remodels

"Thar's gold in them thar... sand dunes."

Such has been the sentiment of flippers targeting Manhattan Beach during our years-long rise in real estate values.

Some recent sales show that flippers have continued to find it profitable to make deals on old, dated properties, then turn them back out, refreshed and modernized. Here are some recent sales and new escrows on flipper remodels:

1713 Lynngrove (3br/2ba, 1500 sqft.) is a Liberty Village cottage that's the latest flip to open escrow.

Redone inside with bright "California Coastal" style, this one is as good an example of currently trending design choices as any: wide-plank oak floors, white marble counters ("Carrera," d'oh!), a seemingly timeless beach-modern color palette of pale blue & teal for

Not to be dramatic, but there was a time when $2M could take you pretty far when shopping for homes in Manhattan Beach.

Now, a budget like that is going to involve some compromises. Take a smaller home. Plan a new build or major remodel. Or some combination thereof.

Here's a not-necessarily-complete list of recent sales somewhere near $2M, which illustrate the options at that price point.

As with every property referenced on the blog here, you can click any address for full listing details & photos.

2701 Pine (4br/3ba, 2300 sqft.) is a dapper Cape Cod on a corner in a mostly quiet part of the Tree Section. It has just closed for $2.200M.

Both the home and the lot are significantly smaller than is typical for the Tree Section. A 4br house would often…

Let's continue with a look back at data from 2015.

Here are the highest sale prices in the prestigious Hill Section last year.

Highest Sale of 2015

612 John (6br/8ba, 7400 sqft.) very nearly tripled in market value since its 2000 build.

That's a fascinating headline from the highest-ever public market sale in the Hill Section.

Closed Price: $9.400M in July.

This home was built on spec way-back-when in the year 2000, becoming a fine exemplar of the era's modern/Mediterranean estates that now dot the Hill Section. It sold new for $3.320M in December 2000.

The most recent prior purchase had been for $5.400M in 2011. That new owner went about customizing and updating the property inside.

Views from the property are considerable, among our town's best.…

Back in February, with the ambitious launch of 3300 Ocean Drive at $4.350M, we offered two quick points:

(1) [I]t would really be something to see a nearly $2,200/PSF sale come to fruition; and

(2) Tip: Don't bet against it.

It turns out, to get a deal done on this impressively remodeled and even-more-impressively located TH, they had to chop $350K off the top.

But there can't have been any tears over that chop.

A sale price of $4.000M on a 3bd/2ba, 1850 sqft. townhome boils down to $2,162/PSF, which is up there in the stratosphere.

The highest PPSF we've seen recently on a non-Strand home – exempting lot sales, with their crazy PPSFs on tiny, old 'dozer-bait houses – was also on Ocean Ave., specifically 1904 Ocean Ave.

That's a 2br/2ba, 1800 sqft.…