The Blog
Weekend Opens (6/1-6/2)
Saturday, June 1st, 2013
The kids go to school every day, but after Memorial Day, are they still working? The high school seniors have all but packed up for college; the lower grades seem to be largely coasting. Beach days seem more prevalent than late-night studying.
So, yes, Summer is truly coming.
We begin June with 64 active listings (SFRs and THs), a little creep upwards of 5 since last week.
We're giving you another chance to see 468 34th this week, so please come by Sunday and say "hi."
To plan your open-house tours, try this Redfin map list of open houses – sort by price or sub-region of MB by clicking the title on a column, or click here for the Beach Reporter list of opens.
Tree Section
625 31st (4br/4ba, 3370 sq. ft.) is a 10-year-old custom build on one of the Great Streets in the Trees, with surprising views to the south as a bonus.
This one ran for about 6 weeks on the market at this exact time last year, always at $2.750M, but didn't sell. It's back now $245K higher, the working theory being: 2013 is hotter than 2012.
They don't name the style here – it's not "Cape Cod," it might be "Coastal Carolinas" (a style name that had a brief moment in the sun last year), or you could just call it traditional American with a major Southern note, given the very big front porch.
Either way, it's a fairly big, custom house with lots of indoor/outdoor living spaces spread throughout the first level.
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| Outdoor living room at 625 31st |
There's that big porch, plus a big formal living room and 2 dining areas, a big, open kitchen, and almost 2 separate backyard outdoor living spaces. Out back, there's al fresco dining plus a little outdoor family room with a flatscreen built into a hutch outside. Can you see the outdoor firepit in our pic? This one's a first for us – watching the sporting event or film of our choice out of doors with a warming fire between the viewers and the video entertainment... wow. Just be careful where you set down the popcorn.
All the bedrooms are upstairs. The master is a delight, up front to get the morning's first light, and also enjoying notable views to the south over neighboring homes, bringing in a very nice panorama which may sometimes include PV on the horizon.
The remaining 3br include one with its own bath and 2 sharing a bath. None of these kids' rooms is especially large, but they're fine.
Overall this is a fairly big, bright house built for entertaining, pushing for a big premium based on the winds blowing today and the prestige block.
625 31st starts at $2.995M and is open Sun. 12-3pm.
622 Rosecrans (3br/2ba, 1500 sq. ft.) just adds to a series of interesting, remodeled offerings this year that has made Rosecrans seem positively happenin'.
Among the highlights of the first half of 2013: 610 Rosecrans, an all but brand new, smashing house that will shortly smash records for the street when escrow closes (listed at $1.399M); 738 Rosecrans, which drew multiple offers and closed for $1.365M; 636 Rosecrans, a bigger 1980s house (2700+ sq. ft.) in good shape that sold off-market for $1.270M recently, and 558 Rosecrans, nearby and newly in escrow (list price: $1.325M).
In that crowd, 622 Rosecrans stands out as the smallest and maybe most conventional of the group, but it's still a well-done, fairly recent remodel. Exterior is in very good shape, the kitchen is of modern vintage and the master bath is nice. The A/C helps if you want to keep the doors closed to shut out traffic noise.
What may put off some buyers is the TH-like layout – the master is on the main floor with living spaces – sharing its bath – while 2br are downstairs. One opens to a little concrete patio between the house and garage.
It's very clean and solid, if limited. They're not pushing the price (yet) like the other recent Rosecrans listings.
622 Rosecrans starts at $1.099M and is open Sat. & Sun. 2-4:30pm.
Sand Section
468 34th (4br/5ba, 3525 sq. ft.) is Dave's listing up on the plateau. MBC can't purport to offer "neutral" reviews Dave's listings, so here's the official description, and here's hoping you'll come by during the open this Sunday:
Your family will enjoy this lovely, newer Cape Cod on a quiet street of the Sand Section plateau.
Spacious common rooms on the first floor feature hardwood flooring, including an open kitchen/family room in back.
All four bedrooms are on one level, including master suite with fireplace and separate "his and hers" walk-in closets.
Upstairs, a family/game room opens to great deck with ocean peeks where you're sure to spend a lot of time. (Tax records count the top floor room as the fifth bedroom.)
This whole home has been refreshed with new paint and carpet and looks terrific. Wood shingles recently replaced with long-life Hardie shingles. Near new central vacuum unit.
Once you see this home, it's easy to feel the lifestyle pluses of a short walk to school, the beach and MB's "second downtown" in the North End. Start your summer off right with this great beach house!
The photos look great full-screen at the dedicated property website:
468 34th is at $2.725M and is open Sun. 1-4pm.
