On Memory Lane: When housing was hot

Picture of the Day comes from Back in the Day: This L.A. Times photo from 2003 shows people camped out for the chance to buy yet-unbuilt condos in Simi Valley for about $300,000.

Comments? Insights? Email story tips, and photos, to peter.viles@latimes.com.

Comments

[TakeFive]

Great flashback.

Can anyone snap a pic of how this looks today? Have campers been replaced with For Sale signs?

[spinsLPs]

And now those people are back to living in their tents.

[Cal]

Im 99.97% sure that is the Sycamore Shade complex at the corner of Sycamore and Alamo. They are (insanely) asking 500k for them now.

Bubble schmubble.

[caliguy2699]

What are these places going for today?

[National Bubble]

Some of those same people are probably loosing their homes now.

http://www.nationalbubble.com/say-
hello-to-the-2008-recession/

[Hula Girl]

It was a time of innocence, optimism and stupidity - much like the Republican Primary. Keep cutting taxes Bush Admin., and everyone (but the rich) will be out on the street, queing up for a night at the local homeless shelter.

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

To break even, they will probably have to sell them for over $700,000, thanks to luxury cars and giant flat screen TVs courtesy of their refi's.

[peteviles]

Hula Girl: "It was a time of innocence, optimism and stupidity."

Simon and Garfunkel: "it was
A time of innocence, a time of confidences
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you."

[ProblemWithCaring]

They are all probably still $450K-$500K even now, with more condos in Simi Valley coming online.

It it the contention that those townhomes will cost about 300K at some point, and will fall so soft and so slow, that there won't be people lining up to buy them at that price when they do?

Is this why people worry that America will just inflate her way through "stable" real estate prices?

[TakeFive]

Cal wrote:

"Im 99.97% sure that is the Sycamore Shade complex at the corner of Sycamore and Alamo. "

If this is the area bounded by Sycamore, Alamo, Woodrow, and the 118 - looks like there's a few for sale - one is listed as a forclosure. Prices in the high 4's to low 5's.

And if you're thinking of buying, the association dues are only $225.

[JamesW]

i used to live off of Sycamore.

just insane. In a temporary moment of insanity i bought my place for 150K. luckily i unloaded it to a bigger fool for 650K.

You couldn't pay me to live in Simi Valley again. There's nothing out there.

[Hula Girl]

Mr. Viles:

Hello Darkness, my old friend
My lights were shut-off once again.
Because the crisis is deepening
Equity vanished while I was sleeping
And the riches that were planted in my brain,
Still remain..within the sound of sub-prime.

Anyone still Feeling Groovy?

[Keith]

I'll save Lefty the trouble -

Don't camp out on your future equity appreciation! Don't get caught waiting in line for the Good Times!!!!!! Now's the time to Buy Metro LA!!!!!!

Moooving on up to the Westside, it's time we got a piece of the .... (Think George Jefferson)

BTW Lefty tracker -30k from Nov 2007.

[Becky]

Pete and Hula Girl:

I am just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance for a pocket full of mumbles,
Such are promises.
All lies in jest,
Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.

[peteviles]

Hula Girl and Becky:

Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you pay
Now you can't walk away from the price you pay

(had to move on from Simon and Garfunkel)

[Hula Girl]

Pete -

Was that from a Dr. Seuss story? The Cat in The Hat Strikes Back!

Let's do the Beatles:

Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill--

[Kathryn]

If condos were still going for $300K in Simi Valley, the housing bubble mess wouldn't have happened. The problem is with those same condos' prices being run up to $550K a few years later that caused this mess. There are plenty of people in Simi who can afford the mortgage payment on a 300K condo, that's not much more than rent on a nice 2 bedroom apartment in Simi.

Simi Valley's a decent place to live, at least for people who hate the overcrowding of LA or even the Valley. There's no nightlife, but that's not always a bad thing. Plus there's low crime, good schools, the new mall. There are a bunch of new condos under construction and the city council just approved that new development on Madera & LA Ave. I think that's the last major place to build in Simi unless they want to start tearing down some of the old run down houses. That's gotta keep prices somewhat up, if there can't be too many new housing developments.

[Theorist]

On the news last night, it was mentioned that developers are now saying: "make me an offer." Regardless of what they're asking for, throw ridiculous numbers at them. Richard Ziman, the local commercial real estate mogul went after land that belonged to the Hughes family, near LAX. It was valued from $40-$50 Million. Ziman called them up and said I'll give you $32 Million. They said "Done." He nearly fell off his chair. Ya never know. Let's all go fall off our chairs -- in a year or so.

[peteviles]

Hula Girl -- "The Price You Pay" is the Boss. No, not Mozilo, Springsteen. But it's nowhere near as good as Sounds of Subprime.

[Danielle]

I nearly bought a condo in Simi last year for $305,000 then realized...would it really be worth it to scrimp and save every penny for 750 square feet?!?

No.

I'm keeping an eye out...if I could ever get something like Sycamore Shade for $300K that would be so great. But even with this downturn, I'm not sure.

Even renting is tough. The Archstone apartments they built behind the mall are renting for $1,500 and up. For one person! Check it out: http://www.archstoneapartments.com/Apartments/
California/Ventura_County/Archstone_Simi_Valley/
floorplans.htm