Author: SavedbyGrace
March 12, 2008
| Asking Price | $1,658,000 | ::: | Sq-ft | 5,000 |
| Purchased Price | $758,000 | ::: | Lot Size | 10,500 |
| Purchased Date | 10/21/2005 | ::: | Beds | 4 |
| Days on Redfin | 3 | ::: | Baths | 4.5 |
| $/Sq-ft | $332 | ::: | Year Built | 2008 |
| 20% Downpayment | $331,600 | ::: | Area | Santa Anita |
| Income Required | $414,500/yr | ::: | Type | SFR |
| Est. Payment* | $8,383/month | ::: | MLS# | W08035337 |
*Estimated monthly payment assume 20% down, 30-yr fixed @ 6.50%
“Brand New home in a quiet cul-de-sac, great curb appeal, 4 spacious bedroom suits, (two upstairs, two downstairs), 4.5 baths, family room overlooking backyard, upstairs tatami room and 2nd family room (or den), high ceiling, grand entry, kitchen with two refrigerators and all stainless steel applicance, butler pantry, bamboo floors throughout, finished garage can be used as gym, two A/C units, Arcadia schools, A must see!”
Last week we wrapped up our mini-series on Empty McMansions. Just a week later I see yet another brand new 2008 construction up for sale. This one is a 5000 sqft monster asking for a mere $1,658,000 in this bustling RE market. Interestingly enough, this new construction is of a different style and looks nothing like the other Spanish-Mediterranean style homes that have become so common for these types of projects.
I’ve been looking at the picture for a few minutes now and cannot figure out how a car is suppose to get in and out of that garage. In the description it says “finished garage can be used as a gym” so if it’s not convenient for vehicles to be parked in the so called garage, why even call it a garage? Just call it a gym and put in a real wall instead of a garage door. From the overhead view on Redfin, the lot is an odd triangle shape and the framing of the house appears to be built out almost to the edge.
The asking price is $1,658,000 for this new construction. A buyer purchasing this would need almost a third of a million dollars for a 20% downpayment and make over $400,000/yr to pay carrying costs of roughly $12,000/month that include the mortgage payment, insurance, maintenance and property tax. What percentage of the population is able and willing to take on this property at the current asking price? Who is this seller fooling? Potential buyers or himself?
I wrote this to my Senators about the upcoming bailout program:
Please record my request not to bail out banks and
mortgage holders. Doing so would be a punch in the face to
those of us who have lived in studio apartments, put off
having children, and suffered through offshoring and
massive H1 labor workers flooding our industry and driving
rates down. We have worked hard and saved and do not
deserve to be robbed in order to pay gamblers, scammers,
and idiots who made bank loans the bankers knew were
faulty and took out loans on homes they could not afford.
While these people lived in their McMansions, most
Americans have remained honest and hard-working and lived
in much more modest abodes. Rewarding these irresponsible
people is as simple as rewarding the grasshopper in the
parable of the ant and the grasshopper. Even more to
understand is the US Government cannot hold up the housing
prices. With an average AGI of about $55K, the US average
housing of $210K is not affordable. Either inflation has
to stop, pay has to jump, or housing has to drop. For
those of us who have worked hard and saved for almost two
decades, we have waited patiently for housing prices to
return from the stratosphere. As our representative,
please continue to work for the US Government to act
responsibly and not steal from the taxpayer to reward rich
bankers and irresponsible gamblers.
I do support programs like the Economic Stimulus package
you passed as I believe inflation is a much more fair tax
than income tax. I know personally people and companies
who have moved their accounts offshore as a way to avoid
paying income tax. One classic example is Accenture as
they are the prime contractor for the IRS and the
Department of Homeland Security! In fact, I believe income
tax evasion is the driving force behind illegal
immigration and income tax avoidance is the primary reason
for offshoring. Fair, across-the-board inflation measures
like the Economic Stimulus package reward all Americans
and are much better than handout/bailout packages targeted
at select companies or individuals. Inflation packages do levy
an additional tax on anyone with savings but are better than
income tax which rewards offshore companies and far better
than stealing from taxpayers and rewarding irresponsible and
often knowingly fraudulent people.
In summary, I request you vote Nay on any programs to
reward rich bankers or gamblers who took out mortgages
they could not afford.
Peter – Thank you for doing your part in writing to your representative about our economic condition. I too wrote to my congressman several months ago and just received a reply last week. Unfortunately, the reply addressed only the Stimulus Package itself, but mentioned nothing of the housing crisis, offshoring, inflation or bailing out of the banks. I specifically asked about those things and made my opinions known.
The Fed’s announcement of injecting $200billion into the markets yesterday is a direct bailout of bankers with your money. If you think that’s wrong, write to your congress representative!
For those of you who haven’t done so, I encourage you to join us and write to your representative. You can start here: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
Whoever buys this house, will have to redo the garage entrance or suffer trashing their lawn about 7 days after purchase. Who are these people who design houses like this? You would expect a bit more if you are paying over $1M, don’t you think?
You would think…
If you can afford this home, you should be able to hire a personal chauffeur. Let him/her deal with parking your park. ha.