Here’s the scoop on the short sale and bank repo market in La Mirada, CA:

Located in Eastern Los Angeles County adjacent to Orange Co. on the East, La Mirada is a great place to call home.

• The active numbers of single family homes on the market in May 2010 is 75.
• Of those single family homes 41%  are identified as a foreclosure, in loan default or a short sale property.
• Prices range from $285,000 to $650,000.
• Average days on the market is 66.
• The average is 3.5 bedrooms, with an average 1,600 square feet.

When it comes to townhomes/condos the La Mirada market is much smaller.

•  The active number of condos/townhomescurrently for sale in La Mirada is 14.
• Of those 71% (10) are either in foreclosure, bank owned or are short sales.
• Prices for condos in La Mirada range from $120,000 to $379,000.
• Average days on the market is 58
• The average 2 bedroom condo is 1,044 square feet.

Located in Eastern Los Angeles County adjacent to Orange Co. on the East, La Mirada is a great place to call home. Want help with La Mirada real estate? Contact me directly!

If you lived in La Mirada you would be one of approximately 50,000 residents living here. La Mirada is also home to the well known Biola College, a private Christian University.

Single Family Home Activity for September:

• 58 up slightly from 53 re-sale homes currently for sale compared to 53 last month and 42 previously.   
• 23 pending sales, slightly more than 21 last month and down from 37 July.  
• 38 homes closed escrow, up from 29 last month and down slighly from the peak last month at 40, compared 35,39,35,35,19,19 in 2009. 
• $396,000 was the median sales price for a single family home with an average of 1600 square feet.

I sold and closed the home pictured right, closing in Sept. for $440,000, 3 bedrooms & 2 baths, beautifully updated. This home was near Biola College and is very typical for the construction of homes in La Mirada.

Condominium activity for September:

24 condos are currently for sale, about the same as the past few months.    

3 pending sales, (in escrow) slightly more than the past few months.

• 8 properties closed escrow, compared to 6,9,3,1,2,0,5,8 since the first of the year. 
• $220,000 was the median condo sales price with an average of 945 square feet, with an average days on the market of 49. 

Photo left is an example of a condo I sold and closed in September at just under $200,000. It’s located in the La Mirada Landmarks, a beautiful 55+ community.

Like the theater? La Mirada is home to the La Mirada Performing Arts Center showcasing talented performers in exciting productions. 

If you’re like me and love the outdoors you will definitely appreciate the beauty of the city in the La Mirada Regional Park.

There are so many things to love about this place, there’s something for everyone, from frisbee golf, local fishing, tennis, swimming, to one of the most inovative child playgrounds I’ve enjoyed in a very long time.

If you love this park, it gets even better, parking and admisssion is FREE.

Need more reasons to consider La Mirada, check it out, why to live in La Mirada here. 

 If you lived in beautiful La Mirada, California you would be approximately:

• 27 miles east of LAX ~ Los Angeles International Airport ~ Los Angeles, CA
• 23 miles north/west of John Wayne Airport ~ Santa Ana, CA
• 36 miles west of Ontario International Airport ~ Ontario, CA
• 10.5 miles north/west of the “Happiest Place on Earth” Disneyland ~ Anaheim, CA

Little known fact, (something I love to share, you know something not easily Googled, one of those things you know if you’re a local) a very small portion of La Mirada is actually located in the County of Orange!

If you’re considering buying a La Mirada home contact me, Lynda@PreferredHomeBrokers.com . See more at my Living In La Mirada and see why  La Mirada was also named ‘One of the best places to live” by Money Magazine.

 Text or direct: (714) 595-1494 Preferred Home Brokers, successfully serving home buyers and sellers for over thirty years. ~ CA DRE License #00402040.

 Data source, SoCal Multiple Listing Service 200

Here’s the latest on home sales in La Mirada for July 2009:

• Single Family Homes

43 re-sale homes currently for sale in the city, almost one-half from earlier in the year. 

