Some Neighborhood News:
Did you hear that Bird Scooters settle their legal battle with Santa Monica?
And, there was a big closing this week on 19th Street.
235 19th Street is a 6 bedroom, 9 bathrooms new spec home. It closed this week at $8,375,000. This is a whopper of a sale. The house is 8,300 sqft on a 8,938 sqft lot! It has a large basement of course but unless I am forgetting one, this may be a new record for this size lot. Originally listed last August for $9M, brokers were scratching their heads but maybe with the $41M sale on Woodacres and the $31M sale on San Vicente Buyers are confident that the 90402 zip code can support sales at a much higher level than ever before.
More real estate info later but for now, some fun.
My partners Charles Pence and Brett and Loraine Silver and I have had to answer a variety of seemingly crazy questions over our 30 years in business, here on Montana Ave. Some of these requests seemed really weird at the time but after thinking about it, some of them are not so out there. I share a few here.
We had a condo listed a potential buyer requested that during the showing we play Whitney Houston as loud as possible to test the sound proofing. Not a bad idea.
This is now common, but 25 years ago it was weird when a prospect asked about deaths on a property. There were none that we could determine and the prospect bought the house. Along with the usual inspections they had a ceremony with sage and candles to have the home spiritually cleansed.
One of my clients needed be certain that the bathtub fit at least two people. He had no children, so one can only image what kind of fun he had in mind.
One very wealthy woman walked into my open house with stuffed animals, she was talking to them inquiring if she should buy the home. No, she wasn’t homeless.
One buyer demanded that the seller not fumigate the house that had the usual termite activity – he didn’t want to hurt them.
Do the toilets work? Apparently this was of paramount importance to a Buyer here in Santa Monica who flushed every toilet and kept knocking on all the walls while trying to decide if he liked the house.
Going to the dogs. One Buyer asked if the Sellers would include their lovely pup in the deal and wanted to write that request into the purchase agreement. Another couple asked what type of zoo animals, if any are allowed in the neighborhood.
Some clients looking to rent for only 1 month asked if the owner would do some remodeling. An owner looking to rent out his place asked if he could leave their tortoise in the backyard while the new occupants lived in his house.
I once got a call, in December, asking if I have anything available for lease next August.
A week after closing an escrow a Seller called me and said she wanted her friend to go to the property and remove all the light fixtures.
I had a seemingly sane woman call me and we made an appointment to see a home on 15th Street. I arrived early to open the place up. She arrived on time, loved the house, and after the showing told me that she was going to buy it but first needed to write to then President George Bush to ask for the money. Then she asked me for a ride to the bus stop.
I had a Buyer ask me if my Seller clients of a $4M home on 22nd Street were “sophisticated”. I answered “Yes, I think so.” He then said “do they understand cash?” He wanted to pay with cold hard, green cash but he would only pay $3M – and of course he wanted to pay the sales commission in cash too. I asked where the cash was coming from. His answer: “Bar Mitzvah money”. The answer of course was “Sorry – we are not that sophisticated”.
I could go on and on with these stories but it’s time to go sell some real estate.
There are a couple of houses available right now that are noteworthy:
346 Euclid – Listed for $3,795,000 this property has a 3 bedroom + 2 bathroom main house plus a 2-story 2 bedroom + 2 bathroom guest house. Unique “Ba Pueblo” architecture on a 7500 sq ft lot. I think I had this listing when it sold in 1995 for $780,000.
322 20th – Updated 3,300 square foot, Spanish style home with 4 bedroom home listed for $4,549,000.
428 25th – 1930’s Spanish Revival listed for $5,100,000. 5 bedroom + 5.5 baths; approximately 4,100+ sq. ft. on a 60 foot wide lot with pool. Charming details and some nice updating. I am pretty sure I had this listing when it in 2002 for $1,960,000. If not the 02 sale it was the sale prior to that one.
One property went into escrow this past week:
510 Lincoln Boulevard – Contemporary 5 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms with approximately 5,400 square feet of living space. Great remodel opportunity. Backyard has a pool, spa and detached 3 car garage. Last sold May 8, 1990 for $1,700,000.
Two closed MLS sale to report:
711 12th Street – 5 bedrooms and 4.5 baths. Sold for $3,799,000.
235 19th Street – 6 bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms. Sold for $8,375,000. This is a whopper of a sale. The house is 8,300 sqft on a 8,938 sqft lot! The home has a large basement of course but this may be a new record for this size lot.
I have a great little investment property that is not yet in MLS – a duplex that can be had for under $3M. Plus a couple of upcoming attractions – including one on La Mesa, that are not yet listed in the MLS, priced from $1.9 million to $16 million.