After my post last week “Santa Ana: Single Family Homes for less than $300k,” I set out this week to find similar deals in Orange. Well, folks, I did find some homes that were under $300k, but none that I would consider buying or posting to you all suggesting any of you should (yeah, I’ve got your back). In case you’re curious, here are the ones I did find… they’re below $300k and, yet, some of them are still overpriced : A two-bedroom on Center Ave ($224,900), a three-bedroom on Donneybrooke ($250,000), a two-bedroom on Hewes ($250,900), a two-bedroom on Parker ($274,900), and a two-bedroom on Hill ($299,000).
While I think below $300k is a great deal in Santa Ana, I’m leaning toward thinking that below $400k is a great deal for Orange. Not all cities are created equal. Don’t even ask me what I think would be a great deal in Newport Beach! Below are some deals I found in this week’s price reductions and new listings. I’m guessing we’ll see these type of properties drop below $300k before this whole housing mess is over with.
While the stock market on Monday was doing its Halloween thing and spooking all of us, Bank of America, proud new owner of Countrywide, announced that it has agreed to a nationwide mortgage-workout program to settle allegations of mortgage fraud, according to this L.A. Times story.
In a pact that could save mortgage holders billions of dollars, Countrywide owner Bank of America Corp. has agreed to the nation’s largest loan-modification program to settle charges of lending abuse brought by California and other states.
The program could reduce payments to Countrywide borrowers and provide other benefits to total as much as $8.7 billion nationwide. It would examine nearly 400,000 loans across the nation — about 125,000 of them in California — to see how they could be reworked and made more affordable. That could include switching customers to fixed-rate loans or reducing the interest or principal.
It remains to be seen how many homeowners will actually be helped by this. If they paid too much for the house to begin with, switching to a fixed-rate loan probably won’t help. Fixed-rate loans have higher payments than interest-only and adjustable loans, after all.
Furthermore, how many homeowners will want to keep making payments on properties that have declined in value up to 50 percent?
Officials acknowledged that some borrowers were beyond help and said these customers would need the cooperation of investors who owned the loans. Such assistance was not always forthcoming in the past.
The agreement almost certainly would rank as the largest predatory-lending settlement in history, dwarfing the nationwide $484-million settlement with Household Finance Corp. in 2002 and a $325-million settlement with Ameriquest Mortgage Co. in 2006.
Gee. Remember when we all thought Countrywide was just a really successful, decent mortgage company?
Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones. Maybe it was the fact that we seemed to be house hunting right near mealtimes. Whatever it was, when we were looking for our current home I was all about the restaurants. My husband peered out the car windows as we drove through the area scoping out the details, landscapes and busyness of the local roads. I, on the other hand, had my head hanging out the rear car window, tongue panting like a dog trying to savor any smell of food. If it flashed “eatery”, “delicatessen”, or “restaurant” within walking distance of the home we were looking at my radar went off!
So you say that food and housing don’t mix, but I tell you that they are one in the same. I have often plugged my area to young moms touting the fact that I can walk to not only parks, but Chuck E Cheese in order to let the bambinos burn off some energy. Yes my friends, culinary delights are essentialy when looking at the area. So what’s new in our area?
According to the OC Register, Mission Viejo is getting two new chains and Laguna Hills has one new local grill to grab some grub.
At the shopping center off of Alicia, right near Via Fabricante (just southwest of Jeronimo is a shopping area acquiring two new places to feast your tastebuds in the near future!
First is Rubio’s. Any local resident knows that dinner doesn’t come much cheaper on Tuesday afternoons/evenings when you hit up Rubio’s for some $1 fish tacos on Taco Tuesdays.
The second restaurant is a chain, but not quite as well-known in the area: Gandolfo’s. After checking out their website, I’m trying to justify an Italian feast of meats on a hoagie roll for breakfast. The menu looks good and the reviews I found sing the deli’s praises.
