Bank destroying 16 unfinished forclosed houses in Cali

masraum · 05-05-2009, 09:59 AM

http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/bank-decides-demolish-new-homes/509981D0-7AAF-4A29-AE46-A490D7FE2A93

The bank figured it was cheaper to tear the houses down than try to finish and sell them.

kycarguy 935 · 05-05-2009, 10:07 AM

They should have worked out a deal with Habitat for Humanity. They could have bought the land also.

Sad to see.

m21sniper · 05-05-2009, 10:13 AM

CLEARLY the housing market has not hit bottom yet...

kaisen · 05-05-2009, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kycarguy 935

They should have worked out a deal with Habitat for Humanity. They could have bought the land also.

Sad to see.

Agreed!!

MPDano · MPDano's Garage

I wonder what part of SoCal?

daepp · 05-05-2009, 10:41 AM

High desert and Temecula.

dd74 · 05-05-2009, 10:52 AM

I was in Idyllwild yesterday, and a good portion of the new track homes from about San Dimas east are empty. Really, I wouldn't know what to do with them if I were a bank and owned these houses. Maybe if they were donated, the banks could get a tax break. I don't know. I just know there are a lot of abandoned nice homes in San Bernardino County.

legion · 05-05-2009, 10:55 AM

I suppose San Dimas looks very different now from when I lived there...

dd74 · 05-05-2009, 11:17 AM

San Dimas is built up, and a nice area. After that, well...

Rancho Cucamonga looks like a ghost town, IMO.

daepp · 05-05-2009, 11:21 AM

Dude - I drive thru Rancho twice a day. Ghost town? Where?

dd74 · 05-05-2009, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAEpperson

Dude - I drive thru Rancho twice a day. Ghost town? Where?

Right off the 210. I can't remember the street, but we used to deal with a printer out there in the industrial area. It was dead as a doornail.

Hugh R · 05-05-2009, 11:41 AM

Its in Victorville, if you've been there you'd understand why. No industry and 100 miles to LA for work. Maybe 40 or 50 miles to Palmdale if you work for Northrup/Grumman, but then why not just live in Plamdale/Lancaster? It has plenty of cheaper empty housing as well.

dad911 · 05-05-2009, 11:49 AM

Looks like no roof/siding. I've seen the same thing in NJ, house sat so long (over a year in limbo/bankruptcy) inside was covered with mold, and plywood delaminated. House was eventually torn down and rebuilt.

If there is mold, bank is taking it down to reduce liability.

m21sniper · 05-05-2009, 12:08 PM

everytime i open this thread i get a new message request, but dont have any new messages.

Bizarre.

dd74 · 05-05-2009, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh R

Its in Victorville, if you've been there you'd understand why. No industry and 100 miles to LA for work. Maybe 40 or 50 miles to Palmdale if you work for Northrup/Grumman, but then why not just live in Plamdale/Lancaster? It has plenty of cheaper empty housing as well.

O's high-speed train will make those areas viable. If O's high-speed train itself ever becomes viable.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

This is only the beginning - it'll happen a lot more. I'm actually surprised it has taken this long for the trend to start.

I guarantee there will be LOTS of commercial property demolition in the coming months as well, which is just fine by be (demolition work requires permits also, which means SOMETHING in the way of architectural work). The fees for a demo set of drawings are miniscule, but it's better than nothing, which is all there is out there today...

We are W-A-Y overbuilt as a society today - that goes for commercial AND residential. It costs money to keep up/maintain buildings and it's not going to be worth it for many of the deed holders.

Steve W · Steve W's Garage

The bank probably has at least $100k into each unit, and it would probably realistically cost them another 100k, to finish with insurance, and sales costs, and then what? With no buyers in Victorville (high desert - basically in the middle of nowhere) even at $200k, they probably tried to sell off the project but no builder would take them over, even at $50K a unit. Too much risk for not enough profit. With the liability and risk of the homeless and squatters moving in, they probably figured it was better to spend $100k to demo them all and deal with getting rid of the land later.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Steve's post is right on. Further, it's my understanding that Victorville was fining the owners (bank) of the 16 houses every day they sat, not meeting code. There were squatters, vandalism, etc.
Made some great emotional video, but the local 'remote' reporter from L.A. never did get the story straight.

dd74 · 05-05-2009, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve W

The bank probably has at least $100k into each unit, and it would probably realistically cost them another 100k, to finish with insurance, and sales costs, and then what? With no buyers in Victorville (high desert - basically in the middle of nowhere) even at $200k, they probably tried to sell off the project but no builder would take them over, even at $50K a unit. Too much risk for not enough profit. With the liability and risk of the homeless and squatters moving in, they probably figured it was better to spend $100k to demo them all and deal with getting rid of the land later.

Good point. I didn't think of it that way.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

Just drove through that area. Actually I'm amazed at the number of people who live out that way. Drove 247 from Twentynine Palms to Victorville. Flamingo Hills has a couple thousand people there. It is absolutely in the middle of nowhere. And Apple Valley has over 50K residents, Victorville close to 100K. They can't all be making meth...crazy.