I really appreciate the honesty of the listing. I can just imagine the same house, photographed so as to just avoid putting the major cracks in the images. At least you'd know what you're getting in to.
In all seriousness, the issues seem to have been caused by the land and house next door. Any chance one could make a claim on that homeowner's insurance? Oh, wait. They didn't have insurance.
Huh. Here's an article from 1979 where a geologist is warning about landslides in that area (I think). I'm too cheap to pay for the article, but I bet it's related.
http://tinyurl.com/qwrt46
GEOLOGIST FEARS SLIDE IN AREA OF 1-5 PROJECT Los Angeles Times Oct 11, 1979
June 5, 2009 at 2:58 PM
Anonymous said...
I feel the earth move under my feet, I feel the sky tumblin' down, tumblin' down, tumblin' downnnah!
June 5, 2009 at 3:08 PM
blake said...
I keep picturing Amy Poehler falling in "the pit" from 'Parks and Recreation'.
I feel kinda bad for the landowners. It's one thing to have to replace plumbing or fix a wall, but it's got to be rough to deal with half of your property collapsing.
Several years ago, three luxury homes in my city literally fell into the river valley. People insisted on building there, probably because the views were so lovely. But with years of watering grass and erosion and whatnot, the ground just gave out, and pooof... no more house.
These pictures just never cease to amaze me. I've been on an internet diet, but I thought, maaaybeeee I'll just buzz the lovely site on my highly limited minutes... This listing alone makes the splurge all worth it! You'ze a mahvel; thanks!
The hills in San Clemente are basically made of sand and are notoriously slippery. Houses have been falling into the canyons forever. A few streets over an entire cul-de-sac of homes fell into the canyon in the '80's (the geologist was right). People are willing to risk it for the views and the lifestyle.
June 5, 2009 at 5:24 PM
Anonymous said...
You could have your very own dig site!
June 5, 2009 at 6:41 PM
Anonymous said...
"Property Information: Detached"
...as in, the patio is detached from the house... the land is detached from the foundations ...
June 6, 2009 at 5:36 AM
Anonymous said...
What sort of geological work does the land need? Is this actually a repairable condition? It looks like a 30'+ drop into a sink hole in in the backyard. What in the world could possibily be done to "fix" that problem.
And wowie - look at that sales history.
June 6, 2009 at 11:06 AM
Anonymous said...
A friend's family's home a few exits up in San Clemente had a similar problem. A developer grading lots down in the canyon caused a slide that took out most of their street. I don't recall anything noteworthy about the cause of this slide though. Now I'm curious...
Thank you for posting this listing. It made me feel a lot better about the two less-than-perfect homes I'm in the precarious position of having to sell (one inherited, one mine). Now I know, it could be a whole lot worse, and I'm counting my blessings!
How is it legal to sell that deathtrap?! I don't think there's any way "geological work" can rebuild a hillside that's collapsed on that scale. Certainly it wouldn't be possible without millions of dollars and an extensive retaining wall system that would probably have to extend far beyond the property line.
And it's not even safe to bring prospective buyers to, yet they think someone wants to live there?! Wow. The owners just need to cut their losses, NOBODY is ever going to buy a house that is visibly in the process of collapsing into a giant sinkhole.
It's not so much a house as it is a toboggan. Hop on and we'll all go for a ride down the hill- wheee!
June 9, 2009 at 12:52 PM
[Image]
Know what would happen if I lived in this house Seth found? Within five minutes of moving in, I would somehow manage to drop my keys right... there.
I like the optimism of these photos from the same listing:
[Image][Image]
A little scrubbing, a little vacuuming, and it'll be fine.
""The lot needs geological work.""
26 Comments -
"PANORAMIC OCEAN VIEW HOME!" which gets a closer view of the ocean every day!
June 5, 2009 at 11:49 AM
It does have some awesome views. Looks like a pretty nice house, too, aside from the part where it's about to fall down the hill.
"Must use extreme caution when showing"...does that include putting safety lines on the potential buyers, you think?
June 5, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Reminds me of the Doobie Brothers album....."Livin on the Fault Line"!
June 5, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Your blog makes me laugh every day - thank you so much!
I think the realtor may have missed something here. "Split level, can be used as inside or outside space".
At least they didn't do too much Photoshop work!
June 5, 2009 at 12:41 PM
I'm speechless. Of all the entries you've included on the blog this one is, is . . . . .
