828 Peninsula, a small 2 bed, 1 bath, 902 square foot cabin on a rocky, narrow 2100 square foot lot in Boulder Bay was recently purchased at a trustee sale for $279,000. This cabin was built in 1952, and although old, it was remodeled and in decent condition. This home sits right on top of the water, tucked back in a cove, and has nice views of the surrounding rock formations. In years when Big Bear Lake's water levels are down, the area in front of the home becomes a meadow and it is necessary to move one's dock to meet the water line.
A Big Bear lakefront property selling at a trustee sale is unique. I am not aware of any other Big Bear lakefront home having sold at trustee sale to a third party investor.
A trustee sale occurs when an owner defaults on their loan. By law, after a certain period of time, the property is offered for sale via auction, usually at a court house (in this case, the San Bernardino Court house). The public can bid on these homes for sale at this time. If a member of the public wishes to make a bid, they must register with a clerk at the court house ahead of time with cashiers checks up to or exceeding the amount they wish to bid. If no one bids on a particular property, it becomes the property of the bank. The bank will then list the property for sale as a foreclosure.
This is the fourth distressed lakefront sale in the past three months. All four of these properties were smaller and sold on the lower end of the price spectrum. All were good values. This is great for buyers in a position to take advantage of these opportunities, but not so great for Big Bear lakefront real estate values on a whole. The good news is that the sooner we work our way through all these foreclosures and short sales, the sooner we'll return to greater degrees of market appreciation.