The Unauthorized Randy “Duke” Cunningham Page

Updated 08-23-2005.

I've looked at some comparable properties, and here they are:

Duke Cunningham's house:
Parcel 265 370 10 00, 7094 Via del Charro
$2,550,000, 7628 sq.ft., 5 bed/7.5 bath, 2.89 acres
Bough 12/3/2003 (built 1989)
Trust deed doc # 2003-1434426
Bought from Douglas Powanda, former VP Sales, Peregrine Systems. Not to be confused with Peregrine Semiconductor, who is Cunningham's 3rd largest campaign contributor.

Previously bought by Douglas Powanda 12/21/1999 for $1,820,000. Trust deed doc # 1999-0825091.

Listed for sale 8/17/2005 at $3,500,000 MLS# 51059619.

Nearby houses:
Parcel 265 370 14 00, 7002 Via del Charro
$3,450,000, 5290 sqft, 6 bed/6.5 bath, 4.25 ac., 10/1/2003
Separate guest house and barn. Built 1991.
For sale 8/2005: "Reduced to $4,900,000". MLS 051045096.

Parcel 265 270 56 00, 6849 Via del Charro
$2,250,000, 2936 sq.ft., 4 bed/3 bath, 4.42 ac., 12/22/2003
Note: this place is a dump, and the home has since been torn down.

Parcel 265 370 01 00, 6971 Via del Charro
$1,460,000, 2.94 ac., 2/6/2003

Parcel 265 270 62 00, —— Aliso Canyon Rd.
$2,100,000, 10.00 ac., 7/22/2003
Sold again: $3,005,000 on 11/7/2003
(Aliso Canyon Rd. is north & west of Via del Charro.)

Parcel 265 270 75 00, 18117 Aliso Canyon Rd.
$950,000, 2.00 ac., 12/22/2003

For sale June 2005:
Parcel 265 370 20 00, 7150 Via del Charro
(Offered at $4,650,000 to $5,400,876), 2.36 ac.

For sale August 2005:
Parcel 265 370 23 00, 6997 Via del Charro. Built 1978.
3300 sq. ft., 3 bed/3 bath + barn & 3000 s.f. garage.
Offered at $2,995,000. 3.74 ac. MLS# 051052692.

(by the way "Via del Charro" is Spanish for "Rustic Way." Just to the northwest is "Avenida del Duque"—an appropriate name!)

Most properties here are offered through http://www.willisallen.com/
The zip code for Rancho Santa Fe is 92067.

Source:
http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/arcc/services/propsales_search.html

Plat maps from the County Assessor's office:
Map 265-37 covers parcels 265 370, including Cunningham's home:
http://www.dukecunningham.org/images/map-265-37.png

Map 265-27 covers parcels 265 270, more nearby homes:
http://www.dukecunningham.org/images/map-265-27.png

Thanks Dan.

Also, here is a link for some current neighborhood listings. Just select North County Coastal, then Rancho Santa Fe. Then select single family, 5,000 square feet and above.

http://realestate.signonsandiego.com/resale/index2.html

(BTW, I believe the RSF property is 7,628 instead of 5,628 sq. ft. Tough to get 7 bathrooms in a cramped, 5,600 house.)

Looks like Duke's new spread could now be worth $4 - $5 million, and maybe even more.

Even if prices have appreciated 20% a year, his $2.25 million purchase would still be almost a million short of at least a $4 million value today. Apparently, he bought at a bargain basement price too, after selling at an inflated one.

Hi Dan,

As far as why the House Democrats have not filed any ethics charges, Josh Marshall looked into it and posted on his blog. He says that it boils down to the fact that the Dems are afraid of a tit for tat retaliation. No excuse in my opinion and I'll make that opinion known to my Rep. but I think they are probably waiting to see what the FBI and Grand Jury come up with before moving. Man I wish my party would get a spine.

