IHOP

General by Mike McGonagle

4125 Hackamore is my next door neighbor.  It has always always been known for it’s IHOP blue roof, and it’s Frank Lloyd Wright pretender pretensions.  My recollection is that it originally listed at $575+, and sold a year or so later at $465.  It is currently listed at $374,900.   If you followed the discussion on 1475 Palisade, you know how this story is likely to end.  (Perry, I just figured out I look at one of your photographs every day on my favorite web site,  Small world and way cool)

I toured this house when it was first listed.  Roof leaks had stained the old growth redwood siding that lined the walls and ceilings – that should have been a red flag.  The floor plan was strange, and no positive upgrades had been completed – those that were made were Home Depot at best.  But a "bargain" by Juniper Hills standards, where $700,000 tear downs dominated the market 3 years ago.

So the new land baron guts the place, erasing all that was potentially cool in this house, started installing the DeBelle window package from hell, and finally figured out that this place is a dog and he is in over his head.  It looks like a lot of dry rot was found in the roof, walls and and floor joists – basically everywhere.  "Sale due owner’s health" translates to the owner getting sick of (or from) this project.

There are a lot of properties out there bracing to face this Winter exposed to the elements.  The "$100,000 house, $300,000 lot" on Blue Heron.  The new house stopped at rough framing up on Kit Carson above Verdi.  That zowie $4 mil spec house in Caughlin Ranch that has been rotting away for more than a year.  These eyesores are as effective as the "scorched earth" front yards at tanking neighboring property values.   As if the generally economy wasn’t bad enough, we are now dealing with suburban decay.

Do you ever read the MLS listing descriptions "awaiting your finishing touches" or "hurry, and you can customize your finishes" and not cringe a little bit and translate to "flip gone bad", "too many structural problems to deal with", "HELOC got cut off"?  Do you have your own list of nuclear winter properties?

9 comments

  1. Phil

    In my nieghborhood, we have a couple houses half built, one with a roof partially built, i.e. roof tiles in stacks on the roof. As we head for a second winter with a partially finished roof, one can only wonder what restoration will need to be done. One can only hope it will be done right at some point. I wonder what kind of disclosures will come with the house 10 years down the road?

    The builder (R&B) just stopped building one day. Model homes emptied of probably the worse furnished modles I have seen (just my opinion), and now weeds are taking over the yards.

    Phase 3 has infrastructure built and is fenced off to prevent the ATV crowd from tearing it up (like a fence stops them). Phase 4 is dirt roads. Phase 2 is almost built out. Oh and there are street lights on every night for the empty lots (which gets brought up every HOA meeting).

    What bothers me is the fact the development will probably end up with a new developer and a new look. Forgive me if I like all the similar stucco boxes.

    And here is the funny part. R&B still sits on the HOA board. They have not turned over some of the common areas, and now we have a fire hazard for some of the homes that they have no money to clear. While the HOA has over 100K in funds. The HOA have cleared the parts of the common areas turned over. BTW, a fire marshall looked at the problem of the R&B owned common areas, and agreed it is a fire hazard to some homes, and some owners have taken it upon themselves to clean the area behind their homes. R&B just has some sort of fear of a liability issue if someone gets hurt on thier property. One can only wonder if the neighborhood burns down….

    This morning I noticed a problem in one of the utility areas as water was spewing out of a pipe. Another R&B problem most likeley! I will not be surprised if it is still running tonight.

    I don’t think R&B will ever come back to finish this, and now we sit probably for years with a half done development. Funny part is R&B still controls the HOA board and still come to every meeting. And I personally can tell you, the meetings are incredibly interesting and entertaining in a way. This is a frustrating situation both parties.

    I want to add I think R&B build great homes, and were/are one of the better builders here. I could not be more happy with my home. Now if I can figure out how to make it a great neighborhood….

  2. billddrummer

    To Phil,

    Where is your neighborhood?

    That sounds like R & K Homes Tucker Ranch, the subdivision off Vista Blvd & Hubble Way that Nevada State took back under a Trustee’s Sale in February. The foreclosure included three models and 7 unfinished homes along Equation Drive and Equation Ct. Peter Tomaino, a local attorney, purchased four of the unfinished homes. Individuals who wanted to live in the subdivision bought the other homes under construction, and I believe all the models have been sold. An interesting development–buyers of the homes under construction had to qualify for construction loans to complete them before they could acquire permanent financing. Apparently, even though most of the homes were framed and fully roofed, interior finish work hadn’t been done.

    I’m guessing the status of your subdivision mirrors many of the ones that R & B had a hand in, from here to Sacramento, south to Bakersfield. The BK judge granted a continuance until January 2009 to allow the principals to present a plan to the court. John Reynan listed $973 million in liabilities on his bankruptcy filing.

    http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2008/06/02/story1.html?ana=e_ph

    It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

  3. tallguy

    Maybe not a nuclear winter property per Mike’s description, but there is one nasty dark little property sold this year in verdi that I wish I knew what was going on with… 1200 square feet of dark rooms and highway 80 noise, with some train noise thrown in for fun..

    Seems shady to me, but 529 crystal park sold for 275K in April 2008 (after almost 2 years on the market, starting at 450K), and was resold in September 2008 for 550K (per Washoe county online sales records). What’s up with that? Legit sale? Fraud? Developer who thought that river frontage 100 feet away from roaring highway 80 was actually worth something? Any thoughts?

  4. doofus

    529 Crystal Park was stripped inside and out to the studs, expanded to about 1700 SF plus a 2 car garage, and tricked out pretty nicely by the owner/builder, Bridges Construction. I figure they had about $475K into the project, and am shocked that it sold at $550K after listing at $575K. Thought they would be lucky to break even on the deal given the market, the highway and railroad noise issues, even with the river frontage. Maybe a deaf buyer?

  5. Phil

    Desert Highlands near the end of Vista above Desert Fox Drive.

  6. JP Southwest

    I know the IHOP home!

    In fact, I looked at it after its reduction in price before the sale. On paper it had good acreage, was quirky, and help some charm.

    On looking at it, the redwood was fun, and certainly warranted the right improvement as a long term primary residence. In the end a strange and small floorplan combined with unusable land made us pass.

    That said I drove by recently and found the new “remodel” a horror – truly ruined all that was right about the home.

    I agree with all of your comments, and it amazes me someone buys a house like this then embarks on a remodel without secure finances to complete a project.

    WOW!

  7. tallguy

    Thanks doofus…

    I had looked at it in 2006, didn’t see it after the remodel. I am completely shocked that anyone would pay 550K to live so close to 80.. must be deaf. For the same money, you could get a much better place elsewhere in Verdi for sure.

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