Friday, November 2, 2007

November Good Buys & Offers to Sellers/Builders

Okay courtesy of Mike's suggestion, please also post any offers you know of that were accepted, especially to builders. It will help give others negotiating leverage when they are ready to buy. Even just letting people know what type of builder incentives they can expect would be helpful since its hard to tell if they give everyone the same incentives.

Pieces of data to include: Zip, MLS or Development Name, List Price, Incentives, Offer (if any), house details (sq ft, garage size, lots size etc).

20 comments:

Buying Time said...

We have been seriously looking at the Lennar development at Blackstone (95762). Their smallest home (2376 sq ft, 3 car) on a smaller lot is listed for $459K with a $30K incentive. They have solar, but around $400 a month in HOA & Mello-Roos, however that will give you access to the very swanky club house. She recently called to tell me they might have better incentives. At $180 a square foot, it is within a range I would seriously consider (and by far a better deal than most resales in the area), however to offset the $400 a month I would need another $20k or so off the price (I consider the solar to be a $100 reduction on the monthly rates). Will keep you posted.

Anonymous said...

Well the minute you said HOA it was a no way jose for me but you knew that already. $400 is just obscene.

Mike said...

Thank you for taking my suggestion and creating this offers section.

I am currently looking at one home in Roseville (2200 sq ft, 3 car garage) listed for $370K (It started from $500k and came down) I am thinking maybe an offer of $330?

Another house in Rocklin (2500, 3 car) Asking $400K (also came down from $500K+ originally). Maybe an offer of $350? Both of these homes are resale. Both might be Bank Repos.

If I make an offer, I will give more details.

wrong moves said...

I posted this elsewhere, but here it is again.

Grupe Homes in Carsten Ranch, Rocklin. A coworker offered 364,000 on a listed 544,000 price.
The offer was accepted without a counter offer.

2549 ft2, 4 Bed, 3 car cul-de-sac.
Has solar. around 300 (not sure) in mello roos and HOA per month.

This is not a spec home. It will not be finished until January.

Anonymous said...

MLS #: 70099402

Too bad it's way out of my commute zone.

If this house were in south section of Woodland, Winter, or Dixon, I'd have Agent on the phone pronto arranging a viewing. If any of you wondered what it would really take to get me to bite, now you know.

Anonymous said...

Wrong Moves...

"Grupe Homes in Carsten Ranch, Rocklin. A coworker offered 364,000 on a listed 544,000 price.
The offer was accepted without a counter offer."

Would you mind letting me know which model and any other details you may have on this? My wife and I are interested in that area (close to work) so your post sparked my interest. Thanks much!

Cmyst said...

Superb Circle house in Elk Grove pending sale, per AgentBubble. Asking was 325K, for a 3bd/2br 2car garage on 7.5k sq ft lot in an older, but stable and safe, Elk Grove neighborhood. Price per sq ft was $154.

Nice house in Antelope for the price, Gwynster. And I'm with you on the HOA for the Blackstone properties. I can't imagine what a clubhouse would have to offer me that I'd be willing to pay $400 a month for. I've looked into the cost to "solarize" resale homes, and for me I think that is the way to go. The new construction just has too many costs beyond the price of the house. I'd prefer to spend that $400/mo adding insulation, double-paned windows and solar panels to a house with a bigger lot and mature landscaping.

wrong moves said...

Anon
I don't remember what the model was called, but he said there were 2 larger models, it was 2549 I think. There was solar installed in the roof, the lot was described as small. If you have any specific questions, I could pass them via e-mail. I'll be out of pocket this week but will try to check in periodically.

Anonymous said...

Superb Circle House in Elk Grove is showing another price reduction to 315K - So I don't think they have a pending sale - I love this house and the neighborhood and would make an offer if I could only sell my house in Roseville ...

Jacob said...

A tempting price for a Lincoln home.

MLS: 70115711
4 bed 2.5 bath
2943 ft2
9191 ft2 lot
$319,000 ($108 / ft2)

Lot size and price per ft2 grab my attention.

It's lender owned, but it does have several pictures and looks really nice.

So what's the catch?

HOA is $115

Don't know what the Mello Roos is, but there is likely a few hundren there as well.


http://www.ziprealty.com/buy_a_home/logged_in/search/home_detail.jsp?listing_num=70115711&page=1&property_type=SFR&mls=mls_sacramento&cKey=hqps5mz5&source=MFMLS

sacramentia said...