But fear not you Laguna Hillians, there is a new place for you to nosh as well. The Register also reports on a new place to grab some quick food – Bbop Grill. This is no chain, but the reviews I read are good. Located in the shopping center on the northeast corner of Paseo de Valencia and Alicia the Bbop grill claims to serve up Korean grilled delights. Relatively healthy (they report to not use MSG or trans-fat oil according to the Register) and reasonably priced I can’t wait to head over there with my kids to try something other than the same old, same old we usually dine on.
So there we have it folks – new dishes, new diners and hopefully some new memories as you check out what our cities have to offer.
In September, I posted about how the Tustin City Council was going to hold a public workshop to take a look at solutions to the problem with too many cars being parked on the streets overnight. Well, apparently this was a popular event. About 275 people came to the three-hour meeting, according to Elysse James of the OC Register.
A permit system is planned, with a public hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, at 7 p.m. In addition to proposed regulations for off-street parking, they will also be proposing ordinances for on-site and flexible parking in Old Town.
Of course there’s been a lot of controversy. One resident, upset over the idea, put pamphlets that looked like parking tickets on people’s car windows. Hey, you’ve got to give the guy credit for creativity. However, his opposition to the permits seems to be mainly based on not liking the Council exerting so much authority: “They’re just trying to assert more authority, and trying to take away everybody’s parking.”
According to James:
Parking could be prohibited on streets during street-sweeping hours; on residential streets from 7 to 11 a.m. and arterial streets from 4 to 7 a.m. The council also could set aside $175,000 to pay for enforcement personnel and equipment.
Parking on other streets could be banned completely. The council could prohibit parking on Newport Avenue from Sycamore to First Street; Red Hill Avenue from Sycamore to Mitchell and from San Juan to Bryan Avenue; and on Irvine Boulevard from Prospect to Holt. The intent is to relieve traffic congestion.
If you’ve ever driven through Red Hill during peak hours, you know there’s an issue that needs to be addressed. However, is removing parking without providing alternative parking the answer? It would make my life easier, but I don’t live in one of the many complexes along this street. What’s next? A park and ride for your apartment? Or, the double-decker parking like at the complexes over by South Coast Plaza on Sunflower (a sight to be seen for sure!).. similar to the picture below.
When I told family and friends our family was relocating to California, there were many jokes about the end of the world. “You just wait!” they told me. “One day there will be an earthquake and California will break of into the ocean causing a massive tidal wave and it will be the end of the world.”
I laughed it of dismissively, but seriously folks I’m wondering about just how bad it is. I mean, this weekend I had a half-serious conversation with a friend regarding converting all our savings into yen in order to protect assets, the bailout/rescue plan gets passed, and Beverly Hills Chihuaua is number one at the box office.
Not to mention that tomorrow’s Bloomberg news (in Asia) reports that, ”Japan’s stocks fell, sending the Topix index toward a five-year low, as the global credit crisis deepened in Europe and the U.S. lost the most jobs in five years.”
These are strange times my friends! Strange times indeed.
We’ve obviously heard all the talks of the bail out/rescue plan and there seems to be varying views on why it is or is not going to work. But what I haven’t heard is what it really means to us and the real estate market in particular.
Bloomberg had a great bit of FAQ’s from regular taxpayers. Here are some excerpts that might give you some guidance on the issues surrounding the bailout/rescue and how it affects you.
What will the program do for people in danger of defaulting on a mortgage?
The bill contains vague language encouraging the Treasury to implement plans to help endangered homeowners. Many mortgages, through the securitization process, were broken up into pieces and sold off, making it difficult for lenders to alter them so homeowners can afford rising payments.
“This bill does little to remove the existing obstacles that have made it all but impossible over the past year for the housing industry to help enough people avert foreclosure,” said Kathleen Day, a spokeswoman for the Center for Responsible Lending in Washington.
Will taxpayers lose or make money on this deal?
The assets the Treasury purchases could increase in value, allowing the government to sell them later at a profit. In addition, in return for buying the impaired investments, the Treasury will receive warrants, or contracts allowing it to purchase shares in participating companies at a preset price. If those companies’ stocks rise, taxpayers could benefit.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the net cost of the plan will be “substantially less than $700 billion but is more likely than not to be greater than zero.”