2917 Vista (3br/4ba, 2150 sq. ft.) is a completely modernized, bright 90s-built TH with some ocean peaks up top, and spacious bedroom suites.
Almost everything inside is new or newer, including a smashing, recent re-do of the open, sunny kitchen.
One bedroom is on the first level, a little isolated, while two master-like suites are on the midlevel. The true master's bath has a sleek, 21st-century look to it and a big walk-in closet.
The distressed hardwood throughout each floor, especially the stairs and top floor, is a semi-dark wood that bridges the gap between the ultra-dark walnut stains that have been popular and the lighter, more greyish French oak type stains we've been seeing recently. (The listing description refers to this as "Indonesian Hevea hardwood," and that's one we'd suggest looking for, if you've got a project coming up.)
This is the back unit, obviously, with the Vista address, so you're dealing with an alley in back and more limited views than you'd have on Alma in front.
Disclosure: Dave is friendly with the seller and offered some advice before the property was remodeled and came to market.
2917 Vista starts at $1.739M and is open Sat. & Sun. 1-4pm.
408 26th (4br/4ba, 2650 sq. ft.) joins a group of large townhomes seeking big dollars.
In its favor: This is one extremely well-executed, newer TH, with not-insignificant ocean peeks & views to the south and north. (Though the telephoto shots in the listing are kind of extreme.)
Also: The front unit, 2520 Alma (3br/4ba, 2520 sq. ft.), with huge views, just sold for $2.799M off-market. Yikes, $2.8M for a TH! But that makes $2.5M for the back unit seem, well, reasonable, doesn't it? It's all relative.
Layout puts the master and a secondary bedroom on the midlevel (shown as a midfloor living room), with 2 kids' rooms downstairs off a little patio.
Nothing is standard-issue here, even if the exterior looks familiar among newer TH builds. There's a custom, great feel. The top-floor great room really surprised us to the positive; very nice, white kitchen with marble tops, wide open spaces, balconies. Nice.
Still, whatever happened to the front unit, this one joins 2905 Crest ($2.689M, 63 DOM) and 2904 Highland ($2.299M, 66 DOM) in a submarket for larger townhomes that has not, yet, been red hot.
This one was new in 2009 – bad year for real estate, good year for bargain-hunting. The sale price then was $1.995M. They'll get more than this this year.
408 26th starts now at $2.495M (+25%), and is open Sat. & Sun. 3-5pm.
Hill Section
200 John (5br/3ba, 2050 sq. ft.) is undersized compared to its neighbors, this being a 1950s cottage with an add-on over the garage. (Hidden, in this pic, behind a big tree – but it's there.)
Most of the neighbors along John – and even 2nd St. – are built up, or at least remodeled much more. One of the best homes in MB is just up John from here.
The rather frank listing description says of the home's current condition: "The home is tenant occupied and shows like it has been for years." No euphemisms there.
Buyers are going to want to completely re-do 200 John, maybe add on to it, maybe start fresh after scheduling an appointment with a bulldozer. As they say, the current home is obsolete.
The house now offers an amazing 5br in this smallish space – only one of which is truly tiny. But there's no true master. The two newer upstairs bedrooms are fairly big, and one gets the best views in the house, but they share a narrow, rickety bath.
The basic floorplan downstairs has its appeal, with two nice living rooms and a very open kitchen, plus a reasonably sizable yard. But here's guessing that making comments about the current home is a purely academic exercise – it will likely be replaced.
Lot size here is given as 4988 sq. ft., call it 5000. The corner at John and 2nd is busy during school pickups/dropoffs, and 2nd has fairly continuous traffic through the day.
The big question is views from upstairs. The listing touts ocean views, but for us, that was a strain; we saw a sliver of blue by looking carefully down a street in the South End Sand Section. And a little slice of PV when looking due south. But mainly these views were what we'd call "sense of place" views, seeing the rooftops and treetops of the greenbelt and South End, mostly unobstructable, really feeling your position in this part of MB. Breezes will be very nice.
Disclosure: Dave has toured this property with clients.
200 John draws a natural comparison with a run-down cottage at 1026 Pacific that is in escrow now, and could also be a building site, depending. 1026 Pacific came out at $1.500M but is rumored to be in escrow much closer to $1.700M.
200 John starts at $1.639M and is open Sat. & Sun. 2-4pm.
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MB Schools Smash It Again
Thursday, May 30th, 2013
The high quality of Manhattan Beach public schools drives interest in local real estate.
We're reminded of it time and again. We consistently hear from clients coming into the area from the Westside, or from other parts of the USA, that the public school system is a central factor in their choices.
We can't say much about this better than we did about 18 months ago, in "It's Got to Be the Schools."
