Saturday, November 28th, 2009 at 6:56 AM
Justice Served
Here’s a flipper who was foiled in the act.
A realtor had listed this house in June, noting that it was a short-sale flip in progress. They had arranged (conspired) with the seller to submit to the existing lender a short sale package at a lower price, and then listed it on the MLS for $598,321 before the short sale was approved – intending to pocket the difference.
Instead, the bank foreclosed on them:
Posted on Saturday, November 28th, 2009 at 6:56 AM in Flips, Fraud, Jim TV, REOs for sale, Thinking of Buying? | 28 Comments » | 
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What a complete mess! This might be your worst house video yet!
François Caron | November 28th, 2009 at 7:06 amThat’s not justice. The flipper didn’t lose anything.
Real justice would be the flipper buying it and then discovering foundation problems.
W.C. Varones | November 28th, 2009 at 7:09 amHow do you get water problems in every room of a house?
Very odd…
shadash | November 28th, 2009 at 7:49 amAnd we are in a drought!
doughboy | November 28th, 2009 at 8:25 amJim,
You may have to film this one…built in 1970…needs to be FINISHED!
Rancho Rad on the front gate!
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-090065166-2292_Monte_Vista_Dr_Vista_CA_92084
doughboy | November 28th, 2009 at 8:30 amNow this is the type of video that is vintage Jim the Realtor IMO. Seven minutes of your time and you walk away with a wealth of knowledge. It reminds me of that video he did on the house for sale with the water fountain that was always on to block out the noise from traffic.
Greekfire | November 28th, 2009 at 9:11 amScrape it.
dacounselor | November 28th, 2009 at 10:26 amGreat education.
Thanks Jim!
FreedomCM | November 28th, 2009 at 11:22 amJim,
It’s called Efflorescence. Effervescence would be your personality.
Steve
Steve | November 28th, 2009 at 12:41 pmThis shows what I meant when I said that foreclosures is the best route for the bank. Too many people think that short sales or “working it out” is better for them, but that’s never been proven. Foreclosure is a time-tested solution to too much debt.
Liquidate, liquidate, liquidate.
Chuck
Chuck Ponzi | November 28th, 2009 at 1:37 pmJtR in classic form. Nice vid.
.5 mil ticket for something best serviced with matches and gasoline… and a bulldozer. Did I hear you right – they bought this back in 90 and it went to foreclosure. I hope the mew was fun.
Genius | November 28th, 2009 at 1:56 pmI’d have let them have the short sale, because that place is a true money pit. The flipper would’ve flopped big time. Still, nice to see that realtor’s plan get stomped.
Greekfire’s right, too — lots of great info.
tj & the bear | November 28th, 2009 at 2:04 pmYou should have shown that on Halloween instead of Thanksgiving — it was scary enough.
So what, did they have sprinklers on inside?
Dwip | November 28th, 2009 at 2:25 pmYou know, it strikes me with this house and many, many that I’ve looked at in SD, they look like they belong to the year 1985. I could see charles in charge on TV in that home.
This brings back a memory of a home I almost bought which had water problems. The land it sat on was sloped on a curve, which turned in markedly toward the home. I worried about the proper water runoff so I asked the builder about it. He said there could not be runoff problems because we have to build to regs, yada, yada, yada. The more he talked the less I wanted to buy.
So maybe a week later it rained pretty good and during the rain I stopped by the home. To my not so surprise, there was water several inches deep standing in the back yard and on the sides of home. It was standing ankle deep from just one morning of rain. No thanks, the deal was dead.
Flash forward about a year and the home was back on the market. Some poor soul had bought it but was trying to sell at 40% off the price.
JimB | November 28th, 2009 at 4:21 pmI’ll be very interested to see how this property plays out. What is the going rate for a complete tear down these days? How much value is that land going to hold when you factor in your demo/removal costs to get back to a buildable lot?
Art Eclectic | November 28th, 2009 at 4:56 pmThe street isn’t good enough for that to be considered a scraper. Why do all that work to live on Levante?
pemeliza | November 28th, 2009 at 6:10 pm“Effervescence” is the gas that comes out of the bubbles in your Perrier.
