House flipping is alive and well, and may be even more detrimental to our historic homes!
Now instead of buying a house, working on it and trying to sell it for a profit, investors are buying cheap foreclosures doing nothing to the home and trying to sell it for a profit. As we are all well aware the majority of these homes will sit for a while waiting for a buyer while the roof continues to leak and termites continue to do damage. At least while the investor was DOING something like a new roof/termite treatment) the houses had a chance of one day landing with a true owner occupant.
I have been watching some of these houses, and calling the FBSO sign numbers popping up trying to see what is going on. There are two here on Ionia I am waiting for the return call on (some 888 #, $500 down and $275/mo the signs say) there is one @ 6th and Liberty a Watson realtor bought for 20K about a week ago and is now selling for 60K, but will take 55K (gracious), it needs a new roof and has been leaking for a couple of years now. I don't think this house ever had a chance for a owner occupant as I believe the realtor already had a contract on it when it hit the MLS. I am thinking about picking this house up, but just can't bring myself to give this realtor 40K in profit for nothing other than the fact he knew the listing was coming up and got a jump on everyone else.
I am not begrudging investors making some cash, but I am very worried about what is going to happen to these houses while they sit and continue their slow demolition by neglect.
Not sure there is any way to combat this new wave of investors, but knowledge is power-so sharing with you all.
I'm as curious and suspicious as you are on this one. I'll let you know what I find out.
Quote from: Springfield Chicken on September 04, 2010, 09:29:53 AM
I'm as curious and suspicious as you are on this one. I'll let you know what I find out.
I am curious also.............look forward to what you find out!
I'd love to know the name of this agent and investor
BUMP? I would like to know what really happened. A property search for the house says that it is still in the banks name.
uptowngirl...........there is a house on Walnut, the owner will take alot less than $40K........asking price is $17k as is! About 3 or 4 down from Three Layers and it does have possibilities! Will need some work, but does not look too bad at all! Tried to convince the missus but to no avail! Next time your in that area........go past 3 Layers about the 4th down on the right, don't remember the exact address but it is mothballed and missing the front porch, kinda hard to miss!
Hey CS I know that house well, I posted it's restored sister house! I will definately check that one out as it has a lot of potential.
Quote from: sean on September 14, 2010, 04:51:21 PM
BUMP? I would like to know what really happened. A property search for the house says that it is still in the banks name.
I am afraid unless reported we might not ever know. I was told the house closed for 30K, but no other offers were entertained and the listing agent was the seeling agent, and it was sold to another Watson agent (so keeping it in the firm). I am considering turning this transaction in, as it seems very fishy AND I am tired of our historic homes payign the price for these flippers.
uptowngirl.........Watson is no different than SRG! Infact, if you do very little checking, you will find out that Watson took over selling the SRG Homes and some of the bulldozed lots...........not all of the lots, but some! House right across from Three Layers is for sale via Watson! Makes me wonder just what kinda deal they and SRG worked out?
my understanding is that the SRG->watson thing was nothing fancy--the 'gentleman' from SRG was goïng under and sold to watson, cheap.
Quote from: KuroiKetsunoHana on September 14, 2010, 05:56:56 PM
my understanding is that the SRG->watson thing was nothing fancy--the 'gentleman' from SRG was goïng under and sold to watson, cheap.
Actually, that would confirm some rumors that I had heard and does make alot of sense! Either way, SRG is no longer viable and in full operation in Springfield. I have seen an SRG truck and box trailer going by Three Layers but they don't have the presence that they used too! But they still have lots for sale with the SRG Lettering........I know of probably 4 within a 3 block radius of 3 Layers and I am sure there are many more!
My Watson office has the remaining SRG homes for sale and a number of lots, including some commercial ones. In the current market the prices just don't make sense for SRG to try to build at what market prices are right now and still be able to make a profit. Watson doesn't own any of the SRG properties.
Neither I, nor any agent in my office, is connected in any way to the home that was bought and listed by another Watson agent. Don't know him. Can only go by the sales records. The home was listed by an agent with another company, and the first day I saw it on the MLS it was already a pending sale. It was listed for $20,000 as a foreclosure. I know of at least one written offer and one verbal offer of the list price or higher. It sold for $30,000 and now it's being flipped for a higher price.
I would love to know the whole story of how this went down because I still think there is something amiss here regarding the original low list price and the quick sale to the listing agent's buyer. Makes ya' wonder.....
Quote from: Springfield Chicken on September 14, 2010, 07:05:29 PM
I would love to know the whole story of how this went down because I still think there is something amiss here regarding the original low list price and the quick sale to the listing agent's buyer. Makes ya' wonder.....
Springfield Chicken ...........I concur! Something is just not right here......thought people would have learned about the flip game but who knows?
