The Center for Regional Studies just (finally) released their March 2009 and Q1 numbers.  The median cost of a new single family home in Reno was $133/SF, and the median cost of a resale home was $115/SF ($404/SF in Incline, for reference).

8556 Timaru in the ‘Sett just listed for $297,000.  It is a 2593 SF 3/2.5.  It was purchased in December 2006 for $689,871 ($266/SF) and the current listing price represents the City average of $115/SF.  That is a 57% decline.  The house doesn’t look like it has been "Juaned", though the landscaping is pretty well shot.

The same former owner tanked 1678 Spring Hill in the Village.  It was purchase in March 2006 for $414,900 or $204/SF.  It is currently listed at $260,000 ($128/SF), though a twin model at 1654 Springhill is listed at $169,900 or $84/SF.  (1690 is listed slightly higher at $91/SF).  Remember that auction here?

8440 Castlehawk just listed at $450,000 or $148/SF.  It was purchased in April 2005 for $795,536 or $261/SF, so the decline is about 43%.

8475 Castlehawk just sold out of foreclosure in March for $455,000.  This house is a twin size wise to 8440.  Originally purchased in April 2005 for $691,147 ($227/SF), the recent purchase represented at 34% decline to $150/SF.

Diane’s short sale home was purchased for $191/SF, and is in contract at about $135/SF, only a 29% decline.  If the sale goes through, the lender ought to be facing Mecca and thanking Diane for obtaining the best worst case scenario in the neighborhood.

I guess the point is that $/SF pricing is all over the board right now.  Pity the organic seller who has to compete in this market.   Though have you noticed the huge swelling of "old" owners who have been listing their homes lately at very competitive prices?

Some odds and ends for weekend discussion:

-  The Notice of Sale for the Cal Neva Resort and Spa was posted today.  See you on the courthouse steps 8 April 2009 at 11 AM.  Estimated debt at sale date is $26,816,549.29.

-  Mitch Argon has a fun new feature on his site - Recently Reduced Properties.  It tracks reductions over the last five days by price band.  Interesting correlation between what is selling and what is being reduced.

-  For all you Cramer haters, you have to watch the  video of him getting scathed last night by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show.  Cramer starts at about 4:40 in.

-  Winnemucca Ranch / Spring Mountain received it’s final approval yesterday, though there are already law suits lining up against it.  I have certain opinions about the wisdom of building a 12,000 house development 30 miles outside of downtown Reno.  I look forward to hearing yours.  You can see their development book here.

 -  8656 18th Hole just relisted in Somersett.  It was purchased just 7 months ago (I think it was a model) for $513,625 and is now listed at $400,000.  That’s a $16,000 a month burn rate before factoring in transaction costs.  Also in the ‘Sett, an investor snagged 2165 Maple Leaf at auction for $248,500 this week.  Purchased in October 2005 for $598,670, there was $550,000 due on the note at the trustee’s sale.  This property has lost $8500 a month since it was purchased.  1940 Bechtol Ridge  just listed at $549,000, down from $892,518 in May 2006 - $10,000 per month.

-  I’m getting a "That page doesn’t exist’ message for Chase Nation.  Probably just a network glitch?

-  The best comment of the week (or maybe forever) had to be Grand Wazoo’s "smells like stucco!" on the TICOR thread.  You make all the work that goes into this blog worthwhile, sometimes.  Have a great weekend.

Remember when Craig’s List was a useful tool in your real estate search?  You could actually find sellers looking for buyers, a nice little FSBO marketplace.

Then the Realtors discovered CL and started wallpapering it with all their MLS "listings".  The number of daily posts increased at least 10 fold and became unmanageable to sift through, homes were reposted daily, and the whole concept of a Craig’s List Community, the whole reason Craig’s List exists, was lost. (you can now search for agent or owner postings)

Anyone who has ever used CL knows who the worst offender is - "Kristina".  4 or 5 postings a day, ALL CAPS, weird ampersands stars and symbols, "just listed" for months on end, "best deal", "below market", "won’t last".  If you enter "kristina" into the search bar, you get 162 postings!  All are spaced out to meet CL rules, and all show the inability to move the listings.

