Orange County

[TrabucoDom]

They just dropped their price by 200k on this short-sale, now listed at 599k, which is back to its original price that it last sold  for in May of 2002:

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Trabuco-Canyon/32051-Via-Buho-92679/home/5055827

Are they realistic with this new price....or is it still just a game the short-sellers are playing? Redfin stats at the bottom of the page, though tend to have some inaccurate comps at times, show the avg. sold price/sq.ft at $267 for a value of $614k for this place.

[cdcrezz]

I am no expert and am fairly poor at guessing sales prices, but I would say about $650,000.

[BobPhillips-RE]

It's a small - 2300 sq ft - 3 bedroom, with a 2 car garage.  The most positive features are a nice view, with privacy, and a remodeled kitchen.  Oh, and the Village has lower association dues - $80./mo. - than the rest of Coto, and no Mello/Roos.

The original list price was WAY out of whack.  My guess is $600k, plus or minus $25k.

[kompeitou]

From my understanding on short sales, list price is meaningless unless its bank approved.  The real estate agent sets a low price, generates interest, gets their highest and best bid... submits that to the bank who then says "nah... but we will take $X"

then the house gets relisted at the new price with "bank approved short sale at $X". 

The agent can't be that serious about selling it.  Four pictures?  thats it?  

@bob:  Small?  holy cow... I would be swimming in space with 2300 sq ft.  

[BobPhillips-RE]

kompeitou, I agree that 2300 sq ft, doesn't SEEM "small" but the average square footage of houses sold in Coto last year was a tad above 3800 sq ft.

Everything is relative.

I agree with your brief consensus of short sale pricing, by the way.

[TrabucoDom]

I just thought I'd revive this old thread since the home I asked about has finally sold....

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BobPhillips-RE wrote:

It's a small - 2300 sq ft - 3 bedroom, with a 2 car garage.  The most positive features are a nice view, with privacy, and a remodeled kitchen.  Oh, and the Village has lower association dues - $80./mo. - than the rest of Coto, and no Mello/Roos.

The original list price was WAY out of whack.  My guess is $600k, plus or minus $25k.

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http://www.redfin.com/CA/Trabuco-Canyon/32051-Via-Buho-92679/home/5055827

Bob, it looks like you were a little off...the place sold for $500k...your guess was 600K +-25K, a little optimistic, but no surprise.

Cdcrezz admitted in the thread to not being a pricing expert, guessed $650K....I guess he really is a closet bull

I didn't guess the price...but I would have thought the price would have closed closer to 600K also.

I wonder why it closed so low...any ideas?...have prices dropped that much since January? It seems like quite a good deal for the older part of Coto.

[BobPhillips-RE]

The guesses that were made when this thread started, were based on a list price of $749k, which was reduced from $799k, which WAS absurd.

In looking at the loans on the place when it closed escrow, it would appear that there were only two loans, originally totaling $400k, so it would appear, that even at $500k, Wells Fargo might have actually made a profit on this sale.

If by chance the original loans were originated by World Savings, or Wachovia, and then absorbed by W/F - those loans were acquired for 10 cents on the dollar, by W/F, in which case they made a killing.

That's a primary reason we short sale agents look for old World & Wachovia loans - they're the easiest short sales to undergo, and they still make W/F a hefty profit.

This property appears to have been a good buy, by a lucky buyer.  Congratulations to them.

As to T.D.'s inquiry as to whether Coto prices have dropped THAT much, since January, the short answer is NO, not in general.  There are, however, occasional low sales, and occasional high sales.  Real estate is not an exact science.  It's not like going down to Best Buy and picking them off a shelf.

Some, like this house are a great buy - possibly by a lucky buyer who hung in there for 4 or 5 months, and got a terrific reward.  Some houses sell high - comparatively - because of an emotional attachment.  Both scenarios happen about once a month in Coto - and elsewhere in the O.C., I'm sure.

[Groundhog]

TD,

That is a truly informative posting, good job dude.

And very close to some darn good golf too, can it get any better? Looks like someone found a good deal in Coto to me. Is the "price worm" turning?

Unless of course there is some serious defect to this sale, said defect lurking "in the shadows", just waiting for an uninformed buyer who was lacking a suspicions nature to show up?.

Groundhog opinion

[TrabucoDom]

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BobPhillips-RE wrote:

The guesses that were made when this thread started, were based on a list price of $749k, which was reduced from $799k, which WAS absurd.

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Minor correction Bob....Take a look at my first post in this thread...I explicitly stated that the price had just been reduced to $599K so the guesses were based on $599K not $799K or $749K as you mistakingly just said...but I understand that mistakes are made.