Archive for the ‘Playa Del Rey, Westchester’ Category
July 19, 2008
Are you serious? Last time I posted about the pending sale of my house, I mentioned the inspection went well and that I was looking forward to a smooth closing. Well, things never really go so perfectly. I recently received a list of requested repairs and I wasn’t very excited about it.
By the way, I doubt the buyers are reading this, but if you are - all I can say is “hello.”
Here is the list so that you all can be part of my experience.
1. Install sidewall metal flashing on roof between sloping roof on house and garage.
2. Repair termite/wood rot on east facing window sill.
3. Correct electrical drop hazard on roof.
4. Replace outside electrical panel with UL approved panel.
5. Service/clean floor furnace.
So here were my thoughts.
1. The flashing would be installed in this case as a preventative measure and is not something that is typically done by a seller from what I understand - especially when there has been no damage nor any imminent threat of damage from water. (In other words - not my problem.) Even the inspection report notes that there is only a “chance of water damage”. (I also have a chance of winning the lottery.)
2. This one is a non-issue because it gets covered when I have to do work on the house overall per the termite inspection.
3. I’m going to call the electrical company and see if they’ll make any required changes.
4. See above, #3.
5. Fine. I’ll vacuum out the dog fur already. And yes, the heater does work. I got someone out to repair it early in the year.
So far, all I’ve heard is that the buyer really wants to get the flashing done. I’ve been advised that this deal may be dead if I’m not willing to pony up a few hundred for the flashing. (I used to draw details of those things back in my architecture days.) I’m thinking. Are you kidding? You’d walk for something that isn’t a safety issue and that is typically not a seller’s responsibility? I’d be surprised.
At the time I’m writing this, I’m waiting to hear back on their decision. Any reader comments on this issue are appreciated.
Stay tuned to find out whether I’ve called their bluff or whether I’ll be eating my words.
July 16, 2008
On my search for snippets of real estate news, I came across Business Week’s HotProperty Blog. I found a few interesting pieces of info from their more recent posts. There’s even a mention about LA’s market.
Only in LA: I saw an ad saying a listing was the first duplex in the neighborhood offered for under $1 million since 2004.
I’ll recap my other favorites from this blog for y’ all.
Real Estate Trivia Question #1: How many homes on the market have gone from being “for sale” to “for rent”?
Real Estate Trivia Question #2: Which well-known home builder has recently offered the opportunity to win a year’s worth of free gas to draw in sales?
Real Estate Trivia Question #3: What are the top three adjectives used to describe homes for sale?
Answers are below.
Answer #1: About 1 million, according to Goldman Sach’s U.S. Economic Research Group. (Incidentally, I couldn’t find the exact geographical reference, but I think it’s safe to say homes in the U.S.)
Answer #2: Shea Homes. Check out this link for more info on that.
Answer #3: New, Large, and Great (Yes, in that order.)
Score - 1 out of 3: You’re a regular real estate expert, aren’t you?
Score - 2 out of 3: You spend way too much time reading about real estate news.
Score 3 out of 3: You’ve either already read the HotProperty Blog or you spend way, way too much time reading about real estate news.
And now, I’m moving on to my own list of “Hot Off The Presses Properties” (just-listed) this week in the LAX area.
1. 13020 Pacific Promenade, #101/1bd, 2bth/$549,000
2. 5400 Playa Vista Dr., #19/2bd, 2.5bth/$789,000
3. 12975 Agustin Pl., #431/2bd, 2.5bth/$825,000
July 15, 2008
I like free stuff. Does anyone here not?
Well, for anyone who is a fan of free and swing music and more, here’s an FYI. There is a free concert series at the Center Court of the Howard Hughes Center in Westchester. (Dancing optional for those so inclined.) There’s still three dates left. The tunes will be playing from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. I’m including a link for inspiration.
Thursday, July 17th: Phat Cat Swinger (So Cal Swing Band)
Thursday, July 24: Debra Watson and The Smokin’ Aces (Jazz, Swing, Texas blues)
Thursday, July 31: The Wonderelles (50’s & 60’s Rock)
Oh, and in case you wanted to know about real estate, here are a few Westchester updates:
New on the Market: 8113 Regis Way/3bd, 2bth/REO/$710,000
Bang For the Buck: 6067 W. 75th St./5bd, 2.5bth/$321 per square foot/$850,000
Just Reduced: 8638 Yorktown Ave./2bd, 1bth/-5%/$533,000
July 14, 2008
In case you didn’t know (or care), prior to my life in the world of writing for real estate, I worked in the field of architecture. I don’t dabble with designing, drafting, and figuring out what the detail for an insulated wall would look like much anymore. But I do try to keep up on what’s going on in residential architecture because it’s still an interest of mine. I found this recent blog post on Inhabitat that talks about two homes being built out in Philadelphia.
