A bank-owned property at 15 Skyridge in Newport Coast sold recently for $4.6 million, about 3% higher than the asking price.
Spyro Kemble, an agent for Newport Beach-based Surterre Properties Inc., represented the bank and buyer, who owns homes in Nevada and Hawaii.
The five-bedroom Mediterranean-style house had about eight offers ranging upward from $4.4 million.
“It’s not unusual for properties to sell over the asking price,” Kemble said. “If you price it right, it’s going to get activity.”
Kemble said he’s seeing more foreclosures in the luxury market.
“The lower end is starting to settle,” he said. “Our correction comes from the bottom up.”
Kemble started out selling bank-owned properties about 22 years ago amid another downturn.
When the overall market improved, he stayed in luxury sales.
These days, about one-third of his business is bank-owned sales and another third is short sales, with prices below the amount owed on properties.
Newport Beach-based REO World Inc., an asset management company, hires Kemble to market and sell bank-owned property.
“My job is to present … as many offers as I can,” he said. “That’s why it’s critical you price it right, where at least people come and look. You can say ‘no’ to any offer, but you have to get people in there to see it.”
Marketing a bank-owned or short-sale home is the same as marketing any luxury home, Kemble said.
“On the short sale you work to get the bank the best and highest price because the bank is taking a loss,” he said. “On the REO, the seller is now the lender, who took it back via foreclosure. If I can get the bank a little bit more than what they’re actually in it for, they’re going to be very happy.”
The agent essentially manages the property for the bank. All of the luxury homes have to be rehabbed to a degree.
Last year, Kemble did about $21 million in short sales.
“Banks prefer short sales,” he said. “Banks are doing a very difficult dance of trying to get rid of their distressed assets and not flooding the market.”
Auction in Dana Point
A Cape Cod-style oceanfront home at 35851 Beach Road in Dana Point is going to auction—luxury auction. The homeowner is in no kind of financial distress.
“These homes are trophy homes,” said Doug Echelberger, an agent with First Team Real Estate’s San Clemente office.
Echelberger is representing the seller, a prominent business owner who has interests across the U.S. He owns two properties on Beach Road, including the one being auctioned. Neither are his full-time residences.
“Sellers are looking for different ways to draw attention to their property,” Echelberger said. “There’s a big draw to an auction that somebody’s going to get a good value.”
The opening bid on the 4,000-square-foot estate is $3.9 million.
It’s also listed for a “buy-it-now” price of $6.9 million, down from $10.5 million in December.
The property is a rare double lot—the home is on one lot and a yard on the other.
“That really sets it apart from 95% of the beach houses,” Echelberger said. “You just don’t have that kind of yard space down there.”
It’s also on a real good surf break, he said.
New York-based Concierge Auctions LLC is the auctioneer. The bidding is slated to run Oct. 3 through 7. About a dozen people have registered for the auction so far.
Auctions have another appeal for high-net-worth individuals—they’re sport.
“You’re not talking about people who are stretching to qualify for a house that is going to be their primary residence,” Echelberger said. “For the majority of these homes, they are going to collect them like they collect cars. Just like the way the high-end auto auctions are appealing to the ultra wealthy, same with the house.”
