Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 7:22 AM
Awash With Choices
Another new listing, a short sale, popped up on the ER golf course yesterday, and while it seems we’re spending an inordinate amount of time in the ‘hood, it makes for a good example of what could be brewing on a street or area near you.
As a homebuyer, when you see FIVE distressed properties on the market at virtually the same time, does that make you want to step up, or back off?
Especially when you see a mix like this:
| REO or SS | Street | Sq. Ft. | Previous Sale | List Price | Status |
| REO | Spanish | 4,237sf | $1.535 8/04 | $989,100 | CONT |
| SS | Cypress | 4,612sf | $1.069 8/03 | $995,000 | CONT |
| REO | Paseo | 4,318sf | $1.780 4/04 | $1,196,800 | ACT |
| SS | Cypress | 4,294sf | $1.600 5/05 | $1,200,000 | ACT |
| REO | Paseo | 5,177sf | $1.950 6/04 | $1,255,900 | SOLD 10/10/09 $1,256,000 |
CONT = Offer(s) in, contingent on bank approval
The $200,000+ variance in the list prices doesn’t help, and with four left to choose from, which one do you pick? Or does the market freeze up?
Here’s the latest video:
Happy Halloween!
Posted on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 7:22 AM in Jim TV, REOs for sale, Short Sales, Thinking of Buying?, Thinking of Selling? | 17 Comments » | 
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Jim, did you catch the article on Zero Hedge where the FDIC is auctioning off assets seized from failed banks? Residential housing assets.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/hampton-georgia-pop-5300-attacked-fdic-fha-fannie-and-freddie
Granted, Georgia has had more than its share of bank failures in the past few months…how far behind is CA?
Art Eclectic | October 31st, 2009 at 7:32 amI’ll keep the Beverly Hillbillies dining room table, but the TV will have to be replaced. It’s way too small for me.
(I have an 84″ front projection system in my one bedroom apartment.
)
Five distressed properties in the same area. And that’s just the ones we know about. Who knows how many the banks are sitting on.
Add the misguided golf ball missiles to the mix, and frankly that’s a neighbourhood I’d rather avoid! Unpredictable ROI, high turn-around in an upscale area, risk of house damage if you’re in the wrong place next to the golf course… No thanks!
I definitely prefer the isolated homes you showed us during the last few days. At least those are in decent enough shape that the renovation costs won’t be too bad.
François Caron | October 31st, 2009 at 7:33 amJim,
Have you heard any news of banks clamping down on short sales by requiring the borrower to sign a promisary note for the amount of forgiven debt or portion therof,the bank forgives.
I have seen short sales sit on the market for 4 months.then you have agenbts put ridiculouly low prices on them to suck buyers in.
How do you as the best realtor in s. CA fix this huge problem with short sales?
born 2 lose | October 31st, 2009 at 7:52 amThanks Art, but I’m not alarmed about bank or government entity auctioning assets. Like a commenter noted, they were all properties that were previously listed, and failed to sell.
They should auction off all the crap, and list for retail the nice ones. There are many buyers for bank-owned decent houses.
Thanks for sharing though, and keep ‘em coming.
Jim the Realtor | October 31st, 2009 at 8:29 amborn,
I’ve had two short sales so far where the bank pitched a promissory note carryback, one seller did it, and the other didn’t.
The one that did was $50,000 with Navy Fed. They were active duty captains, the ones that got ripped off by you-know-who, and they felt that they did the right thing. It closed in 30 days.
The other refused twice because he didn’t have the income, and Wachovia relented.
I think the promissory-note idea is waning though, and that the servicers are buckling under the heavy workload.
Jim the Realtor | October 31st, 2009 at 8:37 amHappy Halloween Jim
ChrisG | October 31st, 2009 at 8:55 amIt’ll be interesting to see where these behemoths close – maybe around $250/ft? I wonder how much that would affect LCV, LCO, etc.
And if the market freezes up . . . look out. There could be many wounds to lick in ’10, and the bears may awake from hibernation.
The Blur | October 31st, 2009 at 10:42 amThats like taking a Mercedes 500 body style and dumping in Hyundai interior with naugahide seating and plastic floor mats.