When I get really bored or pissed off, I find poking sticks at Realtors good therapy, and Kristina has gotten her share of rib jabs from me:

-  Non-disclosure of her property ownership in many  listings.

-  Posting listings from other agents at her brokerage to drum up business.

-  Posting listings she has absolutely nothing to do with from other brokerages to drum up referrals.

-  Not listing, or mis-listing property addresses to hinder public records searches.

I should have saved some of her responses for your enjoyment.  Suffice it to say they did not bring an air of professionalism to the discourse, or to her chosen profession.  Lunatic rants might be a better description of the responses I received to my criticisms. 

Oh wait, did I mention she and her husband were also investors?  They managed over a few years to assemble the second ickiest portfolio of properties I have ever seen (search Nick or Gita Kavishi for a real rubber glove experience).  Here are their NODs for the last  2 months:  535 Nicia, 9105 Red Baron, 612 W. Plumb, 11508 Sitka, 11675 Fir, 3815 Petrel, and 6580 Fern.  There are a few other properties to follow shortly.

Silly, puritanical me, but I expect a "Real Estate Executive of Northern Nevada" to actually be one and act like one, to understand the market as a professional, and to serve their clients on either side of the deal as one.    The Kristina has done none of these, and has demeaned whatever little credibility here industry still holds.  So STOMP.  I feel better, but I’ll have to clean my shoes off now.  Edelmira?  STOMP.  Barnes Group? STOMP.  50 other industry professionals holding 300 or more default properties? STOMP.

Do you have other STOMP candidates?

Do you think you can buy a house that sold new in March 2006 for $627,166 for $236,000?  It happened today on 8648 18th Hole Trail in our favorite golf and lifestyle community. 

Very few people have the fortitude, luck, or deep pockets to brave the Trustee’s Sales on the courthouse steps.  But there a few investors that are active here.  Mian Arif, Peter and Lois McAllester, Peter Kendrick, Tina Pettie, Jack Flower, Whipken Properties, Sundial Properties.  Sometimes as individuals, sometimes in combinations, they are staring down the banks and picking up properties at unbelievable bargain prices.  After a coat of paint, the properties are listed at about 10% under market and moved quickly.  The club members bought 2 foreclosures today, and these properties will be interesting to watch:

-  8648 18th Hole Trail  was purchased with a $417,000 (conforming) first loan, and a $147,400 second.  The amount owing on the first including fees and penalties was $442,000, and the bank let it go for $236,000, cash.

-  2305 Parkway was purchased in November 2005 for $477,500 with a $308,000 first loan, and refied 2 months later with a $347,900 Option ARM.  The amount owing at the Trustee’s Sale was $414,000 including fees, penalties and negative amortization.  $236,000 must have been the magic number today, it was all the cash that was need to purchase the property.

These folks really know how to make the banks limbo down.  I am sure they have many, many deals that don’t work out, but the killer pricing they are getting on the completed deals are stunning.  So what’s the upside that makes the risk worthwhile?  Here are a couple of their recent completed sales:

-  2721 Sunline was originally purchased in July 2003 for $289,979.  It was purchased on the courthouse steps in January for $258,000, and resold in July for $358,000.

-  6380 Stone Valley went for $235,001 at the Trustee’s Sale last December, and sold in July for $295,000.

-  10698 Autumn Leaf was purchased new in April 2006 for $444,569, bought at the Trustee’s Sale for $259,501 in April, and resold in July for $355,350.

-  10115 Burghley (stay away from this street, it is cursed) was purchased new in January 2006 for $776,925, bought at the Sale for $321,751, and resold in August for $470,000.  That’s a 40% price drop, and a $150,000 gross profit for a 7 month hold.

