This property is one of the many, many, many small condos for sale in Orange County. Santa Ana is centrally located next to what used to be the center of mortgage lending in this country, which has quickly turned into the center of a whole bunch of unoccupied commercial space.

All kidding aside, condos like this one are starting to make a lot of sense to buyers considering whether they should make the jump from renting to owning. This unit is nothing to write home about in terms of amenities, is not near the beach and the nearest Starbucks is more than a mile. That’s an eternity for Southern California.

But — at around $1000 per month after mortgage payments, insurance, taxes and HOA dues, it’s not a bad deal. The trouble, of course, is whether your $130,000 investment could quickly become a $100,000 investment, or worse. Sure, you may be paying less to own rather than rent — a market characteristic many cite as bottom-inducing — but if you’re losing $10,000 per year in equity, who cares?

This property is a short sale, and thus more complicated to buy than a foreclosure, and there’s a ton of similar supply nearby. That being said, activity is picking up as buyers are dipping their toes back into the market at new, lower prices.

Address: 2511 West Sunflower Ave, T15, Santa Ana, CA 92704
Status: ACTIVE
List Date: 3/14/2009
List Price: $139,000
Cirios Value: $130,000
List Price vs. Cirios Value: +6.9%

For a complete Cirios Valuation, click here for our CLEAR report, or on the image to the right.

Have a home you’d like Cirios to use for our next House of the Week?

Make a comment below!

This week’s House of the Week takes us down to the South Land, to Santa Ana and the land of endless strip malls and condo complexes. For under $1000 per month in mortgage, tax and insurance payments (assuming 20% down), you can be the proud owner of a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo. The price: Just $139,000. (click images to enlarge)

Condos are cheap – but are they cheap enough? Sure, you can save a couple hundred bucks a month in rent, but is that worth it to risk owning a condo in a lousy real estate market?

WHAT WOULD YOU PAY FOR THIS HOME?
Post a comment below to guess!

Address: 2511 West Sunflower Ave. T15, Santa Ana, CA 92704
Status: ACTIVE
Bedrooms: 2; Bathrooms: 2
Living Space: 875 square feet
Lot Size: N/A
List Date: 3/14/2009
Original List Price: $139,000
Current List Price: $139,000
Average School API: 737
Zip Code Sales Last 3 Months (year-over-year): +166.0%
% Homes in Foreclosure in Zip: 4.6% (High)
% Housing Inventory For Sale in Zip: 1.1% (Moderate)

This week’s House of the Week, a 3bed, 2 bath home in Santa Ana, CA is evidence that even in a market as weak as the one we’re one, people are still buying houses. This may seem like simplistic concept, but the way the media reports it, it’s as if home buying has stopped altogether.

To be sure, its brutal out there, hard to get a loan, prices are falling, but people still need somewhere to live — and no matter how mad it gets that will not change. And with that, the drum roll please . . .

Address: 602 East Camile St, Santa Ana, CA
List Date: 11/27/2008
Sold Date: 12/23/2008
List Price: $294,000
Sale Price: $310,000

Not only did it sell, it sold above list!

Now, does that mean everyone should run out and put their homes on the market because suddenly the buyers are back and bidding wars will once again become the norm? Far from it.

If asked to value this property prior to its sale, we probably would have placed it somewhere between $270,000 and $280,000. One of the most attractive features about the subject is its oversized lot at >9,000 square feet. As for comps, 1275 South Hickory Street, a fairly comparable property sold for $285,000 a few weeks before the subject. Interestingly, this house sold also above list.

In neighborhoods where sellers are undercutting each other to attract buyers (like this one), we are starting to see more and more buyers come in and bid up the properties to above list. House prices have fallen so far from the peak, that even though they are likely to keep falling for a while, buyers see a previous sale of, say, $600,000 and a list price under $300,000 and can’t resist.

For 602 East Camile specifically, we would argue the buyer would have been better off waiting a bit. There are some properties on the market now in the $260,000 – $280,000 range that offer a nice alternative. Also, prices remain in a downward trajectory and it’s reasonable to expect them to fall closer to $250,000 by the summer.

Every Wednesday, Cirios will post details about a house in a different part of California that is currently listed, under contract, or recently sold. We invite readers to guess how much it was listed and sold for, or if it hasn’t sold, what the final purchase price will be.

If you need additional information about the property, please add a comment to the posting and we’ll respond to you. Answers will be posted Friday morning, so get your guesses in ASAP. We’ll try to uncover why the house sold for what it did, how realistic the listing price was and whether we think the buyer paid a fair price.

Thank you and enjoy!

Address: 602 East Camile Street, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Status: SOLD
Property Type: Single Family Residence
Bedrooms: 3; Bathrooms: 2
Living Area: 1,430 square feet
Lot Size: 9,028 square feet
List Date: 11/27/08
Contract Date: 12/4/08 (7 Days on Market)
Close of Escrow: 12/23/08
Elementary School API: 833 (High)
Zip Code Sales Last 3 months (Year-over-year): +491%
% Homes in Foreclosure in Zip: 5.3% (High)
% Housing Inventory for Sale in Zip: 0.6% (Low)

WHAT WAS THIS HOME LISTED FOR?

HOW MUCH DID IT SELL FOR?

Need more information? Please post a comment and we will get back to you.