If, in five years, taxpayers have lost money, the president will have to submit legislation — most likely some kind of fee on financial institutions — to recoup losses.
How will it affect my taxes?
That depends on what the next president does. The initial borrowing of funds for the program will add some $2,300 in government debt for every American. Yet the Treasury will get assets for its money, many of which may increase in value as the housing market and economy improve.
“Much of the $700 billion is expected to be repaid, and there could even be a profit made by taxpayers,” said Alex Brill, an economic consultant at Washington law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and a former policy director for the House Ways and Means Committee.
With the opening of the 114,000 square foot Diamond Jamboree Shopping and Dining Center at the corner of Jamboree and Alton, Irvine’s IBC, which began as a light industrial area, continues its evolution into a mixed-use, live-work-play neighborhood. Diamond Jamboree center is Asian-themed but has diverse appeal. The center opened recently with various retail, restaurants, and cafes as well as a bakery, a beauty spa, the H-Mart Supermarket (a Whole Foods-type market), some banks, and a video and mail center. In November, more shops are scheduled to open.
The center is a good match for Irvine for various reasons: First, with Irvine’s emphasizes on cultural diversity, the center will appeal to the many different groups that live in Irvine. (Today’s annual Irvine Global Festival is an example of Irvine’s emphasis on diversity.) Second, the Diamond Jamboree Center, with its mix of cafes, restaurants, salon and retail, offers the IBC residents unique shopping, entertainment and work options in this evolving live-work-play neighborhood. Third, the center offers convenient shopping, dining and entertainment options for the over 35% of Irvine’s residents that are Asian or Pacific Islander.
I am not about to claim that I understand the eventual fallout of the $700 billion Bailout/Rescue Plan that just passed in the House and, earlier in the week, in the Senate (take your choice on whether you think bailout or rescue is more accurate). As others have said, I have mixed feeling about the bailout/rescue plan. My gut reaction is let the banks take the loss. But I know that the world, including the economic world, is more interconnected than that, and a bad outcome for some financial institutions will not necessarily be confined to those institutions.
Unfortunately, without the bailout/rescue plan, a loss of jobs is a possibility. For example, small as well as large businesses are having trouble borrowing the short-term loans that businesses have commonly used, at least up to now, to pay immediate expenses such as payrolls. (Business income can be meager at certain times and boom the next week. Companies use these short-term loans to pay immediate expenses.)
Even the state of California is having trouble borrowing the money needed to stay afloat. As Bill Lockyer, State Treasurer, stated earlier this week, the state is in jeopardy of running out of money by the end of the month. California usually borrows money at this time of year to cover the state budget then pays this short-term loan back in the spring when taxes are collected. But guess what? This time the banks are not willing to lend.
How all this works out we will have to see. But even with the $700 billion cash infusion into the financial institutions there is no guarantee that the banks will use this money to make new loans. They might decide that they need to keep it in reserves instead of use it to make loans in the current risky market.
Next week: An example of why so many are outraged by the bailout/rescue plan.
Foreclosures and short sales have occurred in the largest quantities in two circumstances: low-cost area with a lot of subprime loans and newer areas that have a lot of homes bought by investors. The IBC with its many investors that were looking to flip the homes that they bought in the IBC for a quick profit fits into the latter category. A look at how prices have fallen will give an idea of what has occurred in the IBC housing market.
Following are some recent IBC housing prices. When comparing home value in this area, be sure to include the HOA fees as part of your calculation.
2426 Watermarke Place, Irivne 92612 What: 2003 condo, 2 beds/2 baths, 1122 SF Asking Price: $469,000 ($416/SF)
Note that this condo last sold on September 16,2005 for $518,500.
This home was off the market and is now listed as active.
2253 Martin #492, Irvine 92612 What: 1994 condo, 2 beds/2 baths, 999 SF Asking Price: $525,000 ($414/SF) Open House: Saturday & Sunday, October 4& 5, 8 am-8pm
Note that this home last sold on June 11, 2007 for $505,000.
