Knucklehead of the Week!

This one was just too funny to pass up. Apparently this guy was under here for around 12 hours. Must have been a former Countrywide underwriter...

From the AP:

This handout photo released Thursday, July 31, 2008, by the Dillon County Sheriff's Office, shows the legs of a man who became stuck under a trash bin after what deputies called an attempted copper theft gone wrong. Gibson Cook, 56, was rescued from under a trash bin Wednesday. Deputies said he broke into a landfill Tuesday evening.(AP Photo/ Morning News via Dillon County Sheriff's Office)

Congreswoman Richardson- Please recall this woman!

You wonder why the US is in the mess it is with the economy, the housing market, etc? There are plenty of people to point fingers at, that’s for sure. I have one in particular that needs to be singled out. Rep. Laura Richardson. This lady is the poster child for what’s wrong with our country, a model for poor ethics and one of entitlement.
No surprise that the bail out housing bill has been passed. In fact look at the voting for CA in the house:
CALIFORNIA: Democrats -- Baca, Y; Becerra, Y; Berman, Y; Capps, Y; Cardoza, Y; Costa, Y; Davis, Y; Eshoo, Y; Farr, Y; Filner, Y; Harman, Y; Honda, Y; Lee, Y; Lofgren, Zoe, Y; Matsui, Y; McNerney, Y; Miller, George, Y; Napolitano, Y; Pelosi, Y; Richardson, Y; Roybal-Allard, Y; Sanchez, Linda T., Y; Sanchez, Loretta, Y; Schiff, Y; Sherman, Y; Solis, Y; Speier, Y; Stark, Y; Tauscher, Y; Thompson, Y; Waters, Y; Watson, Y; Waxman, Y; Woolsey, Y.

Republicans -- Bilbray, N; Bono Mack, Y; Calvert, Y; Campbell, Y; Doolittle, N; Dreier, Y; Gallegly, Y; Herger, N; Hunter, Y; Issa, N; Lewis, Y; Lungren, Daniel E., Y; McCarthy, N; McKeon, Y; Miller, Gary, Y; Nunes, N; Radanovich, N; Rohrabacher, N; Royce, N.

That’s right, every damn Democrat voted for it especially Richardson which I’ll get to in a minute. The Republicans aren’t much better though there are a few that have the cojones to step up and vote against it. I’ll remember this when these people run for reelection next time and I hope you will too.

Nothing says abuse the system more as a Congresswoman that has at least seven defaults on two other houses she owns and one foreclosure with special treatment.
Read the article from the Press Telegram:
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_10002817

Richardson lost her house to foreclosure only to have WaMu rescind the sale after the new owner poured some money into it to fix it up. Preferential treatment to a Congress person? Umm..Yeah.. Evidently the new owner thought so also and sued. Bottom line: There was a settlement and Richardson ends up getting the house back with a new mortgage (with more favorable terms, you think?). Best of all, her foreclosure is wiped off her credit history. Can somebody, anybody tell me of one other person that has gotten that treatment from a bank. Please..E-mail me and tell me.
At least she should have abstained from voting on this bill.

I don’t think this bailout bill will help people from CA for the most part because of the huge hits the banks will have to take. (And I’m glad..Let the market fall on these homes!).
You wonder why the US is trillions in debt, there you go. Representatives that can’t keep their own fiscal house in order making decisions that affect billions of dollars.
Do you really think the presidential election will make much of a difference?

Some people should never be homeowners!

There are those that have had unfortunate situations in losing their homes: a sudden major illness with huge medical bills, or a loss of a job and I understand these. (With the exception of some of those Countrywide type loan underwriters who I have no sympathy for). Then there are others that should never be homeowners. I mean never!
Case in point: Most “reality shows” are just mindless entertainment though yes I have watched a few. But the one that I always have liked is “Extreme Makeover” home edition not to be confused with “Extreme Makeover” Barbie needs a boob job show.

Today I read an article, however, that one of the homes built in Georgia in 2005 went into foreclosure. Seems the family used the equity to take out a $450,000 loan to start a construction business that failed. If this family was so good in construction why didn’t they build their own damn house? Not to mention their timing. Start a construction business when new construction starts, etc. are drying up?.


