So, what would you do?  Go for the gusto (and price tag) in Newport Beach?  Or, “settle” on something in North Tustin?  Take a look at these recently sold and currently listed properties.  And, good luck to anyone being threatened with these fires.  The Newport fire is less than two miles from where I grew up… scary stuff, indeed.

North Tustin’s Panorama Heights

12502 Circula Panorama, North Tustin 92705

4 bed/3 bath; 1,509 sq ft; built in 1974

Sold for $862,500 on July 30, 2008

12801 Bonita Heights Dr, North Tustin 92705

5 bed/6 bath; 5,936 sq ft; built in 1982

Listed fr $1,195,000

Newport Beach’s Spyglass Hill

7 Yorkshire, Newport Beach 92660

6 bed/4.5 bath; 5,678 sq ft; built in 1979

Sold for $3.5M on August 8, 2008

23 Narbonne, Newport Beach 92660

5 bed/6 bath; 6,700 sq ft; built in 1980

Listed for $5,795,000

Getting your home ready to sell is not high on anyone’s list.  If you’re lucky, you can hire a home stager to come and do it for you.  However, if you’re not so fortunate, you’ll either be doing the brunt work yourself or having troubles selling your house for the price you want.  Granted everyone is having trouble selling their homes these days, but it’s all the more reason to make your house the shiniest on the block attractive to those small number of buyers.

What can you do on your home to get your house ready?  I’ve gone to the masters of home staging, professional home stagers, to get tips to help the DIY sellers.

>  Declutter, depersonalize.  This is one that all the professionals would agree on and I think is an obvious one.  Treasures to you are junk to others.  Don’t take it personally, just get all that stuff out of there!

> Stage the second bedroom of a two-bedroom home/condo as a bedroom. According to Nickie Rothwell of the Home Staging Blog, you should stage your second room as a bedroom, not an office.  People with kids would want (need) to see how it works as a bedroom.

> It’s okay to decorate for Christmas.  Jeannett Fisher, Interior Design Psychology and Home Staging Expert that writes the Home Staging Tips blog, responded to a question from a seller wondering if it is okay to put up a Christmas tree.  The very PC seller didn’t want to offend any potential buyers with his display of his religious beliefs.  Fisher tells people to decorate your home for you and your family and friends.  She just warns about putting up too much and recommends scaling back on your usual decorations.  As for offending buyers, she thinks it’s not a big deal.  According to her, buyers are used to seeing Christmas decorations and holiday traditions everywhere they go.

> Get that bathroom shining.  Lisa LaPorta, the designer on the HGTV show Designed to Sell (one of my favorite designers), has several DIY tips for making your bathroom better.  After all, how does the famous saying go?  Kitchen and bathrooms sell homes.  Her tips include…

1. Get rid of surface mold.  Mix one part water and one part bleach. Spray on wall and wipe.  Fresh coat of paint helps, too.
2. No need to replace the gross shower door, “just scour it.”  Mix one part muriatic acid and 10 parts water.  Scrub with steel wool.
3. Paint ugly old tile.  Coat tiles with high-adhesion primer.  Brush on special ceramic expoxy covering.  (Not sure I agree with this one… if you don’t get it just right, it could look hideous and like you’re trying to cover up something.  All I have to say is be careful with this one).
4. Replace your vanity with a pedestal sink. LaPorta says pedestal sinks are “a big hit with buyers.”  (Again, not sure I agree.  For guest bath, sure, but for a master, I’d wonder where I’d put all my stuff.)

>  Put on soft music for your showings.  Debra Gould, “the Staging Diva,” urges sellers to carefully consider music.  She believes in soft background music to create a soothing environment and “camouflage” neighbor and traffic noise. However, she warns to make sure the volume is very low.  She also warns that “blaring TVs are definitely a no-no.”

Other home staging posts:

Home Staging Revisted — Does it really help?

Everyone’s Doing It: Home Staging

Cartoon courtesy Slate Magazine

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.