June 5, 2009 at 12:50 PM
Somebody knew this was happening!!! See the epoxy job on an older crack under the kitchen floor:)
June 5, 2009 at 1:00 PM
I really appreciate the honesty of the listing. I can just imagine the same house, photographed so as to just avoid putting the major cracks in the images. At least you'd know what you're getting in to.
In all seriousness, the issues seem to have been caused by the land and house next door. Any chance one could make a claim on that homeowner's insurance? Oh, wait. They didn't have insurance.
June 5, 2009 at 2:17 PM
This is what happens when nature has other plans... "Oh... you think you're going to build here? I don't thiiiiinnnk so..."
June 5, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Christopher Busta-Peck: I presumed it was earthquake damage. What do you think the neighbors did?
June 5, 2009 at 2:52 PM
Huh. Here's an article from 1979 where a geologist is warning about landslides in that area (I think). I'm too cheap to pay for the article, but I bet it's related.
http://tinyurl.com/qwrt46
GEOLOGIST FEARS SLIDE IN AREA OF 1-5 PROJECT
Los Angeles Times
Oct 11, 1979
June 5, 2009 at 2:58 PM
I feel the earth move under my feet, I feel the sky tumblin' down, tumblin' down, tumblin' downnnah!
June 5, 2009 at 3:08 PM
I keep picturing Amy Poehler falling in "the pit" from 'Parks and Recreation'.
I feel kinda bad for the landowners. It's one thing to have to replace plumbing or fix a wall, but it's got to be rough to deal with half of your property collapsing.
June 5, 2009 at 3:43 PM
Several years ago, three luxury homes in my city literally fell into the river valley. People insisted on building there, probably because the views were so lovely. But with years of watering grass and erosion and whatnot, the ground just gave out, and pooof... no more house.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/01/03/slide-homes.html?ref=rss
June 5, 2009 at 4:12 PM
Reduced price due to reduced lot size. Patio may need some leveling.
Neighbors wont be a problem.
But the fence line is going to hell.
June 5, 2009 at 4:17 PM
At least the toilet was clean.
June 5, 2009 at 4:45 PM
These pictures just never cease to amaze me. I've been on an internet diet, but I thought, maaaybeeee I'll just buzz the lovely site on my highly limited minutes... This listing alone makes the splurge all worth it! You'ze a mahvel; thanks!
June 5, 2009 at 5:10 PM
The hills in San Clemente are basically made of sand and are notoriously slippery. Houses have been falling into the canyons forever. A few streets over an entire cul-de-sac of homes fell into the canyon in the '80's (the geologist was right). People are willing to risk it for the views and the lifestyle.
June 5, 2009 at 5:24 PM
You could have your very own dig site!
June 5, 2009 at 6:41 PM
"Property Information: Detached"
...as in, the patio is detached from the house... the land is detached from the foundations ...
June 6, 2009 at 5:36 AM
What sort of geological work does the land need? Is this actually a repairable condition? It looks like a 30'+ drop into a sink hole in in the backyard. What in the world could possibily be done to "fix" that problem.
And wowie - look at that sales history.
June 6, 2009 at 11:06 AM
A friend's family's home a few exits up in San Clemente had a similar problem. A developer grading lots down in the canyon caused a slide that took out most of their street. I don't recall anything noteworthy about the cause of this slide though. Now I'm curious...
June 6, 2009 at 2:46 PM
Thank you for posting this listing. It made me feel a lot better about the two less-than-perfect homes I'm in the precarious position of having to sell (one inherited, one mine). Now I know, it could be a whole lot worse, and I'm counting my blessings!
June 6, 2009 at 3:09 PM
it sold less than one year ago for $729,482 (July 2008). Wow.
June 6, 2009 at 9:12 PM
How is it legal to sell that deathtrap?! I don't think there's any way "geological work" can rebuild a hillside that's collapsed on that scale. Certainly it wouldn't be possible without millions of dollars and an extensive retaining wall system that would probably have to extend far beyond the property line.
And it's not even safe to bring prospective buyers to, yet they think someone wants to live there?! Wow. The owners just need to cut their losses, NOBODY is ever going to buy a house that is visibly in the process of collapsing into a giant sinkhole.
June 7, 2009 at 11:09 PM
"I know just where to put the pool!"
June 8, 2009 at 12:11 PM
It's not so much a house as it is a toboggan. Hop on and we'll all go for a ride down the hill- wheee!
June 9, 2009 at 12:52 PM