Two more stories:
Elroy's:
Message 20695570
Trouble in AZ:
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Cashing out hard to do
By JONATHAN LANSNER
The Orange County Register
One chore separates Steve and Yolanda Sprinz of Westminster from completing a dream relocation.
Their only daughter is done with college and living on her own. The couple found the perfect retirement house, a fixer-upper they snapped up this summer in Arizona.
They're very ready for a new stage of their life - quasi- retirement near the famous red rocks of Sedona.
The last step? Sell the home they've owned for 22 years, a seemingly straightforward task. Or so the couple thought.
For the past two months, just about nobody's wanted their home - two well- groomed stories filled with six bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a three-car garage at the end of a cul-de-sac near Beach Boulevard.
Their predicament is a snapshot of Orange County's lethargic real-estate market, where sales activity has run behind last year's pace for the past six months.
Steve and Yolanda have seen only low-ball offers from bottom-feeder shoppers for their comfy home. That's even after they cut the asking price twice - from $749,000 to $699,900.
Meanwhile, the couple is trying their best to keep on the task. For example, they've already moved enough stuff to Arizona that they no longer must stay in a motel when visiting their new home. And minor improvements are under way at that house, too.
But fully jumping into a new stage oftheir lives - including a serious remodeling of the Arizona house - is pretty much on hold because the Westminster home hasn't sold.
Steve likens the situation to airliners circling a crowded airport waiting to land.
"We're in the stack," Steve says.
WAITING FOR A MATCH
Steve and Yolanda's story is a Southern California melting-pot tale.
Steve, 56, is a software programmer who grew up in New York City. Yolanda, 57, is a graphic artist - and a fourth-generation Los Angeleno.
After Steve moved west, the couple met when both were living in Hermosa Beach. It's the same town where 33 years ago, shortly after their marriage, they bought their first home - 902 square feet of residence four blocks from the ocean.
A decade later, with a 3-year-old in tow, they came to Orange County seeking elbow room. They found 3,162 square feet of it for about $200,000 - the very first home they looked at in this neighborhood near Westminster Memorial Park
"I don't want to say it was love at first sight," Steve says. But it was.
Two years ago, their child finally left the nest and the couple started thinking about downsizing. And not just to a smaller home.
THE HARD SELL
It's almost decision time. For this couple - and the nation.
The couple believe that, once the presidential election is over, people will be relieved of that uncertainty and can again make informed decisions about big purchases - such as a home. Steve and Yolanda don't know which election outcome would be better for selling their home.
"We're getting nervous," Yolanda says.
(MORE) ocregister.com cle_288025.php |