(Picture from GuelphMercury.com)

Here’s the article”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080728/ap_en_tv/tv_extreme_makeover_foreclosure
Over 1800 volunteers for this house, $450,000 donated in materials and labor to build it and an additional $250,000 in contributions raised for the family including scholarships for the couple’s three children and a home maintenance fund.
And they blew it? I feel bad for the kids when you got stupid parents like this. The house is up for foreclosure sale on Aug. 5th. Buy yourselves a good tent and enjoy living in your car…you don’t deserve this!

Piss off your neighbors

Want to know how to really piss off your neighbors? Loud stereos, late night parties, letting your pet rooster roam around at 4.am. (I’ve seen this last part in both Fla. And Hawaii), are all child’s play compared to this.
Try listing your home for $70k less than your neighbors that have the same exact floor plan. Or better yet how about $120k less?
The nice part is that none of these three following places seem like short sales unless they tapped into their equity like an ATM machine.
First up is 18858 Milos Dr. listed at $650k:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/18858-Milos-Dr-92648/home/3835442
Coming in at 352 sq. ft. for only 1846 sq. ft, two bedroom/3 ba. Please don’t push and shove like a Chinese national trying to get the last Olympic tickets. I know..what a bargain.
Next is 18859 Kithira, a street over from Milos Dr. coming in at $600k:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/18859-Kithira-92648/home/3835480
This one has an offer! Its current listing is changed to accepting backup offers and it’s been up there for 69 days. They may have to get one of those backup offers because if the current buyer finds out about the next listing they should be walking away quickly. I just don’t know how an appraisal could come in when your neighbor is listing at 70k less. I mean if there were honest appraisals being done.
Finally we have the one to piss off your neighbors:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/18862-Milos-Dr-92648/home/3835443
This works out to $287/sq. ft, still a bit high for a two bedroom home but much more reasonable then their neighbors. They purchased it in 2000 for $256,500 so they stand to make over approx. $230k at that price.
I bet their neighbors won’t be helping them move though!

Bait and Switch??!

Yesterday I posted what has to be one of the worst real estate pictures ever. So imagine my surprise when I see the same address listed today in Long Beach and a different picture. At first I thought well they changed the picture. Then I realized it was a duplicate listing with another lazy ass realtor.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Long-Beach/3301-Santa-Fe-Ave-90810/unit-42/home/7628170

This is a 2bd/1ba. condo located on the second floor for sale. Not quite what I see. This lazy realtard put some stock photo he had on his computer instead. And of course there is only one picture.

Here's the link from yesterday: same exact unit

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Long-Beach/3301-Santa-Fe-Ave-90810/unit-42/home/7628170/mrmls-S08104791

Sort of reminds me of "bait and switch" with car dealers. You see that nice car advertised in the newspaper only to get to the lot and have them say that one is sold but we can put you in this beauty hoping you will overlook the fact that that beauty has 30,000 miles more on it and is $5G more than the one advertised.

Now we know the owner of this place is not too bright considering he paid $187,000 for it last year. But do you think he could at least find one realtor that can post a decent picture? Perhaps these guys aren't willing to shell out a few bucks for a bodyguard or armor to travel into that hood to get the shot. Sheesh..pathetic.

Worst realtor picture ever?

When I started this blog the reason I called it HB real estate and more is so not to limit myself to just HB, after all I still live in LB. (that’s Long Beach not Laguna for those behind the Orange curtain).
I was perusing listings in the LBC from the $0-350k range. (Some of these places they should just give away for 0), and I came across one picture today that has to rank in the top 10 worst pics of all time to sell real estate.
I would save this for the “knucklehead of the week” posting but this should probably go out to the “worst realtor of the year award” Or at least a nomination.
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Long-Beach/3301-Santa-Fe-Ave-90810/unit-42/home/7628170/mrmls-S08104791
There is only one pic for this gem that sits along industrial buildings, freeways, ghetto crap, etc.

