January 2009 
There are 27 blog entries for January 2009.
Super Saturday for Opens (1/31)
Friday, January 30th, 2009 at 6:23pm. 109 Views, 0 Comments.
Here comes the Super Bowl, one of the last big secular holidays worth stopping everything for – even if you don't believe in football.
Though there's an increasing wave of open houses this week, most are not open Sunday, or they end before kickoff.
The ones open after 3pm Sunday – maybe they're telling you something...
Click here for the complete list of opens published in the Beach Reporter, or at any time use the link in the right-hand column under "Prop. Search Tools." As always, click on any highlighted address for more pics & details via Redfin.
We ask MBC readers who visit these homes to also report back. Tell us what you see, what you like and what you don't like. Use the comments here to discuss the homes we've highlighted.
And, by all means, if you do…
Though there's an increasing wave of open houses this week, most are not open Sunday, or they end before kickoff.
The ones open after 3pm Sunday – maybe they're telling you something...
Click here for the complete list of opens published in the Beach Reporter, or at any time use the link in the right-hand column under "Prop. Search Tools." As always, click on any highlighted address for more pics & details via Redfin.
We ask MBC readers who visit these homes to also report back. Tell us what you see, what you like and what you don't like. Use the comments here to discuss the homes we've highlighted.
And, by all means, if you do…
Best Deals of 2008 – Sand Section
Friday, January 30th, 2009 at 5:41am. 141 Views, 0 Comments.
The other day we commended the buyers of some of the “Deals of the Year” for 2008, focusing first on the Hill Section.
Today, let’s look at the Sand Section, where our top deal of the year is to be found.
Sand Section
Best Deal of 2008, Sand Section and MB west of Sepulveda: The new construction at 221 34th (5br/4ba, 4200 sq. ft.) drew raves from MBC when it first hit the market in April. We've called it an "ultra-contemporary showpiece, stunning, cool, clean, and featuring world-class ocean, PV & pier views."
Two problems: 1) contemporaries simply have a limited audience, and 2) the start price of $5.4m was a bit too rich for the North End.
Over time, we learned how much too rich.
Once the sellers started sending clear signals that they were ready to unload the…
Today, let’s look at the Sand Section, where our top deal of the year is to be found.
Sand Section
Best Deal of 2008, Sand Section and MB west of Sepulveda: The new construction at 221 34th (5br/4ba, 4200 sq. ft.) drew raves from MBC when it first hit the market in April. We've called it an "ultra-contemporary showpiece, stunning, cool, clean, and featuring world-class ocean, PV & pier views."Two problems: 1) contemporaries simply have a limited audience, and 2) the start price of $5.4m was a bit too rich for the North End.
Over time, we learned how much too rich.
Once the sellers started sending clear signals that they were ready to unload the…
Open Forum (1/29-2/2)
Thursday, January 29th, 2009 at 5:27pm. 124 Views, 0 Comments.
As sometimes happens, your blog host forgot to start up a new "Open Forum" this week. That tends to push off-topic discussions into the other stories.So here goes – no flashy intro this time. Just a pic of MBC's coverage area from space. The "A" tag points to Ercole's.
As always, please use this week's "Open Forum" thread for news clips, off-topic questions & discussions of (virtually) any nature. Keep it clean.
A Surprising Development on MBB
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 6:23pm. 140 Views, 0 Comments.
We have been watching a new development sprout over the past year on Manhattan Beach Blvd. (MBB) at John St.All along, we have assumed this was to be a commercial building.
You know what they say happens when we assume...
In fact, at the corner of MBB and John Street, 3 new townhomes have now been put on the market. Not only are all 3 quite near MBB, the most expensive literally fronts the busy thoroughfare.
The new THs all sport John St. addresses, which sort of masks the location for just a moment. The particulars (click address for more via Redfin; there aren't any interior pics at this writing):
- 1106 John is the smallest of the 3, at 2br/2ba, 1550 sq. ft. Starts at $1.299m. Don't forget the HOA dues of $497.
- 1108 John is slightly larger, at 2br/2ba,
Local Assets
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 7:44pm. 109 Views, 0 Comments.
Tuesday night, the MB City Council awarded commemorative plaques to 5 homes that have been designated the city's first "culturally significant landmark" homes.Heading up the pack is a distinctive home at 3004 The Strand, built in 1960, which features a glass and copper exterior and unique, moderne interior as well. (Pic via this Daily Breeze article.) It's said to be the first steel-constructed home on the Strand.
Just the other day, the Strand property also won designation as a state landmark.
It is only the second state-designated landmark in town, with the MB Pier being the first.
The other homes, most much older than the Strand landmark, to have received local landmark status are listed below. (Descriptions provided by MB Community Development Dept.)…
Best Deals of 2008 – Hill Section
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 5:58am. 136 Views, 0 Comments.
In this first of 3 parts, we look at the "best deals" on homes purchased in Manhattan Beach in 2008.
What qualifies a home to be one of the "best deals?"
Inevitably, at least for MBC, price adjustments are a big factor, but not the only factor. We'll see comparisons to prior sales, evaluations of how some buyers made their deals non-conventionally, and we'll go with the gut on which homes just seemed great and changed hands for fair prices.
As is often our practice here at MBC, we'll look at SFRs west of Sepulveda by section (Hill, Sand and Trees). First up today, the Hills.
