The Orange County Register is reporting today that Villa Rockledge, a historic 1921 family compound set on the cliffs overlooking Laguna Beach, is now entering foreclosure. Known as ‘a castle by the sea,’ this home was built by visionary architect Frank Miller nearly 100 years ago. In 1973, Roger Jones purchased it for a modest sum of $420,000. Jones put the house on the market a year ago with an asking price of $34.9 million. However, Jones was unable to sell the home, defaulted on his loan, and now the home is slated to go to auction June 30.
In a separate story, the Register reported that home foreclosure filings are dropping. The findings, taken from a report from ForeclosureRadar.com, have people puzzled. “Given the staggering number of delinquent home loans, foreclosure activity should be rising, not falling,” said Sean O’Toole, Founder and CEO of ForeclosureRadar.com. O’Toole and others attribute the decline to banks being overwhelmed by default activity and, therefore, taking longer to process defaults.
So what’s the connection and why does it matter to you?
In a recent article about rising home prices in Orange County, Mark Fitzpatrick of Fitzpatrick and Prince Real Estate said, “what we are seeing are the effects of wealthier people, who cannot hold out on selling their homes any longer, dumping their homes on the market and lowering their asking prices to achieve a sale."
The “castle by the sea” is a great example of home that is being dumped into this market. Even though this particular home seems destined for foreclosure, many wealthy people are choosing short sales as an option. Banks, overwhelmed with defaults, are creating incentives for short sales on properties that would otherwise default. Therefore, we’re beginning to see a decline in foreclosure activity. If you're a buyer, the market is still ripe with opportunity. If you're a seller, you likely have an option to short sell your home and escape the credit damage and embarrassment of foreclosure.
If you’re facing foreclosure and think a short sale might be right for you, Mark Fitzpatrick at Fitzpatrick and Prince Real Estate can help you.
Mark can be reached via phone at (800) 829-5158.
