Sweet Orange

Can this 1982 condo with 1400 square feet at 33 Christamon S in Irivne’s Northwood sell with an asking price of $429,000 or $307 per square foot? The reason that I am wondering is that some brand new condo’s in Ivy Woodbury East are selling for $400,990. The Ivy homes have three bedrooms and 1397 square feet. However, the Ivy homes have a Mello Roos tax of about $3,971 per year, and this Northwood home has none. Also, the Ivy HOA fee is $134 for the master association and $175 for the sub-association; the Northwood has an HOA fee of $248 per month.

Ivy is within walking distance of the very nice and new Woodbury Town Center. The Christamon home is within walking distance of the Northwood Shopping Center–not so new and a little run down. (But you can get some very cheap fresh fruit and some other interesting things in the Korean supermarket that is located in the former Von’s location.)

Ivy is near the Jeffery Open Space Trail. Christamon is within walking distance of the picturesque Hick Canyon Trail. What I like about the Hicks trail is that in addition to the paved trails–which Irvine seems to likes so well–there is a dirt trail. This dirt trail is particularly popular with runners and bike riders.

33 CHRISTAMON Irvine, CA 92620 (near Irvine Boulevard and Yale Avenue)

• 1985 Northwood condo with two stories
• 1400 SF with 2 beds/2.5 baths
• Asking Prie: $429,900 ($307/SF)

Note: The Ivy homes are near Irvine Boulevard and Sand Canyon. And the Ivy homes also have two stories.

According to Orange County United Way, requests for food are up 98% from last year. So in honor of Thanksgiving Day, I am reposting a previous Sweet Orange post that suggests a way to help–and it doesn’t cost anything!

Best wishes for a great Thanksgiving Day. Here is the post:

Fall, the season of reaping what we have sown, starts today. And what we have sown, according to many economists, is an economy that is coming out of recession. But as is common in recessions, employment numbers are lagging behind in the recovery and will lag for some time. The result is that donations of all kinds are down but the need is up. Food banks are no exception. This is particularly troubling at a time of year when we should be seeing the abundance of the harvest season.

But maybe we have resource that we are not using fully. I read an article a few months ago about a local church that had a harvesting/gleaning campaign. The parishioners noticed that the some of the fruit and vegetables from their gardens often end up on the ground and went to waste. I know the times I had a garden more was produced than I could eat or even give away.

The church asked the parishioners to collect the extra fruits and vegetables from their yards, and they had a sale. The money collected as well as the produce that did not sell was given to a food bank. Perhaps some version of this could be done on a larger basis. The harvesting program could be overseen by either individual cities or organizations. Or individuals and neighborhoods could glean the extra fruits and vegetables from their yards and have it delivered to a local food bank. And maybe the harvesting program could be maintained throughout the year.

What do you think? Can we put to use what is readily available instead of letting it go to waste? Maybe we have more available to us than we realize.

Here are some locations that accept food and cash donations as well as donations of your time and services:

Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County
8014 Marine Way
Irvine, CA 92618
Phone: 949-653-2900
Web Site: http://www.feedoc.org

Community Action Partnership of Orange County Food Bank
12640 Knott Street
Garden Grove, CA 92841
Phone: (714) 897-6670
Web Site: http://www.capoc.org/

GRAPHIC COURTESY BILL BARBER

Contrary to Hunter Lewis’ opinion that policies of the 1980s lead to the Reagan prosperity era, political commenter and former Nixon White House strategist Kevin Phillips has stated that our problems started around Ronald Reagan’s time. Phillips also states that for various reasons these problems have been masked.

I will probably write more on this at some other time, but for now here is a quote:

“Bad money” refers to a new phenomenon in wayward megafinance-the emergence of a U.S. economy that is globally dependent and dominated by hubris-driven financial services.–Barnes & Noble summary of Bad Money

For more information on this, see Phillips’ book Bad Money: Reckless Finance. Failed Politics and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism.

