bubbleinfo.com

From msn.com:

When Mikey and Zeina Kostelny found their first home in the suburbs of Altadena, Calif., it appeared to be a buyer’s dream, complete with fresh paint, carpet and fixtures.

But that dream quickly dissolved into nightmare after the sale closed in late 2008 as the couple began to discover problems hidden behind its glossy finishes — from mold to gas leaks to bad wiring — all stemming, they believe, from its undisclosed past as a marijuana grow house.

“After we moved in, we smelled fresh paint and then another smell,” Zeina Kostelny says. An inspection later revealed dangerous Stachybotrys mold throughout much of the house, forcing them to move and foot the tab for more than $42,000 in remediation and repair. Months later, an electrical fire pushed them into an apartment again.

The tsunami of vacant, bank-owned properties in many parts of the country has helped fuel a surge in indoor marijuana production, turning once-empty homes like the Kostelnys’ into high-dollar and high-risk pot farms that spell trouble for prospective buyers and neighbors.

“In the last several years, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of grow houses,” says Covina, Calif., Police Chief Kim Raney, who has overseen several busts. “It’s almost a perfect environment, because you have had a housing market that’s upside down, people losing their houses to foreclosure and people trying to find ways to make their mortgage,” he says.

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 Another milestone today – the 700th video! 

This youtube has nothing to do with real estate sales, and most will find it over-indulgent – but if you like cars (and Chevys in particular), this might bring back some old memories:

At first I thought there should be a lot of offers, but then how come nobody else was there later?

Well-maintained homes for sale are a rarity. 

If you, or your realtor, can identify how much improvements would cost during a quick tour, it would make it easier for you to decide to buy it.  

The best thing you can do is commit to spending at least $25,000 on any house you buy, and be looking where to spend it.  Then you’ll get the improvements/quality/color you want – and stop being disappointed that you can’t find the perfect house.

More clips from the editing room floor, including a long-lost rescue fished out of the archives:

These are the exciting ones, the others are bland:

The Deal-O-Meter gets pinged occasionally these days in Carmel Valley, but the comps are still mostly retail-like for the quality properties. The rule-of-thumb for the good ones hasn’t changed, hope for $300/sf, expect $330/sf – here’s part one:

We saw the Pacifica REO on the previous post, and here are three four other REOs around the same price point (half-million) in Encinitas.  Once they are closed, they should make for excellent double-dip banter if they end up selling for well under list price. 

But take a good look – would you be surprised if you hear that they end up selling for less?