In that post, we framed the choice facing families with school-age (or almost school-age) children this way:
Living in the LA area, if you don't happen to live in a neighborhood with great schools, here are some of your options: private school, transferring to another "good" school nearby on a year-by-year permit basis, fudging your residence address, home schooling. Or sucking it up and hoping for the best. And then there's Manhattan Beach.
That post also celebrated the fact that MB was ranked by Forbes magazine as #1 nationwide, by their reckoning, as offering the "best schools for your real estate buck" – among markets with a median price of $800K or more.
This week the newest batch of statewide testing data came in, and MB continues to outshine nearly all public schools in California. These are 2012 testing data for the Academic Performance Index (API).
The MB Unified School District placed #3 statewide, with only San Marino and La Cañada placing higher. (True story: We were recently chatting with a buyer trying to decide between the two very unlike communities of MB and La Cañada, based strictly on the schools.)
The kids actually just finished 2013's statewide testing program, so these data are a little "old," but that doesn't make them any less important.
Here are the 2012 API data for MB:
MBUSD overall: API score 940 overall (+8 over 2011; #3 in state)
Elementaries
- Robinson: 971 (+9 over 2011)
- Grand View: 969 (+12)
- Pacific: 965 (+5)
- Meadows: 951 (+5)
- Pennekamp: 948 (+6)
Middle & High
- Mira Costa HS: 916 (+5)
- MB Middle School: 959 (+14)
In addition to providing scores, the state ranks schools by two other criteria based on API numbers.
First, individual schools get a 1-10 ranking, with 10 being best, indicating how they rank statewide against all schools. A score of 10 says the school is in the top decile (call it the top 10%).
Every school in MB, elementaries and both the middle school and high school, got that first 10.
Then schools are ranked against "similar schools" in an effort to balance out the impact of demographics, language differences and even teacher qualifications.
By the "similar schools" ranking, three elementaries also scored 10s: Robinson, Grand View and Pacific. In 2011, none did, so this is a notable step up.
Meantime, Meadows, the middle school and Mira Costa HS all scored a very impressive 8 on the scale.
As a not-incidental side note, we should point out that our friends in Hermosa Beach hit homers as well: Both elementaries, Hermosa View and Hermosa Valley, got double 10s.
So, yes, you live here already for countless reasons – sun, surf, family, the small-town atmosphere, and so forth.
But for some, it's the schools that come first, and the rest of those things are just nice add-ons. And when they come to MB specifically for the schools, they're going to create a virtuous cycle – more people who prioritize education will tend to bring students who perform well, thereby enticing more people to come for the schools. For the long-term future of MB, and MB real estate, that's good.
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Foreclosure Could Bring Back 923 1st
Tuesday, May 28th, 2013
It was a years-long saga of strangeness, largely behind the scenes.
The big and peculiar home at 923 1st in the Hill Section was not fated to sell in the post-bubble or bust years.
Listings failed in 2008, 2009 and 2010, before the property rented out. (For $18,500/mo., we might note.)
This gigantic bachelor pad with ocean views, pool and a ton of entertaining space – not to mention guest bedrooms for the whole team – was purchased for $3.3M in 2003.
The would-be seller wanted $7.998M, $7.595M, $7.350M and the like in '08 and '09. The market said no.
A short-sale listing at "just" $4.0M in Summer 2010 also flopped. (Our last story on the property, from June 2010, was occasioned by that short-sale attempt.)
And then a 3-year slouch toward foreclosure began.
Late last year, in an effort to forestall the foreclosure, the (now former) owner filed a lis pendens, which in this use means "a piece a of paper used as a last act to try and block the bank from taking the house."
But we now see that that failed, too. This Spring, the bank did take back title to 923 1st. The stated value on the recording: $4.675M. (That's probably more a measure of what the bank was owed than the market value.)
So what's next?
Some computers make a rather specific prediction: "Zillow's Foreclosure Estimate predicts this property will sell for $5,398,210."
Could the bank spiff up the place and put it back on the market? Why not?
And if 923 1st sells for that price, it will be more than it ever – or never – sold for before.
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Fun with the MBC Wayback Machine: Our first story about this home, "Unpredictable," was posted anonymously in Jan. 2008. It's a whirlwind recap of a dizzying tour. That post, somewhat famously, almost got then-shielded Dave caught in the act of blogging, but the storm passed.
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Weekend Opens (5/25-5/26)
Saturday, May 25th, 2013
First things first, we hope you enjoy your first (unofficial) weekend of Summer!
If you happen to be in MB looking for something unique to do, why not give the MB 5K a run on Monday morning?
Very early Monday (like 7am early), the tide will be very low, and the flat, wet sand will invite hundreds of folks out for a unique kind of run. It starts and finishes right under the MB pier.