They call the it the $100K House Project. The scope for one of the homes is for 1,000 square feet of space built for $100 a square foot (thus, the name of the project). Now keep in mind that doesn’t include the price of the land and other fees (I’d imagine things like permitting, architect’s fees, etc.). They expect the final sales price to be in the realm of $200,000 to $250,000 for a home.
The homes, which will be built on urban infill lots, will be LEED certified. This means the homes are “green” - use less waste, conserve water and energy, and are healthier to live in.
After reading about the $100K House Project, I started to wonder exactly what you could get for $250 a square foot (if anything) in the LAX area. Here are a few examples of what I found.
In Playa del Rey, the cheapest condo I found based on price per square foot was 8701 Delgany Ave., #207. It’s selling for $340 per square foot for a price tag of $450,000. You get two bedrooms and two baths. But keep in mind that $250 a square foot isn’t entirely far-fetched. I counted condos that sold for under the $250 a square foot mark in the last three months and one came awfully close to it.
The closest to $250 a square foot in Westchester goes to 7107 S. La Cienega Blvd., a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home way east in the neighborhood. The price tag for this one is $640,000 at $305 a square foot. I counted just two properties that recently sold in Westchester for under $250 a square foot.
5625 Crescent Park W., #114 in Playa Vista comes closest at $277 a square foot. With two bedrooms and three bathrooms, you are looking at a listing price of $610,000. Not surprisingly, there haven’t been any homes that sold for under $250 a square foot in the 90094 zip code.
July 11, 2008
In Playa del Rey, there were two recent bachelor pad sales. Both went well under $400K. You don’t get a ton of space, but I would say if you’re a sun-loving single or a couple sans little ones, these homes won’t cramp your style. What you do get is proximity to the sand and amenities like a pool, spa, and tennis courts.
One of the sold properties was on 8675 Falmouth Ave., #214. This one-bedroom, one-bathroom pad sold for $375,000 and is a 686 square foot condo. It was priced right because it came on the market on May 4th and it sold a little over a month later on June 27th. The original asking price was $390,000.
The other recent bachelor pad sale was 7765 W. 91st St., #F114. This one sold for $312,500. This one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo has 718 square feet of space. The property came on the market on March 9th and sold on June 12th. The original listing price was $329,500.
Are you in the market for a cozy little condo by the sand? Here are a few more of the same - all under the 375K mark.
8635 Falmouth Ave., #307/1bd, 1bth/663 sq. ft./$329,000
7777 W. 91st St., #E1142/1bd, 1bth/718 sq. ft./$349,900
8148 Redlands St., #102/1bd, 1bth/689 sq. ft./$369,500
July 9, 2008
Well, here I am sitting outside my home while they (the buyers) are having an inspection done of the house. Yep. I finally got an offer that I accepted on the sale of my home.
I debated a bit on whether or not I’d do this post yet because escrow has just opened and I don’t want to jinx anything. It’s not a done deal until the contingency has passed, the escrow has closed, and title has changed hands. But I have to say right now, I am feeling major relief. It feels like it’s been a long road.
Remember the agent who tried to negotiate a verbal offer and then couldn’t come through? Well, after I lowered my selling price, they did come back and offer a bit more. After taking in several more appointments to show my home, I felt that they really did have the best offer that I was likely going to get. So, five months later, I think my home is sold.
As I’m finishing this post, the buyer’s agent just came up to me and told me the inspection went well overall. So far so good. My fingers are crossed for a smooth closing.
(By the way, that’s the cozy backyard that I hope the new owners will be enjoying soon.)
July 6, 2008
It’s been pegged as one of the largest LA area leases of the decade by the LA Times. Fox Interactive Media has signed on to lease 421,000 square feet of space in Playa Vista. That’s a lot of square footage. If you’re trying to picture how much - the average square footage of homes on the market in Playa Vista is 1,975 square feet. So you could fit 213 of those average-sized homes into the space that’s being leased.
In case you’re not familiar (I wasn’t), Fox Interactive includes the social networking site that every remotely savvy Internet surfer knows about - MySpace. Here’s a little snippet from the article.
In one of the largest office leases in the Los Angeles region in more than a decade, Fox Interactive Media on Monday agreed to rent 421,000 square feet of space in the Playa Vista development south of Marina del Rey.
