Foreclosure Activity Keeps Surging in Crystal Cove

Time for an update on foreclosure activity in Crystal Cove. Like anywhere else, a spike in foreclosure activity is likely to precede a drastic drop in home prices.

And the Crystal Cove foreclosure activity is UP since I last checked.

The foreclosure activity includes recorded notices of default, trustees auctions and then the resulting properties are "bank owned."

About twelve months ago, there was only one property in crystal cove that had foreclosure activity. About six months ago or so there were five properties involved in foreclosure. The twelve. And as of today, there are thirteen, according to Realtytrac.com. This pretty much proves out what I've seen with the homes in Crystal Cove - homes can't be sold for the debt they carry and home values are dropping fast. Homes that are priced high are just sitting there with a few exceptions...... Some listings have drastically reduced listing prices as some owners have determined that it is better to get the home value now rather than lose more in the coming months.

How many of those "good" real estate agents have told our readers about this spike in foreclosure activity in Crystal Cove? Or do you see agents citing the same old and tired statistics. Be careful out there......

Sale of Repo at 1130 Summit Drive Fails - it Falls Out of Escrow

We've written about 1130 Summit Drive, which supposedly (according to comments posted on this blog) garnered offers in the neighborhood of $2 million and perhaps one offer with a higher amount that was chosen to go into escrow.

Well, so much for that - the home presumably fell out of escrow and was relisted at the end of December and the price was reduced by about $35,000, to $2.37 million.

Does anyone know what happened? Problems with the buyer? Cold feet? Something wrong with the house?

At a minimum, this price reduction may impact the home in escrow next door at 1289 La Mirada Street. This older home in need of updating is one lot up the hill but on a better, flat street, but now it may be worth less than its lofty listing price of nearly $2 million, given that the 1130 Summit Drive house is moving downward in the direction of that price. They are virtually the same square footage Both of these homes are in Arch Beach Heights area of Laguna Beach, which is one of the less desirable areas in Laguna Beach and is not known as an area packed with really expensive homes. I wonder if the La Mirada buyer will get cold feet.

The listing broker for both homes is the same - Prudential California Realty. I wonder if this broker will tell the buyer of the La Mirada home about the failed sale of the neighboring house? Or will the buyer's agent be smart enough to find out about it? This failed sale may provide a very relevant comp data point for the La Mirada house. And that comp data point has fallen in value judging from the recent price reductoin......tick, tick, tick.....will another price reduction come? Probably..........

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?

Coldwell Banker's MLS Listed Cartoon House Foreclosed Upon

I've written about the 940 Hillcrest cartoon house for a while now - how it was a Coldwell Banker listing priced at (hold your laughter) $2,800,000. The original MLS listing didn't even have a picture of the house, it had a nice fancy cartoon drawn house drawn over the present house.

This was the ultimate bubble listing. It wasn't about the house that existed in REALITY - instead the brokerage wanted everyone to buy into a fantasy cartoon house that only existed in the MLS. After all, that's where the value is - in pretend homes. Gee, thanks, Coldwell Banker.

Well, the sales tactics didn't work and its all over now. According to the new MLS listing that hit the system today, the property is now bank owned and priced at $937,800, roughly 66% less than Coldwell Banker's original price. I'm really happy for the buyers out there who didn't fall prey to the original list price.

Next time you see a Coldwell Banker listing, think of this one - how much do you really trust these people to present a property with a fair market price? I'll let the commenters answer that one.

2626 Victoria Drive Headed Toward Foreclosure

Bluemove documented the failed auction at 2626 Victoria Drive just after Thanksgiving of 2008. Now, Bluemove has discovered that, according to Realtytrac.com, a mortgage default for this property was recorded in early December. This is the first step of foreclosure and this is becoming a more common factor in Laguna Beach home prices.

The highest market price from the bidders at the failed auction was $1,500,000, but this was well below the price the seller would accept. If and when the bank forecloses, perhaps the home will sell for $1,500,000.

Wave of Foreclosures Washes Up in Victoria Beach

The flippers are collapsing near Victoria Beach, along with Laguna Beach home prices. Check out 2626 Victoria Drive, Laguna Beach. I was in this home not long ago, when it was listed at $3.2M. Now it is listed at $2.49M and it is listed on Ziprealty as a foreclosure. In this environment, I will be surprised if it even fetches $2.oM.

A few blocks away is 2938 Rounsevel Terrace, Laguna Beach. This is a new 3 bedroom home now owned by the bank. This is another house that was listed way up in the stratosphere, but now is listed by its bank owner at $2.35M for an "as is" sale. I wonder what the contractor didn't do before he left. Nothing like buying a two million dollar house that "needs work." I expect this one will languish and go for under $2M.