Pretty strange home…kind of makes me feel like I did last time I ate at Denny’s…and that was 20 years ago!
doughboy | October 31st, 2009 at 12:00 pmWhen I see 5 homes on same street listed at same time I go in there and low-ball. Too bad it hasn’t worked yet!
john | October 31st, 2009 at 12:10 pmThe housing bubble is turning out to be more and more like the early 90s s&l “bailout”. Once the TARP money runs out and banks are taken over prices will fall through the floor as gov tries to auction assets off. The scary thing this time is the bubble is much larger and widspread than anything that occurred in the early 90s.
Since Jim has been slinging RE since the 80s it would be interesting to get his perspective as an agent in the trenches.
shadash | October 31st, 2009 at 1:32 pmshadash,
A tad bit negative, even for you.
I think $3 trillion might be all we need. Spend a trillion a year buying MBS to keep mortgage rates low, and ditch all other tax credits, loan mods, etc. A fairly-distributed incentive to those willing to risk.
Heck, you’ll probably buy in the next 3 years, wouldn’t you?
Jim the Realtor | October 31st, 2009 at 1:59 pmI’ll buy prob in the next year but I’m not going to sell my future for four walls and a roof.
Also I’m not trying to come off negative. If I am I’m sorry, it’s just how I see things unfolding. (Barring additional government intervention on prices)
I guess you’re right. Considering the governments current intent to spend it’s way out of a recession. (A trillion here a trillion there eventually it all starts to add up.)
BTW, I’m in Manhattan this weekend and it’s interesting to see all the big name banks throwing around $$$ like none other hosting public and private events. I seems like every 3-4 minutes I see some kind of free marketing tee shirt of jacket with a banks corp logo. The last time I saw this type of thing was in Vegas during Comdex right before the computer bubble popped.
shadash | October 31st, 2009 at 3:02 pmMeanwhile, north of the border … http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/newsfeatures/article/719126–home-bidders-get-personal-our-baby-loves-your-house
“People are now making audition tapes begging you to let them buy your house, and by the way, they’d also like to give you more money than you asked for. How outrageous is that?” says Bernard Lang, a Toronto investor in rental properties.
bill wilson | October 31st, 2009 at 5:26 pmOkay. I’m Canadian, and even I found that making a video to BUY a house is a little weird.
I don’t have a clear picture as to the current state of our housing market. We didn’t take as hard of a hit as the States due to the strict banking regulations (none of our banks asked for any hand-outs). But we’re still from my point of view in a recession, our prime interest rate is at 2.25% and is a bit on the low side, the value of the Canadian dollar against the US dollar is still too high and interfering with our exports to the US (we almost hit parity last week; our preference is around 80-85 cents US), consumer confidence is still a bit low causing people to hold on to whatever cash they have…
And yet, people are still buying homes up here.
On my side, I still have a ton of credit that I haven’t used up, and I have people who are interested in investing in my business despite it not having been officially launched yet or even making any money!
I just don’t get it!
François Caron | October 31st, 2009 at 7:08 pmIf people care about the rare golf ball landing in their back yard (and I know people do), they’re worrying about trivial things.
There are bigger fish to fry with that one.
Blissful Ignoramus | October 31st, 2009 at 9:38 pmJim,
Please read this…
http://www.sprott.com/Docs/MarketsataGlance/MAAG_10_2009.pdf
… and then let’s talk about whether or not we have 3 years.
p.s.: Although ER is damned nice, this particular house is oddly not.
tj & the bear | October 31st, 2009 at 10:44 pmtj,
While this is a real estate blog, I’ll go off topic because you asked.
You know how most grandfathers take their grandkids fishing? Mine was a little more intense, being a District Attorney.
He got my brother and I together one day and laid out the whole Trilateral Commission/CFR package, and said that he thought they’d destroy this country someday. He told us to do everything in our power to stop them.
I don’t have any doubt in my mind that the powers that be must be heading for the “Big Start-Over” where they bankrupt this fine country, and replace with the one-world government.
It’ll probably reward those who live like the government does, highly in debt.
You’re about to get pigged so if you want to respond on a subsequent post, feel free.
Jim the Realtor | November 1st, 2009 at 8:43 am