Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Lowest-priced SM

Back to houses. I've noted that well-priced listings still sell fast, even as others sit and sit. This new 2 bed / 1 bath listing is at 2937 Delaware Ave. (red arrow above; tree-lined Delaware is between the freeway and Verizon). It's asking $720K, the lowest-priced house in a single-family Santa Monica neighborhood, and well-priced compared with its comps:

2961 Delaware, 2/1, sold 6/14/07 for $660K
3208 Urban, 2/1, in escrow 7/07, asked $700K
1912 Warwick, 3/1, sold 6/16/06 for $765K
3008 Delaware, 2/1, sold 4/7/06 for $769K
3345 Virginia, 3/1, sold 7/18/07 for $799K
3344 Virginia, 2/2.5, sold 3/30/07 for $825K
1817 Warwick, 3/1, off-market 6/07, asked $865K
3011 Virginia, 3/1.75, in escrow 8/6, asked $949K

"Charming traditional 2 bedroom, 1 bath on a quiet tree-lined street. Hardwood floors, updated kitchen with gas cooktop & electric oven. Newer roof, copper plumbing, ceiling fans, central heat. Avocado, apricot, plum, fig, persimmon, peach, lemon, and two orange trees. McKinely Elementary School & Lincoln Middle School; Buyers to verify with school district. Fireplace in living room is decorative only. No showings before September 11 caravan...."

17 comments:

The Editor said...

An option for today's home sellers:Lease-Options
http://thegreatloanblog.blogspot.com

Westside your work of late has been great keep it up. Also check out a new guy at:
http://smdistress.blogspot.com/

Don said...

$720K to live a block from the freeway? In a 2/1 house? Nope. That's a house worth $200K tops. And it's $60K more than a house down the block sold for. I predict that it goes into escrow at $600K tops.

Anonymous said...

720K doesn't seem outrageous as an asking price, but I don't think it is going to fly into escrow. people want a bargain- so I say 649K in about 30 days and multiple offers.

It might only be "worth" 200K tops, but unless you are willing to wait about a decade in a crappy apartment, you might not see it there.

Anonymous said...

A cursory look at Craigslist gives a rental value of about $4500 per month:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/apa/415356485.html

Monthly PITI has gone up substantially with the recent tightening of jumbo loan standards. With a $150K downpayment (!), monthly mortgage costs would come to about $4000K a month, at 7% fixed over 30 years. Add to that the additional $10K in property taxes, and you're still way out of the ballpark, price-wise.

Anonymous said...

Noise & freeway pollution in SM is not as bad area around I-405 & I-10 intersection ( hundred of condos & houses sold in High price). Notice traffic flow west of 20th on I-20 during rush hours? Santa Monica Incline future construction will have more trouble.

Millions people not aware of the impact to their health until they really have health problems years later, same as smoking, asbestos, & popcorn flavor !

Anonymous said...

Compare to this, closer to freeway, money never lie :-)

2937 Virginia Ave Santa Monica CA 90404
3 beds, 2.0 baths, 2,125 sq ft;
For Sale: $1,095,000
Owner's Estimate: $1,093,430
* Lot 6,500 sqft
* Built in 1938

Large Spanish style 3BR 2BA house. 2125 Sq. ft. of living space. 400 Sq. ft. guest house. Hardwood floor Covered courtyard Spanish tiles in bathrooms Two car garage with lots of storage Enclosed washer and dryer area Appraised 4/07 at $1,400.000.00 ... more less

Anonymous said...

What jumped out at me was that the fixer property that sold for $660 had an original asking of almost $700. I wouldn't be surprised that this one will drop to around $690, and the only reason I don't think it will drop more is because it supposedly has some upgrades.

As for Bublewatcher's comment on the rental value, the house is not even close to a comp to this one. The rental value of this house is probably closer to $2200.

Anonymous said...

I would be trying to sell it if I were the owner. These homes are poised to lose 30-40% of their value over the next several years. But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. (grin)

Anonymous said...

House prices in the westside is not an isolated, rents for medical facilities pushing the RE up too. In SM, a medical building went for $833 a foot.
Rents might not high enough compare to the prices and still go higher. Investors are not buying for today's rents, but for future's.
People working in the construction & development around SM, PacPali, Venice still very busy & hectic.
(They don't do blogging much :-)

Anonymous said...

"People working in the construction & development around SM, PacPali, Venice still very busy & hectic.
(They don't do blogging much :-)"

or write in proper sentences

Westside Bubble said...

Short comments:

I'd expect such a house to rent for $2,500-3,000 or so.

I agree on the health impacts of being near the freeway. But at least there aren't a lot of dirty trucks on this part of I-10, and maybe the breeze blows the exhaust inland.

The price of 2937 Virginia is rediculously high for its location. Conversely, 2961 Delaware was pretty strange, as I posted when it was for sale.

Westside Bubble said...

I knew WarChest had a blog in him from his comments here - it's looking really good!

Don said...

I'm sorry but people buying for tomorrow's rents are idiots. How long for rents to go up 60%? Looking at some rents in complexes where I've lived in the past vs current rents, we're looking at 12-14 years. So you're looking at 12-14 years of negative cash flow, ignoring maintenance costs.

Yeah, that's a really good investment. People might be buying for tomorrow's rents, but that doesn't mean that they're not still idiots.

Hope G. said...

I agree, well priced listings in good condition are selling fast, sometimes with multiple offers!

We've got one of the lowest priced Ventura homes at $350,000 with seller financing. Check it out at http://www.hopegoss.com/Ventura__CA_listings/09A0BC8B-C017-DBD8-A1AC5322E59D1625.shtml

Anonymous said...

If it'd rent for $2,500-$3,000 a month, then this calculator says it's worth $425K, assuming a 33% tax rate and 10-year holding period.

Anonymous said...

Well, I still think real estate in Santa MOnica will hold its value. Santa Monica is a very appealing city, great schools, by the ocean etc. By the way, the house on Delaware only lasted 17 DOM - not bad at all for this kind of market. I am pretty sure it went for over asking price....I heard there were multiple offers. Bear in mind this tiny house is a little over 1,000 sq ft and almost 80 years old!!! The house on Virginia just sold for almost $950,000 and it is directly across from the freeway!!! I just rented my condo....2 bed 1 bath (970 sq ft) for $2,500 - It was in the market for 1 day and that was only a couple of months ago.

Anonymous said...

And by the way.....if you are worried about air pollution.....well I think Los Angeles is not known for the best air quality......as a matter of fact I think it ranks 2nd or third in the USA for cities with the worst air quality. I don't think living across the freeway will be much different from San Fernado Valley or for that matter from Rancho Cucamonga!!!