Ok….so now we are already almost thru with the first quarter of 2009 and the market is all over the place.  On the positive side, here is some of the “scoop” we have either experienced ourselves or we have heard thru the real estate grapevine.

A few things have gone pending on THE STRAND in Manhattan Beach.  3404 The Strand (listed by Shorewood Realtors Rosanna Libertucci) was dropped from 6,5 to 5,5 and it quickly went into escrow.  A few buyers did not act quick enough and were desperately disappointed that they lost out.  So much so, that one set of buyers called the actual buyers and asked them to turn it over to them.
Another Strand listing was on the market for a short time listed at $10,500,000 (1716 the strand listed by South Bay Brokers).  It just went into escrow last week.

Now another interesting case.  A duplex sat around in the market for a couple of months.  The seller dropped the price and BOOM here comes the buyers.  One buyer, once again, acted quickly and secured the property.  One buyer was bummed out and offered the seller a bigger price in which the seller came back to the original buyer and offered him a check to walk away. Wow….can this really be happening in this market and economy?  The buyer said no.  He wanted to stay in the deal and so all continued to go forward.

In Hermosa, there is a great piece of property located at 225 25th Street (listed by Kevin Klien).  Definitely dated but very clean.  It has an ocean view, full lot size and a very nice structure.  Priced at 1,395,000.  Decent price and in my mind not a steal but a good value.  One week later, 5 offers and we were told that 2 were over full price.
Is this 2005?  I don’t think so but it shows to go ya that special properties in the Beach areas still can draw a crowd.

The negative part of this market is the listings that are coming on and the sellers are still asking too much money for what they are.  This makes the market look like we have a glut of listings and that nothing is selling.  What sells in this market are realistic priced homes.  There are still so many unrealistic priced homes out there now that will not sell until reality kicks in.

We have had many conversations with our sellers that if you don’t need to sell, now is NOT the time to go on the market with an unrealistic number.  Some listen, some don’t.