Irvine Prices in Long Beach
Why buy in Orange County when you can pay Irvine prices right here in Long Beach? Now, I realize within the context of the massive housing bubble we just experienced, $545,000 doesn't make many people flinch. But, I want you to really think about that sum. Almost $600,000. More than HALF A MILLION DOLLARS.
Now, I want you close your eyes. Think about the house you would want to live in for that insane amount of money. Probably fairly big, lots of room to have your parents and friends over. Nice appliances, great neighborhood, decent schools. You've worked extremely hard and sacrificed a lot to save up the $54,900 down payment, and possibly put yourself through grad school to land a job paying the required $136,000 annual salary.
Now open your eyes. Is this what you imagined?
Address: 1533 E. Broadway, 90802
Wishing Price: $545,000
Size: 2 beds, 2 baths, 1200 sq. ft. (built in 1918)
$/Sq. Ft.: $454 (!)
Purchase price: N/A
Purchase date: N/A
MLS#: R704655
On Redfin: 260 days
Description: Buy, LEASE or LEASE TO OWN! OWNER WILL CARRY BACK with the right deal!All new windows, skylights, tile roof, new cooper plumbing, new electrical - this is a NEW HOUSE. Great back yard and patio too! This home has a 'dual land use' - check with city, but the commercial zoning allows you to operate a business such as Hair & Nails, Accouting/Tax Prep, Real Estate, Food Service, Etc. .. This is a wonderful home located in the heart of Alamitos Beach. (MOVIE AVAIL. On this Property)
Where do I begin? By the way, I know real estate agents and they are bright, hardworking people, but this type of listing makes me wonder if there are any standards at all for this line of work anymore. In fact, this listing is so bad, I'm going to pick it apart line by line:
Buy, LEASE or LEASE TO OWN! OWNER WILL CARRY BACK with the right deal! I WAS BETTING ON REAL ESTATE TO ALWAYS GO UP, JUST LIKE MY REALTOR AND "FLIP THIS HOUSE" TOLD ME. BUT NOW THAT MY LOAN IS RESETTING IN MARCH, I'M DESPERATE AND WILL DO ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING TO PUT A TOURNIQUET ON THIS BLEEDING, FESTERING WOUND OF A HOUSE. PLEASE!
All new windows, skylights, tile roof, new cooper plumbing, new electrical - this is a NEW HOUSE. A roof ain't cheap, and new windows definitely add serious value. I'm not sure what "cooper" plumbing is, but it doesn't sound like a good thing. "This is a NEW HOUSE"...just make sure to disregard the 1918 build date. Move along, nothing to see here.
Great back yard and patio too! Are those Christmas lights hanging from the roof? The back yard is a decent selling point, actually. Seems they should have spent more time staging it.
This home has a 'dual land use' - check with city, but the commercial zoning allows you to operate a business such as Hair & Nails, Accouting/Tax Prep, Real Estate, Food Service, Etc. .. Awesome! Yet another property with a sizable "benefit" in addition to the considerable pride of ownership. I've never heard of "Accouting" but it's never too late for a career change. Food Service, eh? If the parking wasn't so horrendous in this area, I could open a Wendy's.
This is a wonderful home located in the heart of Alamitos Beach. UPDATE: There has been some debate on this blog about the actual borders of Alamitos Beach/Belmont Heights/Alamitos Heights, but I am of the opinion that sometimes listing agents will throw the name in of a more appealing neighborhood to benefit from the better connotations of that higher-valued area. For example, this listing,
http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1235221
shouting distance from the featured property, lists "Belmont Heights/Alamitos Heights." But wait, didn't the seller of the first property claim it's in the heart of "Alamitos BEACH"--the more appealing neighborhood? Case and point. From what I see, the Heights area is improving, but generally, especially as the area creeps closer to downtown, it's not a place I feel safe walking down the street at night, and I certainly wouldn't park my car on the street.