No road race can hold a candle to a waterside run in your hometown, with waves crashing and cheering crowds at the finish. There are kids' races, too, a bit later.
To us, this annual run is a signature event for Manhattan Beach. So MBC is proudly sponsoring the race this year.
In terms of housing, we enter the holiday weekend with 59 active listings (SFRs and THs), the most in a while, perhaps the beginning of a Summertime accretion... but we'll see.
This 3-day weekend is not one listings would typically target for a launch. Too many folks away, too many visitors in town for kicks and not really shopping. But we did see several new listings hit the market this week, some of which are open.
Indeed, some listings will run Memorial Day open houses. Hey, people are walking around on Monday, why not?
To plan your open-house tours, try this Redfin map list of open houses – sort by price or sub-region of MB by clicking the title on a column, or click here for the Beach Reporter list of opens.
East MB
1200 10th (5br/6ba, 4600 sq. ft.) is only hinted at in the current crop of listing photos. There's no good exterior shot, and interior photos are fairly dark.
But you will still get the sense from these of what you'll find upon actually visiting, and it's great.
It's a thoughtfully designed 21st-century Cape Cod (whoops, they call it "Plantation/Colonial"). The whole first floor boasts high ceilings, lots of white, lots of light, with attractive walnut flooring through most of the living areas, and a custom tile flooring in the kitchen/great room opening to the yard. (The room actually opens out on two sides, with a great breakfast nook/casual dining area getting its own special place in between.)
That great room, with its sunny southern-exposure yard and no neighbors to the west – thanks to the corner location – really sells that place. It's what everyone seems to say they want. And in this very "now" styling, to boot. What a look.
Upstairs, the bedrooms are all suites, but none can touch the master – a huge room with vaulted ceilings, a separate seating area and a more-than-decent covered balcony, big closets and a terrific bath featuring white marble.
About our only quibble with the home is the use of tan-colored travertine in all of the baths except the master. It's pleasant enough, but seems to befit a Mediterranan style rather than running with the Cape Cod/Plantation/Colonial look.
1200 10th first launched in Aug. 2012 at $2.899M (while construction was just under way), quit for a bit, and re-launched in April at $3.199M. It is open Sat. & Sun. 1-4pm.
1801 3rd (4br/3ba, 2475 sq. ft.) is so far east, some people won't look, but that could be a mistake.
This pocket of 3rd is at the mouth of a cul-de-sac that has some pretty nice homes, despite its proximity to Aviation. And the street this corner-lot home runs along, Harkness, seems lightly traveled.
Inside you find a 50s cottage that's been expanded notably. The footprint of an original 3br/1ba home is evident up front, while additions to the back and upstairs brought the square footage deep into the 2400s. That includes a spacious family room with fireplace, a long and fairly big kitchen and pretty big and bright master upstairs.
The bonus enclosed porch/game room is a nice plus, as is the backyard.
Now, everything wants updating. There's no mistaking it: This is a project house. You'd like to see much of the work done at once, precisely because the current home bears the stamps of several different remodels – different flooring here or there, different tile, faux brick wall paneling here, wood paneling there, and so on. The home could stand some consistency in design.
Still, there's a lot to work with, and we felt upbeat about the prospects.
The start price of $1.299M is attractive given current land values for 7500 sq. ft. lots and the basic workability of the home. Add the costs of remodeling to your tastes, and ask: Is this worth the total investment? It might be.
1801 3rd starts at $1.299M and is open Sat., Sun. and Mon. 1-4pm.
1804 Faymont (4br/3ba, 3300 sq. ft.) reminded us instantly of 1324 Marine, a home with the same floorplan that failed to sell in two runs on the market in 2012.
It's unusual, otherwise, to find an upside-down layout, with 3br – including the master – downstairs, in a location without views. But that's what you got at Marine, and what you get here.
There's a distinctly original late-80s vibe, with carpet almost everywhere and a kitchen and baths that all feel very much of that era. So it will want some refreshing.
What 1804 Faymont has going for it are size and price. There's a lot of room to spread out in the upstairs family areas. (A legal 4th bedroom upstairs probably serves as an office/playroom.) And there aren't many other big "entry-level" homes in MB under $1.6M.
Other Liberty Village sales this year include smaller, nearby 1909 Faymont (3br/2ba, 1820 sq. ft.) at $1.350M and similarly sized 2104 Harkness (4br/3ba, 3200 sq. ft.) at $1.580M. (Harkness was Dave's co-listing and sold $31K over asking.)
Based on those 2, the start at 1804 Faymont, $1.549M, seems a bit ambitious. Harkness was modernized and move-in ready, while this one will need some help. Then again, we're later into the season here, and buyers are realizing that there are fewer places in MB to find a big house at this price point.
