Shorewood Realtors Listing By Ed Kaminsky listed at $1,549,000.

This is a single family home! On an over sized half lot (33X57)!
Its 3,100 sft of living space with views!  I know that it is on the corner of Highland Ave. but I believe strongly at this price location has been discounted in.  The property has been listed for over a year! Originally listed at $2,279,000, which was wishful thinking or a delay tactic of some sort but now at the current price, this property is ripe for the picking.
CALL ME if you want to see it.

In this location there has been A LOT progress with nice shops and a huge improvement in restaurants!

CLICK HERE TO SEE FLYER

UPDATE: THIS HOUSE SOLD A WEEK AFTER THIS POST.  I am just saying…

On Friday a new listing came out in East Manhattan at 1200 Magnolia Ave. 1200 MAGNOLIA flyer

This home was listed by Liz Walker of Shorewood Realtors for $799,000.

3 bedroom 1 bath on a 5,000 sft. Lot.

Description:
Don’t miss this opportunity to own this ABSOLUTELY CHARMING yet affordable home in the HEART OF MANHATTAN BEACH! STAGED & GORGEOUS, it’s move-in ready for YOU! Situated at the TOP OF THE HILL with Malibu MOUNTAIN VIEWS, this 3 bedroom (per tax rolls) or 2 bedroom + den (approximately 1000 square foot) home has been beautifully RESTORED & UPDATED: *REFINISHED HARDWOOD FLOORS, *Updated Bathroom with new low-flow toilet & vanity, newer window & refinished tub *Upgraded Electrical Service w/all new wall outlets & light switches GFI protected *Upgraded Kitchen w/new stainless steel stove, new garbage disposal & faucet, freshly painted cabinets w/ new hardware *New hardware on all the doors *Pretty Landscaped Front & Backyard w/front yard sprinklers & new rear yard wood fence & covered patio perfect for family Bar-B-Q’s *Picture Window seat in Living Room & Master Bedroom *2 Car Garage with skylight * Freshly painted inside *Great Location – close to award winning Manhattan Beach Elementary, Middle and High School.

This seems well price considering last month 1900 Manzanita ln. sold last month for the same price but was not in as good of condition.

Also a great deal, or a house that will get a lot of attention…3403 Laurel Ave. Manhattan Beach, CA Laurel flyer

This is a great property.  It is a large lot with a front yard, back yard, and a pool!  The house is very charming but does need some updating.  It is also very far north which does affect its value since its so close to the refinery.

Listed by Beach Cities Brokers, Joe Lordeon

Priced at $1,749,000

Description:
Custom Cape Cod style home with rare 80 foot frontage and inviting landscaped front yard. Six bedroom , 3- 3/4 baths, and 3616 Square feet on a 8638 sq. ft. lot. Originally custom built in 1939 it has been remodeled with charming features. Spacious gourmet kitchen with granite counter tops giving lots of cooking/entertaining space. 6 burner Viking downdraft stove allows inter action with adjacent family room. Sub zero refrigerator and freezer, two dishwashers, microwave/ convection oven, regular oven, and brick bbq. Formal entry area leads to family room with adjacent kitchen area. Adjacent to this area is a 19X16 foot formal dining room with fireplace and custom slate floors. Adjoining is a19X16 foot bright formal living with large window seat and 4 French doors to outside patio area. Downstairs floors are all oak with exception of living room and maids quarters. Preceding up the well light oak stairwell brings you to the other 5 bedrooms and three baths. The master bedroom has high ceilings, inviting window seat, ventilator fireplace,large walk in closet, and reading room. The backyard is 80 foot wide and an entertainers delight. Both patio and raised porch overlook mature trees , delightful plants, large green yard and aquamarine pool .

114 S. Poinsettia Ave. Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 sold today. It closed escrow at $4,460,000. poinsettia flyer
I say this is the end of an era because this home like other large homes in the the Hill Section or just Manhattan Beach in general have had a very hard time selling over the past 2 years or more.  Last year we saw one of the other large estates go, 511 Pacific Ave., as well as others. But this one seems to be the last of the large, new construction homes in the hill.  The history of this home being for sale dates back to 5/1/2008! They were asking…$7,750,000.  As time went on the market tumbled, and it went down with it.  In October 2008 they pulled it off the market after lowering the price over $1.5m.
They tried the market again on 02/18/2009 at a much lower price of $5,495,000, then in December of 2009 they pulled it off the market again after lowering it to 4,995,000 in September of ’09.
Then in July of 2010 they came on again this time with Dave Caskey of Shorewood Realtors at the same price as last time of $4,995,000.  As time went on that year they actually lowered the price to $4.5M then later back up to $4.9M and finally off again in January. It was off for less then 30 days when it returned in February of 2011 at $4,495,000 less than a month later (march) it was in escrow.  Then, today, 5/4/2011 it officially closed escrow.

