What Will 1030 Harvard Sell For?

--------------------------------------->
--------------------------------------->

Vote in the poll to the right


--------------------------------------->
--------------------------------------->

Watch For Multiple Offers

Address: 1030 Harvard - 90403

Details: 3 bed/2 bath 1,592 sq ft house, 7,872 sq ft lot

Description: FIRST TIME ON THE MARKET IN OVER 6 DECADES! THIS SANTA MONICA BUNGALOW REMINISCENT OF THE 1940'S OFFERS YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO RENOVATE OR BUILD NEW. LOCATED IN OUR UNIVERSITY STREET NEIGHBORHOOD AND IN THE FRANKLIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT JUST SOUTH OF WASHINGTON. FEATURING 3 BEDROOMS AND 2 BATHS SITUATED ON A 7800+ SQ FT LOT.


Listing History: 4/26/12 - $1,320,000


Yes, all caps for this listing description. Of course that is annoying and unnecessary since they could have put nothing or even something insulting in the description and still received multiple offers given this asking price.

Why am I so confident? Well, lot value over on the 900 block of 25th was just fleshed out given that 927 25th just sold for $1,420,000.

Then there is nearby 2919 Washington which recently sold for $1,325,000 and was on a way smaller lot.

So yeah, I think this will sell for over list and multiple people are likely to be bidding. This property is basically exactly what I would look for if I were in the market for something in this area and price range.

The bears might sit around and talk about how this type of property shouldn't be worth more than $1mm but they will be wrong. Real buyers will be excited by this listing as there should be interest from investors, spec builders, 90403 entry level buyers, etc.

WarchestSM Buys a House *Update 1*

About a month ago I broke the news that I had purchased a property.

You may have noticed that I never said anything specific about where the property was.

One of the goals of this blog was to try and help out other potential buyers. So I will open up a bit more about my experience.

I was agnostic between south side (90405) Santa Monica and Culver City. Why Culver City? I had been introduced to the area some time ago and kept hearing a lot about from different people about how the area was "up and coming"...So I got off my ass and spent some more time in downtown Culver City. I enjoyed it. I walked a lot of different neighborhoods. I found specific areas that I was comfortable with. There are good schools and just like Santa Monica, Culver City is its own city with its own school district, police, etc.

Culver City is not cheap (at least the higher quality areas away from any freeway noise). So the whole "up and coming" thing is kinda funny. It has already emerged. Yes there is room to grow and I think the area will get better and better, but it isn't some place where you are going to find cheap bargains. High income people are aggressively looking to get in. Ultimately, as luck would have it, the right opportunity emerged in Culver City and not Santa Monica.

Why am I telling you this? I don't know really. I guess I just want to say to other buyers out there that Santa Monica is great, but there are other areas on the westside that are interesting and not as crazy expensive. I'm in my 20's and don't have any trust funds or anything else like that. So buying in Santa Monica was going to be a big stretch to begin with at this point. Given all the other expenses that have come up (upgrading the house, buying furniture, etc), I'm glad I didn't stretch too much. I put over 20% down and now own a prime Culver City property on one of the nicest blocks in the area. A bunch of my neighbors are Santa Monica High graduates and a number of them have remodeled their houses as they fell in love with the area after buying entry level houses a number of years ago. The area I bought in reminds me somewhat of a still up and coming 90405.

Prices here aren't down much. From what I can tell, I got a late 2004 rollback or so on my place. I'm not excessively bullish, but given that there is almost no inventory in my area and that every open house elicits a frenzy of activity, I don't see how prices can go down much. Either way, I sleep OK knowing that I'm not crazy leveraged and that I bought something well within my means. I don't know what else to say. I'm still close to the activity in Santa Monica as my parents and many friends are there, but I'm enjoying life in Culver City.

Really Bad Pricing Strategy *Update 2*

I last featured 2245 26th back in February. It looks like I was right about it still being listed too high. However, they were able to sell it at what I think was a fair price.

Listing History: 11/11/11 - $1,379,000
Reduced down to - $1,329,000

Re-Listed: 2/21/12 - $1,299,000

SOLD: 4/24/12 - $1,230,000

And in case you didn't see it, here is a post from Calculated Risk today about the bottoming of housing prices. Note that neither he or anyone else is calling for an immediate rise in prices anytime soon and note that nominal prices are being referenced, not real.

