100% upgrades? Or just weak reporting?

femto

The Bay Area brings us this oddity. From an article today in the From San Fancisco Chronicle

[Saverio and Amy Bellomo's] two-story stucco house in American Canyon is on the market for $868,000. ... When the Bellomos bought their house on Wetlands Edge Drive in 2002 ... they paid $424,000.

From the outside, the home is similar to many on the block: a large, nondescript house on a smallish lot. But inside, the house is large and stately. The Bellomos put considerable work and money into making it that way. They upgraded cabinets and added granite in the kitchen, placed an inlay in the foyer's hardwood floor and added marble and granite slabs in the bathrooms.

The Bellomos declined to say how much they paid to make the renovations but admitted that even if the house fetches full price they won't break even.

So it's listed for twice what they paid for it, and they still won't break even on upgrades? It does look pretty posh:

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1149874

But over $400,000 in non-structural upgrades in a brand new 3000 square foot home? Seems unlikely that this is the whole story. I wonder if what's really going on is they financed their lifestyle for the past 5 years via HELOCs or cash out refis?

femto

Reporting was worse than I thought. From the online comments

therealscoop wrote:

I know that house. The real truth is the Bellomos moved out of that home and had the developer greatly improve the home at no cost to them. It was done because of construction defects found in the original construction. The developer spend hundreds of thousands in reconstruction and a number of free upgrades (granite, stone wall, etc.) were given to the Bellomo's in an effort to prevent litigation. Also during all this renovation the family was put up first class at Silverado country club for months with maid service. I can not believe that they claim to have spent over 400K in upgrades and are now losing money. The truth is they never even paid for many of the upgrades they are now claiming they spend thousands of dollars on. They may have paid for some extras but to say they selling at a loss is a joke. PS. If you don't like my comments you should not go public with a story full of half truths just to get publicity for you home sale.

Posted 9/30/2007 7:42:36 PM