Pasadena real estate market has seen another month of pretty high foreclosure process cancellations.  The banks are canceling or postponing auction sales in record number.

Read more:  learn about the steps of a foreclosure process

Foreclosure Radar reports 672 Pasadena homes in some sort of foreclosure process as of today.   68 of these homes are already bank owned.  31 of these homes are currently listed with real estate agents and are available for sale on the Multiple Listing Service.

26 of these REO homes are in escrow or under contract.  The other dozen or so Pasadena foreclosures have not been listed for sale yet.

In February 2010, Pasadena Multiple Listing Service (ITEC) reported 15 Pasadena foreclosure sold with an average price per sq. ft. of $257.97 and a median sales price of $277,500.

Compare this to Pasadena real estate single family home sales statistics for the same period of time:

The lowest priced Pasadena foreclosure home closed escrow and sold for $128,000.  This home was at 153 West Washington Blvd and had 663 sq.ft. with 3 bedrooms and 1 bath.

The highest priced Pasadena foreclosure home closed escrow and sold at $968,888 – at 1415 South Marengo. So, higher priced, luxury homes are coming up on the market and we’ll see more of them as banks will start foreclosing on more properties which will most likely start hitting the market sometime in June per my lender sources.

Here’s a list of all Pasadena foreclosure homes for sale updated every 2 hours:

Showing properties 1 - 36 of 36. See more Pasadena Foreclosure List.
(all data current as of 3/12/2010)

1. $319,900 : 2075 Pasadena Glen Rd, Pasadena
   
   0 beds, 2 full baths

   Size: n/a

   Lot size: 7,126 sq ft
2. $439,000 : 1536 N Oxford Ave, Pasadena
   
   3 beds, 1 full bath

   Size: 1,081 sq ft

   Lot size: 7,200 sq ft
3. $599,900 : 455 South Santa Anita Avenue, Pasadena
   
   2 beds, 1 full bath

   Size: 1,508 sq ft

   Lot size: 7,050 sq ft
4. $349,900 : 1623 Bancroft Way, Pasadena
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Size: 1,727 sq ft

   Lot size: 8,096 sq ft
5. $185,640 : 736 North Garfield Avenue #105, Pasadena
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Size: 829 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,359 sq ft
6. $459,900 : 1082 Kirkwood Avenue, Pasadena
   
   4 beds, 3 full baths

   Size: 1,956 sq ft

   Lot size: 6,360 sq ft
7. $429,000 : 281 East Santa Paula Avenue, Pasadena
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Size: 1,370 sq ft

