Monday, May 21, 2007

Cover your ears on Virginia

So many houses, where to start? How about this 3 bed/1.75 bath at 3011 Virginia Ave., asking $999K. "Pristinely remodeled California bungalow on gorgeous tree-lined street with easy access to freeways." It's across the street from the Santa Monica Freeway!! The front right window is the master bedroom; even with its double-pane windows closed I heard the traffic roar. When did post-war stucco boxes become "California bungalows"? Pasadena knows what a bungalow is, and this isn't. "Perfect outdoor living and entertaining with large, private, meticulously landscaped backyard with 2 lovely patio areas." Will you go out there in the freeway din? [revised 5/22]

Memo to seller: Why didn't you take off the front security door in this vacant, staged house? Isn't it better to communicate 'this house is in a safe neighborhood' (which it is) rather than 'look at this great security door to keep out the dangerous neighborhood'?

The nearest comp is 1826 34th, a fixed-up 3 bed/2 bath 1-2 blocks farther from the freeway, closed 4/27/07 for $910K. Fixers are in the $700Ks, except for our well-known 1817 Warwick, still asking $865K at 283 days on market.

6 comments:

Mike D. said...

being that close to the freeway would suck and definitely not be worth $1M+. however it is close to the future route of the expo line, which would be nice.

Craig said...

Maybe its late and I'm out of it but did you post the price on this?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, but given the location you're likely to get the worst of both worlds: near the Expo Line tracks but nowhere near a station where you can actually board the thing.

Anonymous said...

And the asking price is?
The freeway is the major turn-off.
But I'm a little naive - what's wrong with the master bedroom?
Is the layout of the house strange or is it just that the bedroom window faces the front yard?
Why is this a big flaw? And if it is, how can it be remedied?
-THG

Westside Bubble said...

Oops, guess the memory of the freeway din distracted me from posting the price. It's now there, $999K.

The problem with the front master bedroom is it faces the traffic noise, and even with double-paned windows I heard it.

The closest Expo Line station will probably be by Bergamot Station, on Olympic west of Stewart. That's not a bad walk. Might raise the value of houses there, the only ones that close to a station in Santa Monica.

Anonymous said...

"Memo to seller:"

Maybe you should send a memo to the whole neighborhood, since most or all of the properties you've profiled there have had security doors.