225 S Feldner, Orange 92868

3 bed/2 bath; 1,350 sq ft house; 6,000 sq ft lot; built in 1960

Price History:

Sep 30, 2008: Listed for $391,900

Oct 7, 2008: Reduced  to $342,900

755 N Shirley Dr, Orange 92867

3 bed/1 bath; 998 sq ft house; 6,025 sq ft lot; built in 1955

Price History:

Feb 21, 2008: Listed for $515,000

Apr 10, 2008: Reduced to $469,000

Aug 26, 2008: Reduced to $429,000

Oct 06, 2008: Reduced to $349,900

3544 E Burly Ave, Orange 92869

3 bed/2 bath; 1,303 sq ft house; 7,770 sq ft lot; built in 1963

Price History:

Date N/A: Listed or reduced to $571,000

Sep 10, 2007: Reduced to $565,000

Oct 19, 2007: Reduced to $500,000

Nov 9, 2007: Status changed from active to contingent (likely accepted an offer/in escrow)

Nov 10, 2007: Status changed back to active (offer probably fell through)

Jan 16, 2008: Reduced to $470,000

May 28, 2008:  Status changed from active to contingent (likely accepted an offer/in escrow)

Date N/A: Taken off the market

Aug 16, 2008: Put back on the market, listed at $387,900 (likely under new agent)

Oct 8, 2008: Status changed back to active (after being off market), listed at $387,900

4444 E Euclid Ave, Orange 92869

5 bed/3 bath; 1,909 sq ft house; 6,500 sq ft lot; built in 1964

Price History:

Just listed on 10/7/08 for $399,777

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.

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.

12552 Carmel Way, North Tustin 92705

4 bed/4 bath; 2,600 sq ft house, 0.26 acre lot; built in 1958

$699,000 (down from original of $899,900)

13302 Prospect, North Tustin 92705

5 bed/2 bath; 2,700 sq ft house; 0.25 acre lot; built in 1960

$595,000

12672 Charmaine Ln, North Tustin 92705

5 bed/2.5 bath; 2,246 sq ft house; 9,984 sq ft lot; built in 1964

$540,000

When everything is getting more expensive and people are looking at every way to cut spending, even what they rely on for the “cheaper alternative” is getting more costly.  When it rains, it hails.  Or, more scientifically, when gas prices go up, everything goes up.

OC Register’s Serena Daniels covered the “Bus fares could be going up” story in Orange.  Apparently, the fares are not covering their fare share of the transit budget.  Here are some excerpts from Daniels’ article:

OCTA officials are considering several fare options, including raising the price of a single trip to $1.50, up a quarter for regular passengers. And, 30-day passes could go up to $55, a $10 increase. Customers have been sent fliers this week, announcing the proposed increase.

Seniors and disabled riders can also expect an increase.

“We know these are really hard times and we know that people are struggling to keep their jobs, so our No. 1 imperative is to keep the buses running so people can continue going to work,” said Art Leahy, CEO of OCTA.

The proposed increase comes during a surge in ridership on public transportation. In August, nearly 6 million people boarded OCTA buses, the highest monthly ridership figures in OCTA’s 36-year history. . .

Bus fares need to be raised in order to pay for the mounting costs of fuel, wages, benefits and federally mandated transportation services for the disabled, OCTA officials say.

Leahy said since 2005, fuel costs have increased by 185 percent, health costs by more than 27 percent, and pension costs have gone up 91 percent. . .

A public hearing will be held Oct. 27. The board of directors is expected to vote on the issue at a Nov. 24 meeting.

It’s still cheaper to take the bus than own and drive a car.  However, if you ask me, the best solution is to live closer to work.  Not such a popular idea when this means putting in more affordable housing in affluent communities (where the jobs are).

I noticed something in today’s price reductions… you can buy yourself a single family home in Orange County for less than $300,000.   Sure, it’s in Santa Ana, but even a few years back you were not able to get your hands on anything single family for less than $450,000, not even in Santa Ana.  Most homes under $300k are in Santa Ana now, but I’m sure it’s not for long.  Just consider Santa Ana as the “trend setter” for price reductions for the County.