The house itself was nice, it had some flaws like no yard, not a lot of privacy, not a great location for the hill, but it did have a good view and it was a well built home.  I personally feel this home selling was a combination of the correct pricing (finally) and the market finally hitting bottom.

Looking back the home was on the market for a total of 25 months of actual market time.  It sold with in 57% of the original list price.

As far as the general market is concerned, inventory is very low for nice homes available and there are a lot of buyers out there.  Prices do not seem to be dropping further at least for now.  I personally do not see it slipping much further if at all but only the future can tell.

I just found out the same developer also bought the lot next door to 1605 Pine, which is 1601 Pine Ave.

He paid $780,000, and plans to build a new house there as well.
See my last article for the other addresses.
CLICK HERE

Today it was recorded, 660 33rd st. Manhattan Beach was sold for $1,990,000 after being listed for $2,195,000.

The real story is that the house did have multiple offers in the range of $1,950,000 and $2,100,000 and this buyer got the house for over $2,000,000 but then backed out his own commission to reduce the price for himself (buyer/agent).
So Retail price on this house was $2,050,000.

Only a few “new construction homes” left there is one more that is not on the market from the “golden era” on Pine with a basement that is set to hit the market soon if it has not sold off market.

Speaking of off market there has been tons of activity off the market and if you are not working with an agent “in the know” then you are at a disadvantage for those good properties.  I smell another blog entry!

here are the specs on 660 33rd st…

“New Construction…Now Bank Owned REO. Stunning new rustic spanish home with over 4700 sq. ft. of living space. Beautiful travertine stone and stained walnut wide plank floors thru-out. Large cook’s kitchen with granite center island, vege sink, pantry, butler’s pantry and quality Thermador appliances. Large family room with hardwood floors and big stone fireplace, plus french doors opening to patio and outdoor fireplace. Large basement with rec. room and storage. All bedrooms have their own bath. Spacious master suite with vaulted ceiling, stone fireplace, walk-in closet, separate spa tub and shower. Excellent location, walk to parks, award winning Grandview Elementary School, restaurants and the beach.”

Also see my video blog entry on this property: http://www.oconnorproperty.com/blog/?p=206

So when we look back at 2009 we could definitely be looking at the bottom of this real estate cycle. I am not ready to call it yet but there is some strong evidence that we have hit it.
In general we have seen a large pick up in activity in the last 60 days and there are no signs of it slowing down. I want to be clear that I am not saying prices are going to go flying back up. on the other hand there does seem to be a floor that we have hit and prices are down (from the peak) but they do not seem to be continuing to drop. Not everything is flying off the shelf but the homes that are priced well sell quickly!

Here are some stats:
2009: 5 sales between 2,000,000-3,000,000
1825 Poinsettia,MB $2,000,000
1901 Walnut Ave., MB $2,150,000 (new)
700 35th St., MB $2,250,000
2401 John St., MB $2,275,000 (new)
1801 John St., MB $2,550,000
*2200 Palm Dr., MB $1,975,000

2010 thru March 10th
SOLD:
562 33rd St. $2,000,000
3113 Laurel Ave. $2,025,000
2100 Pine Ave., MB $2,100,000 (new)
1811 Agnes Ave., MB $2,150,000
PENDING:
2603 Palm Dr. MB, listed for 3,000,000 in escrow for under full price.
1900 Walnut Ave., MB Listed for 2,025,000 in escrow for close to full price, sold in one day!

If those two “pending sales” close we will have already pasted the number of $2,000,000+ sales for last year, in March!
There is also an off market sale that will record over $2,000,000 soon that I will share once its official.

There have been 4 sales  in the last 2+ months on 8th St. in the Manhattan Hill section all of which sold in the low $3,000,000 range.

(going oldest to newest sale)
864 8th St. Manhattan Beach, sold in October for $3,150,000 by Vintage Real Estate (Stroyke Brothers)
This house was a nice cape cod style house, 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, built in 2007. 3,882 square feet of house and 5,680 square feet of land.

717 N. Poinsettia, Manhattan Beach, sold in late November for $3,110,000.
This house was on the corner of 8th St. and Poinsettia Ave., it has great curb appeal.  The inside was a little dated since it was built in 1987, the house was 4 bedrooms, 5 baths, 4,180 square feet, and the lot was 11,423.  This is a great looking home on a large lot but definitely needs to be updated which I am told the new owners are doing.