• 37 pending sales  
• 40 homes closed escrow the peak for the year, compared to 35/39/35/35/19/19 in 2009. 
• Average selling price was $418,800.00.
• Average selling price per square foot was approximately $210.00

Condos for July:

• 24 condos are currently for sale, about the same as the past few months.    
• 6 pending sales, (in escrow) slightly more than the past few months.
• 9 properties closed escrow, compared to 3/1/2/0/5/8 since the first of the year. 

Comparing same time period 2008 vs. 2009

• 2008 ~ $421,342 Average Selling Price ~ $282.00 Price Per Sq.Foot ~ 53 Days On Market
• 2009 ~ $378,021 Average Selling Price ~ $224.00 Price Per Sq. Foot ~ 65 Days On Market

To learn more about real estate in the great City of La Mirada, contact me, text or direct 714 595-1494 or Lynda@PreferredHomeBrokers.com . See more at my Living In La Mirada and see why  La Mirada was also named ‘One of the best places to live” by Money Magazine

La Mirada,  in So Cal is a great place to call home.

Single Family Home Activity for February:

• 92 re-sale homes currently for sale in the city, down about 10% from the prior 3 months, and approximately 30% fewer from mid-year and far  fewer than the beginning of 2008.
• Asking prices ranged from $225,000 to $775,000 for the city.
• Average asking price is $442,000 almost the same as the past two months.
• Average price per square foot for single family homes is $253.00.
• 33 pending sales up from 22,16,19 for the past 90 days.
• 14 homes closed escrow, as compared to 36,26,20 in the last 2-4 months.
• Average selling price was $357,800 (the lowest I’ve seen in years).
• Average selling price per square foot $245.89

Condominium activity for February: Condo prices for the month ranged from $133,000 to $435,000.

• 23 condos are currently for sale, almost identical to the past 90 days.
• Average asking price was $262,875.
• Average asking price per square foot was $262.00.
• 5 pending sales (in escrow) compared to 4 two months ago, and a little higher than prior months.
• 3 properties closed escrow, compared to 4,5 and 3 in the past few months.
• Average condo selling price was $260,900.
• Average condo selling price per square foot was $237.15.

***The City of La Mirada has a 2.1 month supply of homes (combined single family and condos) for sale,  down from 60 days ago at 3.8 and and down also from prior months. That’s the length of time it would take to sell the existing inventory of homes for sale, provided sales continue at the same pace this year as in 2008, and providing no new listings enter the market place.

I think it’s also worthy to note that while the number of sales were up year-to-date (past 12 months) 320 single family vs. 230 for same time period 24 months ago. Although the number of sales has increased, prices have continued to decline.

If you’re looking to sell your La Mirada home remember that 87% of home buyers begin their home search online.  Check out my other La Mirada areas posts. Contact me for the maximum exposure for marking your home!

La Mirada, CA 

Single Family Home Activity for November:

• 108 re-sale homes currently for sale in the city, exactly the same as 60 days ago and approximately 30% fewer in the last few months, and far  fewer than the beginning of the year. 
• Average asking price is $451,000 ($25,0000 lower than 60 days ago) for a 3 bedroom/2 bath home, 1,675 square feet.
• 16  pending sales (in escrow) down from 19 sixty days ago and only about 1/3 of the sales of prior month. 
• 26  homes closed escrow, compared to 20 sixty days ago and down from 31 and 37 for prior months. 

Condominium activity for November: Condo prices for the month ranged from $150,000 to $305,000.

• 22 condos are currently for sale, down from the past few months.  
• 4  pending sales, (in escrow) compared to exactly the same as sixty days ago, and a little higher than prior months. 
• 5 properties closed escrow, compared to 3 sixty days ago.   

***The City of La Mirada has a 4.8 month supply of homes for sale,  down from prior months. That’s the length of time it would take to sell the existing inventory of homes for sale, provided sales continue at the same pace this year as in 2007, and providing no new listings enter the market place.

