Comparing two locations | Arcadia Housing Blog

Today we have two homes. They are both similar in size, acreage and condition. In this case, it’s the location and school district which will determine what their true market is. Which one would you buy?

5308 Garypark Ave.
Arcadia, CA 91006

Price: $450,000

Beds:	3
Baths:	2
Sq. Ft.:	1,435
$/Sq. Ft.:	$314
Lot Size:	6,464 Sq. Ft.

Address may say Arcadia but this property is actually located within El Monte’s school district. In addition, the location is far from desirable. Check out the map:

Records show that the owner(s) bought this property in 2005 for $560,000 at… you guessed it, 100% financing. This home is definitely overpriced and not worth anymore than $300,000 to $350,000. Given that we have 2-3 years of decline to go, this short sale will most likely go back to the bank.

This is one property that will not benefit from sitting on a golf course.

928 Victoria Dr.
Arcadia, CA 91007

Price: $799,000

Beds:	2
Baths:	1
Sq. Ft.:	1,201
$/Sq. Ft.:	$665
Lot Size:	7,800 Sq. Ft.

Here we have a similarly sized home in a completely different setting. You get:

Arcadia School District
Desirable community of Peacock Village
The heart of Arcadia: Nearby is the Santa Anita Westfield Mall (soon to be The Promenade), racetrack, Pavillions, 99 Ranch and a host of other shops amenities.

In late 2006, this home was purchased for $650,000. After some remodeling and 2 years later, the owner’s now want to make $150,000 . Unfortunately, they bought during the peak of the housing bubble and I predict many price reductions to come. They will be lucky to break even on this property after paying the sales commission!

Call me crazy but asking for $665 per square foot on a 1,200sf home is definitely not priced to sell.

Comments (9)

george8 · June 18, 2008 #2848

Both will sit and rot until 20% reduced in today’s market. They will sell at 40% less than asking in 2010 when just about all bubbly excess is squeezed dry.

T K Eng · June 18, 2008 #2850

Cheap money from the Feds + reckless borrowing/lending have helped to create the latest housing bubble. Now that the housing market has collapsed, and stocks are no longer attractive, investors are turning to commodities to look for profits. As long as more investors flock to commodities, inflation will stay high and Uncle Ben will soon have to raise interests, thereby making these home prices even more unaffordable before the really desperate sellers start to lower their price.

TheArcadian · June 18, 2008

Buying a dump for hundreds of thousands of dollars is easy when the banks were willing to hand you 100% of the financing. Now that the party’s over, buyers are forced to consider their financial capabilities before even considering a home.

As you said, investors are now turning away from real estate and stocks. Pretty soon, all the “wannabe” investors will follow suit.

puckhead · June 18, 2008 #2855

Way overpriced for the Arcadia house and you could not pay me to live there for the El Monte house. A similar 2/1 house came on the market in South Pas last week for $555K. Nicely updated on a large flat lot. I was thinking that someone could buy that house and turn in into a 3/2 and come out way cheaper than what other 3/2’s are selling for in South Pas. I guess someone thought the same thing cause the house sold in 1 week. That’ll be a starting point for what this Arcadia house is worth.

TheArcadian · June 18, 2008

Puckhead,

Any idea what the address of that South Pasadena home is? I also think that $555k is very reasonable for that city (depending on its location and condition).

Cicero · June 18, 2008 #2858

800k for a 2/1? Who buys that? No one with kids. Maybe a single male but why drop 800k for THAT when for the same money you could have a fabulous condo in Pasadena? A great home in Monrovia, Walnut, Hacienda, etc.

Shame on that realtor for taking the lising at that price. All that work for a guaranteed NO SALE.

puckhead · June 18, 2008 #2860

Arcadian,

I forgot the exact address but it was on Collis Ave. There’s another 2/1 listed on Collis but its $650K.

Ken · July 15, 2008 #3408

That Garypark address wasn’t that bad an area 30-40 years ago. I went to Rio Hondo Elementary (at the top of the aerial view), and back then it was a typical post-WW2 blue-collar neighborhood, complete with a local high-school band using Lenore for practice. I’d often cruise the area on my bike.

laura · August 18, 2008

I just went to Google Maps and I did the street view so that I could be taken back to the street I used to live on from 1963 until 1970. I am 45 now. I noticed that it doesn’t look quite as nice as I remember it to be!I was just curious to see what the houses were going for which brought me to this forum. We lived at 5639 Lenore avenue back then. I remember going out to the curb every day (or at least it FELT like every day!!) to see the band march down the street. I have SUCH great memories of growing up there. Too bad my parents divorced and we moved back to Long Island NY. I am ASTONISHED to see the price of the homes in that area!