Owner Related To Agent *Updated 2*

I last featured 1212 Hill back in April. At the time I warned about the fact that the listing agent was related to the owner and I suggested the price was too high.

Previous Purchase: 12/20/05 - $1,182,000

Listing History: 4/4/11 - $1,249,000
Slowly reduced down to - $1,049,000


SOLD: 8/25/11 - $985,000


This listing was a case of delusional sellers (and agent) who started by asking way too much. Then the listing got stale and sat and sat while holding ever increasingly desperate open houses every weekend. Slow price cuts ensued, all while the owners had already moved out and were shouldering big carrying costs. Finally, someone showed up and bought the place a fair amount below the still too high asking price.

This $197k loss is amounts to 16.7% off of the late 2005 purchase price. I would say this is a mid or late 2004 rollback. I also think (as I always do) that had they listed it at a realistic price from day 1, they would have gotten more for the house. This was a good example of how NOT to sell a house properly.

Deeper REO Rollback On Maple

Address: 1514 Maple - 90405

Details: 2 bed/2 bath 935 sq ft house on a 6,299 sq ft lot, REO

Description: BANK OWNED REO! 2 beds 2 full baths. Hardwood floors. Dining room. Garage is semi converted with French doors but there is a second one car garage. Extra addition at rear of garage. This property is occupied & will be sold as occupied. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT OCCUPANTS OR TRESSPASS ON PROPERTY WITHOUT EXPRESS AUTHORIZATION BY THE LISTING AGENT.

Previous Purchase: 6/10/05 - $900,000

Listing History: 8/9/11 - $739,000

This was a near peak bubble purchase made by a LLC and may have been a rental from day one (it is a rental now). The current asking price is 17.9% below the mid-2005 price so this is deeper than most rollbacks we have been seeing -- but a big reason for that is that the location is a little challenged and the house is small and funky. It looks like these jokers tried to list for nearly $1mm back in 2009 and cut their price down a bunch of times. Nothing worked so here we are now as a foreclosure.

Looking back to the purchase prior to the one in 2005, we see this property sold for $385k on 12/14/00. My 3% inflation + 1% premium compound growth rate brings fair value to around $600k + any improvements.

2004 Rollback -- Nice 90405 House

Address: 2622 34th - 90405

Details: 3 bed/2 bath 1,422 sq ft house on a 6,400 sq ft lot

Description: A Very Special Property! Sweet & Charming – the open floor plan of living room & dining room flows perfectly to a large kitchen. Included are: 2 Bedrooms downstairs with a wonderful full bath. The Upstairs Master suite with beamed ceilings, loft/office and beautifully appointed bath overlook A truly amazing yard and magical gardens with sitting areas and secret spaces. The garage has been re-fashioned into a Separate Studio. A gated driveway completes this home.

Previous Purchase: 5/27/05 - $1,308,000

Listing History: 6/13/11 - $1,195,000

SOLD: 7/26/11 - $1,183,000

This 9.6% decline from the mid 2005 price means this is probably in late 2004 rollback territory. I think everyone fared well here.

Buyer: Got a 2004 rollback on a higher quality property. While prices can go lower, this is a "leading" downside transaction for this type of property.

Seller: Didn't take that huge of a loss considering they bought it not far off from peak bubble territory. They also got rid of this before the recent stock market volatility and crappy economic data. I think they wouldn't be able to get the same value if they had to sell it right now.

Also, kudos to the sellers for pricing it right and moving the thing. It went into escrow after just 8 days on market and sold near list price. This is the proper way to conduct business.

Soiled Million Dollar Views

Address: 1766 Bryn Mawr

Details: 3 bed/1 bath 2,028 sq ft house on a 5,528 sq ft lot

Description: Wow! Million Dollar views of the City, Ocean & Mountains!! Views from all living spaces with beautiful, large deck off the living/dining room. Lovely yard.

Listing History: 4/19/11 - $1,249,000
Reduced down to - $1,095,000


SOLD: 8/10/11 - $980,000


This house is very livable (although pretty ugly from the outside). The views from this location appear to be pretty solid and that is where the real value is coming from. But I'm wondering if other readers are as skeptical as I am about possibly living this close to the airport and right under the freaking flight path. I just can't imagine shelling out the million bucks for this "million dollar view" only to have a bunch of dirty, loud jets taking off above my head. This house would obviously be worth a lot more without the airport there but still...I don't think I could enjoy my deck or even inside of my house with jets overhead. Am I nuts?

Why Is This Back On The Market? *Update 1*

I last featured 839 25th back in June.

Previous Purchase: 8/31/10 - $2,640,000

Listing History: 6/21/11 - $2,850,000

SOLD: 7/23/11 - $2,825,000

They broke even (or even made a little money) after transaction fees.