Hill Section
Best Deal of 2008, Hills: 808 Highview looked like it would be the deal of the year, before a late entrant from the Sand Section stole the mantle. (See our next installment.)
…
What qualifies a home to be one of the "best deals?"
Inevitably, at least for MBC, price adjustments are a big factor, but not the only factor. We'll see comparisons to prior sales, evaluations of how some buyers made their deals non-conventionally, and we'll go with the gut on which homes just seemed great and changed hands for fair prices.
As is often our practice here at MBC, we'll look at SFRs west of Sepulveda by section (Hill, Sand and Trees). First up today, the Hills.
Hill Section
Best Deal of 2008, Hills: 808 Highview looked like it would be the deal of the year, before a late entrant from the Sand Section stole the mantle. (See our next installment.)…
Drip, Drip
Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 6:33am. 160 Views, 0 Comments.
Last Summer, 215 S. Valley hit the market at $1.650m. (Click address for more pics & details via Redfin.)At the time, MBC called that "very pricey for a 4br/3ba, 2500 sq. ft. home that needs all kinds of updating."
That start price withstood the Summer heat and even the first couple of months of the financial meltdown. It wasn't till mid-November that the listing took its first cut, nearly a token move down to $1.580m.
Now, in 2009, the price is melting away at a surprisingly steady rate.
First there was the $100k cut to $1.480m on Jan. 10.
After that, there have been 4 consecutive cuts of $20k each spanning just 2 weeks. The price has now dripped down to $1.399m.
At this rate, 215 S. Valley could be at $1.2m by Valentine's Day. That might be about where it…
Hills Are Alive with Opens (1/25)
Sunday, January 25th, 2009 at 6:12am. 129 Views, 0 Comments.
Face it, now, next Sunday you're more likely to be busy with Super Bowl festivities than with trudging around to open houses. That means this weekend is the time to get out.
In the Hill Section this weekend, we have something old and something new worth your attention.
If you happen to visit one of our recommended listings, be sure to tell the agent there that MBC sent you.
Click here for the complete list of opens published in the Beach Reporter, or at any time use the link in the right-hand column under "Prop. Search Tools."
As always, click any highlighted address below for more pics & details via Redfin.
Hill Section
222 N. Poinsettia is a lot sale, although we'd take the sensibly sized ranch house (2650 sq. ft.) if the dirt weren't pushing the value so…
In the Hill Section this weekend, we have something old and something new worth your attention.
If you happen to visit one of our recommended listings, be sure to tell the agent there that MBC sent you.
Click here for the complete list of opens published in the Beach Reporter, or at any time use the link in the right-hand column under "Prop. Search Tools."
As always, click any highlighted address below for more pics & details via Redfin.
Hill Section
222 N. Poinsettia is a lot sale, although we'd take the sensibly sized ranch house (2650 sq. ft.) if the dirt weren't pushing the value so…Where Inventory Grew in '08
Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 6:40am. 116 Views, 0 Comments.
SFR inventory is growing, as it does at the start of the year.
Unofficially, it's now higher than at any point MBC has previously recorded in 22 months of public market tracking. But let's stick to the data we've got from our twice-monthly updates.
On Jan. 15, we had SFR inventory west of Sepulveda of 115, just 9 shy of the highest figure yet from one of MBC's updates (Oct. 15, 2008).
Now let's take a look at how inventory grew in 2008, and where.
As this graph shows (click to enlarge), the biggest culprit in burgeoning inventory is the Hill Section. Inventory there has grown from a trifling 6 as of 1/15/08 to 29 a year later.
Throughout much of 2007, we saw inventory in the Hills averaging 12-15 SFRs, so the steady growth in inventory last Spring and Summer…
Unofficially, it's now higher than at any point MBC has previously recorded in 22 months of public market tracking. But let's stick to the data we've got from our twice-monthly updates.
On Jan. 15, we had SFR inventory west of Sepulveda of 115, just 9 shy of the highest figure yet from one of MBC's updates (Oct. 15, 2008).
Now let's take a look at how inventory grew in 2008, and where.
As this graph shows (click to enlarge), the biggest culprit in burgeoning inventory is the Hill Section. Inventory there has grown from a trifling 6 as of 1/15/08 to 29 a year later.Throughout much of 2007, we saw inventory in the Hills averaging 12-15 SFRs, so the steady growth in inventory last Spring and Summer…
Low End Heating Up
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at 6:07am. 123 Views, 0 Comments.
For the first half of January, the only 3 sales (new escrows) that posted were all very challenged homes, borderline teardowns:
This week, 505 Anderson (4br/2ba, 1850 sq. ft.), a major fixer that hit the market at an eye-opening $799k,…
2500 Oak (pictured), a small (3br/2ba, 1350 sq. ft.) home in one of the worst locations west of Sepulveda at Marine and Sepulveda, last at $789k (see "A New Low");
- 539 23rd, a cramped, funky older home with tiny bedrooms (technically 4br/2ba, 1900 sq. ft.) and a long honey-do list before move-in day, last at $1.395m; and
- 612 11th, last priced at $1.199m, below its 2007 acquisition price (as discussed recently in "Hill Happenings").
This week, 505 Anderson (4br/2ba, 1850 sq. ft.), a major fixer that hit the market at an eye-opening $799k,…
