Monday, March 19, 2007

26th


With Pacific amazingly in escrow, we have a new third place Ancient Listing of Santa Monica. Listed in May '06, off the market November-February, it's back. It's a typical north-of-Montana McMansion, only on 26th street, the loud and busy street that is the eastern border of Santa Monica north of Montana.

"Best Value! Stunning Mediterranean w/5BD, 4.5BA boasts grand entryway, hdwd & marble flrs, archways & recessed lighting. Bright formal dining w/custom crown moldings & spacious living rm w/marble FP opens to lush backyard w/tile patio. Great for entertaining! Open kit w/granite countertops & Sub-Zero, breakfast area & fam rm. ..."

Gotta razz this a little. "Best Value", really, after 310 days unsold? "Recessed lighting" is a top feature? Anyone have a copy of the secret NAR phrasebook? "Great for entertaining" must be in the top 10. Oh, yeah, the obligatory granite and Sub-Zero. Sub-Zeros fell over a lot in the earthquake, unlike refrigerators the rest of us owned.

Oops, omitted the price. Originally $2,995K, it was reduced to the current $2,850 last October. Address is 528 26th.

7 comments:

Casiopea said...

Thanks for this blog. We really need more people chronicling the Westside.

How much are they asking for the house. Is it a flipper?

Craig said...

Funny...If this is the house I think it is, then I used to know the former (and possibly current) owners. Is it possible for you to post the address as well as the pricing history?

Also, a home up the street from me sold in January according to zillow and I want to know if there is some fraud or something fishy going on with it. The address is 843 25th Street. Zillow says it sold for $2.1 million. I find this hard to believe because the property was obviously a quick flip that doesn't look very good. It is a one story spanish type home and all they seem to have done to the property are aesthetic items such as landscaping, painting, and maybe some new paint, etc...if you go by it, take a moment to notice that the roof is crooked when it should clearly be level. I don't remember the list price when it was for sale, but the realtor used was some dodgey looking outfit which was probably a family member or something. I just think that someone couldn't have possibly paid $2.1 for this place because lot values south of Montana are NOT that close to $2 million and the house and yard while acceptable are basically just buying time for the tear down/remodel that is inevitable.

I will ask OC Renter if he can dig up any info on financing for this place as he seems to be an expert on this stuff. What do you think?

Casiopea said...

Well, with all the funny stuff that has been going on with mortgages lately, I wouldn't be surprised. Over at Ben's blog, Paladin is doing a lot of work trying to bring this fishy stuff to the attention of law enforcement. I haven't heard from him lately, but he was really intent on doing something.
I wish I knew how to get more information regarding what type of loan and how many HELOCs a house has.
OCRenter can really dig these things up. I don't know how he does it.

Westside Bubble said...

I added the price history for 26th on the main post.

The history I have on 843 25th (3 bed, 2.5 bath) is it originally listed about 11/27/06 for $1,990K. It was gone on 12/18. No sale is listed (yet?) on the County Assessor's website.

A price of $2.1M does sound high for south of Montana, especially in early December. There were low-end sales north of Montana below $2M.

Similar is 839 25th (4 bed 3 bath). Originally listed for $1,895K about 9/18/06, "looking for backup" 10/2, and per the county closed 12/27 for $2,128K.

Anonymous said...

Zillow has 843 25th as being sold in the middle of Jan 2007 for $2.1 million. I know the owner of 839 25th and have been in the home many times...I can sort of understand it going for over $2 million because it is much larger, two story home that while a bit weathered, is certainly not a tear down. However, the flip next to it (843 25th) is a total joke...the roof is crooked and the only upgrades were landscaping, painting, and some other minor things...so its still a tear down and there is no way that land is worth that much below Montana.

Anonymous said...

Re: 843 25th.

Yes, it was purchased for $2.1M, with a $1.68M ARM courtesy of UBOC (typically thought of as a very sane lender).

Previous owner bought for $1.6M in 2005.

Forgive me if this sounds vaguely racist, but prior owner and current owner have last names that appear to be of the same country/ethnicity of origin... possible fraud? Dunno.

Info courtesy of the title co., so you can bank on it, but my access is private so can't share.

Anonymous said...

26th is in escrow and should be closing in a few weeks.