 718 N. Poinsettia, Manhattan Beach is currently in escrow, it was a brand new house, never been lived in.  It is very large at 5,725 square feet on a 6,495 square foot lot.  This house is a 6 bedroom, 6 bathroom house designed by Louie Tomaro and built by a local builder.  It was last listed at $3,485,000 and I was told it sold in the low $3,000,000 range on par with the other 3 sales.

877 8th Street, Manhattan Beach was last listed at $ 3,299,000 and is currently in escrow supposedly close to that price. This home is listed by South Bay Brokers and has been on the market for 209 days.
This home was built in 2006 with 4,658 square feet of house and 5,760 square feet of land.  It features 6 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms with lots of nice features.

It is interesting that all for of these sales literally happened with in 50 ft of each other…

I think it does prove a “base line” of what a nice 5,000 +/- square foot house  on 8th Street will sell for, it also shows that there are  buyers out there that can and will buy high end homes in this market, as well as the fact that banks are lending in this price range, I do know that at least 3 of these properties had to get financing in order to buy these homes.  Also it should be mentioned that none of these homes had an ocean view!

Why would these buyers not just go buy a nice tree section house and save themselves $1,000,000 in mortgage?  The answer is the size of the house, these homes are much bigger then your average newer home in the tree section and honestly people also like the idea that they live in the “Hill Section” as well.  There are a lot of families with 3 and 4 kids and there is a need for houses of this size.

2 other notable sales in this price range:
1019 Duncan sold for $2,900,000; new house, 4,800 sft. (this did have an ocean view)
502 Anderson sold for $3,150,000; built in 2004, 4,200 sft. (no view)

116 Terraza Place, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

http://www.oconnorproperty.com/property-detail-property-98.php

My deals of the week are as follows:

455 35th st. Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
listed by the Park Group with Shorewood Realtors MLS#S09112480 $1,599,000

This is a nice Cape Cod style house in the north section of Manhattan Sand.  It is over 3,000 sft. with 4 bedrooms 3 bathrooms and a roof top deck.
POSITIVES:  the size is good, having 4 bedrooms is good, condition is good not great.  It does have a nice master suite and an updated kitchen with nice appliances.
NEGATIVES:  the bedrooms are split 2 up and 2 down, it is pretty far North (close to Rosecrans) although it doesn’t bother me, the street is very nice. It does not show as well as it could.
Overall its current price is not bad but it could be lower, but I think they are close, it has a lot to offer for being in the sand section of Manhattan beach.  Its definitely one to consider.

332 30th st. in Hermosa Beach, CA

Listed by South Bay Brokers Chad Falbusch MLS #S09120660 $1,299,000

This is a flat walk street location in North Hermosa.  This is primarily land value but it is a very livable house for a couple or a small family.  This is a great buy for some one who wants to build a nice house and live in this great location for a long time.  I believe the owner has plans for a new house that may be negotiated into the deal.

It’s listed as a 3 bedroom 1 bath house with a 2 car garage, street to alley lot.  The zoning on this side of the street allows for a 3 story house (30ft high), on the opposite size of the street their height limits are lower as well as having smaller lots.  This makes the south side of the street more desirable from a land value point of view.

Below is a list of new listings that have come out this month and sold in less then 10 days!

1456 19th st. listed for 775,000, 2 bed 1 bath house on a 7,000 sft. lot, sold very quickly in 7 days!

1708 Magnolia listed at $699,000 3 bedroom 1 bath 1,236 sft. 4,870 sft lot very charming sold in 8 days with 22 OFFERS!!!  They have since raised the price on the house to $825,000.

1904 Manzanita listed at 949,000 3 bedroom 2 bath remodeled “liberty village” home, 1722 sft. 5,346 sft lot. it had 4 offer in total and supposedly went over the asking price as well.

1509 Manzanita (my listing) listed at $749,000 an original 3 bed room 1 bath house, 1,100 sft. on a 5,300 sft lot.  Also received multiple offers and was bid up. The price on this property has also been raised to $799,000.  This house sold very quickly.

Finally a large house at 1531 9th st. listed at 1,995,000 5 bedroom 4 baths 4,080 sft. sold in one week as well, this one did not go over the asking price but was sold quickly to a strong buyer.  Also this house is interesting because it was a house that was bought by an investor at a foreclosure auction, he paid all cash somewhere well below $1,995,000 and then turned around and put it on the market for a quick sale and some quick profits.  We are seeing more of this as the year goes on.