Shocker on 12th

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.