Blackstone looks pretty nice, but be sure to check out the school maps if you have or are going to have kids. South of 50 goes to Union Mine HS about 20miles up the hill off Mosquito Flat Rd. The clubhouse is pretty nice and seemed well worth the POA due. A membership to the local club in the town center which is similar is $129/mo.

Buying Time said...

Sacramentia -

Didn't know that about the school districting! Thanks.

I had a similiar thought on the gym/HOA equivalent as well. And kinda consider the solar a rebate on the steep $250 Mello-Roos.

We are still seriously considering the development...even with the steep fees.

Anonymous said...

3005 Merriam Ct, 95762 - 329k Short Sell. This site seems full of people very aware of the market in EDH. How much do you think this place is worth? Has anyone offered on a Short Sell before? At what discount are you comfortable buying today.

Buying Time said...

Sactia....see Agent Bubble's post on short sales to get a feel for the complexities involved

http://sacrealstats.blogspot.com/2007/09/short-sale-that-wasnt.html

As for a comfortable purchase price...see my post on determining the right price for your situation...
http://averagebuyer.blogspot.com/2007/11/rolling-back-clock.html

Good luck

Cmyst said...

AB got the lowdown on Superb Circle in Elk Grove, which WAS pending sale until the buyer backed out of the deal. It was put back on MLS (poof! as if it never went off) at a further 10K off the last asking price.
I,too, love this house and I have no house to sell. It is still about 50K over the price I feel it is worth, though.
I was in the area of another batch of Strengs in Sacramento/Antelope today and drove through Overbrook Way on a lark. MLS #70119257, 218K -- but "Price Negotiable!"
Sure wish they had some pictures up. At that price, for the type of house I want in a relatively stable neighborhood, it is very tempting.
If you check both this house and Superb Cir MLS #70081748 in Zillow's neighborhood crime stats, you will see that Overbrook Way is well under the national average while Superb Cir is well above it.
The medians for income are very similar. The down side to Overbrook Way is that there are more renters than owners in it's neighborhood, thanks to several apartment complexes nearby.
And that is pretty much why I am not jumping on Superb Cir until the price goes down some more. That, and I simply prefer North Sac to Elk Grove in general.

Cmyst said...

Did I say Antelope?! I meant Foothill Farms, sheesh. I always think of that area as Citrus Heights, anyway. It's south of Auburn Blvd and just west of Madison, off Hemlock.

Anonymous said...

Buying_time,

Thanks for the links. I ran into a lender friend yesterday and he said the appraisers are using pending short sales as comps. That's a rough situation since the pending's don't always close.

You guys that are renting are really in the catbird's seat right now. I'm an investor so I don't know if I'm really welcome on the blog. But to make things really simple I'm looking for 12.3GRM as a minimum, or about 147x the monthly rent price.

I drove by Merriam, not too impressed and I figure it is a 1500-1800/mo rental which puts my value in the 220-265 range.

However I do think that rents are going to start climbing and on the right house would bet on a 10% increase in rents over the next 2 years.

By my data, the builders were overbuilt compared to the population growth until spring of 07. Any future population growth or reduction in people per household (increase in divorce rate, vacant foreclosures,etc..) should be putting upward pressure on rents.

Buying Time said...

Sacramentia -

You are certainly welcome by me....It't intereseting to hear the different perspective...but I can't asure you a warm reception by some of the other readers.

Personally I think you are nuts to buy rental property around here. My rent actually went down cause there are soo many rentals in the area (we used the house next to us, and across the street as rental comps...but of which were looking for renters at the time). Most of Serrano JTS homes where I live are investment rentals. There are lots and lots of frustrated sellers who are choosing to rent instead....I call it the bleed slowly stragegy.

From what I have heard, investors are the only folks buying right now. I dont' mind cause it sets lower comps for us and keeps rents low.

My advise, be careful and do your homework.


Good luck.

Anonymous said...

agree that the prices are not where they need to be to buy rentals right now - especially in Serrano with the Bay Area investor amateur hour going on.

norcaljeff said...

RE: Mello Roos and HOA fees. If you are buying a property with these fees, esp a new one, ask for no fees for at least 2 years. Builders are honoring these requests in home offers. Doesn't hurt to negotiate for it.