Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
SD Realtor
ParticipantHi Rustico –
sdr and I have a love hate relationship to say the least. He compliments me (most of the time in a backhanded way) but we have learned to coexist pretty well. sdr and I could battle each other forever with regards to each of our feelings about commissions, marketing verses pricing, and other like issues. Time to time we return to it but we end up taking over threads and it doesn’t really serve any more useful purpose other then each of us airing out our opinions.
I think the entire blog in general is populated by people who are more educated and are looking for mid to higher end housing. So alot of statements are made (by everyone, not just sdr) that appear to be blanket statements but made with the intent of the audience being upper to mid level buyers/sellers. I doubt sdr considers me a peer, he would probably sit me at the childrens table at his Thanksgiving dinner but I think he has seen that I have more to offer then he initially assumed.
I kind of chuckled when you said I would not touch you with a 10 foot pole… That could be true. My feelings and thoughts about real estate (specially commissions and servicing) are very much in line with yours. However, I think my outlook on the market in general are more in line with sdr. While it has been pointed out that I serve the entire county and this has been pointed out as a possible weakness on my part, I think it does give me a perspective that others may not have for certain submarkets. True I am only an expert in submarkets that I own or have owned property in, or that I have done alot of business in, but I can at least have thoughts about most all of them as I have experienced them personally… I guess I am blabbing now….Basically I am just an engineer doing real estate and I think I do it pretty well…but I am not as expert or glossy as the big guys and the majority of my clients are not in the 7 figure club. Some have been though but not the majority.
SD Realtor
Participant“Fixers are a real tough sell even at good prices. SD R check out the house on La Duela and tell me otherwise after looking at it. Great location w/ view, great neighborhood, good lot, single level fixer that isnt horrible and inferior houses (potentialwise) in better shape are selling all around it in a week or so at much higher prices.”
I got some more time and did a little more involved look. The La Duela home has been in and out of pendings 3 times since it has been listed. However in each case the buyers backed out quick for whatever reasons.
Pricewise the home is priced okay for that area. I wouldn’t say that it is priced super aggressively but I would say it is priced okay…right now at least. Indeed the escrow I am in (representing the buyer) is for a much much nicer home but at quite a bit higher price. Now the real question is, how is the home priced compared to the other homes in the area. The home is priced at 625k up until 4/29 which it then was changed to 595k and then on 5/12 to a variable range of 595k-610k. Why they bumped the price up I do not know.
Now there was a listing on Jacaranda that sold for 562k and is a bigger home back in 2/5/07. However Jacaranda is nowhere near as nice of a location as La Duela. It is far noisier with no view. Another sold on Amargosa back in 10/06 for 625. Again no view. Amargosa is not as noisy as Jacaranda but not as nice a lot/view as La Duela. There is another pending on Amargosa at a LP of 550k-600k, (why the big spread? can you say Prudential?) anyways this home doesn’t have the view but it looks very very nice inside. So it is priced VERY competitively and is in good shape but does not have the view. Yet it went into escrow in 6 days after hitting the MLS. There is another home on Represa in escrow at a list price of 615-674. Again, not a view lot at all but the home looks pretty nice from the few pics there are on the inside.
Okay so bottom line? My opinion is that La Duela needs to be priced a bit more aggressively. Yes it has nice views BUT the views are DOMINATED by looking at a sea of rooftops. It is not like a nice canyon view, you know what I mean? Again, maybe it is my personal taste. I only did a search on the mapcode that this home is in, so I am sure there are other properties that you alluded to that are inferior but that I did not catch. However compared to the properties I did compare it to, it did not match up well against.
In general I would agree that fixers are hard to sell. In theory yes, I suppose it should sell for the same price as an inferior location given the homes are equivalent. However it has not been like there have not been any pendings. It has had three pending round trips. Also it is being listed by a full service brokerage so I assume all the marketing is in place. Also I think there is a problem that these people should have priced more aggressively from the onset of the listing. As you always say and I heartily agree the first week or two are crucial.
SD Realtor
Participant“Fixers are a real tough sell even at good prices. SD R check out the house on La Duela and tell me otherwise after looking at it. Great location w/ view, great neighborhood, good lot, single level fixer that isnt horrible and inferior houses (potentialwise) in better shape are selling all around it in a week or so at much higher prices.”
