A foreclosure bargain: The tires are free!

Because I know you enjoy them, I put together another photo gallery of foreclosed listings. Check it out, 19 new foreclosures. Pictured is one of them, a house only Lefty could love:

243 N. Backton Ave., La Puente 91744

Agent's description: "This property has a lot of potential! Needs work but has a lot to offer. The main house has 2 bedrooms, a den and a full bath. There is an addition which has 2 bedrooms, kitchen and a bathroom ... Addition is not on permit. This is a bank-owned property..."

•  Sales history (from Redfin.com): Sold for $449,000 in August 2006
•  Current listing price: $290,900
• Discount from sales price: 35.2%

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com
Photo Credit: Century 21 Adams & Barnes

Comments

[peter m]

La Puente is a piece of work. I will not bloviate on the usual tired 'this is yet another gang-infected LA slum district' theme. Just to say that La Puente is a dump. Enough said.

[Ian Howard]

$290,000 for that in La Puente! Not worth a penny over $150,000. Imagine paying $1,400 a month in mortgage on that property for 30 years, and then having to dump $50,000 into it to fix it up. Crazy.....lots of potential.....yeh, right....potential to lose your behind. This market has a ways to go. What a rip-off!

[I can not belive it!!!]

If I like to live in Mexico city I will go there. And buy the same crap for - what? 200$
This is the most ridiculous house price ratio I have seen.
I am not paying for it even 50 000 - wait not even 20 000, wait - I do not wont it even if it for free.
If this price is representative of the market - there is a bottomless pit we are falling.

[VanMorrisonFan]

Peter-

You should have a contest to see who can write the best ad for this little gem, as the realtor you quoted was obviously phoning it in...

"Cozy 2 bdrm. charmer nestled in the SE San Gabriel Valley, ideal for first time owners. Bring your best ideas to project onto this beautiful canvas. Freeway close to major employment centers. Affordably priced. Motivated owner!"

I have noticed several words that seem to show up in real estate advertisements with astonishing frequency "cozy" "charmer (or charming" and "nestled."

[Geek Seek]

109th St. house: "Agent and seller have no specific knowledge of this property and buyer needs to do their own investigation..."

It sounds like they're already using legal examination language for this one -- "no specific knowledge"

Next witless, your honor.

[E]

HAHAHA.

Smartass.

I'll give you $29.95 and you can keep the tires.

[John]

You know the market's got a long way to fall when the average household can barely afford to buy those foreclosed heaps under traditional mortgage standards.

[Milla]

posts like this just reinforce the power of location in real estate. seems like the homes in culver city, playa vista and pasadena are faring better than the rest. location + selection = opportunity

[tarbubble]

when we were looking in old Santa Ana (back before the bubble), "cozy" was shorthand for "tiny little 1920's-era crackerbox." "charming" usually got worked in there somewhere, too.

[mike d.]

"REDUCED -- Come and get it. Clean and turn key. Wonderful front house with good flow and large rooms. The rear house is also in move-in condition. The entire complex is gated for your privacy."

More like gated for your protection.

Man those are some real dumps. If those are the asking prices for foreclosures in that poor of shape then the market still has a long way to fall.

[Cal]

Throws in them there fancy chair and we have ourselves a deal.

[The CAT]

I think it's worth under $100K definitely and should be repriced.

[Laker]

I think this place has a lot of potential.
1) based on the yard, i think we can grow potatoes or corn for bio fuel.
2) we can also open a tire shop, we have head start with 4 tires, buy 3, get one free.

This shack sold Sep 19, 1994 $107,000.
So based on that the value is at best worth $150,000 devalued dollars today.
I wouldn't pay more than $50,040. ($40 for the tires)

[prefab sprout]

I (an ex SOCAL resident) shared these photos with some colleagues at work here in beautiful Myrtle Beach....Some of the responses:

1) "Why do they all have bars on the windows" This is a common response from people who don't know gang bangers from Harvey Wallbangers

2) "330K for THAT!!?" The only time they see 900 sg ft houses are ones that people have near their pools-they are called "pool houses"

3) "Those people must be nuts to pay that much for that piece of #$@& house" I'll leave that comment alone.