1804 Faymont starts at $1.549M and is open Sun. 1-4pm.
Sand Section
511 23rd (4br/3ba, 2150 sq. ft.) is an original cottage that's gotten an add-on in back and up top to perhaps double its original size.
It's bright and cute, and shows pretty well. And this 500-block street in the gaslamp area is nice, very walkable to school and the beach.
We felt a clash between the 50s beach cottage feel and a (roughly) 1980s vibe from the "upgraded" kitchen and master bath. One bath is clean but completely original. So there is work to be done to fulfill the promise of this little cutie, to give it the full "21st century beach cottage" feel that is all the rage now.
Common spaces around the first floor are decent, and include a spare bedroom with glass doors that probably really serves as an office or study.
Worth noting regarding the bedrooms: The 4th bedroom in the listing is that first-floor room, hard to see it as a sleeping space, and two of the upstairs bedrooms are just enough – beach-size bedrooms, not much room to spread out. That's as it should be, but may be a limitation for some families.
511 23rd starts at $1.650M and is open Sat. & Sun. 2-4pm.
Tree Section
14 Laurel Square (4br/3ba, 2145 sq. ft.) is part of a multi-unit planned development near Martyrs church. It's unusual for MB in general, even more rare west of the highway.
Here the common rooms are all upstairs and bedrooms down, with a flow that seems a bit chopped up. (We're not sure the 4th "bedroom" upstairs really is; there's a den upstairs where they staged with a giant stuffed bear "sleeping" on a mat, but without a closet, we don't see a bedroom.)
The kitchen is fairly modern, but remodeling work over the years – paint here, flooring there, tile there – has been inconsistent and may need to be redone to make it cohesive. (We said much the same above about 1801 3rd.)
There's no denying the pluses, in general, of the location. Steps to school(s), walkable to town, etc. And if you might take advantage of the pool and/or sports court, the community areas could be a real plus. (A $325/mo. HOA fee covers your insurance, including earthquake, and covers all of the maintenance on the complex.)
This home was listed for 6 months last year at $1.275M but failed to catch a buyer.
It's back now at $1.195M – cheaper, in a hotter year.
14 Laurel Square starts at $1.195M and is open Sat. & Sun. 1-4pm.
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Average Family Homes: $1.9M
Friday, May 24th, 2013
No need to be schocked here, for once. At least we don't think so.
The basic family home people are looking for west of Sepulveda, in a decent part of the Tree Section, with 4+ bedrooms and 3000-ish square feet, looks like a $1.9M proposition.
That's higher than it was in some recent years, but a selection of recent sales firms up the price range:
2009 Elm (4br/3ba, 3100 sq. ft.) is the latest to close. It's a Mediterranean with an easy layout, clean and recently refreshed, and hard to place as the 1998 build that it is. Could be 90s, could be mid-2000s; many of these homes seem alike.
As you almost always find, in this home you enter into a formal living room, and continue back to a large kitchen/great room in back. First floor also has formal dining and a fairly large spare bedroom, with 3br upstairs – all pretty sizable.
This one came out at $1.899M in March and sold for $1.880M this week.
Worth noting: The sellers contacted Dave several months ago for a valuation and advice. Back then, Dave's view was that it would likely sell for $1.8M. As the market warmed up this Spring, he told them $1.9M was possible. And they did just about hit that.
1409 Pine (5br/4ba, 3200 sq. ft.) is extremely similar to 2009 Elm, but sports a 2001 build date. The layout is almost identical.
Its major points of distinction: An extra (5th) bedroom and location somewhat closer to school and town.
This one listed for less than 2009 Elm, but sold for more.
1409 Pine came out at $1.840M but got bid up to $1.910M. Is that a $30K premium for location and extra bedroom?
We're also looking to include 1301 Pine (5br/4ba, 3150 sq. ft.) on the list.
Though it's not a Mediterranean, it's a 2000 build with the same basic layout as the others, and in the same general area east of Pacific and south of Valley.
This one listed at $1.949M and had a pretty quick deal. We'd anticipate a sale close to that number. It's been in escrow about a month, so watch for it to close fairly soon.
Some questions before it does: Is the Cape Cod styling worth a premium? Or might buyers have shaved a little off for location nearer MBB and/or the flooring?
So $1.9M looks to be the going rate in this neighborhood.
Prices go up as you get into more luxe places and/or better locations, of course. But you can call this a baseline around which to bracket other kinds of homes and begin making your adjustments.
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For a complete list of sales in the Tree Section over the past 6 months, use this link, which is also found under "MB Sales Data" in the top navigation bar. You can quickly find sales data for any part of MB using that pull-down menu.