I did find something on the Cunningham's Via del Charro house. According to this web site of San Diego comparables, it looks like the home may have actually been sold to Powanda on 12/21/99 rather than 1997 (a records search also showed a 1999 Trust Deed from Powanda to Washington Mutual Bank). The selling price was $1,820,000. Here is the link for the sale price (I apologize if this is repetitive for you as I haven't had time to read through your entire site yet.):

http://users.ixpres.com/~gtriphan/99-1rasf.htm

There is another property, 7002 Via del Charro, which sold on 10/03 for $3.45 Million and I see that you posted. But in 1998 that property sold for $1,451,818.

http://users.ixpres.com/~gtriphan/98-1rasf.htm 1998

http://users.ixpres.com/~gtriphan/03-1rasf.htm 2003

Now it could be that the original house was dozed to make way for a new construction but I have no way of finding out and in any case, I'm not betting on it. More likely the house was upgraded.

The way real estate agents price housing is really not much of a science so here is my short tutorial. First it's location, location, location which in this case is the very top end. Then they will look for comparables as you did with lot size and square footage being the top two factors. Lastly they will take the home's construction/upgrades into account.

This page http://elfinforest.net/realestate.htm looks to be posted on 8/20/2002 (I searched the MLS #'s for the Via del Charro houses and none are currently listed just to make sure) shows three properties for sale on Via del Charro but the best part is that they listed the price per square foot of each home. Notice that one of the properties you posted for comparables in your forum, 6849 Via del Charro, was listed in 8/02 for $2.75 Million or $935 per square foot. The house sold 12/03 for $2.25 Million at $766 per sq. ft.

Another house on this page, 7143 Via del Charro with 3,258 sq. ft. is listed at $2.595 Million which is $797 per sq.ft.. I couldn't find a record of sale for this one so maybe they pulled it off the market. In any case the price per sq. ft. is within range for that time period/location. Again using the same formula, the house at 7002 Via del Charro, another home you posted in your forum comparables at 5,290 sq. ft. sold for $653 per sq. ft. in 2003.

Using this type of calculation, at 7,628 sq. ft. and with Cunningham's house located on 2.89 acres, it is priced at only $334 per sq. ft. Using the 7002 property with 5,290 sq. ft. and 4.25 acres as the closest denominator in size/acreage as a comparable, and the home which would most likely be used by any real estate agent, let's lowball the value of Cunningham's house to $500 per sq. ft. to compensate for the 1.3 acre difference and ignore the fact that his house has 2,330 more sq. ft. (30%). At $500 per sq. ft., Cunningham's home would have been valued at $3,814,000 in 2003. The bottom line is that by any measure we use, $334 per sq. ft. does not even seem to be in the ballpark for Via del Charro. Hope this helps.

The last thing I wanted to mention before I start to get ready to go out of town for a few days. Those pictures at Raw Story look like the kind taken by real estate agents for their home listings. Particularly in an area like Rancho Santa Fe, agents have to be discrete or will lose business. I think those pics were given to Raw Story anonymously by an agent because he/she knew the house was underpriced. To undervalue a house in that area brings the comps. down, lowers the sales prices for homes in the area and ultimately impacts an agent's commission. This was payback IMHO.

Regards,

Michelle

Here's an interesting quote from a local TV news website, 10News.com
http://www.10news.com/news/4650809/detail.html

More Questions Raised In Congressman's Real Estate Deal
Appraiser Surprised At Cunningham's Home Purchase
June 24, 2005
. . .
Further research shows that after selling in the Del Mar house, Cunningham bought a five-bedroom, 7 ½-bath home on 3 acres in Rancho Santa Fe.

An appraiser specializing in the Rancho Santa Fe area said he is surprised at the large drop in price. Gady Amor said he's not giving an official appraisal, just merely his opinion. He said ordinarily that large of a drop suggests the house was either listed too high to begin with or there was a very anxious seller. . . .

Methinks Rancho Randy is neck deep in payoffs and bribes!!

There is some commentary on the Rancho Santa Fe home price in Mike and Ramona Bryon's guest column in Voice of San Diego for July 18, 2005:

"Duke's Blood Money"
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/site/apps/s/content.asp?c=euLTJbMUKvH&b=291837&ct=1196165