The Bermuda Triangle of 90403

Address: 937 23rd - 90403

Details: 3 bed/3 bath 1,500 sq ft house, 8,000 sq ft lot, "updated in 2005"

Description: Seller is extremely motivated - price reduced! Traditional home, updated in 2005 with new baths & kitchen. 3bd/3ba main house plus guest house that is perfect for home office. Living area with volume ceiling and hardwood floors. 8000 sq ft flat very private lot on wonderful street. Extra large grassy fenced yard. Close to Montana Restaurants & Shops. Tenant Occupied, please do not disturb.

Listing History: 7/13/09 - $1,899,000
Reduced down to - $1,600,000

This house has been on the market for quite some time and I believe it has shown up on the MLS as going into and then falling out of escrow at least once. The photos from the listing make it look like the owners moved out and had it completely staged...but now the listing says "tenant occupied", so hard to know what is going on.



Address: 907 22nd - 90403

Details: 2 bed/1 bath 1,386 sq ft house, 8,000 sq ft lot, 1928 construction

Description: Charming 1920's Spanish on a large 8000 sq. ft. lot. Beautiful windows and an open floor plan flood the large living room, dining room and kitchen area with natural light. This 2 bedroom 1 bath home has wonderful detailing and hard wood floors throughout giving the home a special feeling. The expansive private backyard with mature fruit trees create a serene setting. Fantastic opportunity on a great Santa Monica street.

Previous Purchase: 3/21/00 - $740,000

Old Listing History: 5/11/09 - $1,575,000
Reduced down to - $1,475,000

Re-Listed: 1/14/10 - $1,475,000

So this old house has been on the market since May 2009 and they only cut the price by 6.3% during the entire 247 days that it was on market during the first listing. Then, to show just how delusional, greedy, (choose your own word) they are, they didn't even cut the price for the re-list. Great strategy if I must say so myself. Really showing the buyers that you are serious about selling and in touch with the market...




Finally, to complete the triangle, there is the disaster at 2320 Idaho. Here is a link to an old post I did on it.

To refresh, this is a flip attempt 4 bed/3 bath 2,080 sq ft house on a 4,743 sq ft lot. The house was purchased in 2006 by the flippers and was repainted and the interior redone.

Previous Purchase: 4/4/06 - $1,335,000

It has been on the market multiple times. First listing was back in early 2007 for $2.4mm. It has made its way down to a current asking price of $1.5mm and the description says "SHORT SALE, NO SHOWINGS UNTIL WE HAVE FURTHER INFORMATION FROM THE BANK. WAITING ON APPROVAL."

These three listings have been rotting on the MLS for quite some time despite the robust market conditions which I have continuously described here. I think these sellers (and bank) have made poor choices by not being more aggressive about selling. There was a lot of enthusiasm about the economy getting better, rates being low, real estate price firmness, etc for quite some time. There seems to be a bit more uncertainty these days and according to data covered on Calculated Risk, house prices may be coming back down en mass again.

Both of the first two sellers appear to have a lot of room to cut their prices and the third is a bank dragging its feet. The longer these sellers sit around and do nothing with their heads in the sand, the harder it will be for them to escape the "Bermuda Triangle of 90403". Thanks to the reader who gave the idea for this post.