Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Price Cuts (33%) Spread to Temple Hills Drive


Mr. Blue has been watching 1645 Temple Hills Drive for quite a while.
This house was pretty nice and had a great view.

But it didn't sell until after it was marked down a huge $1,000,000.
The original asking price was almost $3,000,000 and it sold in June for slighly less than $2,000,000. Boy, Surterre Properties sure did misprice this home!

And finally, why would ANYONE pay the asking price for an obviously distressed property? The buyer bid the asking price in June 2008.
Does this sound like malpractice by the buyer's agent? Thoughts?

18 comments:

Swim Mistress said...

I'd like to know who is buying $2 million properties in Laguna?

Anonymous said...

Swim - It certainly wasn't me, but according to Zillow, 27 homes sold for $2 million+ in the last six months. That market is way beyond my means, so I don't track it. It would be interesting to at whether those homes have had similar price declines or whether this rocky economy doesn't bother people in this income bracket.

Anonymous said...

The owner of the house took the huge mark down with the condition that only asking price offers would be accepted. There was a long ad and the story behind it in the Laguna paper.

I know because a friend of mine offer was rejected for being below ask.

Swim Mistress said...

Lester, I doubt Laguna has the incomes to support $2 million homes. But I could be wrong.

Anonymous said...

Income for $2M homes is here.

Swim Mistress said...

Really, what data are you referring to? I'd really be curious to see that. If it's true, I'll take my comment back about the incomes in Laguna.

Anonymous said...

It is interesting that people who have no concept of Laguna Beach property and income level would categorically state that Laguna Beach does not have the income levels to support a $2 million property. A house on Temple Hills Drive was just listed for $3 million. In addition, 1645 Temple Hills sits on a 10,000 square foot FLAT lot, which is completely unheard of in Laguna Beach. Whomever purchased the property, saw the value and the potential to make it a significantly more valuable future sale.

Mr. Blue said...

Anon, you are a little off on the value of the lot at 1645 Temple Hills. The design of the house uses a fair amount of the space and the house has no garage, essentially making the entire front yard into parking spaces. The backyard is much smaller than the photo on the internet and the remaning part of the backyard behind the pool is purely vertical and unusable. The proximity of power lines and the neigboring homes gives a "small yard" feel also. Only a real estate agent who drinks the kool aid would think the lot was a major selling point......I'm glad you are not my agent.....

Swim Mistress said...

I think I know quite a bit about the market in Laguna Beach. My family still lives there. I've been watching that market for years. It's only recently seen median home prices over $1 million. I'd like to see income data for Laguna Beach. I've been watching the real estate market, not income data.

*Te* said...

I recently "googled" my new home's address and imagine my surprise when I came across this debate! If you haven't guessed yet, I am the new owner of 1645 Temple Hills.

Irrespective of the lively, and largely negative, debate, I am happy to own this home (it certainly has its problems that will be remedied in the following years). My family and I do not plan on selling for many, many years and I assume that my great, great-grandchildren will sell it for more than $2 million. If you doubt the beauty of the view and the expansiveness of the lot, please knock on my door and I will give you a tour. Maybe even a glass of wine!

Ultimately, I think real estate is a crap shot and everyone has an opinion as to the right or wrong choices. After scouring the Laguna Beach real estate market, this was the best house for us and the best home for OUR dollar.

Thanks for the interesting blog, I'm certainly interested in hearing everyone else's musings on the LB market (maybe some other properties either than mine).

Cheers!

Mr. Blue said...

Athena, you certainly are right about the view. It is fantastic. Cheers to you for having the common sense of not paying the original asking price of $3M. When the price got into the high $1M area, I too was taking this house seriously. Finally, your long term approach to ownership is the way to go - real estate in LB should be a great long term investment.

*Te* said...

I have a question to pose to everyone. During my real estate search, my family and I saw a ton of homes in North Laguna. Personally, I wasn't a fan of the significant beach traffic, tiering, and lot sizes. I recently drove back by there and many of the homes I saw over 6 months ago are still on the market. On one block of Hillcrest, there are three homes (two side-by-side) that are for sale. One of them has a remarkable view. Any thoughts on why these are not selling? I think that they are over-priced, but from all I've heard, North Laguna is quite popular. Thoughts??

Swim Mistress said...

Athena, congratulations on your purchase. Some people like North Laguna because they do not have to drive through town to get to shopping in Newport Coast (Trader Joe's!) or Fashion Island, or jobs in Newport/Irvine area. Traditionally, North Laguna has always been a little more expensive than the rest of Laguna Beach. I think the reason properties aren't selling is the prices are too high. It's hard to get loans and jumbos are very high interest rate. Of course, this is not a concern for very wealthy with lots of cash.

Mr. Blue said...

My take on North Laguna.
It is nice, but for my needs,
it is not as family friendly as the rest of Laguna. Kids can't play outside due to traffic and/or sloped streets and small yards. It is far away from the elementary, middle and high schools. There are more playmates for my kids in other parts of Laguna.
Also, there are more apartments and some people don't want to own a home close to rental units. A gigantic family sized nice home on Weymouth sold a while ago for $2.4 after a huge price reduction. As you can tell, I probably won't buy in North Laguna.

Anonymous said...

I live in North Laguna and find it nice (also very close to El Morro Elementary). That said I think woods cove/village area are a bit more family friendly.

I jog down Hillcrest every day. Two of the homes for sale are way over priced (1.9 &1.7)for their condition.

Congrats Athena...my brother in law is still upset that he didn't go through with the full price (after the reduction) offer on your new home.

Anonymous said...

Tell your brother-in-law he'll be happy when a similar house is 30% less in real dollars in two years.

*Te* said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
*Te* said...

Thanks for the congratulations! We love the house (we would love it even more if we didn't have 60 light switches and only 20 working ones). Interesting comments about North Laguna. It seems like a beautiful area, but I would certainly agree that the village is more family friendly. The only problem I see with Temple Hills, however, is that Temple Hills is such a major thoroughfare that people are inconsiderate of the surrounding neighbors. Beware of crazy drivers on their way up to Top of the World.