[BobbyD]

Nancy, it appears that they have a mortgage for $700K. Also the taxes show as $14,994 and not $18K. Hope that helps. I actually checked this in two places and both show the same exact information, so I am certain that it is accurate.

[BobbyD]

Yes, I agree. The taxes are about $14K – $16K a year including the mello roos. It is just nuts I do not get it. The real estate/mortgage industry has done a hell of a con job on all of these folks.

[BobbyD]

My father in law is a realtor so I have access to MLS. However I believe that there are some public web sites where you can look that up. You will be very surprised that the majority of buyers are mortgaged to the hilt and most are doing near 100% financing. It is astonishing, I would never dream of buying a $1M+ home and not at least putting 40-50% down payment. From my observation looking at Stonebridge, IvyGate, Derby Hill and others, that 75-80% of the buyers have put less 20% down and are carrying $1M+ mortgages. This is a ticking time bomb, wait until all of these mortgages reset or the economy takes a dive.

[BobbyD]

Derby Hill has stayed the same, no increases, no decresases, $1.2-$1.3M.

There are plenty of zero down buyers in the 1M+ crowd as well. Do not worry stupidity runs across all price ranges.

Actually I have looked up the tax records and 75% of the 1M+ homes in new tracts such as Derby Hill and IvyGate and others are zero down or very little down and folks mortgaging $1M+ with mortgages of $4K/$5K+ per month. Just a matter of time before they all go belly up.

[BobbyD]

Take a look at the following blog:
http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2007/02/08/redfin-revisited/

The Bergs, realtor husband & wife team in Scripps Ranch interviewed the CEO of Redfin.

[BobbyD]

It shows up as pending now in MLS, so apparently it must have sold after 3 days. Interesting . . .

[BobbyD]

Hi SD Realtor,

Thanks for the feedback and I concur with your thoughts. I have been tracking all of the resales on MLS in 92131 as well. We live in Scripps now as well. We sold our home in 05 and moved into a our own condo that we had been renting out. Our tenant moved out and we moved in while we wait to buy again. My father in law is a realtor so I track this area very closely. I appreciate the offer to help.

Regards,

BD

[BobbyD]

KSD does bring up another good option, I did the same when I moved to SD. They loaded up my two cars in the moving truck and then put in shelving above the cars to load up my furniture. The cars will stay cleaner that way and they picked up at my home in Ohio and delivered to my new home in San Diego. I remember paying approx. $700-$800 per car.

BD

[BobbyD]

EE,

That does sound like a reasonable price, but you may want to get some other qoutes for comparison.

I am not sure what are the benefits of the top rack for the MB. I assume that if it is on the top rack, it is clear of a vehicle not being above it that may leak any fluids on your luxury vehicle.

You may want to Google it and see what you find out from others.

BD

[BobbyD]

PC,

Glad that I was able to help and it worked it well for you.

Regards,

Bob

[BobbyD]

Rhinopham,

Thank you, that is helpful. We do plan to wait until Nov/Dec to buy. We like the plan 3. Great feedback. I appreciate it. Have you seen prices trending downward there? Can you low ball them and work up or will they laugh at you if you start out low balling them?

I assume that the home you bought was standing inventory and already built from the description above? Also, how was Pardee to work with, have things gone smoothly with them? Any regrets or surprises?

BD

[BobbyD]

We were very excited to see Del Sur and they sure as heck hyped up this community quite a bit. Unfortunately it has been a huge disappointment in my opinion. It had potential to be unique but instead has dense tract homes squeezed onto the tiny lots. The greed of both the master developer and the builders to squeeze as much profit out of the land created in my opinion what is more like an apartment complex type of feel.

The mello-roos is high as well as the HOA and you really do not get much for it. Traffic will be horrible as there is only one road in and out there with high density populations at full buildout.

The only homes that have any yards are Std Pacific’s Avaron and they are ridiculously over priced and those folks are so damn arrogant. My understanding is all of the builders have struggled there and all are offering incentives to move units. They have done several infommercials, parties, and events as marketing gimmicks to attract buyers. If they were not struggling, they would not incur these expenses. I am certain that you can get a good deal there, I would ask about incentives and provide a low ball offer and negotiate a price that works for you. Buying sitting inventory is best becuase the builder is incurring costs and wants to move it.

[BobbyD]

PC, I would agree with you. HOA is another way for the builder to pass the buck on to the home buyers. Professional HOA mgt companies have also become a lucrative cottage industry.

I am not sure that I would call the home buyer unsuspecting however. Although some certainly are and will learn the hard way. But, I am as guilty as the next guy, we have all allowed the market to evolve this way. I could not agree with Daniel more, we all have choices to make and you have to live with the consequences of them.

We all have different circumstances in our lives and buy or sell based our own specific situation. Whatever decisions you make, do your homework, and then be prepared for the risk and reward that goes with your choices.

I am still recovering from my losses from the tech stock bubble, but I learned my lesson and will not make that mistake again. Do I think that we were all scammed and screwed by the VCs and investment banks, who manipulated the market? Yes I do, but I am the idiot who drank the koolaid and bought Qualcomm at $400/share. So I will continue to lick my wounds and live with my decision.

That is why we all come to this site to learn from one another and share information in order to make more informed and better choices in our decisions.

[BobbyD]

Not only has the builder abused this but also have the city and county. The builder passes the costs on to the buyer and city and county happily have taken the increased tax revenue even though, as you pointed out, the infrastructure cost basis has not increased proportionate with the home prices. And as many of you have pointed out, the buyers were enablers and willingly paid and allowed it to happen.

To my knowledge, unfortunately there is no mechanism in place to curtail this abuse by the builders/city/county. And they will continue to do it and get away with it as long as the market will bear it. As has been demonstrated previously in the 80s/90s and again today, builders will either pass on the mello roos or absorb it based on the state of the market and a buyer’s willingness to pay it. We are in need of real estate tax reform!

It is apparent that Pardee is not selling these homes at a loss and has enough margin to cover the $150K or $200K in mello roos and still turn a profit. Otherwise they would not do it, they will act in whatever manner best serves their financial interests.

Bill, I am no mello roos expert, but my understanding was that you always had the option to pay all of the mello roos up front and it should have been made available to you. I do not know the legalities or regulations around this. But you and the other buyers should look into it. Track down all of the filings for your Mello Roos assessment and the fine print. Pardee and/or the city and county may have acted illegally or bent the rules to best serve themselves. You should further peel the onion.

BD

[BobbyD]

Bill,

Thank you for providing more details on this story and sharing your personal experience with Pardee in this situation. I think that we can all empathize with how you must feel. I would be equally as upset as you are if I was in your shoes.

As a friend of mine says, “never be surprised when someone acts in their own best interest”. Which is what Pardee has done to serve their financial gains. It is indicative of a market in flux.

My best to you and the others in this unfortunate situation.
Bob

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