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

169 total properties for sale ~ of which only 15 are identified as Bank Repos, slightly less than 9% of the total inventory. However, when you factor in current short sale properties that total swells to 40% of the current inventory. That’s right another 53 homes 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 multiple listing service as a short sale).

La Mirada bank repos are currently priced from a low of $163,000 for a one-bedroom one bath  condo in the Los Olivos complex at Ocaso and La Mirada Blvd. to $789,000 for a 5 bedroom 3/bathHillsboro Manor home near Beach Blvd. and Hillsboro Drive, south of Imperial Hwy.

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.

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!

If you’re interested in finding out more about a La Mirada bank repo, contact me, Lynda@PreferredHomeBrokers.com

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.