Anyone looking for a single-level hacienda walking distance to SJC ?

movingbackeast

New member
https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Juan-Capistrano/31282-Paseo-Sereno-92675/home/4900053

Former Irvinite here who has lived in SJC for the last several years. Used to hang out on IHB a lot during the housing bust and made a real life friend from that blog. Moving back East for family reasons but hoping to tap into the collective wisdom of this group to get some guidance on my house listing. I know it definitely needs work as a lot is either original or poorly redone (by original owner who we bought house from) but re-done comp in our immediate tract are recently going for 300-400k more so we feel our price is fair. You can be blunt but please don't be jerks because this is my home.
 
Thanks USCTrojanCPA, that makes sense. Thanks for the kind words too about the house. We have sold places before but this place is special to us. We knew exactly what improvements we wanted to make and we've watched SJC's downtown get revitalized over the past many years.
 
The problem with your location is that the schools suck.  Your elementary is rated a 4.  So any buyer will have to fork over another 30k per kid, per year for St. Margaret?s. 

Also, the other listing you provided is not a comp, it?s more like wishful thinking.  The square footage is almost 20% bigger and fully modernized inside.  Yours will have to be totally gutted to even look like that.

Lastly, some of your photos are staged pretty badly.  Couldn?t someone make your bed?  And put away your Oxi Clean?
 
WTTCHMN said:
The problem with your location is that the schools suck.  Your elementary is rated a 4.  So any buyer will have to fork over another 30k per kid, per year for St. Margaret?s. 

Also, the other listing you provided is not a comp, it?s more like wishful thinking.  The square footage is almost 20% bigger and fully modernized inside.  Yours will have to be totally gutted to even look like that.

Lastly, some of your photos are staged pretty badly.  Couldn?t someone make your bed?  And put away your Oxi Clean?

You portrayed an astute observation. And I thought you only post links.  :).
 
Good comments from WTTCHMN.  It may be worthwhile to do some light touch ups here and there to make the home look more in "sync".  Professional stagers can help you with that - you don't have to rent new furniture , but they will be able to move some things around to make the home more inviting and perhaps recommend painting a wall or two.  It may be worth it if your goal is to get that stretch pricing, although as USC pointed out , if you are not in escrow  by now,  you are looking at a listing price cut anyways. 
 
I know that area well. It's not a place where most buyers with kids are looking to purchase so yes, schools aren't a big deal relative to other areas.

There is only one single story SFR listed at a higher price in your area. It's larger, but dated, and doesn't have a pool. The pool in your home, while nice, isn't a draw for many buyers. This home has also been on the market for about the same time as yours. I'd expect them to cut price or de-list soon.

Most single story SFR's that have either closed in the last 90 days or are presently listed are $30-$60k under your present price.  It's time to revisit the key issue - price - and make the hard choice needed here. A good $60-$80k cut might generate the interest you're looking for. Remember, others have closed $60k near your price, but July is a completely different market than October.

Best wishes for success here.

 
Your ?comp? on Amapola was purchased in January for 865k before it was rehabbed and flipped 5 months later for 1.4 M.

Pretty impressed that the flipper could do all that - plus landscaping - in 5 months.  Whoever did it is a pro.
 
Thank you all for your tough love and comments.

More ?comps? for you. All the examples in this thread are part of the 51 Casas Capistrano HOA which differ in floorplans/square footage and how much they?ve been updated in 50 years but with similar feel in that they are all walled single level haciendas:
https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Juan-Capistrano/31251-Paseo-Olivos-92675/home/4900041-  smaller, more upgrades but interestingly they have put a roof and are doing extensive renovations since it sold
https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Juan-Capistrano/31272-Paseo-Olivos-92675/home/4900031- same floor plan, more upgrades, no A/C less private lot that is closer to the 5 and hence louder

We have had a lot of flipper and or owner/flipper (a la Jeff Lewis) types come through the neighborhood the last couple years. I could list two others on my court where the new owners bought for over 1.1M in the past 2 years and they?ve probably put in another 100k as they view it as their forever home. Its an interesting pocket of San Juan which is why we stalked and rented here before we bought ourselves.
 
So, I think you have a beautiful home.  Some features are a little dated but with a focus on staging, could bridge to 'vintage' or rustic and charming.

JIMHO, you're leaving too much off the table.  And too much on the shelf. :)  You have incredible outdoor living space.  It needs to be staged.  Buyers need to see the pool, see the seating, see the grill and patio, outdoor table and envision their dinner party /family evenings in, out and about the house and pool.  Redo the pool shot with an early evening photo and not harsh mid-afternoon sun photo. IMHO.

You need staging inside to create a consistent theme and show buyers what could be.  Right now they get mixed messages of beautiful nursery juxtaposed with rolling office chair on a plastic static mat taking up the foyer between the living room and kitchen.  Don't get me wrong, I'd probably have rolling chair and mat too, but you want your buyer to think cool we can put a vintage wood chair at the desk to do a little work instead of thinking oh yeah, my office chair is going to look kind of clunky here.

Restage, re-photo shoot and remarket take it off market if you can for a while and come back.  Languishing on the market makes buyers look for issues to figure out why.
 
Wow, thank you so much nosuchreality. I work from home and sit on that chair every day (work from home) so didn't even see how ugly that and the mat looked until you pointed it out. OMG. And you are right about the outside... the indoor/outdoor thing is what drew us to these homes and we haven't played that up at all really. We may have to look at some staging rental options there as we don't need all that for back East. Wow again everyone this is real estate/staging/photography/marketing and counseling all at once. :)
 
NSR is totally right.

Not sure who your realtor is and the fact that they used the 3D modeling feature means they have some experience but when a home hasn't been updated, staging makes up for the older features.

It does look like there was some basic staging done but as NSR pointed out, there are some ways that the staging and photos can be done so they are more appealing. For instance, I would not include the picture of the bathroom with the pink tile... focus more on the nice things, the kitchen looks like it has some nice updates... and the outdoor space is great.

P.S. That front door is awesome.
 
I might be the minority here, but I don't think the issue is the photo/staging. I find the home very beautiful and much better floor plan than many Irvine homes and the photos/3D clearly show that.

I believe the key of selling the home has got to be the LISTING PRICE. Like I've mentioned in other thread, homes are not selling well now especially if you put up with the comps even in Irvine. If you adjust the listing price more towards 2017's price range, the home might get above listing price offers and eventually get where you want. But it's something you would want to discuss with your family and the realtor more since I don't fully know your situation with budget and stuff.

 
Thank you all. We have lowered our price and are going to look to stage outdoor primarily better and reshoot pics. You all are the best - can we start an East Coast sister site around the DC area?
 
The Canon Experience Center in Costa Mesa sometimes have photography classes for real estate professionals.  You might want to check with them for some ideas.
 
momopi said:
?  Seems St. Margaret charge a lot more than J Serra?

Yes, pretty sure St. Margaret is by far the most expensive private school in the area. J Serra has a beautiful campus that is closer to this house and less than half I believe. The Mission Basilica school for K-8 (I think) is Blue Ribbon school, much cheaper and walking distance from this neighborhood as well.
 
Back
Top