   Lot size: 6,125 sq ft
8. $479,000 : 2877 Estado Street, Pasadena
   
   3 beds, 1 full bath

   Size: 1,289 sq ft

   Lot size: 9,250 sq ft
9. $575,900 : 1504 Creekside Court #B, Pasadena
   
   4 beds, 2 full, 2 part baths

   Size: 2,764 sq ft

   Lot size: 5,688 sq ft
10. $449,900 : 819 North Altadena Drive, Pasadena
    
    3 beds, 3 full baths

    Size: 1,432 sq ft

    Lot size: n/a
11. $399,900 : 122 Marion #2, Pasadena
    
    3 beds, 2 full baths

    Size: 1,500 sq ft

    Lot size: 3,000 sq ft
12. $400,000 : 395 North Chester Avenue, Pasadena
    
    3 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

    Size: 1,344 sq ft

    Lot size: 7,497 sq ft
13. $550,000 : 82 Virginia Avenue #5, Pasadena
    
    4 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

    Size: 1,800 sq ft

    Lot size: n/a
14. $192,500 : 1115 Cordova Street #119, Pasadena
    
    0 beds, 1 full bath

    Size: 495 sq ft

    Lot size: n/a
15. $302,100 : 401 N Holliston Ave, Pasadena
    
    2 beds, 1 full bath

    Size: 768 sq ft

    Lot size: 4,795 sq ft
16. $336,600 : 1491 Mentone Avenue, Pasadena
    
    4 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

    Size: 1,520 sq ft

    Lot size: 11,169 sq ft
17. $309,900 : 538 Flower Street, Pasadena
    
    2 beds, 1 full bath

    Size: 1,037 sq ft

    Lot size: 7,700 sq ft
18. $683,900 : 3000 East California Boulevard, Pasadena
    
    3 beds, 2 full baths

    Size: 1,634 sq ft

    Lot size: 12,087 sq ft
19. $275,500 : 1859 Lundy Avenue, Pasadena
    
    3 beds, 1 full bath

    Size: 1,112 sq ft

    Lot size: 9,324 sq ft
20. $869,000 : 1143 Winifred Ave, Pasadena
    
    4 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

    Size: 1,765 sq ft

    Lot size: 10,987 sq ft
21. $238,000 : 465 South Los Robles Avenue #9, Pasadena
    
    2 beds, 2 full baths

    Size: 863 sq ft

    Lot size: 1,032 sq ft
22. $1,299,800 : 1566 Normandy Drive, Pasadena
    
    4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths

    Size: 3,287 sq ft

    Lot size: 1.23 ac
23. $460,000 : 1385 North Hill Avenue, Pasadena
    
    5 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

    Size: 2,176 sq ft

    Lot size: 10,398 sq ft
24. $519,900 : 352 Flower St, Pasadena
    
    4 beds, 2 full baths

    Size: 1,484 sq ft

    Lot size: 6,750 sq ft
25. $417,900 : 333 North Hill Avenue #309, Pasadena
    
    2 beds, 2 full baths

    Size: 950 sq ft

    Lot size: n/a
26. $329,900 : 87 S Allen Ave 105, Pasadena
    
    2 beds, 2 full baths

    Size: 1,020 sq ft

    Lot size: 18,148 sq ft
27. $379,900 : 360 South Euclid Avenue #127, Pasadena
    
    2 beds, 2 full baths

    Size: 1,040 sq ft

    Lot size: 601 sq ft
28. $899,900 : 1848 Kinneloa Canyon Rd, Pasadena
    
    4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths

    Size: 4,109 sq ft

    Lot size: 20,948 sq ft
29. $229,900 : 1461 El Sereno Ave, Pasadena
    
    2 beds, 1 full bath

    Size: 780 sq ft

    Lot size: 4,500 sq ft
30. $384,900 : 1348 East Orange Grove Boulevard #3, Pasadena
    
    2 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

    Size: 1,120 sq ft

    Lot size: n/a
31. $257,900 : 141 North Parkwood Avenue #12, Pasadena
    
    2 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

    Size: 856 sq ft

    Lot size: 9,440 sq ft
32. $349,900 : 160 South Hudson Avenue #407, Pasadena
    
    1 beds, 1 full bath

    Size: 711 sq ft

    Lot size: n/a
33. $544,900 : 1370 North Sierra Bonita Avenue, Pasadena
    
    3 beds, 2 full baths

    Size: 1,276 sq ft

    Lot size: 7,360 sq ft
34. $372,900 : 390 North Chester Avenue, Pasadena
    
    3 beds, 1 full bath

    Size: 1,336 sq ft

    Lot size: 9,609 sq ft
35. $247,500 : 2444 E Del Mar, Pasadena
    
    1 beds, 1 full bath

    Size: 817 sq ft

    Lot size: n/a
36. $406,500 : 114 W Montana St, Pasadena
    
    2 beds, 1 full bath

    Size: 1,104 sq ft

    Lot size: 7,500 sq ft

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

As always, we are here to answer all your real estate questions, so feel free to contact us at 626-629-8439.

PasadenaViews Real Estate Team

Pasadena Real Estate Agents

445 South Fair Oaks Avenue

Pasadena, CA 91105

Irina at PasadenaViews.com

(626)629-VIEW (8439)

WARNING!!! This is NOT real estate related!!!

Congratulations to all the Huntington Middle School kids participating in Oliver the Musical! What an incredible opening night!

Here’re some photos and a few videos for you to enjoy:

“I Shall Scream” with Mr. Bumble and Widow Corney

Fagin and his Gang performing “You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two!”

Multiple Offers and Pasadena Real Estate!  If you’ve been in the market to buy a Pasadena home, you know that housing inventory is pretty dismal.  In January of 2010, on average, Pasadena real estate sold at 98% of list price.  That means that quite a few homes were sold over home seller’s asking price.

As new homes comes up on the multiple listing service, if priced well and staged well, the homes are sold fairly quickly, and with multiple offers.  Here’s a quick video with some helpful tips on positioning yourself in the position of strength with the seller.

A couple of highlights:

1. Buyers should always write a letter to the home seller.  Your real estate agent should always write a separate letter to the listing agent highlighting your purchase offer.
2. Always be fully approved and provide an approval letter from a direct lender.
3. Don’t just focus on the price.  Seriously review terms and strategize with your real estate agent on the best way to draft the purchase contract.
4. Never, ever use round numbers in your price.

There are definitely more tips and strategies that you can use.  These will get you started.  Discuss the best way to represent you to the seller and the seller’s listing agent with your real estate consultant.

SEE OUR PASADENA REAL ESTATE GUIDE FOR MORE ARTICLES

I will be adding more videos as the year progresses. If there’s a question that you want addressed or a real estate topic that you’d like for me to discuss, let me know via email Irina at PasadenaViews.com or just leave a comment.

See Pasadena Homes for Sale:

Single Family Homes

Condos

Townhouses

IRINA NETCHAEV & ASSOCIATES

PasadenaViews Real Estate Team

Pasadena Real Estate Agents

445 South Fair Oaks Avenue

Pasadena, CA 91105

Irina at PasadenaViews.com

(626)629-VIEW (8439)

If you love visiting Pasadena’s luxury estates, Pasadena Showcase House of Design is for you!

Pasadena Showcase House of Design tickets are on sale now.  The dates for this year’s tour are April 18th through May 16th.

Tickets are available online, by visiting www.pasadenashowcase.org, or by phone, Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., at (714) 442-3872. Prime time tickets for all day Saturday and Sunday and from 9 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, may be purchased for $35 in advance and $40 at the door.  Weekday matinee tickets (Tuesday through Friday, 2 p.m. to closing) are available for $30 in advance and $35 at the door.

For those of you that never visited the Pasadena Showcase House, here’s some information that you need to know.  Once you buy your tickets, you will be given the parking information where you’ll catch a shuttle that will take you to the location of this luxury estate.

Pasadena Showcase House location is kept “secret”. The reason, the actual estate address is not disclosed, is because this luxury home is a privately held, family owned estate.  Pasadena’s Showcase House of Design is usually in an exclusive neighborhood of Pasadena or San Marino (a few years ago, the estate was in La Canada) and parking anywhere near the home is not allowed.

The shuttle will drive you to this one of a kind, luxury estate, where you will disembark and follow the rest of your cohorts on the tour of the estate and grounds.  You can spend as much time as you’d like exploring the estate as well as have time for lunch and shopping.

Shuttles usually run every 15 minutes or so throughout the day and will take you from the parking to Pasadena Showcase House of Design.

Ladies, heels are not allowed and flat shoes are encouraged.  Wear something comfortable!

Not only do you get to see the latest in design and experience imagination of local Pasadena artists and designers as you visit each incredible room, but you’re also helping to support Pasadena’s children’s art program.

The shops participating at the House of Design are enchanting and offer wonderful opportunities to find unique gifts and the restaurant never fails to serve a wonderful and elegant lunch.

Get your Pasadena Showcase House of Design Tickets early.

Read More about our Pasadena area real estate:

San Marino Luxury Estates for Sale

La Canada Luxury Estates for Sale

Pasadena Luxury Estate for Sale

For today’s Foreclosure Friday, I wanted to focus on Arcadia’s REO activity. Since I was out of town at a real estate convention, I was not able to go out and take photos or video of some of the available homes so dry charts it is again! But, you guys know my motto – knowledge is power! Let’s take a look at some numbers and see if we can make some foreclosure predictions for Arcadia’s real estate market.

READ MORE:  Steps of a foreclosure process

As of today, there are 4 single family homes listed in the Multiple Listing Service as bank owned. There’s also one foreclosure condo in a senior development for sale. You can find the list and particulars of these homes at the bottom of this page.

Arcadia Foreclosure Outcomes

Overall, not much inventory available for foreclosure hunters.

Let’s take a look at some historical data. Below is a chart showing foreclosure filings by month going back to last year. The green line shows how many home owners are receiving Notices of Default (NOD) – the first step in the foreclosure process. The blue line shows the home owners towards the end of the process when they receive a Notice of Trustee Sale (NOTS).

As you can see, there are a lot more NODs than NOTS. This most likely reflects the fact that the banks are taking a very long time to foreclose – see Time to Foreclose chart below. Take a look at May of 2009 for both charts and you’ll see the highest number of Notices of Sale corresponded with the lowest # of days to foreclose.

Also, we’re seeing a lot more home owners trying to negotiate a short sale and prevent foreclosure which eats into the NOTS number.

Arcadia – Time to Foreclose

The next chart that I wanted to share with you shows the actual outcomes of Arcadia foreclosures. Quite a few of the Trustee Sales dates are cancelled each month. This is a trend we see across San Gabriel Valley. The auction dates are shooting targets. Most get rescheduled multiple times. However, we do see that investors (yellow line) are picking up a few of these homes as well. Of course, they take on the responsibility of paying off all lien holders and clearing the ownership title.

The winning bids on the other hand are pretty close, if not at, published bids.  I know that there’s a lot of data overlapping on the chart below, but it gives you a nice visual that shows these homes whether purchased by banks or investors, sell pretty close to asking price.

For our home buyers that are looking to get a deal purchasing a foreclosure property, the Multiple Listing Service clearly shows that buyers need to be prepared to pay over asking price in Arcadia California. Each bank owned home that sold in Arcadia since September 1, 2009, sold over asking – on average 9% over asking!

So… does that mean that there are no foreclosure deals? NO! If you’re fast enough and smart enough – in other words prepared, you will be able to pick up a foreclosure home at a good price – usually lower than the regular home sales. You just need to understand that the lenders price these homes to sell – usually under market. Home buyers understand that they need to come in with a strong offer to avoid a multiple offer situation and bid over asking.

Even though these homes are bought over asking price, the average price per square foot for same homes was only $330. Compare that to the average price per square foot of $401 for regular home sales for the same price period. That’s quite a deal in my book!

Interested in seeing the same statistics for your home town? Let me know and we’ll dedicate one of the Foreclosure Fridays to you and your town!

Arcadia Foreclosure Homes for Sale offered on the Multiple Listing Service:

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 5. See more Arcadia Foreclosure List - Homes for Sale.
(all data current as of 3/12/2010)

1. $377,400 : 1128 West Duarte Road #J, Arcadia
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Size: 1,320 sq ft

   Lot size: 1.11 ac
2. $399,900 : 3227 S 8th Ave, Arcadia
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Size: 1,086 sq ft

   Lot size: 5,565 sq ft
3. $299,000 : 4308 East Live Oak Avenue, Arcadia
   
   1 beds, 1 full bath

   Size: 782 sq ft

   Lot size: 3,016 sq ft
4. $597,900 : 1009 North 1st Avenue, Arcadia
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Size: 1,298 sq ft

   Lot size: 4,850 sq ft
5. $840,000 : 1024 Don Diablo Drive, Arcadia
   
   5 beds, 3 full baths

   Size: 3,318 sq ft

   Lot size: 14,160 sq ft

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

IRINA NETCHAEV & ASSOCIATES

PasadenaViews Real Estate Team

Pasadena Real Estate Agents

445 South Fair Oaks Avenue

Pasadena, CA 91105

Irina at PasadenaViews.com

(626)629-VIEW (8439)

Home staging is always on the mind of my Pasadena real estate home sellers.  And, today, I had an opportunity to interview Michelle Minch. Michelle is a local Pasadena home stager who has been recently honored by her fellow home stagers across the country as the Home Stager of the Year for 2010!

The question posed to Michelle was:  Does home staging really work?  See what she has to say:

Do you have any questions about the real estate market locally or nationally, staging or the process of buying or selling a home? If so, give me a shout at 626-204-3340. I will be putting a bunch of videos up over the next few months addressing as many questions as I can.

Additional Reading:  Preparing Your Pasadena Home for Sale

UPDATE: Good Morning America had Gary Keller, author of the real estate best seller “Shift”, on their program. The question posed was “If you had to sell your house today, how do you do it?”

Gary makes a couple of pretty poignant points and home staging is at the top of the list of things home sellers should do to help sell their home faster.

This is a “GOODBYE/BUY” market. If a seller wants to sell their home and say “good bye” to it, the buyer is going to have to perceive it as a “GOOD BUY”! PRICE gets you interest. STAGING it, gets you OFFERS! by Gary Keller

I couldn’t agree more. Take a look at the clip below for more home seller tips that will help you sell your home fast and for more dollars. However, sellers beware, I strongly disagree with tip #5. Home sellers should try to avoid being at showings and open houses. In my experience, that always backfires and too much information is shared which might make negotiating the best possible price more difficult.

For fun, let’s take a look at some of the more expensive Pasadena Luxury Homes for Sale:

Showing properties 1 - 10 of 17. See more city of Pasadena real estate.
(all data current as of 3/12/2010)

1. $12,000,000 : 2 Oak Knoll Terrace, Pasadena
   
   9 beds, 7 full, 2 part baths

   Size: 35,000 sq ft

   Lot size: 2.45 ac
2. $7,950,000 : MLS # 22118287 in Pasadena
   
   6 beds, 6 full, 2 part baths

   Size: 10,000 sq ft

   Lot size: 32,000 sq ft
3. $7,600,000 : 1620 Lombardy Road, Pasadena
   
   5 beds, 3 full, 5 part baths

   Size: 8,225 sq ft

   Lot size: 29,375 sq ft
4. $7,200,000 : 1270 Hillcrest Avenue, Pasadena
   
   5 beds, 8 full baths

   Size: 6,341 sq ft

   Lot size: 1.02 ac
5. $5,950,000 : 645 Prospect Cres, Pasadena
   
   4 beds, 4 full baths

   Size: 4,230 sq ft

   Lot size: 40,540 sq ft
6. $5,950,000 : 1649 Lombardy Road, Pasadena
   
   5 beds, 5 full, 1 part baths

   Size: 7,387 sq ft

   Lot size: 23,425 sq ft
7. $5,400,000 : 820 Cameron Drive, Pasadena
   
   5 beds, 5 full, 1 part baths

   Size: 6,035 sq ft

   Lot size: 20,230 sq ft
8. $4,980,000 : 1995 Sierra Madre Villa Avenue, Pasadena
   
   8 beds, 14 full baths

   Size: 12,300 sq ft

   Lot size: 35,670 sq ft
9. $4,950,000 : 1200 Hillcrest Avenue, Pasadena
   
   5 beds, 3 full, 2 part baths

   Size: 6,078 sq ft

   Lot size: 26,232 sq ft
10. $4,850,000 : 2930 Lombardy Road, Pasadena
    
    6 beds, 5 full, 2 part baths

    Size: 5,755 sq ft

    Lot size: 22,800 sq ft

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

If you are thinking of selling your home and would like a free consultation on what can be done to make your home more attractive to buyers, please give me a call at 626-629-8439.

IRINA NETCHAEV & ASSOCIATES

PasadenaViews Real Estate Team

Pasadena Real Estate Agents

445 South Fair Oaks Avenue

Pasadena, CA 91105

Irina at PasadenaViews.com

(626)629-VIEW (8439)

Continuing with our South Pasadena real estate foreclosure theme, this week let’s take a look at the overall bank owned home real estate statistics and see if we can deduce any trends.  Warning though… this is totally dry and is ONLY for us, statistics geeks.  You are forewarned!

South Pasadena Foreclosure Homes listed in the Multiple Listing Service

Condos:

1801 South Fair Oaks Avenue #F – listed for $259,900

Personal note on this one.  The home owner hired me to negotiate a short sale with the lender back in July of 2009.  We priced this condo at $250,000 and had it in escrow for $260,000 – all cash offer.  The negotiator in her infinite wisdom refused to approve the short sale and decided to foreclose.  So, the lender,  after paying attorney fees, and holding costs for 7 months, this condo is on the market as a foreclosure $100 less than what it was actually sold for and has been on the market now for over 3 weeks!  No sense in that!

116 Marmion Way #16 - listed for $419,900 after a price reduction and being on the market for over 40 days.

Single Family Homes:

Well, we still have our two sorely overpriced homes that we wrote about over the last couple of weeks.

123 Monterey Road – listed at $484,900 at $563.84/sq. ft. – ouch!

1335 Brunswick – listed at $540,000 (after an insignificant price reduction from $566,000 at $642.86/sq. ft. – triple ouch!!!

