1130 Summit Drive - Good Deal or Not?

Recently, 1130 Summit Drive was foreclosed upon and listed by its new bank owner. It is big, w/5 bedrooms, very nice inside, but no yard, on a very busy steep street and the house is all vertical - 4 stories up to the kitchen from the garage.

The bank wants $2.4 million - that's quite a steep price for a home in Arch Beach Heights, which is typically a low value area in Laguna Beach. Rumor has it that there were multiple offers a few weeks ago but even then the price didn't go that high. Now though, it looks like the house is under contract.

Oh yeah, the neighbor's house (1289 La Mirada St.), which is bigger and is uphill on a better and level street, was recently listed for $500,000 less. Not a good sign that 1130 Summit is worth anything near to the asking price, in my opinion.

What say ye? Is someone going to get a good deal or is the new buyer getting a load of trouble - a house that's going to sink underwater yet again in the future?

Open House Carnage in Newport Coast

We decided to check out some open houses in Newport Coast a few Sundays ago. I witnessed a crazy situation, but more about that later.

One of our purposes was also to see how many kids are in the neighborhoods in the area. We want to get into a neighborhood that has a lot of kids so our kids have some playmates. Anyone have thoughts on Newport Coast for that?

In any event, we stopped at the house at 8 wayside. It turns out that it is a disappointingly small two story house given its $3.79M asking price. The view was nice.

But get this.

I come out of the house to get back into my car...and...

The owner of the house is out front with the garage door open and his Ferrari PINK SLIP out, trying to SELL his car to somebody. Sell Sell Sell, economic times must be tough at 8 Wayside. I think I'll just wait for this one to go REO before I even think about making an offer. (In my mind, it is a $2M house.)

We saw a few kids out and about in this neighborhood, but only a few. This did not inspire confidence.

Severe Price Cut Shows Real Recession in Laguna Beach Home Prices

Happy new year(?)

The lack of many sales in the last half of 2007 has left BlueMove and everyone else without much information on the real valuation of Laguna Beach home prices.

Well, wonder no longer. Someone wants to sell and that someone is probably a bank that now owns 581 Diamond Street, Laguna Beach, California. A 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom, 2100 sq. ft. home. This home was just listed in the MLS.

Asking Price: $1,449,500
Prior Purchase Price: $2,144,641 (August 2007)
Prior Purchase Price: $2,600,000 (April 2005)

If the house were to sell at the asking price, the total loss from the peak would be about $1,250,000, including real estate commissions. If the home sells, it could show what it takes to actually sell a mid level house in Laguna Beach in today's market. Such a price, a 50% loss, is a wipe out, wash out and a blow up.

More to come on local listings. In the meantime, it is scary how fast prices are falling! OC home prices are going down.