Yesterday, we took a look at Hunter Lewis’ view of  the causes of our economic problems. Today, some contrary views from economist Paul Krugman:

In 1999, when the first version of “The Return of Depression Economics” was published, the title seemed provocative and its thesis was cavalierly dismissed by conservative economists. But today, fear rules the markets, John Maynard Keynes is back in fashion, and the stars of Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan are fading.
–Andrew Leonard, Salon

In a Forbes.com video, Pulitzer-price-winning economist and NY Times commenter Paul Krugman says forgetting Keynes statement that interest rates can be too low was one reason for our current economic problems.

Krugman also says that the more important cause of our current problems is that we forgot the need for the safeguards and regulations–such as the regulations put in place after the Great Depression of the 1930s and which, according to Krugman, allowed us to avoid “Depression Economics” for about 60 years.

For more on this, see Krugman’s book, The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008.

Tomorrow: political commenter Kevin Phillips with a viewpoint that the Reagan era was not all that some say it was

This week we’ll have a little survey of various opinions on the cause of our economic difficulties. Up first author and financial advisor Hunter Lewis. Lewis has also held many positions on various charitable organizations.

In a Forbes.com video, author Hunter Lewis says that former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan’s return to Keynesian economics is what lead to current economic problems. He also said the that the quite different actions by former Fed Chief Paul Volker during the 1980s brought about the Reagan prosperity era.

Lewis also say that “recessions are necessary,” and debt is what caused our problems.  He continues to say that this debt came from the housing problem, and the housing problem came from the dot.com problem. For more on this, see Lewis’ book, Where Keynes Went Wrong: And Why World Governments Keep Creating Inflation, Bubbles, and Busts.

Tomorrow: some views from economist Paul Krugman

Wednesday: political commenter Kevin Phillips with a viwpoint that the Reagan era was not all that some say it was

Yesterday, I wrote about an Irvine home that is bank-owned and that was held off the market for approximately 16 months.  However, apparently the banks do not hold all REO homes off the market for that long.

For example, at 215 Knox Street in Eastside Costa Mesa is a 1987 single-family home with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. The bank put this home back on the market after approximately 3 months of taking it back from the borrower. However, I should note that this home was delisted on November 11, 2009. It went on the market at $609,000, and, at one time, the price was reduced to $549,000.

Current Listing Information:

• Market Price: $609,000
• Estimated Value: $598,137
• Estimated Value (Minimum): $508,530
• Estimated Value (Maximum): $687,744
• Status: Vacant

Listing History:

• November 11, 2009 Delisted–Foreclosed Homes #4049079
• October 22, 2009 Price Changed–Foreclosed Homes #4049079
• October 08, 2009 Listed $609,000–Foreclosed Homes #4049079
• July 28, 2009 Sold (Public Records) $427,174–Public Records

Homes on the low-end of the market have dropped drastically; home on the high-end are also seeing big price drops. But what about those in between?

Here is a look at a typical single-family home in one of Irvine’s most popular areas, Northwood. Following what happens with this home should give us an idea of what price these homes in the middle will sell for.

That fact that this is an REO (bank-owned) adds another layer of interest. A look at the listing history indicates that the bank held on to this home for almost 16 months before putting it back on the market.

13 CHRISTAMON EAST Irvine, CA 92620

• $714,800 ($289/SF)
• single-family home built in 1979
• 4 bed/2.5 baths with 2,474 SF
• HOA fee: $76
• Mellos Roos: none listed
• REO-owned

Nearby recent sales:

20 ABETO (0.45 miles away from 13 Christamon East)

• Sold on August 31, 2009 for $810,000 ($283/SF)
• 4 beds/3 baths with 2,864 SF

7 East CHRISTAMON ( 0.03 miles away from 13 Christamon East))

• Sold on August 07, 2009 for $785,000 ($308/SF)
• 4 beds/3 baths with 2,549 SF

32 ABETO ( 0.45 miles away from 13 Christamon East))

• Sold on May 26, 2009 for $760,000 ($318/SF)
• 4 beds/2 baths with 2,392 SF

Listing History:

• November 10, 2009 Relisted — — SoCalMLS #S594917
• November 5, 2009 Delisted – – SoCalMLS #S594917
• November 4, 2009 Listed $714,800 – SoCalMLS #S594917
• July 29, 2008 Sold (Public Records) $603,457, 4.4%/year, Public Records
• June 17, 2003 Sold (Public Records) $485,000 – Public Records

It’s nothing new: Economic hard times and self interest can make for some strange bedfellows and surprising viewpoints, considering who makes them. Previously, I wrote about an example on the local level, “Discovering Socialists in the Most Unusual Place: The Costa Mesa City Council and the Orange County Fairgrounds.” Today I will write about another example. This time on the national level.

Tom Tancardo, former U.S. representative from Colorado, is a staunch conservative in the be-self-reliant, don’t-look-to-the government-for-a-bailout mold. However,  he wants his own government bailout.

Tancardo is a Bernie Madoff victim. He stated on “Fox News Reporting; Target Madoff” that he lost his entire savings in the Madoff Ponzi scheme that burned so many investors. Some of these victims were able to get partial compensation for their losses from a government fund. However, Tancardo’s circumstances were such that he did not qualify, and he wants the law changed so that he will qualify. When asked about the irony of his efforts to get a government bailout, he said with a smile, yes, but “I want my money.”

Apparently, we are all “socialist,” if it is in our interest.

When I lived in the Silicon Valley area, sometimes I would meet someone who had been enticed by the big salaries of the area to accept a job in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, once they started to look around for housing, they often found that their salary from their previous location, although smaller, went farther in the city that they had moved from.

A similar situation exists in Southern California. Although some areas are known for having lower salaries than Southern California, buying a home in these areas is often easier than it is in Southern California. The home price to income ratio is the reason for this.

The following list from Forbes, ordered lowest to highest, shows how many times the median salary of some sample areas is needed to buy a median-priced home in the same area.

Median home/median salary ratio:

• Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio: 1.4
  (Unemployment: 12.8%)
• Flint, Michigan: 1.5
  (Unemployment: 15.2%)
• Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich.: 1.7
  (Unemployment: 13.4%)
• Modesto, CA: 2.8
  (Unemployment: 16.8)
• Bakersfield, CA: 2.9
  (Unemployment: 14.8%)
• Stockton, CA: 2.9
  (Unemployment: 15.6%)
• Fresno, CA: 3.4
  (Unemployment: 15.5)
• Salinas, CA: 3.8
  (Unemployment: 11.7)
• L.A-Anaheim-Santa Ana: 5.3
  (Unemployment: 10.1%)
• New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa,:7.2
  (Unemployment: 7.6%)

Photo of Historic Victorian Homes in San Francisco
COURTESY INETOURS.COM

I just came across some informative numbers from real estate and finance sector analyst Mark Hanson. These numbers provides a follow up on a previous post that I wrote concerning our unsustainable personal debt to income ratio. Hanson quotes the Wall Street Journal:

According to the Federal Reserve, total household indebtedness peaked at the end of 2007 at 132% of disposable income. That was by far the highest level since at least the end of World War II, nearly quadruple the 36% of 1952. By the end of March, with families boosting savings, repaying debt and defaulting, the ratio had fallen to 124%, a tad lower but still miles from the level of, say, 69% in the middle of 1985.
–”Debt Burden to Weigh on Stocks, Consumers’ Inability to Drive Economic Growth Likely to End Big Gains,” E.S. Browning, Annelena Lobb

These numbers shows that our economy on the personal level, not just the national government level, was on a course that could not last. They also show that, with a current ratio of 124% personal debt to income ratio, we are still at an unsustainable personal debt level and will need to endure further corrections.

To see how this personal debt to income ratio has been progressing on this unsustainable course for many years, see my previous post: “Personal Debt to Income Ratio Rose to Over 100%-How Did This Happen?”

GRAPH COURTESY JAMES QUINN