There's now a sign on the property 59, 500 cash only. Nothing like wanting to flip it and make 20-30 grand for doing absolutely NOTHING >:(
Don't worry guys, Springfield isn't the only historic neighborhood in which this is occurring. 1864 Challen Ave in Avondale, 2 doors from the river, sold in July '10 for $250k by a group of investors and it went back on the market immediately for $350k. Its since been reduced to $329k. Granted it needs at least $200k in renovations, but it would probably be worth $600k+ after.
At the end of the day it just might come back to bite the speculators in the ass. Just to break even they'll probably have to get at least $285k for it after figuring carrying costs + closing costs. As always, cash is king and the few folks that still have it in this economy will come out even better off as the economy slowly recovers.
real estate is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. save your money, since March 2010, the Jax Bar assoc has had 3,450 cases to deal with in Duval alone with foreclosures.
Quote from: floridaforester on September 14, 2010, 09:47:46 PM
Don't worry guys, Springfield isn't the only historic neighborhood in which this is occurring. 1864 Challen Ave in Avondale, 2 doors from the river, sold in July '10 for $250k by a group of investors and it went back on the market immediately for $350k. Its since been reduced to $329k. Granted it needs at least $200k in renovations, but it would probably be worth $600k+ after.
At the end of the day it just might come back to bite the speculators in the ass. Just to break even they'll probably have to get at least $285k for it after figuring carrying costs + closing costs. As always, cash is king and the few folks that still have it in this economy will come out even better off as the economy slowly recovers.
Yes, I heard this is happening all over, except the city has a passion for tearing our historic homes down :-(
Mr. Parra used to own that home. Property search shows that it was sold to
CORNER LOT PROPERTIES LLC
3621 HENRICKS AVE
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32207
For 30,000.00
They could atleast have the yard mowed.
Sean, there was a bank involved in there somewhere. Also when I called the original FSBO # an agent with Watson was on the recording. When he called me back he said he had pruchased the home recently and had it listed for 60K but would take 55K.
I know it was a REO and there is not much we can do about house flippers but what can we do in the way of discouraging this behavior?
Contact Code Enforcement regarding the lawn.................don't buy when you know beyond doubt it is a flipper involved!
I think if offers are coming in before the house is even on the MLS that is also reportable, this house was listed WELL below market, even needing a new roof. All transactions like this (fishy) should be reported, that would help- and that is what I am going to do :-)
Makes sense to me uptowngirl! You have to start somewhere and thats as good as any!
Quote from: sean on September 15, 2010, 09:19:06 AM
Mr. Parra used to own that home. Property search shows that it was sold to
CORNER LOT PROPERTIES LLC
3621 HENRICKS AVE
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32207
For 30,000.00
They could atleast have the yard mowed.
The managing members of Corner Lot Properties LLC are Christian Allen, John Foshee, and J. Malcolm Jones. They share an address with Brightway Insurance and that address is also listed for Castle Rock Realty. John Foshee is also managing member of Castle Rock Realty.
Based on the earlier comments, this certainly seems like a situation in which a realtor might have unethically favored his own investor clients over the property owner (in this case, a bank) and the public. There is nothing else that can explain the ridiculously low listing price.
Just last week there was a hand written sign on the lawn (there were 2) with the price of 59.500 cash. Then Thursday the lawn was mowed and the signs are gone....there's something very fishy about how all of the transactions with this house have been handled. All of the for sale signs are now gone.... ???
yeah, it's getting quite ridiculous...my girlfriend hadn't heard about what's been goïng on with that house, and when she saw the 59 5 sign, she was all set to take out a loan--but in the time it took for her to get back to check the sign, it had disappeared. when i realised what house she was talking about, i told her that was probably for the best.
Someone bought it from corner lot investors for 33k?
http://apps.coj.net/pao_propertySearch/Basic/Detail.aspx?RE=0724080000
Looks to me like the "Flippers" are still at it! Appears to be a paperwork transaction from one figure to another......kinda like the SMG doings! Let them sit on it.............hope they keep the lawn down to where it should be or someone will make that phone call to Code!
The person who purchased the property is a Realtor with Watson Realty.
http://www.7008knotts.com/
The Watson sign was outside the property for awhile. Now it is gone.
Maybe since "Watson" got a fire deal on the SRG inventory, they are taking up where SRG left off at? One can only hope that they are in the mood to sweat and spend on to make this house like it used to be?
Okay, there are close to 20 Watson offices in the Jacksonville area, and this agent is not associated with me or my office. And to be clear, Watson did not buy ANY SRG inventory. Nada. Zip. Zilch. We did list the remaining inventory houses he had left and I think we sold the last one today. We also have a lot of SRG lots listed as well as some commercial parcels.