518 S Ross St, Santa Ana 92701

3 bed/1 bath; 1,246 sq ft; built in 1921

Price History:

Aug 21, 2008: Listed for $325,000

Sep 9, 2008: Reduced to $308,750

Sep 29, 2008: Reduced to $293,312 (down 21.0% from original)

2329 W Borchard Ave, Santa Ana 92704

3 bed/1 bath; 1,011 sq ft; built in 1950

Price History:

 Jan 29, 2008: Listed for $520,000

Feb 23, 2008: Reduced to $499,900

Feb 27, 2008: Reduced to $439,900

Mar 19, 2008: Reduced to $352,900

May 22, 2008: Reduced to $325,000

Aug 13, 2008: Reduced to $305,000

Aug 20, 2008: Reduced to $300,000

Aug 25, 2008: Reduced to $299,999

Sep 29, 2008: Reduced to $289,900 (down 44.3% from original)

2313 W Anahurst Pl, Santa Ana 92704

3 bed/2 bath; 1,202 sq ft; built in 1958

Price History:

Jul 31, 2008: Listed for $380,000

Aug 4, 2008: Reduced to $350,000

Aug 7, 2008: Reduced to $320,000

Aug 11, 2008: Reduced to $309,000

Sep 29, 2008: Reduced to $280,000 (down 26.3% from original)

2074 S Standard Ave, Santa Ana 92707

2 bed/1 bath; 785 sq ft; built in 1946

Price History:

Aug 19, 2008: Listed for $219,900

Sep 10, 2008: Reduced to $212,900

Sep 29, 2008: Reduced to $204,900 (down 6.8% from original)

Ready for some free fun?!  In this economy, who’s not, right?  Well, get ready for a parade, carnival rides, food, crafts, and other entertainment at the Tustin Tiller Days.  This annual event that dates back to 1957 is an opportunity for Tustin residents to celebrate Orange County’s agricultural heritage.  Aside from just being good old fun, Tustin Tiller Days is also a fundraiser for several local non-profit groups.  On Saturday at 10am, there will be a parade that winds through Old Town.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re gonna go:

WHEN:

Friday, October 3rd: 4:00 PM – 11:00 PM

Saturday, October 4th: 10:00 AM – 11:00 PM

Sunday, October 5th: 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM

WHERE:

Columbus Park, 17522 Beneta Way, Tustin, CA 92780

COST:

Free Admission.

And since you’re in the area, here are some homes for sale just down the street from Tiller Days.  Just think, if you lived in one of these places, you could just cruise down to these type of events.

17671 Norwood Park Pl, Tustin 92780; 4 bed/3 bath house; 2,950 sq ft; $799,999

17791 Bigelow Park, Tustin 92780; 4 bed/2 bath house; 2,580 sq ft; $725,000

221 Prospect Park, Tustin 92780; 2 bed/2 bath condo/detached house; 1,345 sq ft; $379,500

14311 Shadybrook Dr, Tustin 92780

5 bed/2 bath house; 2,329 sq ft; built in 1968

Listing/Price History:

Listed for $649,900

Reduced to  $599,000 on Mar 3, 2008

Taken off the market

Put back on the market for $599,000 on May 6, 2008

Sold for $559,000 on Sep 3, 2008 (7% below asking)

Last sale on Sep 17, 1999 for $285,000.  96% return on investment.

1731 Saybrook Ln, Tustin 92780

4 bed/3 bath house; 2,434 sq ft; built in 1965

Listing/Price History:

Listed for $587,000 on Aug 2, 2008

Sold for $587,000 on Sep 5, 2008

Likely REO.  Last sale Jun 19, 2008 for $478,000.  Sale prior for $575,000 on Jun 13, 2003.

Who can buy a Santa Ana house for $249,500 and sell it 20 days later for $575,000?

Meet Vijay and Supriti Soni, a husband-wife money-making team of Corona del Mar.  A Corona del Mar couple in the real estate flipping busines. They’re track record is astounding, averaging a 48% gain in 92 days.