If you lived in La Mirada, California you would be approximately:

• 27 miles east of LAX ~ Los Angeles International Airport ~ Los Angeles, CA
• 23 miles north/west of John Wayne Airport ~ Santa Ana, CA
• 36 miles west of Ontario International Airport ~ Ontario, CA
• 10.5 miles north/west of the “Happiest Place on Earth” Disneyland ~ Anaheim, CA

Contact me for help with La Mirada real estate, Lynda@PreferredHomeBrokers.com

La Mirada Bank Repos ~ La Mirada Foreclosure Sales Mid-October through Mid-November 2008.

The City of La Mirada, CA is like many others in SoCal is not immune to the housing declines experienced in the the Southland.   La Mirada’s current inventory of existing listings is similar to many other surrounding communities when it comes to distressed sales.

La Mirada’s current re-sale inventory vs. foreclosures/short sales and “traditional sales”:

159 total La Mirada properties currently for sale (almost idential to last month) 17 are identified as Bank Repos, that’s slightly over 10% of total inventory, down from about 15% last month.

However, when you factor in current short sale/and/or in-default properties that total swells to approximately 38% of the current inventory, compared to 49% last month. More than 1/3 of the properties for sale in La Mirada can be identified as distressed sales.

That’s right another 44 homes and condos are identified as short sales in the Multiple Listing Service. (It’s most likely a few others which may not be properly identified in the MLS as a short sale).

La Mirada bank repos are currently priced froma low of $84,000 for a 474 square foot studio condo in the Los Olivos complex at Ocaso and La Mirada Blvd. to $469,000 for a 3 bedroom 3 bath, 1,461 square foot  two-story home built in 1997.

It’s interesting to note the $84,000 condo previously sold for $192,000 in August 2005 and the $469,000 home last sold for $680,000 in April 2006.

Not every distressed sale is a repossession or short sale so let’s define distressed sales, a bank repossession/foreclosures, short sales vs. personal circumstances:

 •1.       Bank Repo, aka REO or Bank Foreclosure~ A bank/lender/government repo is owned by the institution that held the loan on the property, or in some cases actually insured that loan. REO=Real Estate Owned is a term used by institutions to identify properties on their books.

 •2.       Short Sale ~ A term used when a property is offered for and/or sells for less than the current amount owed on a loan. For example, (a)the case where a home buyer purchased a property for  one amount, the value declined and the owner could not sell for the amount owed on  the loan. On the other hand,(b) other short sales may result from a property being re-financed at any period of time and the value declined (c) where an owner has tapped the equity in the form of a home equity line of credit, aka HELOC and again there has been a decline in values. Again where the sales price would be less than the amount owed to the lender.

  •3.       Job Loss/Transfer/Death/Divorce/Bankruptcy ~ Any or all of these could be contributing factors for a distressed sale. However for the purpose of this report we’re focusing on bank repo’s and short sales.

 As you can imagine many bank repos and short sales include the reasons identified in #3 as contributing factors to the short sale/repo problem.  At times it seems like divorces bring about financial problems and vice versa.

So if you’re interested in buying a bank reposession/foreclosure property it’s important you understand the Common Traits In Purchasing a Bank Repo:

The vast majority of bank repos are sold in “as is” or “present physical” condition depending on your contract.  Most likely the existing condition on the date of purchase,  with very few exceptions if any.  Probably (yet not always) a pest control clearance may be provided by the lender/seller.

You also need to be prepared for an avalanche of seller (lender) generated addendum’s mostly holding them harmless for almost anything.  Many states exclude banks from traditional property disclosures.  The logic being, since most lenders have never viewed/occupied a property they’re usually not required to provide normal seller disclosures on property condition.  And if you’re not in agreement to the terms, their attitude is usually, next. Be sure to check the laws of your state and understand your contract!

So what’s in it for you as a home buyer? Hopefully a home at a great price!   Lenders are not in the business of owning real estate, they make loans on real estate. Yet depending on your market I’ve seen some buyers pay more than they should have, especially at some of the live auctions!

I would urge a word of caution: Do your homework ahead of time and work with a great REALTOR who can help.

