Be grateful you're not a seller in...

...Tustin. For the day, we're going to leave South County (aka the bubble within a bubble) and see what's going on in central OC. To sum it up: Things don't look too great there, either.

UPDATE: A reader tipped us that this property has undergone yet another price reduction. It's showing up in ZipRealty as $520,000 and on Redfin as a range of $500-520k. I've adjusted the calculations at the bottom to reflect this.

1772 Irvine Blvd, Tustin, 92780

Asking price: $500,000-$520,000

Asking price/ sq ft: $333
Income requirement: $137,500
Size: 3 beds, 2 baths, 1,500 sq ft (built in 1956)

MLS: S490966 (132 days on Redfin)

Purchase price: $690,000
Purchase date: 11/22/2005

2006 property tax: $7,131
Type: Single Family Residence

Style: Ranch

Stories: One level
Lot size: 9,338 sq ft
From listing: Single Story Ranch Style Home located in a desirable area of Tustin with Spacious Living and Family/Bonus Room, Fitted Kitchen with Dining Area and a Corner Lot with Large Back Yard. This Home has a lot of Potential and needs Tender Loving Care. No Mello Roos & No HOA. Great opportunity for Investment as well as for Primary Residence.

Judging by the recent sales history, it looks like this property may have been flipped successfully in 2005 for a $60k profit before selling costs. Even the owners before that only held the property for about a year, from 2004-2005, and cashed in as well.
11/22/2005 $690,000
4/27/2005: $630,000
5/21/2004 $559,000

The property is showing up with a $599k asking price on ZipRealty, and a price range of $550k-$599k on Redfin. Since the house has been sitting, unsold, for more than four months, it seems safe to say that it's still too expensive, whatever the real price is.

Assuming an unlikely sale at $520k, the current loss would be just $201,000, assuming 6 percent selling costs. If the property were to sell at $500k, the loss would be $220,000.