Wessonality, on the other hand …
Smithers | November 28th, 2009 at 6:49 pmThe pool looks DIY as well.
Blissful Ignoramus | November 28th, 2009 at 7:06 pm“How much value is that land going to hold when you factor in your demo/removal costs to get back to a buildable lot?”
I think a vacant lot (unless in a great location) is worth about zero these days. Add in the cost of a demo, and a tear-down therefore has to be worth less than zero.
Geotpf | November 28th, 2009 at 9:10 pmBad design in combination with no maintenance means an accelerated date with the Reaper. Water is entering from the wall/foundation and the french doors on the first floor. It looks like the second story has some flat roof and the master has french doors and water looks like it is seeping in. Not sure if any water is coming from the tile roof but at this point, who knows and who cares – Pass Go and collect $200.
The former owner drove to Brea every day? Again, what is time worth? A commute is a reverse gift that keeps on giving not once a year or once a day, but two times a day. Brea is an extreme example but still, driving just an extra 30 – 40 minutes roundtrip everyday to get that McMansion is C-R-A-Z-Y like Elin Nordegren with a 2 iron. Odds say if she would have grabbed the 9 iron that back window would have been perfectly fine
3clicks from the beach | November 28th, 2009 at 10:11 pmWe were wondering what had happened to that house. I thought it had sold. Didn’t it go pending at the higher price?
Very poor curb appeal and strange layout. Add all the water damage, etc. and it’s unlikely anyone will want to pay more than $500K for it, if that. Agree with you — that’s a tear-down.
CA renter | November 28th, 2009 at 11:47 pm“it’s unlikely anyone will want to pay more than $500K for it”
See, that’s my question. Would an owner/occupier actually buy that house — at any price? I can imagine a flipper buying it and hiding the water damage evidence yet again, but since Jim has so lovingly documented it, would that leave the flipper open to a lawsuit in the long term when the water problems surfaced again and there’s the video right there showing that the problem had been covered up?
That’s why I think this property is going to be so interesting to watch. As an REO, is the bank obligated to disclose the water problems? Is anyone crazy enough to buy a house that is basically uninsurable? If this thing hits the market at $200k, would someone buy for tear down? Would someone buy and attempt to live there with mold problems being a certainty?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Art Eclectic | November 29th, 2009 at 8:09 amIt is kind of like buying an REO or Short in your neighboorhood because you can watch and maintain it easier, but the price is still too high to bring any sort of immediate cashflow (also given the down payment). Better look elsewhere.
3clicks from da beach | November 29th, 2009 at 8:46 amI’m with Art Eclectic. It’s a scrapper all right, but it won’t be priced at the value of the property, so it will just sit. Although, I’ve been researching high tech sealants with thoughts toward building entirely below ground, and man there is some nice stuff out there. I’d give the roof and those below ground exterior walls a go, personally, but not at THAT price. Maybe for 100k above dirt price. I like the style of the foyer (?) area, with the curved staircase. The angles appeal to me for some reason.
Emma | November 29th, 2009 at 9:01 amHow much is the dirt worth?
3rd Generation | November 29th, 2009 at 9:03 amI almost bought a house in that neighborhood this summer and I am so happy it didn’t work out. This home should drag down values even more.
Jinx | November 29th, 2009 at 12:18 pmI’m surprised the city has not “red tagged” this property. The potential mold issue, improper grading and drainage, etc. in my opinion, is irreparable. JtR, you are right – it is a teardown. That was one lucky flipper and the lucky listing agent dodged a bullet.
Desert Realtor | November 29th, 2009 at 5:31 pmExcellent. God Bless You. You nailed the water problems. My prediction: a real estate “investor” will buy it, hire some half-baked construction folk, do some “improvements/upgrades”, and then try to sell it to some poor sucker. So some poor guy with a wife and kids think he’s getting a deal but with the first big rainstorm finds out that he’s been screwed. Lawyers will be called but little or no money ever gets back to the buyer because the “investor” cries poor or disappears. Rinse and repeat. If I ever see an open house on that one I’ll be attending to warn potential buyers….
Big Fan | November 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm