Down in the heart of the Marina just a block from the bay, 1921 Jefferson Street #204 sold for $180,000 in 1997. Over the next nine years it changed hands three more times with holds of one to five years, each time with a higher price and annual appreciation between 9 and 25 percent on an apples-to-apples basis.
The last sale occurred five years ago with a comp setting price of $510,000. And it wasn’t one of those funny money five percent down deals. No, in this case the purchase appears to have financed with a first mortgage for $408,000 and a second for $100,000. That’s right, two thousand dollars or under one percent down.
Two months ago a notice of default was filed on the property with $20,363 past due, but don’t worry, that two thousand dollars of “prime” equity isn’t at risk. No, a year after purchase the property was refinanced in 2007 with a first mortgage for $464,000 (the one foreclosing) and a second for $58,000. Yes, a total of $522,000 in debt.
A few months after refinancing the owner posted a “make me move” price of $699,000, an offer that was just withdrawn four weeks ago when the property was listed on the MLS for $549,000, a price that has since been reduced to $529,000 and the seller is now angling for a short sale.
UPDATE: Just reduced to “$499,000.”
∙ Listing: 1921 Jefferson #204 (1/1) 558 sqft – $529,000 (short sale) [MLS]

10 thoughts on “Working All The Angles And Coming Up Short In The Marina”
  1. hmmmm
    first attempt: $699K – i am superman and some idiot will pay me $1250/sqft for a marina condo.
    second attempt: $549K – nets me the $522 i owe the bank so i can just walk away.
    third attempt: $529 – net I lose a little under $20K but that’s still less than I’m in arrears.
    fourth attempt: $499 – crap, socketsite’s on to me.
    why doesn’t the owner just walk away? could it be that he is a superlawyer who passed the bar the same year he bought the house and this could tarnish him some how? just askin.

  2. “why doesn’t the owner just walk away?”
    Some short sales are stalling tactics. The bank files a notice of default, and you can buy 3 months using a short sale.
    If you can find a bidder, the bank might take as long as a year more to decide, while you stay in the property rent free. So you get as much as 15 months of free rent, even if the bank forecloses. So the price is dropped to be sure to find a bidder, but not so low that the bank quickly rejects the offer.
    Rent on that place for 15 months is probably $25,000, so the owner stuffs his or her pockets with another $25,000, sells the appliances and cabinets and then leaves.
    Added to the $20K balance, the owner walks with $50K in his or her pocket as a nice parting gift. The $12K cash out was probably used to pay the refinance costs, so I doubt that’s part of the income from this place.

  3. tipster, wrong as ever. “3 months”? I’ve seen credit reports from people who’ve stalled the banks for over 3 years.

  4. That’s because the banks don’t usually start anything for at least two years. Then they file a notice of default. You immediately list as a short sale and they usually won’t do anything for three months. If you don’t produce a buyer, they’ll file a notice of trustee sale at that point and a month later you file for bankruptcy and that gets you 4 more months.
    If you DO produce a buyer, that gets you another 6 months. The bank says OK but the buyer is gone because the market dropped since they made their offer. So you list again lower and get 6 more months.
    All the people asking where are all the loan recast problems that were supposed to arrive in 2010 just make me laugh. The loans may have recast in 2010 but the banks won’t even think about foreclosing until next year.

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