patrick.net

If you can live with 600K then go for it, 600K is still a ton of money in my book. By 2005 the bubble was in full swing. If it were 660K by 2005 then the equity had already doubled by then from 2000 or so.

"It sold in 2005 for 660K or so….. max price reached was in 2007 about $745K… with all the remodelling does the $600k look attractive?"

Nope.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, run away! RUN AWAY!!!!!!!!!

Upgrades aren't worth shit when it comes to sales/appraisals. How do I know? I added $150K in upgrades to the last house I owned, and it added a grand total of jack squat to the value compared to other homes that were bought/sold in the neighborhood around the same time (June 07).

Above $350K it's still a buyer's market. Don't believe the hype.

dbdude1010 says

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, run away! RUN AWAY!!!!!!!!!
Upgrades aren’t worth shit when it comes to sales/appraisals. How do I know? I added $150K in upgrades to the last house I owned, and it added a grand total of jack squat to the value compared to other homes that were bought/sold in the neighborhood around the same time (June 07).
Above $350K it’s still a buyer’s market. Don’t believe the hype.

I disagree about upgrading not helping sales, upgrades make a huge difference in whether or not a home was worth making an offer on. If there are two simular homes for sale in the same area for about the same price but 1 had a lot nicer upgrades the chances are the upgraded home will sell faster and get better offers. With that said, I would not spend $150k in upgrades and expect it to mean that I will get anywhere near $150k more for my home.

Can you find a comparable house without the upgrades? What is the difference in price? A nice lawn or new fridge is great but, why would a new 2k fridge raise the value of a house by more than 2k? The upgrades are "worth" exactly what it costs to buy them. Back in 2005 a 20k kitchen upgrade was "worth" way more than 20k because adding an extra 40-60k to the mortgage was only adding $50-$100 dollars to the introductory teaser payment and $50 a month for a nice kitchen was a good deal, especially since "housing never goes down in value".

I don't know SF valley but $600k sounds like a lot, especially if it was $660k in 2005. Just wait, in most CA bubble zones there is more crash to come. Maybe a lot more.

What's the zip code?

I would research the market with the County clerk's and assessor's offices. How many notices of default are coming every week? What are sales numbers looking like? Is there a high inventory? What's the median sales price around there? Is this an average or above-average or outstanding house for the area? What's the median income in SF valley? If it isn't like $200k I don't see how most houses can sustain that level.

i assume that you can live with 600K price of a house, with a 20%+ downpayment right?

how many bathroom does it have?

d3 says

I disagree about upgrading not helping sales, upgrades make a huge difference in whether or not a home was worth making an offer on. If there are two simular homes for sale in the same area for about the same price but 1 had a lot nicer upgrades the chances are the upgraded home will sell faster and get better offers. With that said, I would not spend $150k in upgrades and expect it to mean that I will get anywhere near $150k more for my home.

Not really, upgrades are good, but the underlying reason is more important. Flippers are still in force and they buy the house, do a paint coat, wooden floor, 4k worth of kitchen and ask for 150K more. One example I see is right here in SJ:

http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Jose/3470-Hillsborough-Way-95121/home/970260

Looks at the history. My bet is this is a flipper, bought for 295K and spent probably 10-15K in upgrades and hired a realtwhore who can type ALL CAPS and trying to net 100K in about 60 days.

Nov 15, 2009 Relisted -- -- MLSListings #80947377
Nov 11, 2009 Delisted -- -- MLSListings #80947377
Nov 07, 2009 Price Changed $428,000 -- MLSListings #80947377
Oct 27, 2009 Price Changed $430,000 -- MLSListings #80947377
Oct 26, 2009 Relisted -- -- MLSListings #80947377
Oct 13, 2009 Relisted -- -- MLSListings #80947377
Oct 03, 2009 Listed $399,888 -- MLSListings #80947377
Sep 10, 2009 Sold (Public Records) $294,135 >1,000%/yr Public Records
Mar 10, 2009 Sold (Public Records) $77,537 -7.6%/yr Public Records
Jul 21, 1997 Sold (Public Records) $195,000 -- Public Records

d3 says

I disagree about upgrading not helping sales, upgrades make a huge difference in whether or not a home was worth making an offer on. If there are two simular homes for sale in the same area for about the same price but 1 had a lot nicer upgrades the chances are the upgraded home will sell faster and get better offers. With that said, I would not spend $150k in upgrades and expect it to mean that I will get anywhere near $150k more for my home.

Granted, upgrades may get a house sold before the uglies, but they're not going to do much to improve the price. At least not in this market.

pkowen says

I don’t know SF valley but $600k sounds like a lot, especially if it was $660k in 2005. Just wait, in most CA bubble zones there is more crash to come. Maybe a lot more.
What’s the zip code?
I would research the market with the County clerk’s and assessor’s offices. How many notices of default are coming every week? What are sales numbers looking like? Is there a high inventory? What’s the median sales price around there? Is this an average or above-average or outstanding house for the area? What’s the median income in SF valley? If it isn’t like $200k I don’t see how most houses can sustain that level.

Zipcode is 91505. Can you please let me know the details?

chip_designer says

i assume that you can live with 600K price of a house, with a 20%+ downpayment right?
how many bathroom does it have?

2 full upgraded bath but after reading for about a day I do not this the house is worth 600k.

Thanks guys for the enlightentment. The realWHORE emailed me saying there are 10 offers with one above asking. I told him to take the highest offer and shove it..

mnsweeps says

2 full upgraded bath but after reading for about a day I do not this the house is worth 600k.
Thanks guys for the enlightentment. The realWHORE emailed me saying there are 10 offers with one above asking. I told him to take the highest offer and shove it..

this website/among others are real eye-openers right? i doubt the 10 people that put offers even researched, otherwise i doubt there'd be one OVER asking, while the housing market is still in a freeeeee fall.. and looking up no where in the near future...

doubt the 10 people that put offers even researched

I doubt that the 10 people exist. I bet if you put an offer in close to the asking price the one above asking would suddenly have "been laid off" or "decided the commute was too long"

mnsweeps says

pkowen says

I don’t know SF valley but $600k sounds like a lot, especially if it was $660k in 2005. Just wait, in most CA bubble zones there is more crash to come. Maybe a lot more.
What’s the zip code?
I would research the market with the County clerk’s and assessor’s offices.

Zipcode is 91505. Can you please let me know the details?

That's your job my friend. Have you looked on Redfin?:
http://www.redfin.com/zipcode/91505

Is this the house?
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Burbank/814-N-Catalina-St-91505/home/5385072
It looks pretty nice and more attractive than others (to me) at that price. But look at the history. Sold in June for $542,500, probably a foreclosure. Sold again in October for $484,900, probably a flipper. 'Corporate owned' like a flipper business?? Oooh! They just added some granite and fresh paint! I'd offer them $484,900, but then I am a jerk. =8^)

Have you ever owned a 1920's house? Aware of what it takes to upgrade all the mechanicals? Hopefully they did, but I recommend hiring a very good inspector.

Looked at City-data?
http://www.city-data.com/zips/91505.html

Average Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) in 2004: $55,291. I don't know how incomes in that area can suppoot $600k houses. Must be part of a broader market but from what I have seen, there are a lot of sellers still in denial, and a few suckers still willing to play.

I would also recommend PropertyShark.