Real estate developer Lincoln Property Co. said that Fox Interactive — which includes popular social-networking website MySpace — will occupy almost all of the space in two buildings under construction in the Horizon at Playa Vista complex.
The price of the lease was not disclosed, but real estate experts who know about the deal but asked not to be identified because negotiations were confidential valued it at about $350 million over 12 years.
Playa Vista Real Estate For Sale
New On The Market: 13173 Pacific Promenade, #125/2bd, 3bth/ $695,000
Reduced: 5701 Kiyot Way, #4/2bd, 3bth/$769,000 to $749,000
Bang For The Buck: 5625 Crescent Park W., #114/2bd, 3bth/$610,000
July 4, 2008
In this sluggish market, there are some homes that have been on the market for a really long time.
In Westchester, the average days on the market for homes that are still listed is 86 days, according to Redfin.
The home that has been sitting on the market the longest in the 90045 zip code is 7896 Naylor Ave. How long? Well, try 315 days, as of this posting. But if you take a look at the stats, it’s easy to see why. At 998 square feet, this three-bedroom, one-bathroom home is a wee bit on the wee side. The price per square foot comes out to be $716 per square foot (the average for the area is $516).
You might find a better bet with 7441 W. 90th St. It’s a four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath in immaculate condition. (I’ve actually seen this one.) The sellers have moved out and slashed their price six times to $825,000. It’s been listed for 228 days. With 1,709 square feet of space and at $483 a square foot, you’d be doing pretty well comparable to other similar homes. The one caveat is that you’ll have to do without a garage unless you’re ready to add on.
Here are a few others that have been languishing on the market.
6022 W. 76th Place/4bd, 5bth/3,250 square feet/244 DOM/$1,689,000
8912 Yorktown Ave./2bd, 1bth/905 square feet/278 DOM/$525,000
Happy Fourth of July!
June 30, 2008
As you’re all very aware, the real estate market has taken a nosedive in many areas of Los Angeles. Well, out of the current state of the real estate economy, comes the latest in housing transactions.
According to the Los Angeles Times, there are online sites which let homeowners list their homes not for a sale, but for a swap.
For years people have been swapping homes for vacations. Today, the idea of permanent exchanges is gaining support among disillusioned property owners struggling to sell in a glacial real estate market.
Although the number of completed trades isn’t being tracked, interest is such that several home-swap websites have sprung up in the last year and now claim close to 40,000 combined swap listings nationwide. Others appear regularly on Craigslist.org.
Fees run from free to a monthly fee. And you can also trade up or down by adding a little cash into the mix. Sounds like one way for folks looking to relocate to unload their homes and find the one of their dreams. What do you think?
On another note, here are some homes that have just been added to the market in the LAX area.
Playa Del Rey
8135 Redlands St., #107/2bd, 3bth/1,246 sq. ft./$609,000
Playa Vista
5721 S. Crescent Park W., #107/2bd, 2.5bth/1,808 sq. ft./$765,000
Westchester
6516 W. 84th Pl./3bd, 1bth/998 sq. ft./$625,000
June 27, 2008
I’m still selling my home. This is starting to feel like an awful version of a “Never Ever Ending Story”.
For those of you who don’t know, my home has been on the market since February. At the time, I fully expected to sell my house in about three months. Well, alas, I’ve gotten some nibbles but no bites.
Here’s a summary of what has been going on so far.
In the last two weeks, I actually had a multiple bid situation soon after the first price drop. But, one was a lowballer (in my opinion). And the second bid came awfully close to making a deal. But there was one little glitch. The agent promised (verbally) to make good on a higher offer to my agent by phone. And then he wasn’t able to make good on his word.
Well, I called the deal off, but they still wanted to wrestle with the numbers. Or at least make it seem like they would. They offered another deal “over the phone”. This time, it was slightly less than the previous offer. The agent claimed all kinds of reasons on why he couldn’t make good on his previous offer. The interest rates have gone up. The clients are being difficult. At this point, I just balked. If you can’t make good on your verbal offer the first time, what makes me believe you could make good on your offer a second time?
My message? Show it in writing and the offer may be considered. Apparently, a written offer isn’t happening anytime soon. And quite frankly, I’m relieved.
So now, I’ve dropped the price a second time and the calls for showings are once again coming in. Thank goodness! (Note to self: Don’t ever drop incrementally. Drop it down to the next price point so that you show up in more client/realtor searches.)
And now, I’m hopeful that soon, I will be selling my home!
