | May 22nd, 2009 at 8:54 amActually, that house represents Alan Greenspan’s gift to America.
What did he expect with ZERO percent interest rates for the banks?
Consultant | May 22nd, 2009 at 9:09 amOh, I forgot. Don’t forget the gift of securitization.
Hey, banking is fun (and profitable) when you can pass ALL potential losses onto the next fool.
Here’s an alert: We are not even at the bottom. We will experience at least a decade of MUCH MORE pain than we are currently going through.
The bag is being passed to US tax payers, but that will only happen for so long, and in fact is breaking down, now, as I type this. Reality, eventually, has a way of asserting itself.
Consultant | May 22nd, 2009 at 9:18 amWow, what a waste… of artistic talent! Just kidding. But seriously, that retro bathroom was pretty nice. The rest of it mostly sucks though. No matter how nice the home, the road noise completely kills it for me.
Jim, did you mention the size of the lot and home? If so, I missed it.
I’m feeling really good about paying just $30k more for a 1995 retail home in mira mesa right now.
Kwaping | May 22nd, 2009 at 9:27 am1,831sf house built in 1936 on a 7,932sf lot.
Laini (the name on the wall) paid $695,000 in October, 2006, and 100% financed. Happy to sign their name to their work!
It did officially go pending this morning.
A statistcial quirk – the lot is .1831-acre.
How many times do you see a 1,831sf house on a .1831-acre lot?
Jim the Realtor | May 22nd, 2009 at 9:37 amJim, do you have contact info for the owners? I would like to commission some artwork for my place.
$500K for that house in that neighborhood still sounds absurd to me. Either I am out of whack or the market is still out of whack.
Dacounselor | May 22nd, 2009 at 9:42 amThe gated home in Bella Lago/Aviara had some good wall art when it sold as a foreclosure as well. Must be the latest “value added” feature! Makes me glad to be rural north county although I do have duck turd art in my driveway from a pair of mallards that have decided to mate in my front yard and hang out vs migrate.
doughboy | May 22nd, 2009 at 10:53 amThis is so discouraging.
I agree nice bones on the house, nice size for a small family, crappy local, needs work (a lot probably).
That should be about a median house. ie 4x median HH income. should be $250k, less $25k for the work.
I’m tired of waiting, but no way I would ever pay $500k for that house.
I guess I wait more…
FreedomCM | May 22nd, 2009 at 11:04 amIMO, this reflects the typical scumbag mentality of the people who bought homes with nothing down. Those dirtbags will work at McDonalds and be renters the rest of their lives. Heaven help the landlord who gets stuck with tenants like this.
JAP | May 22nd, 2009 at 11:43 amI bet Laini voted for Obama.
Todd | May 22nd, 2009 at 2:25 pmGrew up in Kensington. 45 years ago I spent some times in those canyons. The canyons i hung out were west of Fairmont and north of Aldine.
I always laugh when people want to include Kensington in their loction when they are one block from El Cajon Blvd. Kensington starts one block north of Meade. The city police blotter consider Kensington starts at El Cajon Blvd.
worm | May 23rd, 2009 at 10:44 am