Brentwood, as we mentioned, was a poster child for California’s real estate boom and bust. A rural community turned boom town when homebuilders and speculators descended on its quiet shores. Ok, not shores so much as fields, but you get the idea.

552 Sassafrass is a gargantuan home, almost 5,000 square feet on a single story. A year ago, when it first went on the market at over $1 million, it was staged, well-maintained and in good condition. No buyers showed up and the house has since gone into disrepair and seen its asking price chopped in half. Now, with garbage in the back yard and empty halls, it will take an imaginative buyer to step up and buy this home.

Comparables were tough to find since this is a unique home, but some large new homes both on the market and recently sold can be found on the Cirios CLEAR report — click here (or on the image below).

Address: 552 Sassafrass, Brentwood, CA 94513

List Date: 12/26/07
List Price: $519,900
Cirios Value: $485,000
List Price vs. Cirios Value: 6.7% over-listed

The challenge for the seller is to find a buyer who would choose this home over the numerous other large, new, well-maintained and cheaper homes on the market. It’s uniqueness, however, does have value and for the buyer wanting a different home from his or her neighbors with a huge yard could pick up a modern-day Hacienda on the “cheap.”

Comments? Would you pay half a million dollars for this home?

Click here for details on this House of the Day.

Value: $350,000
Projection: Depreciating

The subject property is located in Orange County, which is experiencing a slump in the local economy due to the collapse of the mortgage market. In addition, the subject should expect to see further declines in value because it has only one bathroom.

You will notice we often mention property’s with only one bathroom negatively. In a market flush with supply of homes, prospective buyers will be much more attracted to homes with more than one bathroom. Thus, we believe one bathrooms homes are at an extreme disadvantage and must be priced much more aggressively to sell. From our research, this fact is overlooked by most brokers and as a result one bathroom homes are typically over listed.

10301 MacDuff St, a superior home, sold for $370,000 in April. Due to the fact that the property has only one bathroom, coupled with the weak economy and rising fuel prices, we don’t see strong demand for this type of property. Most listings in the area are substantially higher than our subject’s estimated value, and we expect those homes to sell below the listing price.

We value the subject property at $350,000 and expect it to see declines in the coming months.

Click here for the results of this House of the Day.

Today’s property is located in Stanton, CA a suburban neighborhood smack in the middle of Orange County.

(Click to enlarge image)

Home Details:
- 8511 Chanticleer Rd, Stanton, CA 90680
- 3 Bedrooms
- 1 Bathrooms
- 1347 square feet living area
- 0.17 acres
- Built in 1956
- “Recent” sale 2/27/1987 for $120,000

Property is not currently listed, no description available.

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From time to time, Cirios Real Estate posts a home listed in California as its “House of the Day.” We then post a valuation assessment completed by our team of property value experts. We encourage our readers to post comments and participate in a discussion about the home’s value.

Cirios Real Estate has no buying or selling interest in any of the homes we evaluate, they are posted here for the benefit of our community. This analysis is a broker’s opinion of value and is not to be construed as an appraisal.

Click here for details on this House of the Day

Value: $120,000
Projection: Depreciating

Stockton is arguably the most publicized declining real estate market in the United States. Foreclosure and REO (Real Estate Owner, or Bank Owned) activity is very high, and values have declined precipitously in the past 12 months. The subject’s neighborhood itself is aging, with many new developments in the vicinity providing an alternative to these older homes.

The subject property has not been immune to these declines and is further hampered by its location on a major four-lane street on the Northeast side of the city. This section of the city is dominated by 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom properties, compared to the property’s 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths.

1901 Bradford Ave sold in January for $105,000, but is inferior to the subject based on its smaller lot and one fewer bedrooms. 1220 Sycamore St sold in April for $150,000 but is superior to the subject based on location and curb appeal.

1240 Wilson St is currently listed at $109,900 but is inferior to the subject based on its larger lot size.

The subject has bars and windows on its doors, reducing curb appeal and forcing us to be more conservative than normal. We value the property at $120,000 to reflect a middle ground between the two sales listed above, erring on the side of caution.