check the comps, PLEASE

With the large rush of homes hitting the market lately I'm seeing a lot of sellers smoking the dream pipe again. Here's one in Norco Hills. 209 Friesian is a big 5 bed/3.5 bath home overlooking the golf course. It's a funky flooorplan but I kinda like it and actually did put an offer in on a home like this in late 2009. The bad thing about this plan is the layout of the garages. They are on the side of the house and while it's nice that they are hidden from view it's VERY difficult to get cars in and out of them as you have to turn 90 degrees to get into the main garage. There are two other small single garages too. This fella bought this home early on in the crash. He jumped off the fence WAY too soon and paid $625k for this as an REO in Mid 08. He thought he was getting a deal. It originally sold for $1.2M in late 06, got foreclosed on in late 07 (buyer probably never made a payment). They listed in at $780k in late 07. So the buyer pays $625 and thinks he's getting a steal. Fast forward 2 years and these are selling from the mid $400s to the mid $500's. The one I offered on sold for $465k and it had a pretty nice pool.

This guys house sit's WAY up above the 17th fairway. I don't think you could consider it "on the course" There's at least 100 yards of scrub brush hillside between the house and the course. The landscaping looks ok but the freeking realtard only has 2 pis of the outside. The listing price is $699k! That's at least $150k more than this house has any hope of selling for. Personally I think it's at least $200k more than it will sell for. And I'm not basing this on my magic 8-ball. All the seller needs do is look at a recent comp. And it happens to be across the street and 4 houses up. 190 Friesian is the same floorplan but with a spectacular back yard and a horse corral. This home just closed for $525k! I'd take this home over Mr. Delusional's any day of the week.

The bubble must be back

The bubble days are back. This seller thinks so anyway. 8024 Sanctuary in the Retreat just listed for $748k. That's $223k more than the owner paid less than 2 years ago. Other than some landscaping and paint I don't see that he's done much to the house. I looked at this home in 2009 when it was for sale and although it was nice it was actually priced about $50k higher than some of the identical floorplan homes were selling for. This one does back up to the course but the yard is small and it's right next to the clubhouse. I'm not sure what makes a person think in this economy that they can get $223K profit on this house. The realtor should have smacked the seller for even suggesting such a price. On the plus side, the pictures are great. I'll give Tiffanie some brownie points for the listing. Well written and good pics, that's nice to see once in a while. But the price.......

The tide's coming in.

If you are looking for a property you might have noticed a LOT of new listings hitting the market. It seems like the banks are getting serious about turing over their non-performing assets. There was a lot of talk about this late last year and for the most part it was expected. But after a few years of never knowing what's going to happen next it's hard to beleive anything you read these days. But looking at the latest numbers from housing tracker it's pretty obvious that the wave is coming in. The only thing that is in question is how big this wave will be and is there enough demand to absorb this additional inventory. You might also notice that the average listing price has tanked this week. The high end has fallen nearly $100k since it's post crash high of $435k in August 2009. The median has fallen $30k from it's post crash high of $240k in Sept 2009. You can see the high end is VERY weak and I have been saying that for years now. There's just not that many people that can afford $500K plus homes in the IE.

Time to break out the Ass-Clown award

There's a new bread of Ass-Clowns popping up. These are the delusional flippers or the people that recently purchased a home and for whatever reason want to sell it now. Today's home is the latter. The buyer picked up 4507 Birdie Dr in June of 09 for $570k. The house is a 4 bed, 3.5 bath home and nearly 3900 sq/ft. He paid top dollar for it but it is a pretty nice house. However the kitchen cabinets and appliances are low end as is the bathroom. The primary upgrades are outside where it has a nice pool. This home has no view to speak of either. Now, a little over a year later in a market that has dropped off considerably from mid 09 he thinks he can make $100k on this house! Good luck with that fella. If he's lucky he can get out for what he paid.

Just to drive the point home there is 4545 Edgewater Cir. just around the corner from his place. This one is an REO but it's in great shape and has a great view of the Eagle Glen golf course. Even if that view starts with the parking lot. This home is quite a bit larger than ass-clowns place. It's a 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath home of 4136 sq/ft. The kitchen looks nicer, the bathrooms look comparable but this house has a much better view. The listing agent for this one had high hopes for it too. Initially it listed for $580k but it's down to a more reasonable $499k. At this price there's a good chance this home will sell fairly quickly.