At year's end 2021, we closed a sale here at the Edge office of 3420 Alma, in the North End of the Manhattan Beach Sand Section.
It's a corner-lot, 2-story, original 1960s SFR.
When we first got a look at it, the property had been occupied for about 20 years as a rental. And it kinda looked like it.
The seller, friends and neighbors generally assumed that the home would sell to a builder or flipper. It just seemed to be so beaten up and dated, the audience of potential buyers would be limited.
"NO!" we said. "This is a diamond in the rough. We just have to help people see it!"
We mapped out a plan for the seller to clean up and perfect the property without any real, actual remodeling. The seller, who lives out of state, approved the plan and let us go to work with trusted contractors and a stager.
This brief, fun video will walk you through some of what we did, and did not, do to prepare the home for market:
That first (and only) weekend of open houses, we loved to see potential buyers stream in, walk through the home and express how much they loved it. It was "cute," "darling," "clean," "solid" and "full of potential," according to various people.
That felt good, but that was not the success. We measure that in other ways:
• 3 weeks of prep
• 6 days on market
• 9 offers
• $2.400M sale price
• 17% over asking
Oh, and as to price...
In that original condition, we considered it possible that the home would eventually sell for $2.100M or a little over, after we did our prep. So we had advised the seller to start at $2.049M and let the market run with it. (Another agent had given suggestions that were extremely similar on price.)
Once the work was done, before the listing was live, we saw the upside. We advised that we could start a bit higher. But the seller was not greedy, and said "let's stick with the plan."
List price: $2.049M.
Sale price: $2.400M (+$351K / +17%).
We won't soon forget the call we got from a potential buyer right as the work started. He was thinking it's worth around $1.5-$1.6M. Nope.
Or the advice the seller apparently received as to an as-is value, no market prep: Around $1.799M.
Polish the diamond. It's worth more.
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Have you got a 'diamond in the rough' you're thinking of selling?
Contact Dave to ask about a plan for your property. Thanks!
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.
Based on information from California Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. as of December 9th, 2023 at 4:00am PST. This information is for your personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties you may be interested in purchasing. Display of MLS data is usually deemed reliable but is NOT guaranteed accurate by the MLS. Buyers are responsible for verifying the accuracy of all information and should investigate the data themselves or retain appropriate professionals. Information from sources other than the Listing Agent may have been included in the MLS data. Unless otherwise specified in writing, Broker/Agent has not and will not verify any information obtained from other sources. The Broker/Agent providing the information contained herein may or may not have been the Listing and/or Selling Agent.
At year's end 2021, we closed a sale here at the Edge office of 3420 Alma, in the North End of the Manhattan Beach Sand Section.