I have no idea what this agent's plans are with the house. I looked today in the tax records and that didn't explain anything. I see that the signs are down so maybe he already flipped it. Got no idea. I'm in the dark on this one too.
Some of this stuff does appear to call into question what exactly is going on with many of the properties in Springfield and throughout Jax.
The realty sign out front of this property was removed last week and the overgrown grass cut.
The house was sold from Suntrust MTG to Corner Lot Properties LLC and they sold it to another buyer (Kyle Passkiewicz). It just seems strange that the person who bought the property just happens to be the same individual (in this case a Realtor) whose name and phone number were out hanging from a Watson Realty sign in front of the house less than a week ago.
Corner Lot Properties LLC paid $30K for the property. The Realtor paid $33K for it from Corner Lot.
Time will tell if the house will end back up on the RE market at a higher list price as a flip or if the new owner will renovate, fix or restore the property.
The focus should be in continuing to make Springfield a desirable and affordable neighborhood. It has so much to offer as an intricate part of Jacksonville as a whole. Appreciation and respect of Springfield's incredible history and fantastic architecture should be a priority for the leaders and residents' of our city. Much emphasis should be directed to Springfield by city leaders as a place to live, invest in home ownership and the starting of new businesses.
Springfield Chicken..........I am confused! Word that I had was SRG had a fire sale due to financial issue's and that some Watson Realty office bought them (refering to the renovated/newly rebuilt & new) I was told basically the same thing by 3 different people.............one was a realator, the other two were not connected with real estate, but the City. I do know that SRG is not in operation at the pace they were before they kinda left Springfield, do know they are still around.............I personnaly saw an SRG vehicle, towing an SRG Box Trailer and they disappeared crossing Walnut and going south on Ionia to somewhere. I do know there are still SRG lots available in a two block radius from Three Layers and there are others available also! I hope Mr Passkiewicz is planning on renovating but don't know much of anything for sure!
Suntrust got ripped off.
Quote from: uptowngirl on September 21, 2010, 07:46:29 AM
Suntrust got ripped off.
Yes, they did, which means their individual shareholders were ripped off and - given the bank bailouts (although I'm not sure how much $ Suntrust received, if any) so did all of us.
I am going to contact Suntrust's REO department and ask them to take a look at this transaction and consider hiring a more ethical (and competent) realtor - someone like Springfield Chicken!
^good idea.
CS.
The box truck you saw cares for the empty lots, lawn equipment is inside. The gentleman who mows, does so for 140 lots. So he told me when I asked in August.
Nicole is right about the lawn care. The numbers are too high though. SRG has less than 100 lots. There is a map at the SRG office and model home showing the properties they own if anyone wants to look.
This is a tough market for builders right now. Costs to build have not dropped. Labor and materials still cost a lot. Unless you are a volume builder like some of the national ones, it is difficult to build and able to turn a profit. When we listed the inventory of SRG homes several months ago none of us knew the market would continue to drop as much as it has. So SRG has made the decision to sell the homes it had in inventory for prices that the current market dictates. They have no current plans to build anything new in Springfield right now so like everyone else they are tightening their belts and riding out this economy.
And thankfully, they are responsibily tending to their empty lots.
The buying of houses by investors and reselling them without doing anything to them has been going on in springfield for years (pre 2005) There was a house close to mine that was selling in 2005 for $160,000 then purchased by anouther investor it was $240,000 in 2008. The investor lost the house and it was $16,000 in 2009. new investor purchased and it was $24,000. so on and so on. In all this time no work has been done on the house.
samiam.......Historical Districts appear to draw investors like flies! Everyone wants to make a buck and could care less about the fabric of any neighborhood and what the heck happens to people who live in that area! Buy cheap and sell high is the mantra and I can understand that, don't have to agree with it though! I do agree with SRG taking care of their empty lots............should be real quick to do, but if not I'm sure Code Enforcement will get that phone call.............after all, turnabout is fair play!
Quote from: samiam on September 21, 2010, 02:55:45 PM
The buying of houses by investors and reselling them without doing anything to them has been going on in springfield for years (pre 2005) There was a house close to mine that was selling in 2005 for $160,000 then purchased by anouther investor it was $240,000 in 2008. The investor lost the house and it was $16,000 in 2009. new investor purchased and it was $24,000. so on and so on. In all this time no work has been done on the house.
And ther eis not much anyone can do in the legal sense, except what some have mentioned here- contacting the offices of said realtors to make it clear we are watching, contact the licensing board to complain about "fishy sales", and contact banks who are gettign ripped off (as Ms. Fixit so clearly stated this is our money too!). Make it at least uncomfortable to do this type of business in our neighborhood!
A Realtor can be subject to fines and license revocation is found to break their fiduciary duties.