Do you know these people?  I’ve been quizzing Diane and Guy about them for 6 months, and they are completely under the radar.  I admire them - they are market educated, financed and prepared.  If they were putting an investment fund together, maybe even BanteringBear would be interested.  I know I’d be all in.

Of all the projects downtown, the Belvedere (Sundowner) is the one I could never wrap my arms around.  What was it supposed to be when it grew up?   Too expensive for UNR student housing.  Too far away from the "inner city" development for the locals or investors.  Really strange unit plans.  High prices.  I get what Grand Sierra Resort, Holcomb Lofts, Ponte Veccio, Gray’s Landing, Arterra, Wingfield Towers and others were trying to achieve.  But what was the Belvedere thinking?

The notice of default on the $32,000,000 construction loan was finally filed yesterday.  This isn’t much of a surprise to anyone who follows downtown.  Construction has been at a standstill for months.  The first mechanic’s lien was filed in October 2007 (and subsequently released).  Literally hundreds of additional liens have been filed by the contractors and consultants since (some cured, most not),  and the Reno tax liens have been huge.  The "closings" the last few months (2 May was the last one) have mostly been to parties connected to the developer.   And several lien holders have been petitioning to foreclose based on their mechanic’s liens.

There are literally millions owed to local contractors and consultants who, most likely, will see zero return from their accounts receivable.  There is an additional $6,500,000 in hard money loans on the project that will probably be wiped out.   There are probably a few saps that actually bought here to live, and now will find that they are the sole support of the HOA.  Can you imagine living in a ghost ex-casino?

RIP,  Belvedere.  I can only hope the next incarnation of the Sundowner won’t be the King’s Inn Jr. and be left to rot for 30 years as a blight on downtown.  I’m not too hopeful.

So, OK, blogmind, what should the Sundowner become in its next iteration?.

Do you have your favorites?  Outrageous price?  "Contractor special?"  "Close to transportation" (abuts I-80 sound wall)?  "Selling due to illness" (got sick of the project)?   Let’s have some fun this weekend, and post away with your best shots on the worst Reno area listings.  Links and/or MSL listing numbers are appreciated.

My current favorite?  2895 Arentz in Belli Ranch, MLS 80010780, http://www.prunevada.com/propertyDetail.aspx?listingid=17-80010780&src=propSearch.  This is a Realtor owned home, and the photo quality is stunning!. I didn’t know that shoe phones had photo capabilities!

This listing sure does not make me leaping up to plopping down $1,400,000, and actually, the price is very justifiable.   A 3 way lot split with riverfront access  is possible due to a fluke in the CCRs, which the owner and certainly the listing agent don’t know about,.  And by the way to proxy listing agent Kasey, the zip code is 89523, not 89436 Spanish Springs.  Maybe you were going for 89439 Verdi?  Still got it wrong.  Is it an upgrade if it he 3 fireplaces are from the original construction in 1986?

Can you imagine if Guy listed Diane’s house, and this is what went out to the public forums?

Have fun with this one!

Aoccdrnig to rseearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

Yeah, so… on the same day that Sellsius bestows a major blogger honor on our humble, little site, bringing tons of new traffic, we just happen to change our domain mapping sitewide. Talk about bad timing. This means we may have broken links, and due to some inexplicable Typepad bug, all of Guy’s, Jaded’s and everyone else’s posts have my name on them (no, I was not congratulating myself on the front page in the third person… geez, that’d be freaky). Anyway, my apologies. We’ll get it all fixed just as soon as possible.

In the meantime, if you’ve linked to our site with a permalink, please be aware that you will need to change the link as follows within 30 days to avoid breakage.  As an example:

From /2007/10/september-media.html
To /2007/10/september-media.html

If you’ve added us to your blogroll [thank you], the new link would be simply:

http://www.renorealtyblog.com