Tuesday, March 27, 2007

DEAL OF THE DAY

Arvada, Colorado
FOR SALE


Four bedrooms, four baths, finished garden level basement, over 3,200 square feet of living space, mountain views, backs to a golf course, built in 1991, IN FORECLOSURE --- Asking Price $289,900. On the market since Monday.

I found this beautifully upgraded home while door knocking yesterday. It had been listed for $339,900 as recently as six months ago, when Mr. and Mrs. Seller felt there was still time on the clock. It has been lowered to $324,900 in time for the holidays, which didn't work either.

The property was pulled off the market at the start of this month, then magically reappeared on Monday with a $35,000 haircut. It's a sad situation, but somebody is going to make out very well here in the next couple of days.

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in another galaxy, there's this home:

Santa Ana, California
FOR SALE

498 square feet, two bedrooms, one bath, "low maintenance" front yard, priced affordably at just $440,000, or $893 per square foot.

Santa Ana isn't exactly the garden spot of "The OC", but the housing insanity isn't simply confined to gated communities and ocean front properties.

This picturesque alley-side home was sold most recently in 2004 for $323,000, so obviously our seller here is trying to eke out a tidy $117,000 profit to show for two years of hard work mailing in mortgage payments and collecting rent checks.

Eleven of the top 25 lenders in America have shut their doors or severely curtailed operations in the past 30 days... anybody out there want to offer 100% Alt-A financing on this beauty??