And then in case you want to reference some bearish housing economists, here are the views of some of them.

Loss Aversion *Update 1*

I last featured 2436 Washington in early March.

Previous Purchase: 9/10/04 - $1,890,000

Listing History: 2/27/12 - $1,995,000

SOLD: 4/20/12 - $1,960,000

When I previously featured this property I expressed doubt that they would get their price but I also said there should be pretty strong support at their previous purchase price. So given that this property sold in the middle of the range between the previous purchase and their listing price I would say I was about right on this.

Watch Out - Better Headlines Are Coming

California home prices rise for first time in 16 months

The statewide median price for an existing single-family detached home jumped to $291,080, the Los Angeles-based group said today in a statement. That was a 9.2 percent gain from February, the largest monthly increase since March 2004.


Homes available for sale and the number of days it took to sell a property both declined last month. The time needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales pace fell to 4.1 months from 5.4 months in both February and a year earlier. A seven-month supply is considered normal, according to the association.


Once again, Calculated Risk has nailed it. The seasonal strength combined with the lower inventory and stronger economy is likely to produce a bottom in price indices shortly. I think there are going to be a lot more positive headlines coming. This should help boost the already improving confidence of buyers. Note for the California data the very low months of inventory and how fast it has dropped lately. I got into contract for my house some time ago...and since then there hasn't been a single other property to come to market which would have been something that I wanted to bid on. The inventory story continues to be of immense importance.

Boring...Where Is The Inventory?

I regularly check the guests section of the MLS (guests.themls.com) to see new listings and to see when stuff is going into escrow. The easy way to track changes in status and new listings is to change the "days in status" box to 7 days and then you only get newly updated listings (brand new to market or just entered escrow).

I did this today and found myself thinking yet again that there seems to be little inventory for the "spring selling season" which many have been waiting for. As someone who bought not too long ago I will say that it is very frustrating to check in every few days and see little to no new listings.

And wouldn't you know it, the lack of inventory is the talk of the town in other spots too.

I guess the lack of inventory isn't really a problem for me personally now that I'm not looking to buy something, but it would make blogging more interesting. Home Depot was packed this weekend when I was there. Maybe everyone is just upgrading and staying put.

What Does Short Sale Fraud Look Like? *Update 3*

I last featured the "situation" at 933 25th back in December 2011.

Go back and read old posts for the full story. It is once again listed as a short sale and the listing looks about as fishy as possible.

The previous short sale listing was for $2.2mm and the current one is for $2.7mm. Getting closer but still well below market in my opinion.

The current listing has no photo. Not a big deal but when the description says "NEEDS REPAIRS, BRING YOUR CONTRACTOR". This is near new high end construction. Why would you need to do any repairs? In fact, an old rental listing for the property said "like new construction with fine quality craftsmanship". That doesn't sound like something that needs repairs or contractors.

So why would you put that phrase in the description if it weren't true? Well, maybe it could help you trick a bank/lender into approving a lower than market price on the short sale.

The fishy smell continues as you look at the listing agent and firm...some joker in the valley. I'll start believing these listings when they are done with a reputable local broker.

I don't have all the facts but I don't know why the lenders don't foreclose and put this withering beast out of its misery. This thing is a bubble relic that just won't die.

1615 Ashland *Update 1*

I last featured 1615 Ashland back in March 2010.

This was a good entry level home which sold for $1.055mm on 3/12/10

The buyers subsequently did major upgrades and then listed it a little less than 2 years later.

Listing History: 1/11/12 - $1,395,000

SOLD: 3/30/12 - $1,487,500

 I have no idea how much they spent on the upgrades but this looks like a successful purchase and sale.

Location Snob Rollback *Update 2*

I last featured 1047 Pacific back in early February. This is a nice house but not flawless location. I thought the small price cut they had taken would not be enough. I was dead wrong.

Previous Purchase: 8/15/08 - $1,607,000

Listing History: 11/4/11 - $1,425,000
Reduced down to - $1,389,000


SOLD: 3/30/12 - $1,405,000

This is a loss of just 12.6% and the house sold for more than the (lowered) asking price. I thought they were going to need to reduce the price more. More signs of strength from the market. We've bottomed for sure. There continues to be little inventory. Good luck getting any bargains on the few quality properties that hit the market over the coming months.