As for me, I'll be back to LA as soon as I can get what I have here ( 1750 sq ft-3br-quiet middle class neighborhood- 5 blocks from the ocean)for under $400K.

[Hank Venture]

You are all forgetting that there is quite a market for used tires.

[Victor J]

Peter, $290,900.. Even that's hilarious. $449,000.. I can't even find the words.

I would love to see what would happen if all real estate agents smacked a huge mortgage calculator - with a fixed value of, say, +100%> rate increase from today - along with their listings... They could get one from, say, http://www.mortgageloan.com/calculator/ or Bankrate.com. The title could be: "DO THE MATHS!".

Guess that won't happen, though...

[TakeFive]

Look at:

670 E. Howard St., Pasadena 91104

Count 'em. Four dishes on the roof. Video drug addicts lived here. No suprise they couldn't make the monthly nut.

[Ace]

VanMorrison ' have noticed several words that seem to show up in real estate advertisements with astonishing frequency "cozy" "charmer (or charming" and "nestled.'

You have to translate by using your Realtor to English dictionary:

cozy = so small that you have to go outside to change your mind
charming = like your grandma's house... EXACTLY like your grandma's house
nestled = between two things (IE crack houses, major freeways)

[Inland empire]

The price for these listing is still 100k to high to me. I have seen some of these home and the location of most is not in the best of areas. The people within these area do not have the income to qualify for the loans. And the families that can afford the mortgage are trying to move away from these neighborhoods.

[Laker]

Ace, I think you should add the following to your Realtor to English Dictionary:
Tree lined street = regular track home.
Lots of potential = house needs to be torn down and rebuild
Granite Counter tops = some ugly cheap granite was installed by a flipper and now they want $100,000 premium for it.
Will not last at this price = The seller is upside down on the house, but prays for a sucker to come and overpay and rescue him
Short sale = This house will never be sold...heading 4 4closure
Just Reduced = knocked off $50,000 but still the house is overpriced by $300,000

[puckhead]

This picture clearly illustrates why SoCal is turning into a 3rd world country. And yes, I've been to many 3rd world countries.

[TrojanDLA]

As long as that house is listing for over $100,000, there is still a "bubble" in L.A. County.

[Martin]

While you all criticize this awful looking house, I see a glimmer of potential here.

Mind you, the neighborhood is awful and that could kill any purchase consideration. I also don't know the zoning on the house or the average rental price for property in that area. All I know about La Puente is the Ikea store and the mall there. However, the so-called "addition" without permits interests me.

If the house was brought up to code and the house was cleaned up cosmetically, there could be a rental profit on the property after a 20% down purchase and lots of sweat to clean up the place.

Sure, the place looks like hell now. But, maybe -- just maybe -- there's something there for a first time buyer.

I'm not a realtor I'm also not a cockeyed optimist or crazy or out to lunch. I'm just saying that future buyers need to put on their thinking caps and look at many variables that influence a purchase decision. The creative buyer who is not afraid of some elbow grease will be much better positioned to profit from this real estate market crash that this blog focusses on.

Again, the house looks awful. They neighborhood may or may not suck. I simply don't know. I do, however, know that the tire can be removed ... a coat of paint can be applied ... and people need to have a little vision.

I have purchased my share of dumps and converted them within months into lovely homes. Each time, it was worth my time and effort.

[CA Dude]

The listing price on this should be no more than $19,999 - properties in LA have a very long way to fall in price before we even begin to reach bottom.

[Teresa]

So many absurd listings, so little time:

734 Aragon Ave., Los Angeles 90065
"This is a charming little home in a famly neighborhood."

------Check out the burglar bars. I guess the "famly" [sic] they're referring to is the terrorist family seen on Season 4(?) of "24."--------

438 W. 92nd St., Los Angeles 90003
"Attractive home, nice curb appeal."

------Tijuana living in the heart of L.A.!-------

3527 E. 3rd St. Los Angeles 90063
"The entire complex is gated for your privacy."

------Is "privacy" the reason why all the windows are, likewise, "gated"?------

1707 S. Longwood Ave., Los Angeles 90019
"Buyer should complete their own investigation and rely on the findings of their experts."