Five foreclosure homes have sold in South Pasadena over the last 6 months with an average price per sq. ft. of $295.  And, two homes are in escrow at just a bit over $300/sq. ft.

South Pasadena home buyers looking for bungalow style homes may want to take a look at Monterey and Brunswick and make a more reasonable offer to the bank.  It can present a perfect Dusty Deal™ opportunity.  Not worth what the bank is asking, but because they’re listed so high – no one is making offers and the lenders do need to move these homes.

What’s in store for South Pasadena real estate from a foreclosure stand point? Well… let’s take a look at the historic perspective of the actual Notice of Default filings vs. Notice of Trustee Sale.

We’re seeing around 10 home owners each month in South Pasadena getting into trouble with the lenders.

It usually takes the lenders anywhere between 4 months to a year to go through the foreclosure process:

Properties in all price ranges are affected:

Currently, there are 51 home owners in South Pasadena that are in the foreclosure process.  7 of these homes are bank owned… which means 3 more are coming up.  These 3 homes were auctioned of in December with no takers and reverted back to the bank.

They’re not on the market yet, but we will feature them as soon as they hit.  For our readers, here’s a sneak preview:

1112 GLENDON CT – 5 bedrooms /1 bath

1032 CAWSTON AVE – 3 bedrooms / 1 bath

1139 FOOTHILL ST – 3 units

Bookmark this post to see all South Pasadena foreclosures as they are listed for sale.  The feed below is “live” and is updated automatically as new REO homes hit the real estate market.

Foreclosure Home List:

Showing properties 1 - 3 of 3. See more South Pasadena Foreclosures.
(all data current as of 3/12/2010)

1. $540,000 : 1335 Brunswick Ave, South Pasadena
   
   2 beds, 1 part bath

   Size: 840 sq ft

   Lot size: 7,706 sq ft
2. $472,900 : 123 Monterey Rd, South Pasadena
   
   2 beds, 1 full bath

   Size: 860 sq ft

   Lot size: 3,167 sq ft
3. $389,900 : 116 Marmion Way #13, South Pasadena
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Size: 1,141 sq ft

   Lot size: n/a

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

As always, we’re here to answer any questions that you might help or to help you with the sale or purchase of your next South Pasadena home.

IRINA NETCHAEV & ASSOCIATES

Pasadena Real Estate Agents

445 South Fair Oaks Avenue

Pasadena, CA 91105

Irina at PasadenaViews.com

(626)629-VIEW (8439)

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

Welcome to the new episode of Foreclosure Friday.  Laurie and I headed out visit 1335 Brunswick Avenue in South Pasadena just a few blocks away from our last week’s bank owned property on Monterey Road.

This is a 2 bedroom and 1 bath, bungalow priced at $566,000.  All I can say is WOW!!! What the @!%$ is the bank thinking of? At $674 per square foot, this is one of the most overpriced properties that I’ve seen in South Pas.

Looking at Brunswick and last week’s 123 Monterey Road, it looks like the banks are assuming that just because these homes are in South Pasadena, the buyers will just flock in droves and stand in line for the opportunity to bid on these homes.

Since when are Real Estate Owned (REO) homes significantly higher than regular sales in the area?  It just doesn’t make any sense to me.

Let’s take a look at the inside of the home in this video and then I’ll put some of the most current real estate statistics for South Pasadena so that you can make your own decision.

Additional House Details as listed in Pasadena’s Multiple Listing Service:

1335 Brunswick Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030 (MLS # P717678)

Bank Owned! FANTASTIC LOCATION! Vintage home in the hills of South Pasadena. This charming home, built in 1913, has the look and feel of a rural mountain cabin. The front of the home has a large deck. Inside, you'll find a living room with a rustic stone fireplace, two bedrooms, a remodeled kitchen and one bath. The small room adjacent to the rear bedroom could be an office, nursery or sitting room. Some of the original glass window panes still remain. Off the kitchen, there is a large brick patio. There is a single car garage underneath house, as well as an area for laundry hookups. The lot is 55' x 140'. Located within the boundaries of the highly acclaimed South Pasadena Unified School District! For access, use the Supra SoCal MLS lockbox on the gas pipe on the side of the house. ** IMPORTANT NOTE: The vacant lot next door is NOT part of this property and is NOT included in the sale. **

Property Type(s): Single Family, Residential

Price History

Schools

Additional Details

Features

Location

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Listed with Thomas Todak, Prudential California Realty

(view all details for MLS # P717678)

Here’s the latest data from Altos Research, an independent real estate analysis company:

As you can see on the chart above, March of 2009 hit a high of $520 per sq. ft. and as of the latest reporting data for February of 2010, the median South Pasadena house price per sq. ft. is running a bit under $490.