Bank Struggles to Unload 1435 Cerritos

1435 Cerritos, a large family sized house back in Bluebird Canyon has been for sale for a long long time. It is listed on two MLS systems for $2M and $2.2M. These are newer listings - there is at least one older listing that goes way back - 6-8 months or more. The house then was laughably priced at $3M. It is big, but it really isn't that nice inside and left me with the impression that it was remodeled in some kind of ad-hoc fashion.

During all this time, a the home was subject to repo proceedings, which finished recently. The house, purchased in late 2004 for $1.5M, is not worth in my opinion much more than that now due to the retreating market. 2004 values are common in the OC and you can find 2004 home prices in Laguna Beach. Another reason it may not be selling is that it is in an area that has suffered at least one landslide in the past. Only a few houses away at 1413 Cerritos Drive, there is a GIGANTIC GAP on the downhill side of the street where a family sized home slid down the canyon in 1998. It was disturbing to me to see the downhill side of the upper front yard had sunk and tilted downward. Careful with this one, buyers.

The bank lowered the listing price briefly to try to get some offers, but I don't think that worked as the house still remains active. The listing agent was probably trying to bait some bidders into raising their bids. Looks like that didn't work. Perhaps the listing agent can give us an update.

New Repo on 926 Van Dyke

Here's a pic of the inside of the a Van Dyke Street home in Laguna that I saw on a foreclosure list. Looks like an old house, but it could be nice. It is a 4 bd and only 1600 sq. ft. The old listing on the MLS only had one picture of the property, so I bet the place is not too pleasing to the eye.

This home was listed last year for $1.699M and was previously bought in 2005 for $1.350M.
The minimum bid required for the auction is over 1.5M, so this one will soon be owned by Washington Mutual, the lien holder. My hunch is that this home comes back on the MLS at $1.1M. I'll try to take a look at it after it comes back on the MLS.

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.

Bluemove Exclusive - "Sell my Rolex to make the house payment"

My family frequents Ruby's on PCH in south Laguna. Some nice local tidbits were heard there this weekend. One family was discussing home mortage issues. A man of the heretofor well-off family declared: "I think I'll sell my Rolex to make the next house payment." "I might be able to buy another one in five years." My, my, doesn't that inspire confidence in the local house market. Buying I will not do.

By the way, Ruby's is an awesome place for families with kids. They have big booths and the staff takes orders quickly, so that food is delivered before the little ones get bored. Also, the paper car models that are given to the kids are fun little diversions that preserve mommy and daddy's time to enjoy a meal outside of the house. Hats off to Ruby's.

This is yet further buzz that supports the grim picture that real estate values in Laguna Beach are sinking fast. Laguna Beach can't fight the market and swim upstream - just like Orange County home prices are sinking, so goes moneyed Laguna Beach.

Desperate Laguna House Flippers

Below are some 3 bedroom or larger homes that strike me as flips gone wrong or about to go wrong, especially since Laguna Beach home prices are spiraling downward:

2867 Terry Road - Asking $1,895,000, bought it for $1,850,000 in 2006. Listed for almost a year. This house is a small 3 bedroom, but it is nice. No yard though and really close to PCH noise.

954 Miramar St- Asking $1,099,000, bought for $1,000,000; listed in 2007 and recently relisted to make it look "new".

31371 Monterey St - Reduced to $2,050,000, bought for $1,400,000. I visited this one this weekend and they are eager to sell - further price reductions likely on this one. This house sits right above PCH - a very noisy location. The renovation stopped at the doors - there are some ocean decks that are in bad shape - a sign of financial distress.

1914 Upper Rim Rock - Asking $1,980,000, bought for $1,500,000 and about $200,000 spent on remodeling. Listed for over 100 days. The predictor says......watch for a price reduction.

454 Broadway - Asking $1,549,000, bought for $999,999. Listed for over 100 days. Ditto - price reduction soon. Broadway street is the 133 highway - this is a bad location.

645 Buena Vista Way - Asking $3,850,000, bought for only $200,000 less. Listed for 148 days. Can you say "watch for the repo man?"

31985 Virginia Way

Here's another retread that didn't sell in 2007. This place was bought for about $930K in 2003. Given property in Laguna has slid backwards to 2004 prices, there's no way this thing is a good deal at the asking price of $1,329,000. The lowest listing price was LESS in 2007 and it didn't even sell at that. Hello, bank, are we reaching? Do you all have calculators over there? Also, the house is located in South Laguna, where things have historically been less expensive.

The wood floors have got some wear and the stone work is kind off odd. There is no garage. There is no master bath. The bedrooms sure are small. PCH and its NOISE are mere feet away. The house feels small.

The extra bedroom with a "full" bath is so small it might as well be a closet. The bathtub is located in a tunnel up above floor level.

Really, the bathtub is in a tunnel.

Inside the house.

Really disappointing.

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.