--------Well, that inspires confidence. But I must give props to this agent for honesty.------

1625 E. 109th St., Los Angeles, 90059
"This is a really interesting-looking home in search of a new owner....Agent and seller have no specific knowledge of this property and buyer needs to do their own investigation..."

-------I wonder if the owner of this house died, and the Estate cannot afford to keep paying the mortgage? What makes me ask that is the language about how the "agent and seller have no specific knowledge of this property." That is very similar to the language used on the disclosure form I signed when I sold my aunt's home as administrator of her Estate.

This looks like it could be a nice little house if it weren't for the burglar bars (and the still-outrageous $265k price).---------

[Teresa]

Martin says:

---------the house looks awful. They neighborhood may or may not suck. I simply don't know. I do, however, know that the tire can be removed ... a coat of paint can be applied ... and people need to have a little vision.

I have purchased my share of dumps and converted them within months into lovely homes. Each time, it was worth my time and effort. ----------

I understand what you are saying, perhaps better than anyone on this board. Two years ago, my husband and I bought our house from a slumlord who didn't do a bloody thing to it in the 20 years he owned it, and who let his worthless "tenants" wreak havoc on it.

The house we live in now is unrecognizable from the crackhouse we purchased: we installed new carpeting and windows, tore all the paneling out of the first floor and replaced it with drywall, knocked down a wall in the kitchen, completely gutted the kitchen and bath, installed a modern heating system, installed ceiling fans throughout, etc.

The only thing left to do--and I hope we can get this done in the next couple of weeks--is the installation of central AC. We're also planning on installing vinyl siding on the exterior, but that will wait until we're ready to sell this place and move.

BUT...We live near Philadelphia. We didn't pay $290,000.00 for this place. We didn't pay anywhere near that. Even though home values in our area are stagnant (not dropping, but stagnant) our house is worth far more than we paid for it, and if we had to sell today we'd make a profit.

When I look at the houses in the foreclosure gallery, I can see homes that could be made very nice if they were fixed, but what I don't see are homes that would be worth fixing at their current selling prices.

---------The creative buyer who is not afraid of some elbow grease will be much better positioned to profit from this real estate market crash that this blog focusses on.------------

I agree completely, but I also feel that prices need to drop further to ensure that all the work done to these fixers is worth it.

[Teresa]

The CAT writes:

-----I think it's worth under $100K definitely and should be repriced.-------

I agree completely. In my area (Philadelphia suburbs), similarly run-down houses in similar ghetto neighborhoods sell for between $50k and $80k. Actually, a lot of the houses I see here are in neighborhoods that are BETTER. (Sure, you might be living between train tracks and a refinery, but you won't need burglar bars or have to worry about being killed by "to whom it may concern" bullets.)

True, we need to shovel snow here for about five days a year, but there is no way the absence of snow makes L.A. houses worth three or four times as much as the ones here. I could understand them being a LITTLE higher, but not three or four times higher.

[Teresa]

-----If I like to live in Mexico city I will go there. And buy the same crap for - what? 200$--------

That brings up a good point. A lot of housing heads love to claim that the reason why L.A. housing is so expensive is because of the warm climate. If that's the case, why don't run-down shacks in Mexico sell for $300k? It's even hotter there than it is in L.A.

I will also add that New England has godawful, horrible weather...I would never live up there; Philly is as much as I can take...yet their housing is overpriced and crashing as well.

"Lack of snow/cold weather" does NOT justify these prices. I could understand the prices being a little higher, but not that much higher.

[Al Koholik]

Whoa ..I thought the deal was "I" would get paid 290K to live in this crapper. To which I would STILL have replied "NO WAY"!!!!