Considering they can’t sell other units in this building that are listed around 80k what makes them think someone will buy it at $109K? Who in their right mind bought this peace of crap in 2006 for $229K?
They must have been thinking it was a good place to set up a meth lab after all half the other units in this place were going to be empty sooner or later.
Perhaps I shouldn’t slam this realtor, Andre Tabacco of Re/Max Beach cities, (or is it Tobacco because he might have smoking some funny stuff to post this picture). At least he did provide some truth to the listing that none of the other units that are listed did. “HOA states all future units must be owner occupied per CC & R's. This unit is located on the second floor and is in a secure building. Sold "As Is" "Where Is".” Where is? What, is it going to get up and walk away in the middle of the night? I know most things in that neighborhood that are not bolted down might..but c’mon, a whole condo? Seriously though, the HOA, which has a $215.00 fine for this dump every month is now going to say you, have to live here too? You just killed any chance of investors saving this building. Another description for a unit in this building describes it as “maintenance deferred”. Wake up people, keep it up and this place will be ready to bulldozed over in a few years.
The only thing dumber then the people that bought here are the inmates running this asylum.

Follow up to Bel-Air

First a short follow up to yesterday’s post about the Bel-Air section of HB. No sooner did I write that and bingo! Another one popped up today on the MLS: This listing:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/18782-Sinclair-Ln-92648/home/5950276 at 18782 Sinclair is listed for $769,900 in line with the other short sales. Notice the recent sales price on May 1 of this year of $839,815. I’m assuming that’s the bank taking that one back. A drop from the former price in 05 of $959,500. The list price is a 20% drop from the 05 price but with 10% of the units all in the same boat this baby will sit here for a long time. Take a look at the great kitchen picture:

Seems like our previous disgruntled tenants, (can you really call them homeowners?), thought they were entitle to a few good appliances on their way out. Why not take the stainless steel refrigerator and microwave or oven, whatever was in that nice other blank square. Needs some paint and cleaning up…umm..yeah and a much bigger price drop still.

Bel-Air in HB

I was actually disappointed in Bush today to hear that we will not veto this housing bill that passed the Senate. I actually thought he might do something good before he leaves office. Alas, no such luck. Instead of letting the marketplace run it’s course so those of us that were responsible not to jump on the housing bandwagon, the bill will let the FHA back 300 billion in new loans so an estimated 400,000 homeowners that cannot afford their house payments can try to escape foreclosure by refinancing into safer, more affordable mortgages.
You mean the type they should have had from the beginning? God, there is too much entitlement mindset in this country. Lenders still have to agree to take a substantial loss on the existing loans, and in return, they walk away avoiding the expensive foreclosure process.
So let me get this straight. You can’t pay your mortgage because you took out something you couldn’t afford in the first place so now the government will bail you out into a lesser mortgage with a smaller percentage loan so you can keep your house despite your ineptitude. What about the couple next door that pays their bills on time? How fair is it to them?
How do we teach fiscal and personal responsibility to little Johnny and Susie in our high schools when they see their parents getting bailed out by Uncle Sam? When the heck does this stop?
This will also increase our national debt to 10.6 trillion! I suppose that’s no big deal as long as the printing presses work and we can keep printing that funny money. I’m going to start putting my money in Euros or something else, who knows.

Here’s a house for sale from a tract of homes called Bel-Air in HB. A nice little community of 102 homes built and sold mostly in 2005-06. I’ve been watching these for a while now and all I can say is they are in big trouble.
Listed for $639k bought for bought for $1,000,500. Check out this property at 7305 Arcadia Dr. http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/7305-Arcadia-Dr-92648/home/5955287

Assuming it sells at that price it represents a loss of 36.2%!

