Tear-down on 20th

Nice house, no? Built in 1941, this 3 bed/3 bath, 2,394 SF house on a 8,940 SF lot is was at 402 20th, the southwest corner of Carlyle. Listed for $2,450K last October, it closed 2/14/07 for $2,350K. Only downside is the #4 Big Blue Bus passing by every half hour (center of photo). Alas, 'twas not to last. Below are its remains earlier this month.The LA Times blog L.A. Land picked up Monday's post about the next block north, Sticker shock north of Montana. Feels like we made the bigtime!

OFHEO and Case-Shiller updates

The first quarter 2007 OFHEO and March 2007 S&P/Case Shiller numbers are out. See Calculated Risk on OFHEO and Case-Shiller, and a lengthy discussion by Mish. Here are the two since the beginning of 2006:

OFHEO quarterly for California:

CA 2006-1 278.69
CA 2006-2 282.56 - peak
CA 2006-3 279.45
CA 2006-4 273.97
CA 2007-1 270.85 - down 4.1%

S&P/Case-Shiller monthly for Los Angeles:

Jan-06 265.92
Feb-06 267.75
Mar-06 268.23
Apr-06 270.44
May-06 272.12
Jun-06 273.22
Jul-06 273.85
Aug-06 273.80
Sep-06 273.94 - peak
Oct-06 273.66
Nov-06 273.05
Dec-06 270.03
Jan-07 268.68
Feb-07 266.63
Mar-07 264.58 - down 3.4%, falling 1%/month

Case-Shiller is available in spreadsheet form and on Paper Money's graph tool, which I used for the plot above of the original Case-Shiller 10-city Composite and Los Angeles since 1987. My earlier post on Case-Shiller is here.

UPDATE: See Paper Money's new OFHEO graph tool. This link gives the US, California, and Los Angeles-Glendale-Long Beach.

Short sale on Pier

The new third place in the Ancient Listings of Santa Monica is 813 Pier, a 1 bed/1 bath, second lot east of Lincoln, now reduced to $800K. It features a view of a side alley and Big O Tires across Pier (also a short walk to the Starbucks across Lincoln).

According to the County it last sold 2/23/2006 for $800K. It was listed July 2006 for $979K, then reduced four times, now from $879K to $800K. Such a deal: "SHORT SALE. Zoned SMR2YY. Back portion of house was built wihtout permit and is yellow tagged. BUILDERS OPPORTUNITY. Lender approval required. Easy to show ... HURRY...."

Sticker shock north of Montana

This really got me a week ago, asking over $5 million north of Montana, east of 7th. I remember when $3M was high-end, then $4M, now they're trying to pass $5M. It's at 333 20th, 5 bed/6.5 bath, asking $5,095K, featuring all the usual stuff. For an ordinary-looking house on a 60' lot. Aren't you supposed to get a faux chateau for that? (Actually 127 17th crossed the $5M line first, asking $5,395K, sold in March, but I think that's a double lot with tennis court.)

Then there's 506 Palisades, 4 bed/4 bath, asking the extraordinary $7,950K. That's higher than anything west of 7th. Two listings (222 Palisades and 336 Adelaide) asked over $6M last fall (now off market, no sales prices recorded), and 2407 La Mesa - overlooking the Riviera Country Club - sold for $10.5M 12/12/06. But this is just a 50' lot among 100' lots, with no view, across the alley from apartments.

Odd couple on Marine

A block over from Navy St. are this odd couple of listings. On the left is the new 718 Marine, 1 bed/1 bath, 25' x 100' lot, asking $869K. It's described as, "Cute Ocean Park home redone inside and out side, new copper repipe new water heater new tile and wood floors, new double pane windows new bathroom & kitchen with granite counter top". Below is how it looked in April, 2005. According to the County it last sold 3/23/05 for $615K.Meanwhile, the two lots next door at 714 Marine (sold together 12/16/04 for $775K) were cleared of another building like this and two new two-story modern boxes were built. The one to the right in the top photo at 716 Marine has been for sale since 4/20, 4 bed/2.75 bath, asking $1,650K. It's described as, "Whelan-O’Neill Arch. 2007. This New Modern Home is located in Santa Monica's desirable Ocean Park Neighborhood. Walk to local parks, beaches, restaurants". Another next door to the west (beyond the photo) appears identical and still being finished.

$1,650K to live off of Lincoln on a 25' x 100' lot? Does this make 724 Navy St. a good buy at $949K, or are they all nuts?

New FSBO on 26th

New: This house has a "For Lease" sign in front, from an agent. It is 3 bed/3 baths, 2,283 SF, asking $8,500/month. The description includes, "Fabulous kitchen island w/ss appliances. Kitchen and formal dining open to yard and pool ... 1st showing Tues., May 29th"

______________________

I'd like to share Frank's comment from this morning. (Did I get the right photo? I didn't see a for-sale sign.)

Last weekend, there was a FSBO sign posted at the southwest corner of 26th and Alta in Santa Monica (in front of 2520 Alta) with an email address of northofmontana@gmail.com. This is the automated response that I received:

We will be selling our house in the next few months, sometime after the end of the Franklin school year.
We have two current appraisals, less than 90 days old, both showing a value of $3 million, as is.
We do not want to do any maintenance, painting or upgrading just to have you do it over again to your own tastes.
We do not need to involve a realtor, and would expect a real estate attorney to handle our end of the deal. Should you choose to involve a realtor, you will bear any costs associated with that decision.
We would be less than likely to sell to a developer or realtor, and would not be happy about dealing with someone who is too greedy or pushy. There are very few houses listed in our neighborhood, and ours is unique.
We would rather sell our house to a family that can appreciate it, our neighborhood and our school.
This has been our home since we bought it a long time ago and it has never been listed.
We would expect to have private showings sometime next month. In order to qualify for a showing you will have to at some point provide proof of financial viability to our accountant, banker, or attorney.
If you are truly a qualified buyer and are interested in going further into this process, please feel free to respond via a follow up e-mail.
We will be replying as time allows but we are, like so many of us, very busy.
Thank You.

This is an interesting Realtor-free FSBO strategy. But is the house worth $3M? It appears nice, an original 2-story north of Montana, but not fixed up and on busy 26th, when the new 528 26th's final price was only $2,850K.

Navy St.

Then there's this 2 bed/1.5 bath house at 724 Navy St., second block west of Lincoln, asking $949K. "Great location in Ocean Park Neighborhood just blocks to Main Street and the beach!" Notice how they never say how many blocks? "Completely renovated with new kitchen, granite counters, stainless appliances, and bamboo floors. The architecturally designed master is bright and has over-sized French doors that open into the yard." Almost a million dollars for a little old house on a tiny 25' x 80' lot?! Words fail me.