If you track Manhattan Beach real estate market activity on a day-by-day basis, some things that happen have the feeling of minor headline news.
We watch the comings and goings on the market daily, of course, and we document almost everything for the MB Property Ticker.
A sale on a landmark property? News.
…
If you track Manhattan Beach real estate market activity on a day-by-day basis, some things that happen have the feeling of minor headline news.
We watch the comings and goings on the market daily, of course, and we document almost everything for the MB Property Ticker.
A sale on a landmark property? News.
Big price cuts, like when 100 N. Dianthus made its second $500,000 cut recently? Big news.
And so on.
Price cuts are almost always news.
A price cut has a message, from seller to potential buyers: "Hey, look over here! We're really trying to sell. Take another look!"
Later cuts have the same message, with a "please" added on.
And then there is what's going on over at 4310 Ocean Drive in El Porto.
For 5 days running now, 4310 Ocean has made a price cut. Each time, it was $5,000.
It's like the sellers have added a "please" message time and again. As the little ones say:
Please?
Pretty Please?
Pretty Please with Sugar on Top?
With Whipped Cream and Sugar and Candy on Top?
Here's the thing about 4310 Ocean as of today, however: After 5 price cuts, at $1.575M, it's currently priced $35K over its start price one month ago.
And it's still $25K over its sale price in early March of this year ($1.550M).
It's a curious set of circumstances, worth recapping in order:
Jan. 11, 2018: Offered for sale at $1.500M.
Jan. 24: In escrow.
March 6: Sold for $1.550M.
March 22: Listed for sale at $1.540M.
March 25: In escrow.
March 26: Out of escrow.
March 30: In escrow.
April 1: Price changed (raised) to $1.600M while in escrow.
April 11: Out of escrow.
April 20-24: Daily price cuts of $5,000 each, now $1.575M.
It's not too hard to understand what's up here.
An investor grabbed 4310 Ocean at first, considering a major remodel or new build. That was the $1.550M sale.
Another opportunity came up, so the new owner decided to resell quickly.
That $1.540M start price (below acquisition) must have been meant as multiple-offer bait, and it appeared to work, at first.
Boy, though, people have trouble committing to this property, don't they? It's been in escrow 3 times this year, selling once.
Assume that shift in price from $1.540M to $1.600M on April 1 represents the deal price they had in hand.
They're still thinking it'll sell over $1.550M, and they want everyone watching the property to know it's going to sell.
Who'll pounce first?
And if no one pounces right away, how many more $5K cuts are there left in reserve?
There's a bit of recent history that 4310 Ocean does not want to repeat.
For 3+ weeks last Summer, a stalled 4br townhome at 2211 Bayview made daily cuts of $1,000 each.
The price fell from $3.449M down to $3.427M over the span. No offers.
Then they made one huge cut of $228K to $3.199M. No offers for 2 months.
The townhome finally sold for $3.100M, or $449K below the start price.
The daily price cuts didn't motivate anyone, get people off the fence or, really, do much of anything but cause some eye-rolling.
Even the last big cut didn't "work" for a while.
But hey, each day for 3 weeks or so, those $1,000 price cuts were news... of a kind.
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Listings presented above are supplied via the MLS and are brokered by a variety of agents and firms, not Dave Fratello or Edge Real Estate Agency, unless so stated with the listing. Images and links to properties above lead to a full MLS display of information, including home details, lot size, all photos, and listing broker and agent information and contact information.