For loyal long-time readers, you may remember this one. It was my very first Happy Birthday Socal post. And, one of my favorites.
Yes, the SCREBC-famous Pepto Bismol House in San Clemente.
My assertion at the time was that there were several problems in order of increasing stupidity:
1. Terrible Marketing, pictures, etc.
2. Terrible Pricing… one year on the market, chasing it down and never being close enough to reality
3. Terrible Location. I’ll let the picture speak for itself:
Well, if you wondered what happened… it’s back up for sale.
Yes, a scant nearly 2 1/2 years on the market hasn’t deterred this delusional seller from trying to sell for higher than market prices. It’s listed today for 649K, probably a full 150K higher than what it would take to move the property. At least they came down from 875K in December 2006. If they had been aggressive then, I believe they could easily have gotten 750K to 775K at the time. Unfortunately, greed got the better of the owner, the listing agent, or both.
The post is a “What Not to Wear” for home listings. And, remember in September 2007 when the bubble was still a debateable topic? Yeah, I warned the sellers then that the next year was going to be tough. It was.
And, it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier. Keep in mind that one of the properties that I compared it to last time seems to have been foreclosed on and appears to presently be in shadow inventory land. It (a 2700sq ft sfr built in 2001 with much better curb appeal) appears to have gone back to the bank in January at $568.5K. That doesn’t bode well for the area.
Besides, I think the realtor must not have changed or learned much in the intervening 2 years about property marketing:
I think she learned to turn the camera on its side this time… projects height.
Luckily, the buyer bought in 2000 for $402K. They’re almost assured a gain on the house unless they already spent it. Let’s hope they didn’t. If this doesn’t sell, it’ll always be shadow inventory, waiting for prices to tick back up. Unfortunately, there are many better prices in the area this time around. Even though the listing is now 225K lighter, I’m afraid it’s still in fantasy land.
Thanks and come again to Fantasy Island.