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Dirt Gets Pricey, Too
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013
The recent sale of 1804 Agnes serves as a reminder that finding a lot for a custom build is getting costlier by the day.
You can definitely say this flat lot at Agnes on a sleepy street boasts a prime location.
However, the 4780 sq. ft. lot size is average, and the backyard exposure will be to the east – less sunny in the afternoon – so we're not looking at pluses on every front.
So the sale price, after multiple bids, at $1.700M, is a wake-up call.
Wasn't it just last year that 1805 John shocked onlookers (and the 19 losing bidders) with a sale at $1.352M?
But that lot was a tad bigger (5065 sq. ft.) and with western exposure on the back. About the only major liability of the lot was (is) the giant eucalyptus in the front yard, which apparently the city forced the new owners to keep. (What is this, Australia?)
Even if the lots were equivalent, you'd see a $350K difference in only a bit more than a year. That's 26%. And if you call John the better lot, then you have to say lot prices are up more than 26% in 14 months... based on a sample of two.
That's two in the Tree Section's prime Martyrs area.
Let's test that hypothesis in the South End of the Sand Section.
Dave's clients purchased 521 2nd in May last year.
That 2700 sq. ft. lot (standard for the Sand) had a cute little 60s house on it that seemed to lend itself to an ambitious remodel. Instead, the buyers opted to scrape it and build new.
So the lot-sale-that-wasn't-intended-as-such was for $1.370M.
By October 2012, we'd seen the market moving for a bit.
That's when 512 4th listed for the same price as 521 2nd, only to come to prove that the market had moved.
Asking $1.369M, 512 4th instead got $1.625M. That was a jump of 19% over 521 2nd, and for a lot on the (barely) less desirable south side of this non-walkstreet segment of 4th.
Last month, another house on the same block sold for more.
That was 521 4th St., another 2700 sq. ft. lot.
In fact, there was no mistaking this as anything but a dirt trade. It's a long-running vacant plot of land that people have been eyeing for years.
Sale price in early April 2013: $1.645M. (Does it matter that the list price was $1.5M?)
That was a jump of 20% over 521 2nd from 11 months prior.
And maybe the one that stands out most in the South End is 424 2nd, which didn't have to be a lot sale at all.
Yes, those 3 examples above were all 500-block homes, good comps against one another, and 424 is a bit closer to the water. But it's not a walkstreet and it's not far from the others.
424 2nd had a functional, 3br/3ba, 2500+ sq. ft. house on it. It worked. But it's now gone.
424 2nd turned out to be a lot sale at $1.700M. (Sale posted in October 2012.) We had heard it would be scraped, but didn't quite believe it till the 'dozers arrived recently.
Maybe Agnes and 2nd are anomalies, but we hear tell of new lot sales in the Tree Section at $1.5M+, we just saw 1728 Pine close at $1.350M and can't really see what is to be done with that house, and, whew, we haven't even started talking about the Hill Section yet, or East MB.
Looking for dirt? It's worth more than dirt. More than last year, even.
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Shocker on 12th
Monday, May 20th, 2013
Ready for another shocking overbid? Or maybe we don't get "shocked" anymore?
725 12th (3br/2ba, 1325 sq. ft.) is a nearly perfect little beach cottage inside, in a location that affords a quick walk to downtown, church and elementary school.
We said in our review:
It's a great example of the most you can do to a little 1950s cottage. Wide open, high ceilings in the great room, a modern kitchen – with marble, not granite – and attractive baths.
Those "must have" qualities sparked a bidding war when the home came out in April at $1.399M. Multiple multiples again.
What would happen?
First, look back. The same property had traded in very nice condition in 2008 at $1.187M, after a start at $1.400 and 100+ DOM.
But that was 5 years and a different style ago. The cherry wood cabinets and dark granite counters came out, and in came white marble, white cabinets, and pitch-perfect beachy styling.
Oh, and this one also had significant market exposure in 2005, asking as much as $1.500M in that bubbly year. But no sale then. It would be 8 years before those heights were reached.
Here's how it shook out in this wild Spring 2013: An MLS-reported sale price of $1,620,450, or an overbid of $221K (+16%).
That's really, really something for a 1325 sq. ft. house, almost $1,225/PSF. (The lot size is small here, too, at 3000 sq. ft.)
With apologies to "Field of Dreams," we'd say the lesson is: Make a little beauty perfect, and they will come.
A bunch of losing bidders on 725 12th made their way down the hill and toward town when 524 13th came up several days later at $1.550M.
That one, with more square footage but fully needing the kind of transformative remodel that 12th already had, also generated several bids and is in escrow. If things hold together, that one should close shortly, too.