 As For Short Sales:

It’s important to understand that on a short sale, each lender must approve the terms of a sale.  Just because something is listed for sale at a reduced price, does not mean it will actually sell for this amount. A fairly recent tactic has been to offer a property and an unbelievable price in hopes of creating buyer interest and therefore an acceptable offer to the seller and his/her lender.

Oh, one more wrench in the works, you may be negotiating with more than one lender making a decision if there’s more than one loan on the property. 

It takes real stamina to hang in there for these things. I’ve watched repo sales for over twenty-five years and urge you to work with someone who understands your local market. Again, do your homework ahead of time!

For more info in Living In La Mirada.it’s a great place to call home. La Mirada was also named ‘One of the best places to live in 2007″ by Money Magazine.

For real estate know-how, contact me, Lynda@PreferredHomeBrokers.com. Preferred Home Brokers is a full service real estate company proudly representing SoCal home buyers and sellers for over thirty years.

–CA Department of Real Estate License Number 00402040

September was a rough month for home sellers in La Mirada, while the inventory has declined, it’s been ditto for home sales and prices.

Single family activity for September: Home were priced from $299,000 to $1,095,000, all but one is under one-million dollars.

• 108 re-sale homes currently for sale in the city, down approximately 30% from last few months, and far  fewer than the beginning of the year.
• Average asking price is $475,000 for a 3 bedroom/2 bath home, 1,677 square feet.
• 19 pending sales (in escrow) only about 1/3 of the sales of last month.
• 20 homes closed escrow, also down from compared to 31 and 37 for the last two months.

Condominium activity for September: Condo prices ranged from $120,000 to $570,000.

• 31 condos are currently for sale, compared to 26 last month and about the same as July and down around 18% from early 2008.
• 4 pending sales, (in escrow) compared to 6 in August and 1 in July and a little higher than prior months.
• 3 properties closed escrow, compared to 4 last month.

***The City of La Mirada has a 5.4 month supply of homes for sale, down exactly 30 days from last month and down 60 days from July. That’s the length of time it would take to sell the existing inventory of homes for sale, provided sales continue at the same pace this year as in 2007, and providing no new listings enter the market.

December was an active month for real estate in La Mirada in eastern L.A. County. 

The real estate market report for 12/07:

Single Family homes range from $385,000 to $1,350,000. However only 4 homes in  La Mirada are priced over $1,000,000.

• 195 re-sale homes for sale in the city, down from 216/213/216/196 prior months in chronological order.
• 10 pending sales (in escrow) up from 6/15/9/1 5/17/ prior months in order.
• 19 homes closed also up in December compared to 12/10/ 9/15/16 prior months in order.
• 36 homes off/ market, listings either expired, withdrawn or cancelled, fewer than prior months as compared to 46/40/36/39/  prior months in order.

Condo prices ranged from $199,000 to $519,000.

• 30 condo/town-homes for sale in Dec., fewer than 35/48/47/40/40 respectively in prior months.
• 4 pending sales, (in escrow) compared to 4/2/1/ 0/5/7/ for prior months.
• 5 properties closed escrow, compared to 2/ 1/1/15/15  prior months.

• Dec. Closings 2007  – Single Family ~ 19 Properties Found
• Dec. Closings 2006 – Single Family ~5 Properties Found
• Dec. 2007  Closings – Condos – 5 Properties Found
• Dec. 2007  Closings – Condos – 5 Properties Found
• Dec. 2007  Closings – Condos – 5 Properties Found
• Dec. 2006 Closings - Condos - 7 Properties Found
• Dec. 2006 Closings - Condos - 7 Properties Found
• 2007 ~ Combined Closings ~ Single Family & Condos ~ 324 Properties
• Dec 2006 ~ Combined Closings ~ Single Family & and Condos ~ 415 Properties

  If you lived in La Mirada you would most likely be one of approximately 50,000 residents and you would be:

• 27 miles to LAX ~ Los Angeles International Airport
• 23 miles to John Wayne Airport 36 miles to
• Ontario International Airport
• 10.5 miles to Disneyland the  ”Happiest Place on Earth”

La Mirada is a  community known for many things, some of which are nice homes on beautiful tree-lined streets. It’s been one of my favorites since very early in my real estate career. The city is also known for Biola College and the famous La Mirada Theater. The newest attraction just opened, “SPLASH” the acquatics park, this is an amazing place,  great for everyone. It’s located on 18 acres of the La Mirada Regional Park. Personally, I’m a huge fan of parks, and I think La Mirada Regional  is one of the best in Southern California, (it’s one of my personal favorites) best of all, it’s free of charge.

