Another 90402 REO *Update 1*

I last featured 434 17th back in late October when it was listed as a Wells Fargo REO.

REO Listing: 10/26/11 - $1,699,900

A helpful reader said there was a first and second mortgage on the property totaling nearly $1.8mm.

At the time of my last post I said that I did not think this would sell for any type of great discount and I welcomed the continual clean up of distressed inventory.

SOLD: 12/20/11 - $1,725,000

This was on the market for just 9 days before going into escrow and eventually selling over list price. Like I said, probably no great bargains here, and once again we see properly priced inventory able to clear the market quickly.

What Does Short Sale Fraud Look Like? *Update 2*

I last featured this festering sore 933 25th back in October.

You can go back through the old posts but long story short, someone paid too much for this lot and then built a hugely expensive, ugly mcmansion. They could never sell it for what they needed and it has been on and off the market ever since. Suspicious short sale attempts have taken place, rental listings put up and then quickly pulled down, etc, etc. Property Shark shows a notice of default all the way back in November 2010.

The latest is that this house has yet again been listed for a very suspiciously low amount of money. This time, there is just one crappy photo (above), no description, very little other info. This short sale is once again being listed by someone with an 818 area code. It all stinks. Clean it up for real already.

Current Short Sale Listing History: 5/20/11 - $2,200,000

I don't recall seeing this listing back in May or any time other than very recently. Suspicious. Also note that it is "pending". Last time they tried to fool around with this, they listed it as a short sale right off the bat and it was "pending" from day 1. Maybe they are trying to make it look like this has been listed for a long time. Nobody here is fooled though. This house is worth a lot more than $2.2mm.

FLIPPERS!

Address: 2509 Cloverfield - 90405

Details: 3 bed/2 bath 1,786 sq ft house on a 6,250 sq ft lot, flipped condition

Description: Can you say charming? Newly remodeled 3 bed, 2 bath home in prime Santa Monica neighborhood. Seller has replaced or remodeled the entire house including a new kitchen with custom wood cabinets, Cesarstone counters, stainless steel appliances, recessed lighting, and new windows. Large living area with fireplace and separate dining area with french doors to one of two patios. Both bathrooms are brand new, White Oak wood floors throughout. Master bedroom features huge walk-in closet “room”, and french doors that lead to a spacious patio and large backyard. New plumbing and electrical, new central AC & heat, new front yard sprinkler system, new 50 gallon water heater, and newly poured garage slab. Laundry area inside house off of kitchen. Agents please see private remarks.

Previous Purchase: 7/1/11 - $755,000

Listing History: 12/8/11 - $1,039,000

The previous listing for this property shows that the pre-flipped listing was on the the market for 89 days and had to cut its price down from $879k to $799k, before selling at $755k. I think what may have happened was just that someone thought they could buy the pre-flipped property cheap enough that a profit was likely if they could fix it up. If you look at photos from the link above, you can see the property was in pretty crappy condition. This probably discouraged a lot of buyers.

So our flipper buys this thing and is now back 5 months later ready to try and unload. The upgrades look decent but don't appear to be high end by any means. Granted, this thing was in bad shape before, but I'm wondering how likely it is that a buyer will ascribe over $250k of value to these upgrades. And the dark wood flooring? Why do flippers/builders/developers use this stuff? I don't want dark wood floors (or dark colors anywhere else for that matter).

Anyway, the biggest problem that this flipper is going to run into is the fact that the location of this property isn't that great. Cloverfield isn't as bad as 23rd but its pretty busy, has crappy trees and speed bumps. But this is a nice 3/2 with good square footage so we'll see how they do...

Higher End 90405 Rollback

Address: 1127 Grant - 90405

Details: 4 bed/3.5 bath 3,339 sq ft house on a 5,500 sq ft lot, 2003 construction

Description: Craftsman-inspired Sunset Park home, with exceptional flow, stunning details and quality. Ground up, luxury construction, beginning with picturesque curb appeal from another era, replete with stone front porch and clad in wood shingle siding. Your buyers are drawn into the residence by a true center hall plan: downstairs features gracious living room with 2-story soaring ceilings and fireplace, formal dining room, powder room, large study (4th bed) with full attached bath. The entire rear of the home is a Great Room encompassing a gorgeous cook's kitchen, with all the bells and whistles, and a marvelous family room, all leading to a grassy back yard. Awaiting upstairs are 3 truly generous bedrooms, with vaulted ceilings and 2 full bathrooms, including lush master suite with terrace, and mountain, city and ocean views. A special blend of custom-crafted east coast appeal, in a quiet and charming Santa Monica neighborhood. 

Previous Purchase: 3/15/05 - $1,980,000

Listing History: 9/28/11 - $1,899,000

SOLD: 12/6/11 - $1,885,000

This house went into escrow after just 8 days and sold for nearly full asking price. OMG, bull market! Well, not quite. See, this looks to be a pretty nice house in a good location and it was priced appropriately. These types of situations have been generating quick sales for some time now. The slow time of year didn't stop this one from going into escrow quickly either.

This sale represents a decline of about 4.8% from the early 2005 purchase price, making this a late 2004 rollback. Seems about right to me. Prices have been fairly flat for some time now and I see no change to that with this sale.