This might be another on in a series of uncovered frauds on the blogs.
looking at mls listing: <nobr>I703388.   The property is located at 5 Winterfield Rd, 92602.  Originally purchased on 11/05 for 726k with $500 down.  Now listed for 739k.  </nobr>
<nobr>I used Lexis to find out about outstanding mortgages and see who the owner is and noticed the following purchases:</nobr>
<nobr>1 Thornhill for $840k on 9/05 with $0 down.</nobr>
<nobr>78 Sorenson for $715k on 9/05 with $0 down.</nobr>
<nobr>2 of the properties show up on foreclosure.com.  There are additional properties under her husband’s name, shows up on foreclosure.com too.</nobr>
<nobr>Anyone have the time to research?</nobr>

Definitely something fishy going on with these. What is the husband’s last name that you are pulling up? I found a Schumacher but it is under a warranty deed. Does anyone know how a warranty deed works? I pulled up five properties all in 92602 plus one in Riverside. I will have to look into this some more later and probably see if there is enough info for fraud and forward the info to ocrenter.
Good catch brealiving!

I found these on Foreclosure.com under ZIP 92602
3 Del Mar - $0 down
131 Talmadge - $0 down
43 Modesto - $0 down
63 Modesto - $0 down
39 Modesto - $0 down
68 Arcata - $0 down
11 Soltice - $0 down
1 Amory - $0 down
86 Sorenson - $0 down

39 Modesto was the home that started my post: Bad investment, fraud, or what?!?!?!

There is a lot of shady stuff going on here and graphrix actually contacted me a few weeks ago with some more info.  I need to follow up on some of that and create an update.

But keep posting whatever you find!

OMG this one looks like it will be big. I am gathering more info and I will email Zovall tomorrow if he is up doing a post on his blog about this one. I warn you it could be very long.
Can someone provide me with the listing agent’s name for 86 Sorenson or 43 Modesto?

Listing Agent for 43 Modesto (MLS I703441) AND 86 Sorenson (MLS I703639) is Darlene Gallegos from Century 21 Beachside

My realtor sent me old MLS listings:
43 Modesto - Both listing and buying - Remax Premier Realty
86 Sorenson - Listing ERA Newstar Realty - Buying - Out of area

lol.. I looked up the current listings for 43 Modesto and 86 Sorenson

IrvineMom has the info for the previous sales

43 Modesto was sold on 12/30/2005 for $750,000 - Listing Agent was Talin Muradyan from Re/Max and Selling Agent was Mimi Nguyen from Re/Max

86 Sorenson was sold on 12/22/2005 for $735,000 - Listing Agent was Selena Chweb from ERA New Star and I don’t have any info on Selling Agent (just Out of Area)

zovall - I searched Homeseekers.com and did not see 43 Modesto listed.  Is there another site for this type of properties?  Thank you

IrvineMom, for the current listings, they are both in RedFin or Ziprealty.  Just search using the MLS numbers above.

For the old listings, I use MLS Alliance which is a MLS website for realtors (I’m a licensed RE agent but I use a buddy’s login to get access). 

zovall - I appreciate your sharing information

OT—Here’s another flip.  2 Bramblewood, Irvine, 92602 (MLS<strong>#</strong>  S472587).  According to zillow, the sales history was:  Sold on 11/10/98 for $530K;  Sold again on 07/05/06 for $1,150,000.  Currently listed for $1,289,000.  I remembered seeing this one sitting and sitting last year before it finally sold (after numerous reductions and being pulled from the market to have the floors refinished).  After all of the flips I’ve witnessed in this area, I guess I wasn’t too surprised to see it listed again so soon.  What I am surprised by, however, is that it is under contract.  Is there really a GF out there who is going to pay $139K more than last year when the market is clearly declining? 

Can’t wait to see your post on the fraud you’ve all uncovered!  Keep up the great work!

I am impressed with the work of Zovall, Graphix, and ocrenter - Once exposed, I think the RE and Loan  agents would be more careful to spot potential frauds and not be part of it; thus, mimize loss for everyone.  Maybe I am too wishful with my thinking.

Just wondering what incentive the brokers/agents would have to prevent fraud.  Their livelihood is based on selling and moving properties.  I realize in the end it hurts them by having a weak market, but why not game the market as long as possible.

brealiving - I don’t think anything can prevent them from committing fraud.  Its just like stock brokers and hedge fund mgrs that use insider trading to runaway with big gains, money always talks. 

