kaulat

That's down 3% just between September and October! Wow. And the result? A greed-driven divergence between List vs. Sold price per square foot. That's what happens when all but the dumbest, most delusional sellers take their ball and go home and wait for the market to "return to normal." Current sellers know there's no quality inventory out there and it makes them cocky and emboldened. As we enter the winter months we'll see if that approach pays off.

I SEVERELY underestimated the enthusiasm of Long Beach knifecatchers. Sold on 10/23/2009 - $885,000 ($4,900 below an asking price that had been in place for five months) Seller, I owe you an apology. After reducing the price a few hundred thousand dollars, you decided to stick to your guns. Apparently you were spot on with that final asking price, and your patience and bullheaded determination that a greater fool would come along paid off. Well done. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Yo, is that rooftop dish from the Millennium Falcon? 1041 E Amelia Dr Long Beach, CA 90807 Price: $899,900 Beds: 4 Baths: 3.5 Sq. Ft.: 3,019 $/Sq. Ft.: $298 Lot Size: 10,880 Sq. Ft. Year Built: 1951 MLS#: P681979 On Redfin: 384 days Down Payment: $180,000 Income Requirement: $257,000 Monthly Nut: $5,400 Description: Price reduced another $100,000! Extensively remodeled in 2000, the 4bd, 3.5bath, pool home is an entertainer's dream. Large formal living room with bay window. Formal dining room. Large...

Yo, is that rooftop dish from the Millennium Falcon? 1041 E Amelia Dr Long Beach, CA 90807 Price: $899,900 Beds: 4 Baths: 3.5 Sq. Ft.: 3,019 $/Sq. Ft.: $298 Lot Size: 10,880 Sq. Ft. Year Built: 1951 MLS#: P681979 On Redfin: 384 days Down Payment: $180,000 Income Requirement: $257,000 Monthly Nut: $5,400 Description: Price reduced another $100,000! Extensively remodeled in 2000, the 4bd, 3.5bath, pool home is an entertainer's dream. Large formal living room with bay window. Formal dining room. Large gourmet kitchen with granite counters, stainless steel appliances, cherrywood cabinets, walk-in pantry with travertine marble floors. Large Great Room with fireplace overlooking salt water pool and spa with pebblecoating and 3 relaxing waterfalls. Master suite as two large walk-in closets and French doors that open to pool area. Master bath has seperate soaking tub and shower with marble double sink vanity. 2 large gallery hallways to exhibit art collection. Home and backyard wired for s...

1024 E Freeland St, 90807 Price: $550,000 Beds: 3 Baths: 4 Sq. Ft.: 3,169 $/Sq. Ft.: $174 Lot Size: 8,250 Sq. Ft. Year Built: 1955 Community: Bixby, Bixby Knolls, Los Cerritos, California Heights, Memorial Heights (Wow. That's a lot of communities!) MLS#: R805792 On Redfin: 455 days Down Payment: $110,000 Income Requirement: $157,000 Monthly Nut: $3,000 Description: PROPERTY IS IN A HIGH-END LOCATION OF LONG BEACH. VERY CLEAN AND QUITE NEIGHBORHOOD. MASTER BEDROOM HAS A WALK-IN CLOSET WITH A JACUZZI TUB. A MUST SEE TO APPRECIATE. 24 HOUR NOTICE TO SHOW PROPERTY IS REQUIRED. PLEASE RING DOORBELL BEFORE ENTERING. "QUITE" neighborhood? "MUST SEE TO APPRECIATE." Translation: It's a real shit hole. And with a conspicuous lack of interior photos and no upgrades mentioned in that impressive listing description, it's a sure bet that it's pretty awful in there. In March 1996 (the most recent housing bottom), our featured seller purchased this house for $160,0...

**UPDATE: The always-observant KatyinLBC noted: Hey el bee...did you notice this statement under the listing? "The seller of this home has requested that home value estimates not be shown. Per MLS rules, Redfin and other public MLS-powered sites may not display any automated valuation for this home." Hahahahahaha! Gee...I wonder why the seller doesn't want the value estimates to be shown!??!! Classic. *************************************** Reader LB1 sent in today's stunning example of greed, ignorance and drool-tinged wishful thinking. LB1 says: Great Blog, hopefully you'll save a few sellers from their own delusions. Speaking of delusions, you've gotta check out this ridiculous listing from the bixby knolls area: http://www.redfin.com/CA/Long-Beach/3962-Cedar-Ave-90807/home/7525777 Is that price a typo?? 3962 Cedar, 90807 Price: $1,700,000 Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Sq. Ft.: 2,233 $/Sq. Ft.: $761 Lot Size: 7,150 Sq. Ft. Year Built: 1953 MLS #: P696067 On Redfin : 41...

Address: 1780 W 25th St., 90810 Asking Price: $339,000 Year Built: 1977 Size: 7 beds, 3 baths, 2,224 sq. ft. $/Sq. Ft.: $152 Purchase price: $315,000 Purchase date: 4/2009 MLS#: R903780 On Redfin: 16 days Down Payment: $68,000 Monthly Payment: $2,000 Income Requirement: $97,000 Description: Nice Home in Nice Long Beach Area This Home Features 7 bedrooms , 3 bath ,2 car garage. Perfect for Large family At this price it willnot Last In high school, the Carl's Jr. in the Rossmoor Center was the hangout spot. We would hang out after school, take advantage of the free refills, and talk about the trials and tribulations of our teen years. Anyhow, there was a guy who worked there named Robert. He was mentally disabled but the management was really generous and gave him a job. His disability was such that he was limited to what duties he could perform but the one thing he ACED was delivering food and collecting those little A-frames with the order numbers on them (the kids with classic car...

