So-Cal’s Great Western Saving, Homes Saving and Loan, and American Savings, where are you when we need you?

If you’ve lived in So Cal for a while and you’ve been around pre-Washington Mutual days (and I know there are a lot of you) can remember a variety of other banks. The days before these were gobbled up by Washington Mutual.  At that time I can remember thinking, how could something be so big as Wa-Mu and take all these over?  To my disappointment we lost so many of our favorites before we knew it.

At one time we knew who had fastest processing, who would, or would not, loan on a busy street. I can remember who came out with the first 90% loan at the time. We also knew who we could count on to hold the rates and equally important those who wouldn’t.

You also knew your reps at each institution.  You knew who began a business day early, and another who worked late into almost every evening, while still in his office.  After dark you could look up to the second story window processing center knowing he was there, you could always count on Ernie to come through in a pinch, you just didn’t call him before 10:00 a.m.

Ah, those were the days, … you know the days when loans had to make sense!

As for the future, looks like size doesn’t really matter. As for who’s left standing, REALTORS and lenders alike…guess time will tell.

Brea single-family real estate sales activity for April 2008, prices range from $350,000 to $2,950,000.

• 114 re-sale homes currently for sale, down from prior of months  122/134/132/150/156/161/156 respectively.
• 17 pending sales, currently in escrow, as compared to 23/12/6/9/9/6/8 in prior months.
• 21 homes closed escrow in April almost double from 11 in March and 13/8/8/13/13/23/15, respectively in prior months.
• 17 homes were removed from the market, the listings either expired, were withdrawn or cancelled as compared to 28 in March and down from prior months.

Brea condominium sales activity for April ~Condos/town-homes range from $265,000.00 to 550,000.

• 14 condo/townhomes currently for sale, compared to 21/17/34/29/30/28 in preceding months.
• 5 pending sales went into escrow in April, as compared to 2/2/0/3/5/2/5/7 in prior months.
• 2 property closed escrow, (same as last two months) and compared to 0/3/3/2/4/6/4, respectively in preceding months.
• 4 properties were removed from the market, the listings either expired, were withdrawn or cancelled. The same number as March and also down from prior months.

The majority of homes for sale in Brea are priced from the upper $600,000 range to the upper $800,000 range. Currently there are 16 homes for sale in Brea in excess of $1,000.000. In addition there are three new custom homes in excess of $2,900,000.

• The average price per square foot for April 2008 was $337.00.

If you lived in Brea you would be approximately:

• 30 Miles east of downtown Los Angeles
• 39 Miles from LAX ~ Los Angeles International Airport
• 16 Miles from John Wayne Airport ~ Santa Ana
• 10 Miles from Disneyland, the “Happiest Place on Earth” ~ Anaheim, CA.

If you’re interested in Brea real estate contact me, Lynda@PreferredHomeBrokers.com.