Thursday, September 20, 2007

Four on Maple St.

There are four recent listings on Maple St., just north-east of Lincoln and Ocean Park Boulevards in Sunset Park (click to enlarge map). By the numbers (map is looking south; houses are all on the south side of the street, above the numbers):

1. 1108 Maple, 3 bed / 1.5 bath, asking $1,299K, listed 9/14/07.

"AN ABSOLUTELY CHARMING & IMMACULATE ... FIREPLACE IN LIVING ROOM, FORMAL DINING ROOM, UPDATED BATHS & A GOURMET KITCHEN WITH GRANITE COUNTERTOPS & STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES. ... BACKYARD FEATURES A SPACIOUS DECK, FRUIT TREES, GRASSY YARD AND A STONE PATIO. THIS HOME COULD EASILY BE EXPANDED...."

2. 1032 Maple, 3 bed / 2 bath, $1,149K [corrected], 8/10/07.

"Absolutely charming 2+1 California bungalow on 6,600 +/- sq ft lot. Original wood floors. Big, sunny, kitchen. Good-size rooms. Loads of windows. Small, separate guest house (may or may not be permitted). ... Bring your contractor-Possibilities galore. Main house & guest house are tenant occupied...."

3. 1028 Maple, 3 bed / 1.5 bath, $1,595K, 9/12/07 (previously listed 6/23-12/13/06 for $1,595K-$1,475K)

"Quintessential California living. Extensively remodeled w/ tasteful design & detailing. Sun porch entry leads to an open great room w/ vaulted ceilings & hardwood floors. Awesome kitchen w/ granite counters & commercial stainless appliances. ... French doors open to large entertaining deck & back yard oasis w/ swimmers pool, spa, grassy area & built in BBQ. Easy access to shopping & beach. ..."

4. 834 Maple, 3 bed / 2 bath, $2,100K, 8/24/07

"STUNNING SPANISH SHOWPLACE IN SUNSET PARK THAT HAS IT ALL! EXQUISITELY REMODELED 3BR+2BA HOME W/A GUEST HOUSE,POOL HOUSE & BEAUTY SALON/OFC. ... OPEN KITCHEN HIGHLIGHTS TOP OF THE LINE THERMADOR STAINLESS APPLIANCES. ... LEGAL GUESTHSE HAS A FULL KITCHEN & FULL BATH...."

Comments: All of these back up to the R3 zoning along Ocean Park Blvd., which could have future 3-story, 35 foot tall apartments. In addition, Number 4 is itself zoned R2 and among apartment buildings.

Second, how much is a fixed-up one-story Sunset Park house worth, even if "absolutely charming"? (Same phrase, different agents! And please stop SHOUTING.) There are getting to be a lot of this kind of listings in Not selling in Sunset Park.

15 comments:

WarChestSM said...

Sunset Park Profit Process (applicable during the past 5 or so years):

1. Buy a horrible, fixer home that is between 1,000-1,500 sq ft in even the most questionable location (multi-unit zoning nearby, airport next door, etc). Purchase price should be between $700-$900K.

2. Convince yourself that it has "good bones" and proceed with putting in $100-$300K to redo all surfaces, landscape, add new appliances, etc. Do not move walls or add square footage (this would cost too much).

3. Sell the "newly remodeled" home for somewhere around $1.5 million.

4. Pocket $100-$300K in a little under a year for your hard work.

Anonymous said...

westside bubble,
I think you're being a little too harsh on the realtors. They're just trying to do their jobs.

Anonymous said...

We need realtors too. Realtors need to read bubble blogs for their survival :-).
Any data on Flippers + Sell by owner in the westside?

Westside Bubble said...

Anon #1, I expect a level of professionalism from Realtors, and consider it appropriate to politely critique.

Conversely, I don't follow the style of bloggers like Keith on Housing Panic.

Anon #2, no, I haven't been paying attention to what listings are FSBOs or discount brokers, using the MLS as my listing source. Probably should.

Anonymous said...

All the vitriol indicates that prices are falling, , speculators are getting margin calls or the equivalent, and the bubble has burst.

All that is left is for the people inside the bubble to fall to earth. It looks like the flippers, sellers, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, limited partners, and speculators will not fall gracefully.

However, prices will surely fall, and hard. Probably fairly fast too.

Sell now, but buy later

Anonymous said...

warchest & westside - great job on the blog and I wish you the best. Unfortunatley, we can all see, that your blogs, are in the process of transofrmation into a "bash-the-realtor" blogs, which makes me very sad. It trully shows the integrity and "brain power" of your readers and contributors.