(MOVIE AVAIL. On this Property) Huh?
The pictures are odd. It seems like a decent (if unbelievably overpriced) house. Nice hardwoods, decent cabinets and appliances (but awful hardware and too much Ikea furniture to qualify as a decent staging effort), yet they feature a crap-filled attic and strangely none of the bathrooms. For a supposedly "NEW HOME," doesn't it strike you as a little suspicious that no bathrooms are pictured?
With no sales data, I can only guess this is a flipper who watched too many TLC shows and got himself into a financial catastrophe he didn't anticipate. The monthly carrying costs on this place are more than $3,500. Do you think that sounds like a reasonable monthly rent? No? Then I'd surmise there's a hefty negative cash flow on this property. I'd love to find out what the flipper's--I mean, seller's, proposed lease rates are.
At $454 per square foot and 260 days on market, this thing isn't going anywhere. Sometimes I get the feeling owners just aren't serious about selling. I don't care how close you are to Belmont Heights, in this zip code the median household income is $30,353. This house is probably slightly above median considering the minor updates, but even if the median income were $50,000 a year, this thing wouldn't be priced more than $250,000.
That means this little buddy will need at least a 50% price reduction to make anything close to financial sense. That would put it at $208 per square foot. That may sound dramatic, but consider it's a big deal when Irvine and to some extent Huntington Beach drop below $300 per square foot. I love Long Beach, but if I could get a condo in a nice area of Orange County for less than a 90-year-old stucco box in a questionable LB neighborhood, there is no question where I'd live.
Quickly, here is a comparable property in Irvine with an asking price of 549,000.
It's a 2 bed, 2 bath in a clean, safe area. It still may sound expensive for 1,100 square feet, but consider the $82,000 median Irvine income has a more realistic chance of supporting the price, as opposed to the Long Beach property.
Sure, I guess you can't open a nail salon in the back of the Irvine place, but this comparison clearly illustrates the informational/psychological barriers at work in Long Beach, and the inability to understand how the ensuing real estate deflation in nicer, more desireable surrounding areas will absolutely punish Long Beach prices.
Now, I want you close your eyes. Think about the house you would want to live in for that insane amount of money. Probably fairly big, lots of room to have your parents and friends over. Nice appliances, great neighborhood, decent schools. You've worked extremely hard and sacrificed a lot to save up the $54,900 down payment, and possibly put yourself through grad school to land a job paying the required $136,000 annual salary.
Now open your eyes. Is this what you imagined?
Address: 1533 E. Broadway, 90802
Wishing Price: $545,000
Size: 2 beds, 2 baths, 1200 sq. ft. (built in 1918)
$/Sq. Ft.: $454 (!)
Purchase price: N/A
Purchase date: N/A
MLS#: R704655
On Redfin: 260 days
Description: Buy, LEASE or LEASE TO OWN! OWNER WILL CARRY BACK with the right deal!All new windows, skylights, tile roof, new cooper plumbing, new electrical - this is a NEW HOUSE. Great back yard and patio too! This home has a 'dual land use' - check with city, but the commercial zoning allows you to operate a business such as Hair & Nails, Accouting/Tax Prep, Real Estate, Food Service, Etc. .. This is a wonderful home located in the heart of Alamitos Beach. (MOVIE AVAIL. On this Property)
Where do I begin? By the way, I know real estate agents and they are bright, hardworking people, but this type of listing makes me wonder if there are any standards at all for this line of work anymore. In fact, this listing is so bad, I'm going to pick it apart line by line:
Buy, LEASE or LEASE TO OWN! OWNER WILL CARRY BACK with the right deal! I WAS BETTING ON REAL ESTATE TO ALWAYS GO UP, JUST LIKE MY REALTOR AND "FLIP THIS HOUSE" TOLD ME. BUT NOW THAT MY LOAN IS RESETTING IN MARCH, I'M DESPERATE AND WILL DO ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING TO PUT A TOURNIQUET ON THIS BLEEDING, FESTERING WOUND OF A HOUSE. PLEASE!