From RealtyTrac.com, here are some recent Long Beach foreclosure numbers (starting with the most distressed): 90802: 569 90813: 525 90810: 472 90806: 439 90804: 373 90815: 180 90803: 132 90814: 95 As you can see, downtown is getting absolutely inundated with foreclosures. Not surprisingly, downtown and the shadier areas of LB are experiencing a much larger influx of bank-owned properties and the resultant downward pressure on prices. Better neighborhoods (Naples, Belmont Shore, Belmont Heights) are faring MUCH better on the foreclosure front, which explains the stickiness of prices there. And yes, there will be added pressure in 90803 and 90814 during the next few years as "Classy-People Loans" implode. However, don't get your hopes up for $150 per square foot in The Shore. The Alt-A/Option ARM disaster will take YEARS to play out and we've already seen how skilled banks are at delaying REOs from hitting the market and how the .gov encourages banks to mark these troub...

Address: 232 E Louise St, 90805 Asking Price: $129,900 Year Built: 1979 Size: 2 beds, 1 baths, 874 sq. ft. $/Sq. Ft.: $149 Purchase price: $324,307 Purchase date: 8/2007 MLS #: S08153774 On Redfin : 147 days Down Payment: $26,000 Monthly Payment: $800 Income Requirement: $37,000 Description: Built in 1979 this is a newer 2 Bedroom 1 Bath Home. in near move in condition. in good condition, shows well, Clean the carpets, maybe a little paint and it will look great, It has a 2 car detached garage, cute back yard with rose bushes and at $129,900 is price at less than 35% off its sell price in 2006. A screaming deal as a rental or starter home. Corporate owned and sold AS-IS. "Newer," eh? I guess that depends on what you're comparing it to, but okay. "Clean the carpets, maybe a little paint and it will look great"? HEY DUMMY, THAT'S YOUR JOB! I thought you were actually trying to sell this pile of crap! If it only needs minor work like carpet and paint to make it...

Back from Vegas with a quick update on a property I featured back in April . To jog your memory, the property was facing a quarter million in equity evaporation if it sold for the then-current asking price of $375,000. Well, I'm happy to report that after a year languishing on the market...it sold! Well, sort of. The house went off the market in September, and in October a sale was posted for $340,000 . Without the actual property records, I'm guessing that's the bank taking it back. Taking it back for $163 per square foot , by the way. OUCHIES. It hasn't popped back onto the market yet, so who knows how much they'll ask. In this neighborhood, that per square foot price sounds reasonable. But then again, the bank just lost -$280,000 and I imagine they want to recoup at least some of that money. Work has been crazy--yes, even during Christmas break--so hang tight for resumption of regular updates. I hope everyone has a safe, exciting New Year's Eve. I, on the o...

"You know what's wild? Martin Luther King stood for nonviolence. Now what's Martin Luther King? A street. And I don't give a f**k where you live in America, if you on Martin Luther King Boulevard, there's some violence going down!" --Chris Rock, Stand Up Address: 935 E Martin Luther King Jr, 90813 Asking Price: $375,000 (reduced from a cool $400,000) Year Built: 2005 Size: 4 beds, 4 baths, 2092 sq. ft. $/Sq. Ft.: $179 Purchase price: $620,000 Purchase date: 10/2005 MLS#: R712119 On Redfin: 180 days Down Payment: $37,500 Monthly Payment: $2,400 Income Requirement: $94,000 Description: Beautiful SFR Close to Downtown Long Beach, it is a 4 beds/3.5 Baths, formal dining room, family room, 1/2 bath downstairs, all bedrooms on the 2nd level, Master & 1 Bedroom have full bathrooms, floors downstairs Tile/Ceramic, Carpet wall to wall upstairs, 2 cars garage, this home was built on 2005, imagine to buy an almost new home with only few minutes to the beach & wit...

Wow. HOUSE WITH 3 BED 2 BATH, THE HOUSE HAS BEEN DIVIDED INTO TWO SEPARATE LIVING SPACES, 2/1 BATH AND 1/1 BATH (GOOD FOR HELP YOURSELF IN THE MORTGAGE PAYMENT) LONG DRIVEWAY WITH CARPORT. CLOOSE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. YOU MUST TO SEE TO APRECIATED. I think it's a little too "CLOOSE" to that elementary school because agents are apparently outsourcing their work to third-graders. AND THANK YOU FOR YELLING. YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION. I AM READY TO BUY NOW. First, do we even need to debate whether their little "TWO SEPARATE LIVING SPACES" construction project was permitted? There's about as much chance of that as gas prices dropping to 50 cents a gallon. Second, you know a house is severely overpriced when the realtor herself concedes renting out the Bob-Vila-on-a-two-week-meth-bender 1 Bed/1 Bath "apartment" is your only conceivable shot at swinging the mortgage payment. But the realtor told me it's GOOD FOR HELP MYSELF so perhaps I shouldn't be too ...