Is it a wonder that both of these lender owned homes are sitting on the market?

What do you think?

READ MORE: South Pasadena Foreclosure Outlook

Foreclosure Process Steps

Credit Life after Foreclosure and Short Sale

IRINA NETCHAEV & ASSOCIATES

Pasadena Real Estate Agents

445 South Fair Oaks Avenue

Pasadena, CA 91105

(626)629-VIEW(8439)

This week’s Foreclosure Friday focuses on South Pasadena.  Laurie, our renovator extraordinaire, and I headed out to look at a cute bungalow that came up on the real estate market a few weeks ago.  It’s located at 123 Monterey Road in South Pasadena.  This home sits on the border of South Pasadena and Highland Park on a very busy street.  A cute bungalow, painted an interesting green, shows promise as a condo alternative.  Perfect for home buyers not interested in playing with grass or maintaining a lawn.

So… how did this South Pasadena bungalow came to be on the foreclosure market?  Here’s some history on it:

It was purchased in April 2006 for … with a loan of $520,000.

Owners defaulted on their loan in autumn of 2008 and then again in early 2009.

The bank filed a Notice of Default and finally the home went to auction or a Trustee Sale in May of 2009 at which time there were no takers and Countrywide took over the property.

This house for unknown reasons did not go on the market until January 2010 – almost 8 months after Countrywide foreclosed.  Hmm… remember the “shadow inventory” that we talked about in our previous posts!

Read More:  Foreclosure Homes for Sale

Let’s take a look at the video of our walk through of the home first and then we’ll do a bit of real estate analysis:

Property Details:

Built in 1908

2 bedrooms and 1 bath

860 sq. ft. per assessor – interior

3,167 sq. ft. per assessor – lot

Price per square foot:  A whopping $563.84

List Price:  $484,900

UPDATE:  list price reduced to $472,900 on March 4, 2010

Just had a $15,000 price reduction last week.

Here’s how this home is listed in the Multiple Listing Service:

123 Monterey Rd, South Pasadena, CA 91030 (MLS # F1830146)

Lovely South Pasadena home. Make this yours. Property is in good condition. Light & bright rooms, amazing kitchen with granite counters and nice cabinets. Lovely living area with decorative fireplace. Bathrooms have been updated. Available to show right away. Will not last!!

Property Type(s): Single Family, Residential

Price History

Schools

Additional Details

Features

Location

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Listed with Paul Skikne, Brentwood Real Estate Group

(view all details for MLS # F1830146)

I am a little confused as far as the pricing goes for this home.  Usually, bank owned, foreclosure homes for sale are priced at or below market.

This home is priced significantly above South Pasadena home prices.  The average price per square foot for sales in the 1/2 mile radius for homes sold is $395.68 as of 2/5/10.

READ MORE:  South Pasadena Real Estate Data 2003- 2009

This foreclosure is on a busy street, situated next to apartment buildings and has no grass to speak of since it’s on a tiny lot that’s covered in concrete.  It certainly is a cute bungalow, but very, very overpriced.

Is this the bank’s way of trying to recover some of their losses?  They would have been better off pricing it correctly and putting this South Pasadena bungalow on the real estate market immediately upon foreclosing back in May of 09.

READ MORE:  Foreclosure Process Steps

Credit Life after Foreclosure and Short Sale

Next week, we’ll take a look at another property that has been foreclosed on in South Pasadena just a few blocks away.

In the meantime, give me a shout if you have any questions or are interested in buying or selling a home in South Pasadena or surrounding neighborhoods.

More South Pasadena homes for sale:

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 32. See more city of South Pasadena real estate.
(all data current as of 3/12/2010)

IRINA NETCHAEV & ASSOCIATES

Pasadena Real Estate Agents

445 South Fair Oaks Avenue

Pasadena, CA 91105

(626)629-VIEW(8439)