Their scheme?  Why it’s simple, of course.  By a bank foreclosure for cheap.  Say you’re flipping it, and then sell it for gobs more in a mere 30 – 90 days.  Oh, need a buyer willing to go along with this scheme?  No problem, just pick one of your many nearby relatives (that happen to have alternate names) or what about the family gardener?  Oh, wait, you also need a down payment?  No problem, when your family owns an escrow company.  Just increase the sales price and say the buyer is putting 10-20% down.  You won’t have to actually show the money, because your escrow company is working with you.  Oh, shoot, you also need a bank that you can trick?  Why, no problem, WaMu is ready and willing to help out (they’ll even use their “preferred” appraisers to make sure the loan goes through).

Don’t believe it?  Get the full story at the OC Register (”WaMu loaned millions to O.C. home flippers with fraud history” by John Gittelsohn).  It’s along article, but the schemes these people pulled just get better and better. Here’s an outline, per the Register, of their property “flips”:

2129 W Civic Center Dr, Santa Ana 92703; 3 bed/1 bath; 1,050 sq ft; built in 1955

Jul 9, 2007: Supriti Soni buys for $440,000 ($352,000 WaMu mortgage)

Aug 16,2007: Javier Hernandez (the gardener) buys for $660,000 ($594,000 WaMu mortgage)

Jul 1, 2008: WaMu forecloses with deed of $377,137

827 S Flower St, Santa Ana 92703; 1 bed/1 bath; 590 sq ft; built in 1920

Jan 4, 2008: Sushama Lohia (Supriti’s mother) buys for $259,000

Jan 24, 2008: Suniti Shah (Lohia’s daughter, Supriti’s sister) buys for $575,000 ($488,750 WaMu mortgage)

1530 S Parton St, Santa Ana 92707; 2 bed/1 bath; 818 sq ft; built in 1948

Aug 30, 2007: Sushama Lohia (Supriti’s mother) buys for $430,000

Nov 9, 2007: Eligio Rojas (innocent “bystander”) buys for $640,000 ($575,800 WaMu mortgage)

1029 W Brook St, Santa Ana 92703; 2 bed/1 bath; 735 sq ft; built in 1953

Date n/a: Sushama Lohia (Supriti’s mother) buys at unknown price.

Dec 12, 2007: Sells to Supriti Soni (Lohia’s daughter) for $595,000  ($595,000 WaMu mortgage)

946 W Camile St, Santa Ana 92703; 2 bed/1 bath; 1,040 sq ft; built in 1922

Jul 31, 2007: Suniti Shah (Lohia’s daughter, Supriti’s sister) buys at $443,181

Nov 21, 2007: Sells to Colomba Cortez ( $558,000 WaMu mortgage)

According to the article:

“Records show that Washington Mutual, America’s largest savings and loan and one of its most precariously perched lending institutions, financed at least 43 mortgages worth $24.5 million on properties bought and sold by members of the Soni family since early 2007.

Of the 22 homes sold in that period, at least six have become problems for Washington Mutual: Four were foreclosed, one received a notice of default and another was listed for sale at a $260,000 loss. Total value of WaMu’s mortgages on the troubled properties: $2.7 million.”

So, what was WaMu thinking?  Well, just look at today’s state of WaMu and it doesn’t take much to see that they weren’t thinking… logically, anyway.  They were after money.  Even in a failing market, they were still willing to throw out huge mortgages at properties that have no business being over $300k.  In their minds, it was okay, there was a 10-20% deposit (which probably never existed). It’s just like Wells Fargo in the other Santa Ana case I wrote about in July (”Who’s got the lower IQ? Wells Fargo or these owners?“).

However, in WaMu’s case, what takes it from just bad business practices to fraud by WaMu is the fact that they pressured their contracted appraiser company to only use a group of appraisers that give the right, top dollar appraisal.  The appraisal company folded to WaMu’s pressure, since WaMu was their biggest customer.  In a way, it’s like good old karma… if you’re going to have shady practices, then you deserve shady customers.

The Sonis have a criminal record already.  They were convicted of fraud in 2003 , but that didn’t stop their profitable ways.  Add to these fraudulent flips identity theft where they got furniture, loan proceeds and commissions, a Mercedes Benz, and plain hard cash.