Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Bailing builders

Here are three examples of developers attempting to bail out of building. The first one expects over $250K for plans that haven't even been submitted. The second two (same seller?) got their tentative maps but are still bailing. Any greater fools ready to buy?

1. The 2 bed / 1 bath vinyl-sided house (photo) at 3224 Pearl St., asking $1,099K (listed 5/21/08), last sold 1/19/07 for $835K.

"FULLY DEVELOPED PLANS ready to go into the City. Double your living area with plans fully ready to submit to the City or just move in and enjoy this fantastic two bedroom, one bath bungalow, with room for a pool!..."

2. The 2 bed / 1 bath at 819 Pier Ave., asking $995K (listed 5/9/08 for $1,085K), previously attempted to sell for $895K in 2006.

"Great opportunity for development with approved Tentative Parcel Map to build 3 luxuries condominium on a nice size lot with great dimensions. You can get views of Palos Verdes from the top of the lot. There is a vintage cottage on the property which could be torn down to or fully remodeled. INVESTORS & BUILDERS Special... PRICE SLASHED $100K FOR IMMEDIATE SALE!!!..."

3. The 4 bed / 1.75 bath house at 1027 Ashland Ave. (also the hill on the first block east of Lincoln) is asking $1,295K (listed 4/25/08 for $1,395K).

"Great opportunity for development with approved Tentative Parcel Map to build 4 luxuries condominium on a huge lot with great dimensions. The house is a fixer upper but still livable and great for REMODELING. Bring your INVESTROS... PRICE SLASHED $100K FOR IMMEDIATE SALE!!!..."

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for all your work on this blog. I really appreciate the time you put into it. It's informative and interesting.

I'd like to ask: When I finally decide to buy that house of my dreams, how do I find out if the lots next to mine are potentially zoned for condos or apts? Is there an easy online way to look that up? Also, can any residential lot be split into two (house in front and house in back) or does it have to have special zoning for that.

Thanks again.

Westside Bubble said...

You're welcome!

You can download Santa Monica's zoning "Districting Map" here, and use Los Angeles' interactive "ZIMAS" (Zoning Information and Map Access System) here.

I understand Los Angeles is encouraging lot splits, but don't know the details. Santa Monica generally doesn't go for splits or second units in R1 zoning.

Check with the appropriate city Planning Department for more.

Anonymous said...

In 90405:
2006 104 houses sold with the median at $1113k
2007, 118 houses, $1275k median
2008 (Jan through April), 23 houses, $1318 median

Anonymous said...

Wait! I'm an INVESTRO! This ad must be meant for me!

Anonymous said...

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-mansions12-2008jun12,0,4701177.story?track=rss

Anonymous said...

FYI, ZIMAS will only work for the City of Los Angeles, which is everything around here except Santa Monica.

I really doubt Los Angeles is "encouraging" lot splits. They are just easier to work with than Santa Monica and if you have ever worked with Santa Monica then you'll feel like you are being encouraged when you work with any other nearby city.


There is a 100% chance that Santa Monica doesn't let you split your lot if you are in an R1 zone and that probability drops to 99% in the City of Los Angeles. If subdividing will be in your plans for your home, you should look for R2 or denser lots. They exist in numbers because many areas have been rezoned over the course of history. The trouble is that most of the willing sellers were bought out in the last boom as douchebags like me rushed in and overpayed them for their little house so we could build 10,000 sf of building on their 7,000 sf lot.

Anonymous said...

Incredible work here, Westside.

These are a whole bunch of examples that would go under WarchaestSM's "can I get a refund" category. It's amazing the schutzpah of these builders, to list these homes at over $100-$200,000 more than they purchased them for, when they got them at the height of the market and didn't even make any improvements.

I hope they lose their shirts over this, this kind of stupid greed will be rightly punished by economic natural selection.

Arti

Anonymous said...

On a larger scale there is the 8 unit condo plan at 2510 7th Street (www.2510-7th.com/) in Santa Monica for $3,849,000.
Bought as a double lot tear down in July 2004 for $2.1 million, on the market since mid 2005. It's been off the MLS for months even though the "For Sale" signs are still up and change realtors every so often.
Anyone want to estimate the true carrying cost of this?And overall cost of project if completed?

Anonymous said...

Probably $4m-$4.5m for hard costs. I don't see any impact fees being paid on their list, so that's probably another few hundred thousand. Carry costs are hard to determine without checking on their A&D loan - maybe $150,000/yr?

Anonymous said...

Look at the google homes listing for 90232 if you want to see a classic example of this. Two lots with only teeny homes (or nothing) on them being offered for 1.5 mil...than 1.47 mil..then 1.3...and nothing done.