What are my best chances of buying a Irvine Townhome in Foreclosure?

Question:

It has been a dream for me to own a home and start my new family in Irvine, CA since my early 20s. Three years ago, I flew out to the Irvine ranch to be on the lottery to purchase a towhhome in Irvine, CA for $459,000 for a 3bed/3bath 1600 square feet. At that time i was single, and i had cold feet when my name was called. I thought the price was too high then. Til this day i regret not purchasing. Now as i am trying again to move to Irvine. I am looking for a townhome between 0-5 years (3 bed/ 3 bath 1600 square feet )for about $550,000 in Irvine. What are my best chances to get a home in foreclosure in Irvine. How can i go about seeking those opportunities? Also i am waiting to see if the Irvine real estate cools down a bit. Do you think the prices will go down about 10% by first quarter of 2008?

Answer:
I have a feeling prices will not increase but also certainly not decrease. The market is slow but housing costs are still steady. You may want to look into buying a foreclosure. There are plenty of sites that you can search for properties nationwide or specifically in Irvine. There is a lot involved but it may be worth it if your motivated.

I use http://www.foreclosure.com when I was purchasing rental properties. You can take the 7-day trial to see if that's really what route you want to take.

Happy hunting. You sound pretty motivated. That's great just keep saving and go get that house in Irvine!

I'm a real estate broker, investor and Realtor in Irvine, CA. I mainly work with foreclosures. I know of a couple of properties that are 3BD/2.5BA 1600 sqft at 550k, but they're built in the mid 1970's. What you want is to look for foreclosures and opportunities in the West Irvine and Northwood area. If you're patient and don't have problems with missing fixtures, pink walls and pet stained carpets, I can find what you're looking for. By the way, a 3BD/3BA is hard to find regardless. They're usually 3BD/2.5BA. I wonder if what you saw was in the Oak Creek area.

Also, are you sure you only can afford 550k? I'm working on a single family detached 3bd/2.5ba 1600 sqft , built in 1998, with a huge front yard in Irvine that's in foreclosure and I think I can get it at 670k.

Shoot me an e-mail and let's see what your options are and how I might be able to help you. I do foreclosures and loans, so you'll only need to go through one person to get sound advice and information.

Oh, to answer your question, I don't see prices dropping in Irvine another 10%. If anything, maybe 5%, but that's it. Some areas have already hit 2004 pricing and I can't see them going down any further. I also own three properties in Irvine, and one of them has increased 2% in the last 5 months because of the new development around Irvine Spectrum.

Good luck and I wish you luck.

Regards

EDIT:
I looked and the cheapest 3bd/3ba townhouse built in 2000, 1638sqft in West Irvine (suprise!) is 599k and it looks like the owner is facing foreclosure. Comps in that area are 640k.

What are my best chances of buying a Irvine Townhome in Foreclosure?

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