I’ve long said that if I could ever afford it, I’d want to live in North Tustin. While you’ve got the luxury up the hill, you’ve also got the “keeping it real” folks farther down. Just take a long drive up Newport Ave/Newport Blvd and you’ll begin to feel like you’re going into a whole other part of the state, or out of state, for that matter. Horses and animals, large lots, real history… all things the recently developed areas of OC are missing.
Anyway, as I dream about moving there, here are some places that caught my eye. They all have at least four bedrooms and meet my expectations of a great North Tustin property… and are at a great price.
All week, I’ve been reading and watching everything I can pertaining to the big bailout. Like a lot of people, I have mixed feelings about it: I hate the idea of rescuing everyone on Wall Street, but I don’t want to lose my job and my savings.
But as the week has gone on, and I’ve learned more and more, I’ve come to the conclusion that the bailout is the lesser of two evils. Doing nothing would make our economy tank. I even sort of understand why.
Here’s one story that helped me make up my mind. It’s from the New York Times:
In 1929, Meyer Mishkin owned a shop in New York that sold silk shirts to workingmen. When the stock market crashed that October, he turned to his son, then a student at City College, and offered a version of this sentiment: It serves those rich scoundrels right.
A year later, as Wall Street’s problems were starting to spill into the broader economy, Mr. Mishkin’s store went out of business. He no longer had enough customers. His son had to go to work to support the family, and Mr. Mishkin never held a steady job again.
The parallels are chilling, right down to the fact that it’s October.
Voting “no” on the bailout to send a message to the Wall Street “fat cats” might feel good in the short term, but it would hurt us Main Street regular cats in the long run.
And for those who point to the relative calm in the financial markets as a sign that policymakers are crying wolf, take a lesson from the Great Depression:
At the start of the 1930s, despite everything that had happened on Wall Street, the American economy had not yet collapsed. Consumer spending and business investment were down, but not horribly so.
In late 1930, however, a rolling series of bank panics began. Investments made by the banks were going bad — or, in some cases, were rumored to be going bad — and nervous customers besieged bank branches to demand their money back. Hundreds of banks eventually closed.
Once a bank in a given town shut its doors, all the knowledge accumulated by the bank officers there effectively disappeared. Other banks weren’t nearly as willing to lend money to local businesses and residents because the loan officers at those banks didn’t know which borrowers were less reliable than they looked. Credit dried up.
The same thing is happening now:
The crucial point is that a modern economy can’t function when people can’t easily get credit. It takes a while for this to become obvious, since most companies and households don’t take out big new loans every day. But it will eventually become obvious, and painfully so. Already, a lack of car loans has caused vehicle sales to fall further.
The only upside to any disaster is the lessons we take away. The lessons of the Great Depression lasted 80 years. Let’s hope for the same here.
Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones. Maybe it was the fact that we seemed to be house hunting right near mealtimes. Whatever it was, when we were looking for our current home I was all about the restaurants. My husband peered out the car windows as we drove through the area scoping out the details, landscapes and busyness of the local roads. I, on the other hand, had my head hanging out the rear car window, tongue panting like a dog trying to savor any smell of food. If it flashed “eatery”, “delicatessen”, or “restaurant” within walking distance of the home we were looking at my radar went off!
At the shopping center off of Alicia, right near Via Fabricante (just southwest of Jeronimo is a shopping area acquiring two new places to feast your tastebuds in the near future!
I told family and friends our family was relocating to California, there were many jokes about the end of the world. “You just wait!” they told me. “One day there will be an earthquake and California will break of into the ocean causing a massive tidal wave and it will be the end of the world.”
I’ve long said that if I could ever afford it, I’d want to live in North Tustin. While you’ve got the luxury up the hill, you’ve also got the “keeping it real” folks farther down. Just take a long drive up Newport Ave/Newport Blvd and you’ll begin to feel like you’re going into a whole other part of the state, or out of state, for that matter. Horses and animals, large lots, real history… all things the recently developed areas of OC are missing.