I got some more time and did a little more involved look. The La Duela home has been in and out of pendings 3 times since it has been listed. However in each case the buyers backed out quick for whatever reasons.
Pricewise the home is priced okay for that area. I wouldn’t say that it is priced super aggressively but I would say it is priced okay…right now at least. Indeed the escrow I am in (representing the buyer) is for a much much nicer home but at quite a bit higher price. Now the real question is, how is the home priced compared to the other homes in the area. The home is priced at 625k up until 4/29 which it then was changed to 595k and then on 5/12 to a variable range of 595k-610k. Why they bumped the price up I do not know.
Now there was a listing on Jacaranda that sold for 562k and is a bigger home back in 2/5/07. However Jacaranda is nowhere near as nice of a location as La Duela. It is far noisier with no view. Another sold on Amargosa back in 10/06 for 625. Again no view. Amargosa is not as noisy as Jacaranda but not as nice a lot/view as La Duela. There is another pending on Amargosa at a LP of 550k-600k, (why the big spread? can you say Prudential?) anyways this home doesn’t have the view but it looks very very nice inside. So it is priced VERY competitively and is in good shape but does not have the view. Yet it went into escrow in 6 days after hitting the MLS. There is another home on Represa in escrow at a list price of 615-674. Again, not a view lot at all but the home looks pretty nice from the few pics there are on the inside.
Okay so bottom line? My opinion is that La Duela needs to be priced a bit more aggressively. Yes it has nice views BUT the views are DOMINATED by looking at a sea of rooftops. It is not like a nice canyon view, you know what I mean? Again, maybe it is my personal taste. I only did a search on the mapcode that this home is in, so I am sure there are other properties that you alluded to that are inferior but that I did not catch. However compared to the properties I did compare it to, it did not match up well against.
In general I would agree that fixers are hard to sell. In theory yes, I suppose it should sell for the same price as an inferior location given the homes are equivalent. However it has not been like there have not been any pendings. It has had three pending round trips. Also it is being listed by a full service brokerage so I assume all the marketing is in place. Also I think there is a problem that these people should have priced more aggressively from the onset of the listing. As you always say and I heartily agree the first week or two are crucial.
SD Realtor
ParticipantI will not speak for sdr but I took his statements to mean that CV was an indicator for the detached mid-upper level market that you referred to gn. It (at least to me) was implicit that his reference was not that CV was an indicator for downtown condos, or eastlake homes or other places like Escondido and such… sdr has stated many times that depreciating hits the outlying areas and less desireables and condos first.
By the way I had a guy yesterday ask me about data for 92025. The active pendings for 3/2 homes in 92025 is 71-5.
Yikes!!
SD Realtor
Participantsdr I took a quick look at the home on La Duela. The views look awesome and it seems to be in a very nice spot. If there are similar/inferior homes that have sold at a much higher price then it is a mystery to me why this listing is sitting.
Let me get through some work this morning and I will take a better look at it. The AMT MT difference is puzzling but I was to lazy to do a listing history report to see if it was in/out of escrow or just withdrawn for awhile. I will check to see against the other listings that are pending/sold to give you my opinion. The fixer I have pending is on Denwood Rd in La Mesa. This place is a palace compared to the La Mesa one. The La Mesa home was priced about 125-150k less then an active similar home across the street. As I said, it is a bigtime fixer, not a scraper but close.
SD Realtor
ParticipantI believe that the locale plays a big role. I have a total beater fixer in escrow right now in La Mesa. Most everyone that saw it said no way, even at the cheap price this is to much of a train wreck. However someone did go for it and we have a back up offer as well. We are talking foundation work, step cracks up the walls, and the works. I also have closed a couple properties in not so great neighborhoods that were priced to sell and they did.
I believe pricing still is paramount especially as the quality goes down. Nobody that posts here would even consider these neighborhoods but it is just some data. I believe that the marketing effort should vary with the home and the competition. In high end homes I absolutely would recommend caravan, professional photography and such.
I don’t dispute that buyers want turnkey and a great price at all. I did just want to point out that there are properties being bought in other conditions.