This is from the Builders website: http://www.christopher-homes.com/BelAir/belair_index-new.html

Most of these houses sold from somewhere around $950k- to a million plus. They average about 2400-2600sq. ft. That means everyone here bought at or around the peak of the housing market. Everyone! This housing tract has 102 units, nice units, all with upside down mortgages. That doesn’t sit good. Around 10% of these are listed as short sales. Many of them in the 700k price range. For example:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/18765-Sinclair-92648/home/5950213
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/18737-Sinclair-Ln-92648/home/5955258
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/18756-Roxbury-Ln-92648/home/5955330
Some others are no longer showing as listings. Talking to a realtor she said many of these were bought for investment with many of the loans through Countrywide. Investment? Million dollar homes..and they thought the rent would cover it when it reset? Hello!! Is this where some of that 300 billion will be spent? To bail out these idiots?
I predicted that these would fall in the $600’s but I wasn’t expecting to see one listed that soon. Since jumbo loans have all but dried up this housing tract is a ticking time bomb. I’ve waited over two days for the listing agent, Lillian Thai from Firststar Realty and Mortgage, to answer my e-mail or call me back but I haven’t heard from her. Great service, thank you. How do you expect to even sell a place in this market if you don’t return calls or e-mails?

By the way, at least there's a nice park next this tract, perhaps the owners can camp out there after they lose their place. Oh yeah, HB doesn't allow that..oh well..there's always Riverside.

The Gold Gucci Watch Bet

I was going to save this for a little later but decided to post it now to make it more interesting. About a week ago my wife and I bid on a property. I know..I know. What are you thinking, you ask. Prices are only going to drop. I agree. The price we offered reflects somewhat on that and also takes into condition some of the upgrading work it’s going to need.
My wife quickly pointed out that “we” can do this and this, etc. but as I already know and some of you married men do too that “we” means you and I wasn’t sure “we” wanted to take on this unless we get it for the right asking price. We offered 40k under their asking price. The dingbat sellers countered only 5k under their asking price. While their asking price is not that delusional for this almost 2,000 sq. ft. house they are probably under the influence that since they just recently listed there will be a floodgate of buyers wanting their “special” property.
I didn’t feel like getting in a pissing contest with counter bidding their offer so I dropped it. I wonder if they tossed and turned that night wondering if they should have taken that offer. In 30, or 60 days if they don’t have an offer they will be yelling at each other how they should have taken it.
Lately my wife has been nagging..err..hinting to me she wants a gold Gucci watch. Personally I prefer a watch that has big numbers, a light to read it in the dark and a stopwatch for when I go for a workout. That means a $25-30 Casio or Timex is perfect for me. But hey, she’s a woman and if I buy her the watch then maybe she doesn’t push for a new car anytime soon.
We were discussing our offer on the house and she thought they would sell it within 30 days. I replied no way. To prove my point I offered to buy her the gold Gucci watch if they get a buyer within 30 days from the time they first listed and if they don’t drop their price before then. What a deal for her! The buyer doesn’t even have to close. Just if we see the status changed to backup offers accepted then she wins. What do I win if I’m right? Nothing. That’s right, nothing but the pure intrinsic satisfaction of being able to say..see..I told you so. I won’t show you the link to the property until after it’s been up there for 30 days.
I will say this, however, it’s almost halfway through the 30 days with no offers yet. I have no plans to go to the mall anytime soon.

"Knucklehead of the Week"

Time to get rolling. I’m going to start with something that’s been itching at me for a couple of days. I’m going to call it “Knucklehead of the Week”. While knucklehead of the week might be someone that is trying to sell a house for way over price this time I’m going to focus on one that bought it way over price.
Over the past year my wife and I have bid on three different places. That’s okay if you want to write and say why??! The prices are bound to go down. The first one was fun low balling with all sorts of contingencies. The second was a short sale that I learned a lot from. The third is one that is almost reasonably priced but will drop in value over the next year so I went lower. While I will talk about two of those some other time I want to focus on the second one..the short sale.
This short sale was at 19452 Riverdale Ln http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/19452-Riverdale-Ln-92648/home/3138463. It recently sold at $710,000

