It’s amazing how much information clients pull from the Internet before ever talking to me. Sometimes by the time we get to the actual house for a showing, they know more about it than I do! Old-style Realtors have trouble with this, but I just go with the flow and help the client interpret whatever data they’ve found. Sorting the wheat from the chaff is a big part of my job.
Recently, two unrelated regular readers tipped me off to the same house as a potential good deal. Given how incredibly smart you all are, I thought it’d be a fun experiment to challenge you to see just how much you could find out about this property online: the pricing history, the sales comps, the owner’s story (without mentioning names), loan status, the property condition and whatever else you can think of to determine where this lands on the deal-o-meter.
So, anyone up to the challenge? see
4 comments
house is held in family trust, not owner occupied, Nice house but very 1986, Kitchen (and I assume) bathrooms need upgrading probably 50k + should be considered a low to moderate amount to bring them up to date. Looking at comps is a little tough, there are only 2 homes sold in the immediate area which show a huge disparity in price per sqf, I think 600k-650k is an ok price assuming there is no major work needed on the home outside of renovations mentioned. Loan appears to be paid off as evidenced by quit claim deed filed by Nevada State bank in 2005.
It looks like the house was listed at $799,000 not too long ago. The house has probably been empty since July of 2006. The owners live in Somersett. They appear to be the original owners. The house is held in trust. The taxes are $3885.97. The lot size sounds like a good deal but it isn’t all usable. The lot slopes off not far behind the house about 50 feet. According to the County the house is on well, septic and is heated by a heat pump.
I don’t think I’d want to live on Dog Valley Road. I bet it gets busy with dirt bike riders in the summer and especially on the weekends. The house does sit back from the road and looks to have quite a few trees which could lessen the noise. I’d want to call about the home owner’s insurance and see if it’s classified as being in a forested area because the construction (shingle roof and siding) of the house would lead me to think it would be expensive.
Is the house a good deal? I’m really cheap, but I don’t think so. I’d want to pay about $125,000 less than the current price. I think the house is worth $650,000 if it were in turn key updated condition. The house listed at 105 Lakeview Drive doesn’t have as much land but I would say it has as much usable land and is turn key. It’s been listed at $795,000 for some time now and still hasn’t sold. I know that more expensive houses take longer to sell but more than six months seems too long. Lakeview is probably worth $690,000 which to me makes Dog Valley worth $525,000 in its current condition.
Hi Diane,
A little snooping around and here’s what I came up with:
This home was a second residence for the owners as their primary residence was on Turleton Way in Reno. This house has been on the market for 354 days (I couldn’t find a price history). The owners HELOC’d it for $200k (Nevada State Bank) in October of 2004. They bought another house from Pulte (Del Webb in Somersett) in July of 2006 for $453,424.
Based on the recent sold comps, the asking price of ~220 per square foot seems like a great deal especially given the size of the lot. The quality of construction is very good and the house seems to be in great shape.
Of course, being the bear I am, I still consider it overpriced. I guess I’m just stuck in the old days!
Dang, I wanted to be first on this one, but the Recorder’s web site is even more messed up than usual today. My $.02:
Perry, good call on the Dog Valley Road traffic issue. I also would worry about being in a canyon with only 1 good fire path of egress.
Lynne, you right about the difficulty getting comps in the Verdi area. 2560 Erminia just closed for $780,000 after being on the market for well over a year (starting at $1,090,000!) It is a bit bigger than Dog Valley, has the same sort of feel, and has gone through pretty extensive renovation, but no AC.
Bear, you’ll love this one! The LOAN amount on their new Virginian model at Sierra Canyon was $453,424. Purchase price was $566,780 with 20% down. There are resales of that model listed at $499,000.
There is no permit record for Dog Valley, so think the $100,000 remodeling budget is about right. Based on the age of the house and no permit, I would guess the shake roof is at the end of its lifespan.
The seller is an attorney, for what it’s worth!
Everything from the East Verdi exit to the border is approved for a 3000 unit development.
http://www.summitnv.com/verdidsh.pdf
That’s another Somersett, guys! I think in the long term it will push up the value of the large-lot “horse properties” like this one.
All in all, I think this is a pretty fair deal. I’d go in at $575,000 and settle around $615,000.