I surea hope, that all of the professionals in real estate pullout from your blog and never read and post to your blogs ever again.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the posts on Pacific Palisades and
Sunset Park. We are considering both areas (when prices come down to reality) and these profiles are helpful. I remember being at a party in SM in 04
and I hinted that there may be a bubble in SM.

The mother of the host scoffed at me and said (in a very condescending tone): "Prices will Never go down in Santa Monica..it is COASTAL my dear." My ears are ringing with that statement with the glut of homes on the market and impending price reductions.
Does any one have projections as to when the bottom will hit? Curious what people think.
My prediction: 2009

Anonymous said...

I'm not a realtor but a first-time buyer. I tend to agree with the comments about some (not all) realtors who lack honesty and integrity which give the profession a bad name.

Here's one example I've noticed, from the last 6 months, I've been looking for a condo on the Westside.

Example:

MLS# 07-219303
12724 CASWELL AVE #2, LOS ANGELES, CA 90066
LOS ANGELES

This is a small redone complex, near the 99 cents store on washington Blvd & washington place.

They started selling around 12/06. Most of them sold. But not all. in March 2007, they were asking $419K for the 1 Bedrooms.

6 months later, Unit #2 remains unsold. It's been off the market for a little while and now relisted and hyped up by the current agent =

Same unit on the market now for at least 9 months, original asking price was $419K, and here's what the listing agent's description is now...

You tell me if this is B.S. bc I call it just that:

"Price to sell quickly, Stunning condo conversion! 1 bed/ 1 bath, minutes from the beach @ Marina Del Rey! Contemporary, spacious & bright open floor plan. Bamboo floors throughout! Granite counters in kitchen & bath, travertine stone in shower, stainless steel appliances, mirrored closet doors in bedroom, fully fenced balcony offers privacy for a refreshing lunch! Very close to shops, restaurants and Marina movie theaters! Immaculate, move in condition. A must see!! PLEASE CALL AGNT'S CELL PHONE


Priced to sell! Unbelievable.

Asking Price 03/07 - $419K
Asking price 9/07 - $419K

This is priced to sell?

Pleeeaase. The listing now shows NO record of the real days on market, bc, they relisted it as of 9/11/07 as opposed to the true figures - which would be something around 03/07 if not before...

This is exactly how people get cycnical about the cheap-ass things a realtor like this will do. Deceptive is the word that comes to mind...

respectfully,
A Hopefully Smart First Time Buyer.

Westside Bubble said...

Anon-the-last, no kidding!

Everyone, I've enabled comment moderation for now, and deleted a large number of cut-and-space spam posts. 'Nuff said.

Anonymous said...

Dear Hopefully Smart First Time Buyer,

This is exactly why you need an agent who is skilled and professional.

uninformed, is the word that comes to my mind...

This is why:

This unit was sold on 5/8/07 at $405,000 (MLS# 06-120461) this is after it was listed at $415,000 for 250 days. An agent from Sotheby's in Brentwood office was the listing agent and he didn't represent the buyer. Buyer was represented by someone who is not even a participant of the MLS (maybe his buddy or who knows).

Now, the listing agent is from The Real Estate Group and it is listed at $419,000. Apparently the buyer is trying get out of it (maybe he should've thought about working with the real agent at the time of the purchase).

So, it is a new listing, because it is a re-sale. Uninformed buyers, and especially first time buyers, can be very dangerous and hazardous to themselves and at the end of it all, may end up holding the bag fool of poopoo. From the looks of it, this may have happened to this particular buyer.

Anonymous said...

thank you a realtor said...i stand corrected and have a lot to learn. so thank you for that.

Anonymous said...

Realtors listing overpriced houses deserve no respect. There are decent agents out there but many have partaken of the Kool Aid in recent years. The important thing to remember is that no realtor works for the buyer. The seller pays their commission and they have a vested interest in keeping the sales price as high as possible.

Westside Bubble said...

The seller pays their commission and they have a vested interest in keeping the sales price as high as possible.

Although an agent may have more incentive to just get a deal closed quickly than hold out for a slightly higher price.

Anonymous said...

The comment stating that no agent represents the buyer is erroneous.

The commission is paid by the seller, however the buyer's agent doesn't have a commission agreement with the seller.
The buyer's agent, has a representation agreement with the buyer which clearly states that the buyer's agent is responsible to the buyer. 

From a financial perspective, if the buyer falls out of escrow with a articular property that buyer remains with the same agent.

Westside Bubble said...

Are you distinguishing between a "buyers agent" who has an agreement with a buyer, and the typical co-op arrangement where the seller's agent pays the buyer's agent's commission?