If you look at the price history you see that the owner that bought it in 2005 bought near the top of the market. The townhome is a nice place. At the time we looked at it, several price drops had occurred until it listed at $700k. Now the Seacliff area in HB is nice but it is still overpriced. Yes, I know it’s very close to the ocean but many of those units in there they plastered together and made them 2bd/2ba instead of 3bd which I think most families are looking for. Then the builders added a den. Every realtor loves to say, “can easily be converted to a third bedroom”. How come none of them are however? Because it’s a pain in the you know what and if I pay over 600k I don’t want to be dealing with some contractor even if it is a “simple conversion’.
We bid 625k, why? Because that’s what we felt it was worth. This place actually did have a third bedroom, a bit more sq. footage, a nice deck area and was in good condition.
We later found out it had seven bids on it. One was at 675k, another 640k, ours at 625k and four others under 600k. After 14 weeks we finally got a response from the bank.


Sales History

Date Price Appreciation
Aug 01, 1989 $272,500 --
Oct 10, 1990 $350,000 23.4%/yr
May 04, 2005 $765,000 5.5%/yr
Jun 30, 2008 $710,000 -2.3%/yr

Who held the note for this gem? Countrywide of course. A little history about it. The poor soul that bought it in 05 was a mortgage appraiser. Seems his business dried up quite a bit by 07 and he was looking to move back to the Green Bay area from which he came. He seemed like a nice guy and was in the unit when we looked at but hey..he’s a cheeshead fan.
Countrywide finally came back and told everyone that they were raising the price to $750K. That’s right..after all that time, close to 300 days now on the market, they were going to ask 75 grand more than the highest bidder, who I’m not sure was even sticking around at this point. Well everyone said “you suck Countrywide”, or some other expletive and they relisted it at 750k. The final result, they got a buyer and closed at $710k.
I actually pity the realtor on this one. She did call Countrywide everyday but got nowhere with them half the time. So kudos to Sharon of Tarbell Realty, I think you earned your commission (reduced) on that one.
We went through Redfin, which was patient also. The only reason I put this in is after looking at as many houses and listings as I have I will be commenting on some of these HB realtors in some upcoming blogs.


Well the story doesn’t end there. While you say so what, it’s only one place over sold..whatever..the place next door went up for sale. This place, which had less sq. footage, listed at over 100k more! WTF? What makes the place next-door with a few less sq. feet and closer to the pool, (noisier), worth more. Granite counters? I’m not sure. I’m perplexed, someone please tell me! While I never stepped foot inside that one I did go inside the first one and it was a decent place. It wasn’t like some foreclosure in Santa Ana that had a tagging party like this picture posted in the OC a while back. (It sold at auction for $175k by the way) (originally posted in the OC register)

This is why this guy is my knucklehead of the week. He paid a full 100k over what his neighbor next door paid. WTF!!??http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/19456-Riverdale-Ln-92648/home/3138459 He paid $810k while his neighbor paid $710k! That ought to be an interesting discussion when he invites his neighbor over for a barbecue. Gee Ralph..so you must be paying at least $700 more a month in mortgage payments when you add your tax bill too. Don't worry the beer's on me...knucklehead!!

My first posting

This is my first posting for this blog. What qualifies me to be writing about Huntington Beach real estate? Let me answer by saying what qualifies some of these realtors to be selling real estate? Not much but a few hour course on the weekends. As for me, I’m not in the real estate industry, mortgage industry, etc..so my fear of an indictment on fraud is not forthcoming. Plus I sleep much better at night. I have a masters degree in another area but that’s a topic for another day.
My wife and I started searching for a house about a year ago now and I’ve developed a lot of opinions and observations, which I thought I would share.
I’m calling this blog HB real estate and more because at times I will venture outside of HB and talk about other areas. For one, I still live in Long Beach and follow that area closely also. For another I might just go on a rant about some off topic if I feel about it.
Now for the disclaimer crap: This blog is meant for information purposes only and does not construe any advice to buy or sell any real estate or other financial element. The writings expressed are those of the author(s). Any action that you take as a result of this blog is of your own doing and ultimately your own responsibility. Consult your investment advisor or other guru before making any decisions and later blame it on them.
Example: If you are stupid enough to have bought a house for way over the market value don’t blame me or anyone else for your untimely judgement..aka..stupidity.

Let’s move on…