Hitting the skids in Trabuco Canyon

Buy a house in Trabuco Canyon at or just past the real estate market peak. Spend $130k in upgrades. Price $160k above what you paid for the property. What could go wrong?

20592 Sycamore Road, 92679
Asking price: $685,000
Previous sales price: $525,000
Previous sales date: 11/30/06

Beds:	3
Baths:	2
Sq. Ft.:	2,000
$/Sq. Ft.:	$342
Lot Size:	0.51 Acres
Property Type:	Single Family Residence
Style:	Contemporary
Stories:	2
View:	Trees/Woods
Year Built:	1954
Community:	Trabuco Canyon
County:	Orange
MLS#:	P690877
Source:	SoCalMLS
Status:	Active
On Redfin:	131 days

From listing: Over $130,000 spent in upgrades over the past 2 years-Spectacular-like a brand new home. Totally private 1/2 acre estate with tons on parking, rv access, garage w/small workshop, gated entrance w/impressive wrought iron fencing & room for at least 3 horses. Mature oaks & sycamores, creek & mountain view, reflection pond. All new dual paned windows, new wooden siding & fresh exterior paint, all new light wooden interior walls, mirrored wardrobe doors, recessed lighting, immaculate & clean. Family room enjoys granite wet bar, wood floors and a dramatic open beam ceiling, slider to patio & picture window with view of peaceful grounds. New kitchen with stainless dishwasher,refrig,microwave, gas stove, granite counters. Living/Dining Room has fabulous river rock fireplace, Spanish paver tiles. Master has separate office nook, private balcony w/mountain view, vaulted ceiling, huge bathroom w/claw-foot tub, walk-in closet. Public riding arena and trails down the street, 5 min to shopping.

This house sold for $343,500 and "only" went for around $200k more in 2006. As you can see, the current owner believes they have put enough work into the property to have it be worth even more today.

The fact that the property has been sitting on the market for four months with no price reductions says otherwise. If the property can be sold for the current asking price (not likely), and we were to subtract 6% for sales costs, the owner would be looking at a loss of about $11,000 - taking into account $130k spent on upgrades. In essence, they're looking to get out of this property for essentially breakeven.