SD Realtor
ParticipantGot ya Jim… Hmmm a puzzler indeed. I agree with you that they probably bought time with the lender, maybe they had documentation to show the lender that indeed they were in escrow. Again, I can only assume the sale was done outside the MLS because there is no active or pending status for this address, just a bunch of expireds. I am assuming the deed transfered to an individual or married couple as opposed to reconveyance company or the like?
SD Realtor
ParticipantIf it did sell then it must have been a private sale. As Bugs commented this property has been expired; not just once but a few times. North County Jim did you sale they closed a sale because you knew it was pending? I also checked Realist and there is nothing recorded on the record. As Bugs says it may take another day or two. So they either cured the default, (in which case if they did then there would be no comment on the assessor record) or they refinanced (in which there would be a comment on the assessor record) or the home went to auction and was purchased or reconveyed back to the lender (which would also be recorded)
I am puzzled though because I checked the title plant I use and the records there show that the sale date was to be 4/12/07 and that the notice of trustee sale was published 3/26/07.
I guess that they had a private party sale and that they told the lender and somehow got things delayed? I am a bit perplexed.
SD Realtor
ParticipantMy motivations for being here are that I enjoy the site. Of course I am prospecting sdr, but I believe my posts and viewpoints add value to this website. You and I have had many debates. We have vast differences in opinions on things but we also agree on many topics as well. Eventually I tire of the debates and let you have the last word. I had typed up a long diatribe arguing the points you had in the foreclosure thread but we could literally go on forever.
I think our most substantial agreement is on the conditions of the market at present and moving forward. Maybe I interpret your statements differently because I see what is going on daily from the realtor side of the channel.
My only issue is that sometimes both of us lump each other in with the majority of our brethren. For instance you lump me in with the behavior/performance of the majority of discounters when that is not true. For instance for properties that I DEEM IT helpful, I do hire a professional photographer and go for the caravans. Similarly, while you put in 2k worth of marketing before your MLS listings hit the market, I can honestly say that is not nearly true with the majority of other full service providers. So when we debate about the merits of the two different models, I think that my points are trying to point out the behavior I see in the majority of full service providers, not necessarly you.
I try not prospect in an obnoxious manner. I try to post helpful points and add value for people here. I will say I get an email a week or so from lurkers or posters here, asking for clarifications about how rebates work and such. Those people do not use me for business but they use me to get leverage with the agents they are working with.
SD Realtor
Participantmasakayo I am enjoying the posts… I do have to say though, that I just closed a transaction in Carmel Valley…
SD Realtor
Participantsdr out of personal curiousity do you think that they had to pay the auction company up front costs for advertising, and other fees?
SD Realtor
May 14, 2007 at 12:01 PM in reply to: Here is your motivation TO WAIT!!!!! $200/sqft in Mission Viejo! #52779ParticipantHeck yeah! The auction company is STOKED. They pocketed 5% per tranny, probably are TOTALLY indemnified on each transaction, and I would bet that even if the transaction crashes and burns the auction company still gets some sort of fee per transaction… It wouldn’t surprise me if there was also alot of up front monies just to hold the auction, advertising, etc… That of course is speculative on my part.
Piggingtonians I am sure, have no tears to shed to see the lenders get bent over the barstool a little bit by someone else for a change.
SD Realtor
ParticipantI am in agreement that yes the market will depreciate and by the end of the cycle we could be down by 20-40% DEPENDING on the type of property and neighborhood, maybe even a little more.
Yet I am in disagreement in comparing real estate to stocks. You cannot live in an equity. Nor can you raise a family, entertain, or have a bbq in the back yard. You can’t have an ocean view with an equity. Similarly your equity doesn’t live in a neighborhood where you send kids to school and such. Again, I am not defending the economics of buying a home. For the umpteenth time, I am pointing out people buy real estate for other reasons then the economics. They enjoy other aspects that cannot be measured in dollars and sense because they can afford to. I don’t defend the decision or condemn the decision.
I just get puzzled at why the same question is asked over and over and over again.
SD Realtor
ParticipantSDR I am puzzled because many of these properties at the auction WERE listed on the MLS, some for significant amounts of time. So I guess he was saying they should have tried relisting them at less then what they were previously listed at, but more then what they sold for at the auction.
SD Realtor
-
AuthorPosts
