Here we go again--1828-1830 Buena Vista Ave, Alameda, CA
There are so many foreclosures hitting the market this month I'm wondering if we've crossed a threshold where home"owners" aren't even trying anymore and walking away is now the first-resort option.
A duplex at 1828-1830 Buena Vista just appeared on the market with no description in the MLS(r). The publicly available specs:
Indeed I almost went to its open house in the spring of 2007, noting that this particular building was one of the nicer houses on an otherwise so-so block of Buena Vista. The house was listed at $715,000 in May of last year, and I decided against going because the market just wasn't ready for the kinds of cashflow-positive offers I would have made. And sure enough, a year after it was purchased for way over asking (almost to the day), a foreclosure-like transaction was recorded:
Let me repeat that.
$200,000.
Less.
Than last year's price.
On a relatively small, unassuming house.
My mind is blown. I think this might be the fastest foreclosure I've written about on this blog. Considering it takes anywhere between 150 and 300 days to complete the process in California, it means the "owner" of this home may have made two or three payments before things went south.
A duplex at 1828-1830 Buena Vista just appeared on the market with no description in the MLS(r). The publicly available specs:
4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 1,960 sqft, 4,080-sqft lot, 2 units, currently $589,900I didn't remember the address, but the Google Street View looked very familiar:
Indeed I almost went to its open house in the spring of 2007, noting that this particular building was one of the nicer houses on an otherwise so-so block of Buena Vista. The house was listed at $715,000 in May of last year, and I decided against going because the market just wasn't ready for the kinds of cashflow-positive offers I would have made. And sure enough, a year after it was purchased for way over asking (almost to the day), a foreclosure-like transaction was recorded:Sales History
The current list price still doesn't cash flow, but it's TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS LESS than the property was purchased for A YEAR AGO.
Let me repeat that.
$200,000.
Less.
Than last year's price.
On a relatively small, unassuming house.
My mind is blown. I think this might be the fastest foreclosure I've written about on this blog. Considering it takes anywhere between 150 and 300 days to complete the process in California, it means the "owner" of this home may have made two or three payments before things went south.
I think walking away is the option for many. If you're underwater and you don't have any equity to save (especially when you've used your house as an ATM) why not just let it be taken and then declare bankruptcy? Rent for 7 years and you're back in the clear to buy another house.
I've made four offers in this market, all well under asking and have been completely denied. 3 of the 4, some buyer came in and snatched it up for either close to asking or in one case, over asking. In one situation, a real estate agent owns the house, has $750k in loans on it, is asking $788k with the house completely trashed. Nearby, a bigger, done up house of similar style sold for slightly below asking in the $750k range. If I were she, I probably wouldn't have taken my lowball offer of $530k because that still puts me in the hole for $220k to the banks. Easier to walk away where I have no equity and declare that bankruptcy.
My main issue with this is that a mortgage commitment isn't supposed to be "easy." If the stigma of bankruptcy (or the guilt of reneging on a commitment) get trumped by the easy way out, then all contracts are worthless.