All new windows, skylights, tile roof, new cooper plumbing, new electrical - this is a NEW HOUSE. A roof ain't cheap, and new windows definitely add serious value. I'm not sure what "cooper" plumbing is, but it doesn't sound like a good thing. "This is a NEW HOUSE"...just make sure to disregard the 1918 build date. Move along, nothing to see here.
Great back yard and patio too! Are those Christmas lights hanging from the roof? The back yard is a decent selling point, actually. Seems they should have spent more time staging it.
This home has a 'dual land use' - check with city, but the commercial zoning allows you to operate a business such as Hair & Nails, Accouting/Tax Prep, Real Estate, Food Service, Etc. .. Awesome! Yet another property with a sizable "benefit" in addition to the considerable pride of ownership. I've never heard of "Accouting" but it's never too late for a career change. Food Service, eh? If the parking wasn't so horrendous in this area, I could open a Wendy's.
This is a wonderful home located in the heart of Alamitos Beach. UPDATE: There has been some debate on this blog about the actual borders of Alamitos Beach/Belmont Heights/Alamitos Heights, but I am of the opinion that sometimes listing agents will throw the name in of a more appealing neighborhood to benefit from the better connotations of that higher-valued area. For example, this listing,
http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1235221
shouting distance from the featured property, lists "Belmont Heights/Alamitos Heights." But wait, didn't the seller of the first property claim it's in the heart of "Alamitos BEACH"--the more appealing neighborhood? Case and point. From what I see, the Heights area is improving, but generally, especially as the area creeps closer to downtown, it's not a place I feel safe walking down the street at night, and I certainly wouldn't park my car on the street.
(MOVIE AVAIL. On this Property) Huh?
The pictures are odd. It seems like a decent (if unbelievably overpriced) house. Nice hardwoods, decent cabinets and appliances (but awful hardware and too much Ikea furniture to qualify as a decent staging effort), yet they feature a crap-filled attic and strangely none of the bathrooms. For a supposedly "NEW HOME," doesn't it strike you as a little suspicious that no bathrooms are pictured?
With no sales data, I can only guess this is a flipper who watched too many TLC shows and got himself into a financial catastrophe he didn't anticipate. The monthly carrying costs on this place are more than $3,500. Do you think that sounds like a reasonable monthly rent? No? Then I'd surmise there's a hefty negative cash flow on this property. I'd love to find out what the flipper's--I mean, seller's, proposed lease rates are.
At $454 per square foot and 260 days on market, this thing isn't going anywhere. Sometimes I get the feeling owners just aren't serious about selling. I don't care how close you are to Belmont Heights, in this zip code the median household income is $30,353. This house is probably slightly above median considering the minor updates, but even if the median income were $50,000 a year, this thing wouldn't be priced more than $250,000.
That means this little buddy will need at least a 50% price reduction to make anything close to financial sense. That would put it at $208 per square foot. That may sound dramatic, but consider it's a big deal when Irvine and to some extent Huntington Beach drop below $300 per square foot. I love Long Beach, but if I could get a condo in a nice area of Orange County for less than a 90-year-old stucco box in a questionable LB neighborhood, there is no question where I'd live.
Quickly, here is a comparable property in Irvine with an asking price of 549,000.
It's a 2 bed, 2 bath in a clean, safe area. It still may sound expensive for 1,100 square feet, but consider the $82,000 median Irvine income has a more realistic chance of supporting the price, as opposed to the Long Beach property.
Sure, I guess you can't open a nail salon in the back of the Irvine place, but this comparison clearly illustrates the informational/psychological barriers at work in Long Beach, and the inability to understand how the ensuing real estate deflation in nicer, more desireable surrounding areas will absolutely punish Long Beach prices.
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