It turns out things are worse than we knew over at 1313 Oak (click for home details via Redfin).
This is a very stylized custom home built in 2004, and outfitted – currently – with high-end furnishings made possible by the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" team. (Don't get too excited; those aren't going with the…
It turns out things are worse than we knew over at
1313 Oak (click for home details via Redfin).This is a very stylized custom home built in 2004, and outfitted – currently – with high-end furnishings made possible by the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" team. (Don't get too excited; those aren't going with the home anymore.)
Turns out this is a
short sale now.
That is, more is owed on the home than will be netted from the sale – and the lender stands to take the loss.Oak is the
fourth foreclosure or short sale to hit our radar since Spring (among SFRs west of Sepulveda). The others:
- 2507 N. Valley (click address for MBC's last story) sold back in June, with a loss of $370k or so to the lender, we're told (no closed price ever posted);
- 601 Larsson, still active, covered most recently here on MBC, priced now at $1.899m, $100k below the Sept. 2005 sale price (advertised as a short sale and also listed for auction several times); and
- 402 Larsson (what's with Larsson?!?), a small house with an intractable location problem and way too much work necessary at $1.1m (in foreclosure).
In the case of 1313 Oak, the listing became a short sale subject to bank approval after the recent price reduction to
$2.199m. (They began last year much higher, at
$2.799m.) That this would now be a short sale is strange, because the owners paid
$1.525m not quite 3 years ago (Dec. 2004).
Let's get this straight, then: If the sellers get
$675k more than they paid, a lender somewhere is going to take a loss.
Try this at home: Open one hand flat, turn your palm toward your face, and now gently slap your forehead. This is a completely natural way to ask:
What did these people do with $700,000 in "home equity?!?"Also: "Who gave them $700k in funny money against a house on Oak?!?"
Based purely on items once offered to buyers to go along with the house, we can imagine where $400k went. That "Queer Eye" furniture was said to be worth $300k. (Ready the palm again:
How do you spend $300k on furniture?) Then there was the
$90,000 Mercedes offered as a "gift" to the buyer with a full price offer (full price then was
$2.490m).
Those items are
kind of splurgy, so we're filling in our own blanks on where the
other $300k went. We must allow, however, for the possibility of family illness, a failed business, litigation – who knows.
We haven't said much about what you get for $2.2m. This home has 4br, 3ba, and 3550 sq. ft. That's what the current listing says. The
county assessor thinks the home is 5br/4ba and 3229 sq. ft. (-330 sq. ft.), but
what does he know?The shame is that this home is still overpriced.
A certifiable beauty down the block at
1725 Oak (pictured), built at about the same time (2004), sold quickly last month for $2.050m (but it was listed at
$1.979m). It was about the same size as the assessor thinks 1313 Oak is.
The sellers offered no gimmicks, and no hassles, either – just a great home for $200k less. And that means the prospects for 1313 are, well...
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UPDATE: The rumored sale price for 1725 Oak was added to the original version of this story.
Please see our blog disclaimer.
Listings presented above are supplied via the MLS and are brokered by a variety of agents and firms, not Dave Fratello or Edge Real Estate Agency, unless so stated with the listing. Images and links to properties above lead to a full MLS display of information, including home details, lot size, all photos, and listing broker and agent information and contact information.