If you’re interested in learning more about real estate of La Mirada, contact me, Lynda@PreferredHomeBrokers.com or take a look at  my Living In La Mirada to see why  La Mirada was also ranked as ‘One of the best places to live in 2007″ Money Magazine.

Single family activity for November ~

• Single family homes range in price this month from $385,000 to $1,400,000. However only 4 homes in the city are priced over $1,000,000 at this time.
• 216 re-sale homes currently for sale in the city, compared to 213/Oct, 216/September 196/August and 107/July
• 6 pending sales, homes, down from 15/October, 9/September 5/August and 17/in July.
• 12 homes closed escrow , compared to 10/October, 9/September, 15/August and 16/July.
• 46 homes were removed from the market, listings either were expired, withdrawn or cancelled compared to 40/October, 36/September, 39/August and down slightly from July.

Condominimum sales activity for November:

• Condo prices currently range from $199,000 to $519,000.
• 35 condo/town-homes currently for sale, compared to 48/October, 47/August, 40/August and July.
• 4 pending sales, currently in escrow compared to 2/October, 1/September, 0/August. 5/July and 7/ June.
• 2 properties closed escrow, compared to 1/October & September, 15/August and July.
• 13 condos were removed from the market, listing either expired, withdrawn or cancelled as compared to 8/October 6 for September.

La Mirada is a wonderful community known for many things including nice homes on beautiful tree-lined street. The city is also know for Biola College and the famous La Mirada Theater.

So if you lived in La Mirada you would be one of about 50,000 residents and you would be approximately:

• 27 miles to LAX ~ Los Angeles International Airport
• 23 miles to John Wayne Airport
• 36 miles to Ontario International Airport
• 10.5 miles to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA ~  the “Happiest Place on Earth”.La Mirada is a city I’ve always loved working in since the very beginning of my real estate career in the early 70′s. It seemed like almost everyone had an olive tree in their front yard, courtsey of course of the home builders at the time. Since then, the city has continued to grow and develop into a wonderful community of great neighborhoods and wonderful parks, just to name a few.
•  If you would like more info on the City of La Mirada, contact me, Lynda@PreferredHomeBrokers.com

Beautiful La Mirada is a residential community located in eastern Los Angeles County adjacent to Orange County to the to the east.

Single family homes in La Mirada range from a low of $399,000 for 4 bedrooms and 2 baths, approximately 1,112 square feet. Upper end properties peak at $1,500.00 for 4 bedrooms and 4 baths with 4,675 square feet, the same as last month in August.

Condominmums/townhomes begin at $244,900 to an upper end pricing at $399,000.

The real estate market report for sales/market activity for September 2007 is as follows:

Single family sales activity for September:

• 216 re-sale homes currently for sale in the city, compared to 196 for August and 107 in July.
• 9 homes sold and currently in escrow, definitely up from 5 in August anmd down from 17 in July.
• 15 homes closed escrow in August, similar to 16 for July. .
• 36 homes were taken off the market, or listings expired or withdrawn, compared to 39 for August and down slightly from July.

Condominimum re-sale activity for September:

• 47 condo/town-homes currently for sale, compared to 40 for August and July.
• 1 property sold and went into escrow compared to 0 in August. 5 in July and 7 for June.
• 2 properties closed escrow, compared to 15 for August and July.

La Mirada is a desirable community well known for many things including lovely homes on beautiful tree-lined streets. The city is also know for Biola University and the famous La Mirada Theater of the Performing Arts.

Click here now to see what it’s like Living in La Mirada in a post I wrote a few months ago.