July 23, 2008

A Once-Common Four-Letter Word Makes an Appearance

 

That word is, of course, SOLD!

I was walking the dogs in my new neighborhood the other day when I came across a house with a For Sale sign in front of it.  Right away I knew there was something different about it.  As I came closer, I saw the SOLD sign on top.

Memories came flooding back — of days when SOLD signs went up almost as fast as For Sale signs.  It seems like only yesterday, but it’s actually been more than two years since the big cooling-off began.  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen a SOLD sign.

There is no active MLS listing on the house (pictured above), which is at 826 S. Citrus Avenue, just southwest of the Hancock Park border.  But the Redfin database shows that it’s a two-bedroom, two-bath house in 1,910 square feet, last sold in 1976 for $64,500.  The agent created a Web site for the property (according to her listing, it has three bedrooms).

I’m sure when the home came on the market, but in May, it was reduced from $929,000 to $899,000.  That was its listing price when it went into escrow in late June.

We’ll have to wait until it closes to see what it actually went for.  But one thing is certain:  It needs a lot of updating. Had it already been updated, it might have fetched a higher price.

It hasn’t closed escrow yet, of course.  But other homes in the area have sold, even if we haven’t seen the signs.

812 S. Highland Ave.
Sold for $1,175,000 on June 27
4BR/3B/2,191 square feet
Notes:  One block over, and on a much busier street, this house must have been impressively remodeled to fetch such a high price.

639 S. Citrus Ave.
Sold for $1,005,000 on 4/11/08
3BR/2B/1,652 square feet
Notes:  This one is north of Wilshire.

936 S. Citrus Ave.
Sold for $970,000 on 6/24/08
2BR/1B/1,270 square feet
Notes:  As long as people pay a million bucks for tiny houses with one bathroom, there’s little hope for the rest of us.

---