Thursday, December 4, 2008

Oldest of the old

There are ancient listings and then there's the oldest of them all: the 5 bed / (but only) 2.5 bath house at 1135 Berkeley St. in Santa Monica. Originally listed in April 2006 for $2,450K, relisted at least three times with a variety of price reductions, some 958 days later it's now down 27% to $1,788K. That's over 2-1/2 years!

See Westside Story's comments last spring (that suggest it goes back to 2005 and nearly $3M). Don't know its last sale, but Zillow's very low property tax of $2,447K put it decades ago. A crop of its MLS photo is above; its description is (emphasis added):

"Another Price Reduction! North of Wilshire, 2-story Traditional-style home. Living room has wood burning fireplace; formal dining room. Beautiful hardwood floors, coved ceilings & authentic details. All new double-paned, tinted windows. Sunny kitchen with Viking & Bosch appliances. Plumbing is mostly copper. Huge, flat backyard with plenty of room for pool. Seller has maintenance contract with Economy Roofing for cleaning of gutters & inspecting of roof."

Note that joints between new copper and old galvanized pipes are prone to corrosion, so "mostly copper" is not "all copper". And why does the roof need an inspection contract?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a roofing contract as well. The roofer comes occasionally to walk the roof and usually recommend some expensive item that needs attention. I don't particular care for the guy, but I assume this owner has the same situation.

Terri said...

The roof is a flat roof with some evidence of severe leakage in the past- see the satellite photos.

The house itself is a bit of a mess and the owners are delusional.

Terri said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

My wife and I nicknamed this "The Pig House" (because of the snout in the front) awhile ago.

It has been on the market forever.

Terri said...

Listing History for 1135 Berkeley:

7/8/05 $2,799,000 108 days on market

11/3/05- $2,679,000 209 days on market

6/21/06- $2,190,000 110 days on market

2/1/08 - $1,995,000 46 days on market

Anonymous said...

It seems anything positive or with the look of optimism is usually shot down on this blog but . . . a home in the Palisades just sold this week, and at about 94% of its asking price! The anomoly? Still a sale. Property is at 16706 Calle Arbolada in Pac Pal. On the market for about two and a half months. Listed 9/15/2008. Sold 12/2/2008. Original ask $1,850,000, sale price $1,740,000. And only a 5,700sq foot lot! Tiny lot, probably little yard and it is pretty hot in the Higlands. Anyway, not to spoil the doom and gloom thunder, the sky is definitely falling on many fronts, but . . . somebody is celebrating a sale this weekend and I found this refreshing. Flame suit on!

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:11 - half full attitude
16706 Calle Arbolada - good pricing

Anonymous said...

Re: Anon at 2:11 ...

I know nothing about that property (or the Palisades in general), but would have to think that Anon at 9:10 is right about "good pricing". Good for people who are able to make sales - I think a lot of the pessimism you see on these blogs is more cynicism around delusional sellers.

I think this is a great market for sellers who have some flexibility on pricing (ie didn't buy in the last 3-4 years). You still have the psychology of potential buyers thinking they are getting a "deal" because a property is priced 10% lower than other listed comps.

Hopefully they plan on being in the house for a while, since the real value will probably deteriorate another 10-20% over the next 5 years ...

Anonymous said...

Well if one sale makes for a decent market, then there's never been a housing crash, ever.

Anonymous said...

Obama has pledged to lend out plenty of money at 4.5% for people that want to buy real estate now

Anonymous said...

"Obama has pledged to lend out plenty of money at 4.5% for people that want to buy real estate now"

Nonsense. It's the US treasury under the CURRENT administration that's been floating these plans.

Anonymous said...

God, I want a 4.5% interest rate

Anonymous said...

Uh ---

ok well it just seems that there will be a line of idiots around the block ready to snatch up properties in Santa Monica at higher prices with those 4.5 % mortgages in hand


I personally wish that prices in SM would fall to 3x the average resident's income rather than nine times but people are idiots and as soon as the 4.5 % mortgages are available they will drive prices back up

I hope i am wrong, but both political parties are desperate to re inflate housing

Anonymous said...

At 4.5% a person can pay 2 million for a house and only pay 90 thou in interest a year

with a tax deduction on that interest it is like he is paying only 58 thousand bucks

plenty of people in LA have the ability to come up with that 58 thousand bucks


for the sake of all prudent people waiting to buy in n santa monica i hope the government doesnt do this but get real and expect the dumb

Westside Bubble said...

I haven't seen any reference to jumbo loans at 4.5% so far, only Fannie-Freddie Conforming that doesn't buy much on the Westside.

Anonymous said...

they are bailing out the auto makers - why not Santa Monicans