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Sunday Opens (5/19)
Sunday, May 19th, 2013
We've got inventory at 55 now, heading toward Memorial Day weekend. We sense that the old rule about inventory dropping, and sales activity slowing, in June won't quite bear out this year. We're thinking Summer will be busier than expected. But still, this can be viewed as the last week of the Spring market.
To plan your open-house tours, try this Redfin map list of open houses – sort by price or sub-region of MB by clicking the title on a column, or click here for the Beach Reporter list of opens.
Sand Section
468 34th (4br/5ba, 3525 sq. ft.) is Dave's new listing up on the plateau. Of course we think it's great, but we don't purport to offer "neutral" reviews of our own listings. So here's the official description, and here's hoping you'll come by during the open:
Your family will enjoy this lovely, newer Cape Cod on a quiet street of the Sand Section plateau.
Spacious common rooms on the first floor feature hardwood flooring, including an open kitchen/family room in back.
All four bedrooms are on one level, including master suite with fireplace and separate "his and hers" walk-in closets.
Upstairs, a family/game room opens to great deck with ocean peeks where you're sure to spend a lot of time. (Tax records count the top floor room as the fifth bedroom.)
This whole home has been refreshed with new paint and carpet and looks terrific. Wood shingles recently replaced with long-life Hardie shingles. Near new central vacuum unit.
Once you see this home, it's easy to feel the lifestyle pluses of a short walk to school, the beach and MB's "second downtown" in the North End. Start your summer off right with this great beach house!
The photos look great full-screen at the dedicated property website:
468 34th starts at $2.725M and is open Sun. 1-4pm.
Tree Section
Time has been kind to 
644 33rd (5br/5ba, 4225 sq. ft.), which had a rough time on the market when new 5-6 years ago.
Back then, it was a big spec house too far north – locationwise, and pricewise – for the market. They came out asking $3.4M and people just weren't buying $3M+ houses within a few short blocks of the refinery. The listing ran from Nov. 2006 till March 2008, and $500K was ultimately shaved off the asking price, as it closed for $2.875M – still rich, of course.
Since then, the landscaping has grown in to complement the home, and the current folks have really filled out and decorated the place wonderfully, so you can actually see the home's potential actualized. And it's terrific, deep, luxurious. (Though admittedly we've spent way too much time analyzing the description's claim that this home has "the panache to stand without pretense." Does it? Or is that a contradiction?)
Don't miss the huge basement home theater with bonus bed & bath.
For an "estate" on a street-to-alley lot, this one does lack much of a yard. The garage in back takes up a lot of the would-be outdoor space, so you really wind up with a nice sunny patio and a little grassy area.
Here we are in 2013, and the home looks better than ever, and people are paying around $3M – or more – for newer homes north of Valley. As we said, time has been kind.
644 33rd starts at $2.950M and is open Sun. 2-4pm.
3305 Laurel (5br/5ba, 4300 sq. ft.) is another extra-big and serious home that had bad timing initially. They listed this one new at $3.750M in Summer 2007, and that was not going to happen. The property rented out instead for 5 years.
This one compares favorably against 644 33rd, which is just 2 blocks west. Both have similar specs, including big basements.
We said in our review 2 weeks ago: "There's no dismissing the ambition and quality of the construction here. It feels authentic and old-world."
3305 Laurel is priced at $2.799M and is open Sun. 1-4pm.
3211 N. Valley (3br/2ba, 1450 sq. ft.) packs a lot of glamour into a smallish package, and hosts some nice surprises, like a quiet backyard and nice treetop views over the greenbelt.
This is a 1970s original that has been remodeled a couple of times in recent years. (Once by Dave & Mrs. MBC!) With the interior and exterior now fully modernized, you would hardly know the vintage.
There's a large master downstairs with a big bath, and 2br upstairs with the living spaces. Ceilings are high and vaulted and the living areas are bright, opening to a multi-level deck in back.
Sure, the home suffers from being along a busy street and somewhat far east and north. And it's not very walkable to school or downtown, but you can go under Sepulveda along the greenbelt and wind up at the MB Village mall. (In our 2003 remodel, to mitigate sound, we redid the front of the house and insulated the rooms, and it works pretty well.)
The $958/PSF on the start price ($1.399M) has us scratching our heads a bit. The lot is much smaller than normal for the trees at 2500 sq. ft. If this is comparable to some recent Rosecrans sales, that's a pretty penny. We'll see what they get.
3211 N. Valley starts at $1.399M and is open Sun. 2-4pm.
East MB
1116 18th (4br/2ba, 1500 sq. ft.) would seem to have some promise, but we haven't seen it yet. They posted the listing late Friday.
It's a decent size and they claim it's fully remodeled. Locationwise, it's got an issue, being right next to commercial property and in sight of Sepulveda. Still, at $1.050M, there's bound to be lots of interest.
