Zillow Advice RSS: Question-Discussion-Guide,Home Buying,Mission Viejo- CA

Zillow's "list of comps" $/sq ft is CONSIDERABLY less than property list $. How can we nego/justify

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:09:00 GMT

Ex. List Price sq ft = $356. Per Zillow's "list of comps" - sq ft is only $287. Need to make an offer. Home is 1400 - should I just take an average? It's such a HUGE difference in pricing! Please help.

3 replies

27 Cantata - why priced so low?

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:36:00 GMT

Other (smaller) homes on the same street recently sold for over $600,000. Is this bank owned or a short sale?

1 reply

Going into a REO bid war with only one comparable sale?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:38:00 GMT

On top of that the property was listed for 30k less than the amount the bank took it back for....Trying to come up with a number that would get me house was terrible. I offered 60k over asking price all cash w/a short close. There are 4 other offers that are probably above mind. If the bank asks for my highest and best offer how much more do I go up? Its so discouraging when properties are listed like this! What a crapshoot! I'm in Orange county, ca which has a market of its own.

Any ideas?

2 replies

Need Advice on What to Do

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:19:00 GMT

There is a house that has been for sale for 3 years. It was originally 899, then dropped to 869, then 799, then 769, and now is 725. The comps say that its worth about 650 at the moment. Back when it was at 769, we made an offer for 7, and the owner laughed at us, and told us to get serious. We still have our eye on the house. He bought it 15 years ago, for 288, and the house is paid off. He is willing to finance the loan at a good interest rate. (lower than market). The owner has moved to another state, and the house has been sitting empty for 2.5 years. I went to the open house yesterday, and the house smelled like mold. The realtor said there had been a leak in the bathroom upstairs. Any advice? What would you offer on something like this, especially with the smell of mold? I told the realtor that we were still interested, and she said the owner would consider an offer, etc. But with regards to the overpricing, etc. Im not sure how reasonable he will be this time around. Whaddya think?

8 replies

26451 Via Logrono, 92691 overpriced??

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:29:00 GMT

It's been forclosed since August I think. It's gone down in price from 550k, now at 533k. It needs A LOT of yard work/ junk haul-aways, interior patches, pool resurfacing, and has an unpermitted structure. It also backs into an huge, ugly resevoir. The track its in has homes priced in the low 400s but are smaller homes, but we were told that you never want to be the highest priced home on the block, for resale I'm assuming.
Is the bank just being unreasonable with the price? There are other homes in Mission Viejo that are bigger or comparable, priced around 460-499k. Is this a bad deal?
Thanks to any help and advice.

2 replies

26451 Via Logrono, 92691 overpriced?

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 05:44:00 GMT

What will a VA assessment refuse?

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:03:00 GMT

I have my heart set on a home but want to use our well deserved VA loan benefits(veteran) in Orange County, CA. I've heard that the VA (and FHA) assessors are very, very strict. The home I'm buying has a unpermitted workshop on the side of the house. It's more like a oversized tool shed that just happens to be right next to the side of the house. Easily removed, but technically attached. Will the VA deny the loan for the purchase of this home for only that reason? Seems unfair, if so.

4 replies

House going to Foreclosure what about the past due Property Taxes

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:58:00 GMT

I live in California. I am interested in a house that is going to Auction in a few weeks. I understand that I will need Cashier's Checks in hand for the opening bid. My question is I just found out by pulling the property tax records that over $80,000 is past due. If I was to bid on the property am I responsible for getting the property taxes current? Is there anything else I should be aware of?

7 replies

How do I tell when a house last sold?

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:09:00 GMT

3 replies

Any shortcuts to researching neighborhoods?

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:47:00 GMT

I'm curious if anyone has found any useful tools for researching neighborhoods. We have narrowed down to the South Orange County areas of Rancho Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo, but picking a specific neighborhood has been tough. We have done the drive bys and lots of online aerial searches through zillow and google earth, but it still seems like inventory available is what is driving our search rather than having a few specific neighborhoods in mind and waiting patiently until something in that area becomes available.

Anybody willing to share their research habits to get to what has been a pretty time consuming process for us?

8 replies

Looking for a geological specialist to inspect the land/ soil where the property i want to buy.

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:02:00 GMT

I am in a a process of buying a house on hill. There's some minor repairs note in the remark said the pool / block wall is damaged which show the block wall is crack 1 place and the pool is crack on top. My buyer agent want us to look for a geological specialist to inspect it ( he said the crack / shift could be due to earthquoke ) and find a contractor to give estimate how much to have a new roof, and repair the pool if needed and block wall .

So my question is 1) do i have to look for a geological specialist/ contractor to to inspect or give estimate for the repair for my house before i place an offer or can i do that after i place an offer? If i place an offer and later on find out the repair is around $100k, can i back out before close the escrow ?
2) Does anyone know a geological specialist out there ?

3 replies

Square footage calculation

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:00:00 GMT

I'm curious if there is a standard on how square footage is determined in a house. I know that the garage is usually not included, but what about stairs, high cielings that carry into the second floor, etc.? It seems like there are vast differences between homes of similar square footage and I'd like to learn what they take into consideration when making thier measurements.

Also, is there an easy way to determine lot value on a price per square foot type formula?

5 replies

Looking to buy in Mission Viejo, CA, but Zillow data is wrong.

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 08:58:00 GMT

Sheri Isaacs' web site at www.sheriisaacs.com is giving Zillow wrong data. for the following houses:

20 Argento Mission Viejo CA 92692

32 Argento Mission Viejo CA 92692

19 Arrivo Dr Mission Viejo CA 92692

28 Belcanto Mission Viejo CA 92692

36 Amato Mission Viejo CA 92692

3 Royalston Mission Viejo CA 92692

Sheri Isaacs' web site at www.sheriisaacs.com

She is shown as the "listing agent".

Zillow shows the "Sellers Description" as "Sold in 200 .. more"

These properties have been sold, and this data is wrong.

The houses are not presently listed for sale, ad they have been sold many moons ago.

Redfin does not show them for sale, why do you?

I am looking for a home in this area, but your price averages are affected by these not-listed house prices.

People are using them as "comps" when they were sold a long time ago. (I know that listings are not comps, but you get what I'm saying)

2 replies