HousingPANIC Stupid Question of the Day

Do you see now?

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Heroes of the Potomac

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Star-Spangled Banner -- Francis Scott Key

I hope you are enjoying your 4th of July holiday. Like many others, I am not traveling this year, and instead I am staying near home and spending the day with my family.

When George Washington lead the Continental Army across the Potomac River on Christmas Eve to surprise the Hessian mercenaries camped on the other side, he took an enormous risk to secure the future of our country. He and the soldiers he commanded are heroes to all Americans. Today's featured property is on Potomac in Irvine. It is a sad story of how corrupted our great country's financial system has become. The people involved with this property are not heroes.

Asking Price: $729,000

Income Requirement: $182,250

Downpayment Needed: $145,800

Monthly Equity Burn: $6,075

Purchase Price: $915,000

Purchase Date: 11/17/2006

Address: 38 Potomac, Irvine, CA 92620

Beds:3Baths:3Sq. Ft.:2,400$/Sq. Ft.:$304Lot Size:3,500 Sq. Ft.Property Type:Single Family ResidenceStyle:OtherYear Built:1987Stories:2 LevelsArea:NorthwoodCounty:OrangeMLS#:S538694Source:SoCalMLSStatus:ActiveOn Redfin:1 day New Listing (24 hours)

BANK OWNED & great opportunity!! Totally remodeled and beautifulcustom Northwood home with dramatic vaulted ceilings, hardwoodflooring, sweeping custom wrought iron staircase, warm color paletteand a sunny open floorplan. The top-of-the-line Gourmet kitchenfeatures rich granite counters, custom cabinets, new stainless steelappliances and natural stone flooring. A spacious Great Room ishighlighted by a custom stacked stone fireplace with wall-to-wallwindows and French doors opening to a professionally landscaped yardwith a waterfall. The luxurious Master Bedroom Suite provides the idealretreat with a cozy fireplace, cathedral ceilings, spa style bathroomwith sunken jetted tub, dual sink vanity with custom mirrors &cabinets and the use of granite and tumbled stone throughout. Close tofwys, award winning schools, community pool & spa and many otheramenities!

  

I have been in this house. I was looking for a rental in early 2007, andthis property was on the rental market. They wanted $2,900 for it, but it wasmore than I was willing to spend on a rental. I remember clearly telling mywife when we left that I don't understand how the owner could do this. They had$915,000 in debt on the property, and even if they rented it for $2,900 a month,they were still probably losing $5,000 a month with a negative cashflow. As itturns out, there was more to the story than I knew.

The property is a complete remodel with a second story being added to an old,single-story house. It is beautifully done with full pergraniteel and resortstyle rear landscaping. It stands out as the largest and most expensiveproperty in the neighborhood. When they did the renovation, they needed to adda staircase to a floorplan that was not designed to accommodate one. To makematters worse, they put in a sweeping arc almost in the center of the greatroom. It effectively chopped up the room into several unusable pieces. Icouldn't figure out how to place any furniture, and apparently neither couldanyone else. 

This is the kind of property an unsuspecting renter with a high income mightbe attracted to. There are not many fully-updated properties for rent. As itturns out, the owner appears to have been a straw buyer who bailed out theoriginal renovator. The skimmed rent would have simply been a bonus. Theproperty was 11 months from loan origination to REO. The straw buyer likelymade two payments (to avoid a fraud charge) then stopped paying and let theforeclosure process go forward. I don't recall seeing this one listed for sale.

If this property sells for its asking price and a 6% commission is paid, the lender stands to lose $229,740 plus the lost payments and other fees.

I don't think this is what George Washington was fighting for...

.

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Star-Spangled Banner -- Francis Scott Key

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Salad Days for the Internet [del.icio.us]

Get local vegetables courtesy of the World Wide Web -- it's a phenomenon that is growing nationwide. A number of sites can deliver seasonal products from nearby farms to the doorsteps of your residents. From the NY Times

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MultifamilyTechnology/~3/326827942/05cyber.html

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Toronto market down 18% in June

Toronto Real Estate Board says: Market More Balanced Toronto Real Estate Board Members reported 8,600 sales in June, TREB President Maureen O?Neill announced today. ?Sales were down 18 per cent from the 2007 total of 10,451, which was the best...

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Happy Fourth of July from Bristol, RI

Bristol, RI has the nation’s longest running Fourth of July celebration.  It has an unbroken streak dating back to 1785.  Today is their 223rd celebration.

Related Post:

Fourth of July Firsts

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http://blog.sellsiusrealestate.com/holidays/happy-fourth-of-july-from-bristol-ri/
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Real Estate 2.0 Companies' Trend to Package Web
2.0 Services for their Clients

At HomeGain blog,I'm discussing an emerging trend of Real Estate 2.0 companies that aredeveloping one-stop shop services for their real estate clientele's newWeb 2.0 needs. The tipping point is reached when:

1) real estate professionals finally realize how critical it is to establish an online marketing presence (frankly, everybody knows this, they just don't act...)
2) real estate professionals decide it's safe to go with one vendor fortheir online presence, instead of cobbling together their own marketingsolution consisting of blog, site SEO, CRM, social media applications,etc.
3) Real Estate 2.0 companies offer an easy to use set of Web 2.0 andproductivity applications, in a client friendly "cancel anytime" way.

Here's the article link: The Arcane Science of Lead Conversion (Really has Nothing to do with Real Estate)



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506/real-estate-20-companies-trend-to-package-web-20-services-for-their-clients.aspx

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HAPPY JULY 4th!

We’re taking the day off! Enjoy the Holiday!

Advertisement: Payday Loans Online from the leader in online cash advances since 2003.

This Post is from the BiggerPockets Real Estate Blog. Copyright © 2008 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

HAPPY JULY 4th!

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Happy 4th of July

Enjoy the day and think about how blessed you are to live in this great country!Start of the Peachtree City, GA 4th of July ParadeOther Posts You May Be Interested In:Housing Starts Will Collapse in 3rd Quarter 2007Zillow Changing How Real Estate Transactions Are ReportedMarket Slowdown Causing Steep Slowdown in Real Estate AgentsReal Estate Appraisals [...]

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Blimey! UK home prices to fall by 33%

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(and for those of you keeping score at home, add in inflation and that 33% turns into 50% pretty quick)

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At the WaPo, a deconstruction of the news

It isn’t often that you see one of the major media deconstructing the news, but Dana Milbank at the Washington Post fisks assistant Treasury secretary’s Phillip Swagel’s recent news conference discussing a dismal jobs report.From the story:Think you’re worried about the economy? Phillip Swagel is a wreck …Yesterday’s report that 62,000 jobs were lost brought [...]

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