A Texas business executive purchased a home in Emerald Bay in Laguna Beach for $6.7 million.
Roger K. Bower is the founder of Chemguard Inc. in Mansfield, Tex., which makes fire suppression products and was acquired for $130 million by Tyco International Ltd. this year. He joins prominent Orange County business executives such as Quiksilver’s Bob McKnight, among others, in the gated neighborhood.
“It’s good company,” said Kyle O’Kelly, owner of Beach Cities Fine Homes of Dana Point.
O’Kelly represented Bower.
William Coté, an agent with First Team Real Estate of Costa Mesa, represented the seller.
Bower bought the place at 165 Emerald Bay as an additional home, with an eye on the land and plans for new construction.
The existing home was in 1989 and needed repairs. The seller wasn’t interested in fixing before selling, Coté said. It was sold “as is.”
The seller raised his family in Orange County and is moving to the La Jolla area, where his children live. The buyer, taken by the views, saw potential.
“My client had some ideas of what was possible there,” O’Kelly said. “This location has a killer view of Catalina Island.”
The plan is to renovate the home to maximize that view. Bower will employ a local architect.
Bower kept his eye on the Emerald Bay home for some time, O’Kelly said. At one point it was listed for $18 million, O’Kelly said. In October 2009, it was listed for $11.9 million, according to Redfin.com. It was reduced to $9.9 million in April 2010, then to $7.6 million last March and finally to $6.7 million.
It took a while to talk the seller down to the market value price, Coté said.
The home had three offers the week that it was sold, Coté said.
“That’s what happens when properties are priced properly,” he said. “It was very fairly priced and the buyer recognized that.”
Local Construction
Bower’s home won’t be the only one under construction in the neighborhood. A nearby home is going up for $20 million or so.
The owner is Louis Welch, chief executive of Irvine-based L.A. Fitness International LLC. Newport Beach-based C.J. Light Associates is the architect.
Welch isn’t new to Laguna Beach. He paid $34.5 million for a home there in 2008, one of the most expensive deals ever in Orange County.
Reality Check
Many sellers still haven’t come to terms with the housing market, which has yet to hit bottom, Coté said. Economists are predicting another 5% to 10% fall in the U.S. housing market.
Sellers typically believe their homes are worth 15% to 20% more than the market price, he said.
Some sellers are trying to wait out the market.
“How can you wait out a market that poses so much uncertainty, and what are you waiting out?” Coté said. “These are the questions that need to be answered by sellers.”
Coté, who’s been an agent for 41 years, represented the homeowner who sold 24 Harbor Island to Pimco’s Gross for $23 million in 2009. Gross tore that home down and is now selling the double lot with mega-yacht parking for $26.5 million.
Earlier this year, Gross bought actress Jennifer Aniston’s Beverly Hills home for $37 million.
Coté said he and his real estate partner—the two are affiliated with First Team but operate independently—are set to break $60 million this year.
“I haven’t done one deal that’s involved a loan,” he said.
Linda Isle Reduction
Another late-November sale came at 23 Linda Isle.
The 4,100 square-foot, three-bedroom home sold for $4.9 million—$1,197 a square foot.
Susan Weir, an agent with Prudential California Realty, represented the seller. Nancy Lavigne, of Coldwell Banker Previews International, represented the buyer.