One issue that scares me even more about RE’s and Loan Agents is many of them only have what is equivalent to high school degrees and they are in roles that can cost ppl tons of money along with credit damage.  With that said I sometimes really don’t think they comprehend the legal implications of what is going on, only the fact that they are getting a couple thousand dollars here and their which they inturn go out and buy their new BMWs.

Speaking of high school dropouts, one of our family friends drives a ferrari.  The guy is a mortgage broker, dumb as a door knob.  To top it off, bought a $2M house 2 years ago.  He was pulling in close to $200k.  I went to school and got a degree and am working hard to save for a downpayment to buy a house. 
I should’ve dropped out too.

brealiving,

The difference is that when you buy, you will actually get to keep the house. The dunce with the Ferrari won’t.

Brealiving...it happens far to often.  However, give this guy another yr or two and I bet you wouldn’t wish that.  Not only do many of them lack integrity or professionalism but they also lack good judgement when it comes to fiscal responsibility.

Does that guy live in woodbridge by any chance? There’s a guy with a yellow Ferrari with the customized license plate HOM3SALE or something like that here in north woodbridge.  The funny thing is that he parks it outside on his driveway, not in his garage.

brealiving,

Do you live in Brea?  I work in Brea.

There’s plenty of college dropout success stories.  Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, Ted Turner, Steven Spielberg, etc.  I think CSULB finally gave Spielberg an honorary BA degree in 2002.  But those are exceptions with ambitious, self-motivated people.

Thing about most people who commit fraud is, they gradually acquire the mentality that they’d never get caught, until they leave too many paper trails or get careless and get caught.  The smart ones cash out and bail early & quietly.

Momompi....lets also remember that these guys provide a tangible good and were are the cutting edge of computer technology, well except Turner and Spielberg.  Although, I do know Dell went to the University of Texas just not sure if he ever finished.

Traditionally sales jobs do not require college degree.  I did not want to be in sales so off to college I went.  Let’s give the RE and Loan agents a break and not expecting a lot from them.

Why do the last few posts remind me of an old macro-economics professor who used to tell his students that he had never met a wealthy economist?

GrewUpInIrvine - So what do these price depreciation analysis tell you?  I do not see anyone reporting price crashing down yet;  which should occur by now, right?  The short sales are selling quickly with multiple offers (I made a few attempts with decent offers and did not win any bid)

IrvineMom - For what ever it is worth, I am not an economist… but the whole conversation about college degrees (and advanced degrees) weighing people down while others seemingly fell into the bull housing market (taking jobs as mortgage brokers, real estate agents, etc.) without any education - and now drive fancy cars, well let’s just say I found it a little amusing.  It reminded me of the point that I think my professor was trying to make - sometimes it has a lot less to do with brains than luck.
As for my take on housing.  It is all very relative.  I’ve previously discussed making an offer on a 952K home in Irvine… only to be stopped (in retrospective "saved") by a contingency clause (relating to the timely sale of my own home).  No bull, 6 weeks later the home I was pulling my hair out trying to buy was being sold in the "next phase" of a new development for about 85K less.  To me, a 9% drop in price in less than two months seemed (and still seems) very significant.  Moreover, I saw the builder starting the marketing of the next phases in "sub-phases," a builders ploy to reduce housing inventory on the market - but a ploy that probably doesn’t change their view point - since they are already committed to the development.
Where will prices go?  Hard to tell.  I suppose that market psychology has a lot to do with it.  If everyone begins to feel that the housing will leave them behind… you could see a rush to buy… which just accelerates the speculation and increasing home prices.  A little like tonights lottery.  Most people don’t pay a lot of attention to a 50 million jackpot.... but now that its up to 300 million, everyone is racing to buy tickets at the last second… which will make the final lottery pot even larger… there is an air of "last chance" that gets people all worked up… and two years ago, that psychology contributed to buyers making offers tens of thousands of dollars over asking on the first day a house was listed…
I know that in reality, a lottery ticket is far more affordable, but the psychology is similiar (and no, I am not a psychologist).  At the end of the day however, I think (and hope) that prices will relax, mitigate, solidify (choose your favorite economic terms) simply because too few households make in excess of 200K per year.   And for those of us that do, even then, a 950K home is a real stretch if you haven’t been in the game for a number of years (read: if you don’t have lots of equity and need a super jumbo loan).
Until then, I’ll stay tuned for the next installment of "Irvine Renter and the Irvine Housing Market."  But for now, I’ll stop hijacking this "fraud" post and let others get back to topic.