1116 18th starts at $1.050M and is open Sun. 1-4pm.
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MB Market Update: 5/15/13
Friday, May 17th, 2013
The biggest news in local real estate right now might be this weekend's Sophisticated Snoop tour. It's the 40th year, and your chance to see the triple-lot house on The Strand, as well as 4 other great homes.
True facts we just learned about the triple-lot house (212 The Strand):
- They call it "Beachwood"
- They cite influences including "the Caribbean, the American East Coast and the Far East"
- Materials used include flooring "rumored to be from Napoleon's stables"
- According to the Snoop flyer, there is an "underwater grotto"
This year's selection of homes offer a great reason to part with $35 this weekend. Tickets are available from several downtown stores if you missed the chance at presale. Check it out.
In other news, it's time for one of our twice-monthly Manhattan Beach market updates.
Here's the quick overview on active inventory:
- 51 active listings as of 5/15/13
- 34 SFRs
- 7 THs
Though that's hardly a lot of listings for MB, it's the most we've seen in any update this year. (And as of Friday morning, that total had hit 55 active listings.)
Active listings by region of Manhattan Beach:
- Tree Section: 10 actives
- Sand Section: 18 actives
- Hill Section: 7 actives
- East MB: 16 actives
You can see the complete report on active listings, with live links to every property, in this single post on our data blog: "MB Inventory as of 5/15/13."
We're also providing a report on pending and closed sales by region of MB.
Sales are organized by sub-region of Manhattan Beach.
Here's a link to the post on our data blog: "MB Pending/Sold as of 5/15/13."
For closed sales, we provide the past 6 months' worth of sales by region. This is the typical window of time used by appraisers.
Enjoy the new reports!
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Walnut Shocker
Thursday, May 16th, 2013
It was almost 2 months ago that one of the more amazing Spring bidding wars broke out.
That was at 
1312 Walnut (3br/3ba, 2100 sq. ft.) a remodeled (and added-onto) 1950s cottage in a nice location on a corner near the elementary school.
This one launched at $1.599M, which seemed clearly to be pushing the limit for the property.
But no.
After multiple-multiple bidders came in, it went 10% higher.
The newly closed sale price: $1.760M.
We had said shortly after the deal posted: "[T]he sale price here will simply shock you when it closes. Imagine what's the most you'd think it could go for. Then add. Then a little more. Wow."
We can still say that pretty comfortably about $1.760M, but word is they had an even higher bid in place at one time. (All over town we hear and see examples of bidding war winners walking away for whatever reasons, so that part is not a big surprise.)
The same home last traded in May 2010 at $1.250M, and has been remodeled since.
For the subsequent 2+ years, this home, in remodeled condition, was probably a $1.35-$1.4M home. That it moved into the $1.5s this year was not a huge shock.
But $1.7+? $1.75+? We're still shaking that off.
Among the very recent sales of larger homes at around the same price:
- 1705 Pine (4br/4ba, 3125 sq. ft.) at $1.750M in Dec. 2012
- 1209 Oak (5br/5ba, 3125 sq. ft.) at $1.700M in Nov. 2012
- 3412 Pine (5br/4ba, 3160 sq. ft.) at $1.700M in March 2013
All of those had 1000+ more square feet inside. 1705 Pine is the closest thing, location-wise.
Or, reach quite a bit further back and you see:
- 1408 Poinsettia (4br/4ba, 3100 sq. ft.) at $1.675M in May 2010
- 1809 Walnut (5br/5ba, 3120 sq. ft., 2004 build) at $1.775M in Jan. 2011
- 2309 Pine (5br/4ba, 3250 sq. ft., 2001 build) at $1.775M in Sept. 2011
Each of those is fairly nearby, all much newer and larger homes. But those were different times, weren't they?
Here's a little more on 1312 Walnut from our review in March:
[1312 Walnut] hides most of its assets from passersby. The 1950s cottage with an add-on over the garage looks plain as could be from outside, and its yard is enclosed by a high fence. You could pass it 100 times and never take note of this home, though it's on a corner and is fully exposed on 2 sides.
But walk in and you're treated. Enter into the great room and a mid-century modern type feel kicks in at first, with floor-to-ceiling windows along the sunny western side of the home, making an already open room feel that much larger. The garden seems to be part of the room.
The kitchen (and master) is done up in a more French country style, which is attractive, if not everyone's cup of tea café au lait.
You feel the original cottage layout, with a central hall and bedrooms on either side, but what would have been your 3rd bedroom downstairs is a hybrid room – maybe a small study or library, with laundry just off of it and the stairwell up to the master as well. And that's a good-size master with modern-feeling bath.
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