Sunday, August 9, 2009

5th Street, Ocean Park

These two cute, old Ocean Park houses at 2327 (above, click all to enlarge) and 2331 (below) 5th Street in Ocean Park have been on and off the market since July 2007, available together or separately. The first originally sought $1,600K, now down to $1,199K, for this 2 bed / 1 bath 1,064 SF house on a 6,996 SF lot, described as:

"1913 California Craftsman. 2 beds with built-ins, fireplace, lots of charm in this major fixer/tear down in great Ocean Park location. Property sold in "AS IS" condition - no termite, no repairs. Property zoned OP2. Can rebuild, remodel or develop. large lot, approx. 6996 s.f. With 4 single garages. Come see this interesting project."

The second one, on the same-sized corner lot across from Los Amigos Park, was last asking $899K and sold 7/9/09 for $850K.

Ever wonder what it's like inside the first bungalow? What would you be taking on if you bought it to live in? You could all it very original, as in original floors, walls, fixtures, cabinets, shown in these interior photos of a bedroom and the kitchen. Not what I'm in the mood for now, but I hope someone is, rather than bulldoze it.

Oh, and the next one north, a designated landmark at 2323 5th (below) was also for sale. Originally listed 2/5/09 for $2,099K, as of yesterday its description said, "SELLER WILL REVIEW OFFERS: $1,300,000 to $1,650,000." But today it's Expired with a last price of $1,800K. Whatever.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe these 3 houses were inherited by a bunch of family members with big dollar signs in their eyes. Way too greedy so they're having to chase the market down. I call the 3 homes: creepy, creepier, and creepiest....although I'm not sure which house fits which label. Yes, they could be very charming if you dumped a ton of money into them to renovate them but they need ALOT of work. The home that is designated a historical landmark is worth checking out if you like to step back in time, but be warned, it's CREEPY!

Anonymous said...

Dirty little shacks... I don't know who in their right mind would pay close to a million dollars for any. It will be developers to be sure, but they are chasing the market down and taking a giant gamble if they think they can build new spec homes and flip them without taking massive losses.

These homes will be put up as short-sales soon enough, and not finding buyers, will be foreclosed. Wait till the bank puts them up for sale, at least banks can be realistic about setting list prices at market-clearning levels.

Anonymous said...

Bulldozers are needed. Too bad about the historical designation on the one. At least the others will eventually find their lot values, but the historical property will be limited unless someone creative finds a way to deal with it. I like the location on 5th, however.

Unknown said...

No one should consider restoring these places. It is lot value only. The lots are big for the area and it is a nice location. 850k is a fair price right now for those lots. The main problem is that now you need to deal with the city of SM and all that means. I would worry about the Landmarks commission on all of these. Oddly, the house on the corner, the ugliest, seems to have been occupied while the nicer looking one wasn't.

The historical house is very out of place in the neighborhood and the story is that it was moved there from the beach area. It should never have been historically recognized, but I think the owner wanted it. It seems to be habitable and may not need to be torn down.

Anonymous said...

So does being across the street from a park add value, or is a discount relevant due to noise? The day I went to look at these (yes, for possible lot value), the noise from 2 softball games was overwhelming. not the pleasant sound of children playing so much as the roaring of crowds and whistles.

Anonymous said...

And let's not forget, the city of Santa Monica never passes up the opportunity to invite the homeless to the area, and are likely to permit a so-called tent city of the homeless to spring up.

Anonymous said...

Live a couple of blocks away from here...

anon 4:14 - It's actually a school (SMASH) that allows baseball and soccer to be played on its grounds during the weekends, but it's only a few months out of the year. There's two other nearby parks, one that has a lot of kid friendly features.

Those two houses had "sold" signs back in late 2007. Somebody got cold feet. These should be sold for lot value only. They are pretty creepy looking. Seems like the two would make a good lot for underground parking and 3 or 4 stories of condo's. This is the type of development the city should be welcoming.

The historical place looks nice from the outside, but I guess it's a different story inside.

There's a fourth place for sale next door as well. Not sure if it's a different locataion than the historical place.

Anonymous said...

I'm hoping that the developer doesn't build condos.

The condos that line 4th st are, quite frankly, stunningly ugly and cheap. The newer ones are prettier, but only built to last for a decade. It's only the single family homes or multi-family units that retain any sort of charm and sense of the beach that west of Lincoln should try to market.

That being said, these are completely lot value. 850k is high right now. Long term view, I suppose.

Anonymous said...

After watching them for days, you wouldn't believe the things the workers hauled out of their backyards. A pile of steamer trunks 10 feet high and 13 feet around. And entire garage filled with unopened mason jars. What looked to be some pretty interesting antiques. All into the back of a dump truck.

Anonymous said...

There were 70 steamer trunks dating back to the gold rush era. Tons of antique furniture-stickley, Edwardian , etc. The "greedy family" tried to get rid of the stuff themselves rather than take 8K offered by an estate company. Instead they rented dumpsters and threw away much of the antiques before giving everything away to whoever would haul it. Since they are all owned outright, the "dirty little shacks" will not be foreclosed on anytime soon.

Anonymous said...

Oh it makes me sad to hear them called dirty little shacks with bulldozers needed. The landmark house was my grandfather's and the other two belonged to my great grandparents who purchased the property in the early 1900's. I spent a lot of summers visiting those old homes and have many good memories of those times.

L.A. Realtor said...

The historical home is currently being restored by the new owners. I'm happy that someone loved the home as much as the family that owned it for over 70 years!