Sunday Opens (5/17/15)

This weekend is not just a great time to pick from among the growing range of options for open houses... which is free... but also to check out the annual Sophisticated Snoop tour, giving you the chance to see some of the most artful homes in Manhattan Beach and Hermosa in full-dress glory.

That includes this Hermosa Strand modern, plus an MB Strand home and others in the Sand & Tree sections of Manhattan Beach.

See this DigMB post for more, including links to each property, and pick up tickets at the door of any property – or see here for more on the Snoop.

To plan your open-house tours for this week, use MB Confidential's online list of Manhattan Beach open houses (it's mobile-friendly!).

Don't forget, when previewing homes here on MB Confidential, you can click "Open All Images" right above the main listing photo to get immediate display of all the listing photos at once.

Tree Section

644 Marine (3br/2ba, 1670 sqft.) is a quaint, very nicely updated home with a "Sand Section" feel on a Tree Section lot that's a close walk to school and town.

From the official description:

"Designer Ready Home with amazing finishes and use of space! This home is nestled on one of the most well known streets in the prestigious Gas Lamp Area... Open floor plan, high ceiling with lots of windows providing tons of natural light. Private front and side court yard with build in spa and BBQ area. This beautiful home has hardwood floors throughout with gourmet kitchen and dining room with multiple family and entertaining spaces. French doors leading from the living room to the courtyard create an indoor / outdoor living space. Large Master Bedroom with walk-in closet and large suite area."

Disclosure: Dave has toured clients through the home.

644 Marine starts at $2.349M and is open Sun. 1-4pm.

608 27th (5br/4ba, 4200 sqft.) is a pre-ZORP Spanish with a pool in back that, for whatever reason, is being marketed as "bright and white beach chic."

There's one bedroom downstairs among the common spaces, which are tiered toward the back as the lot slopes down. A modern kitchen is at the center of it all.

Upstairs are 3 full-size bedrooms (including the master) and a nursery or office-sized bedroom.

Vaulted ceilings in the main living areas and master bedroom make for a bold statement, and the home gets lots of light. 

Location is awfully nice as well for this home said to be "like no other" in the official description.

608 27th starts at $3.295M and is open Sun. 2-5pm.

665 33rd (3br/3ba, 2200 sqft.) was a 50s cottage that got some additions and remodeling around 10 years ago. It's been run down since then, as a prior owner let it go back to the bank and tenants left something of a mess and partly stripped house behind.

So it's a very rare REO for Manhattan Beach, worse for wear but only really needing cosmetic fixes in most places.

We saw a 4th bedroom over the garage (not noted in the listing), up some spiral stairs, with a large bath with shower. What we saw on the walls of that upstairs bath gave us pause – there will need to be some cleanup there.

For this Tree Section location, it's no surprise that there are already offers in on this property, but the bank would surely love to see more.

Disclosure: Dave has toured the property with clients.

665 33rd starts at $1.950M and is open Sun. 1-3pm.

East MB

1659 3rd (4br/4ba, 2865 sqft.) is a recently redone version of a home we saw just 3 years back looking like... well, like a home that needed a re-do.

In the official description, they call this now a "[b]eautiful coastal-inspired remodeled home," taking note of the full-size (7500 sqft.) corner lot.

Of the 4br, there are 3 on the main level, with the master up over the garage. Per the description:

"The home features upgrades such as custom European white oak hardwood floors throughout, new exterior and interior paint, beautiful custom marble fireplace, new interior doors, plantation shutters, custom light fixtures, and much more. The sizable master suite is upstairs with an enclosed patio providing an abundance of natural light and city views. There is a ton of storage space in this house, which boasts both attached and detached one and a half car garages."

1659 3rd starts at $1.879M and is open Sun. 1-4pm.

901 Peck (4br/3ba, 2840 sqft.) is of comparable size and location, overall, to 1659 3rd, and also sports a 7500 sqft. corner lot.

In this case, most of the updates are to be made in the future. And one of those 4br is more of a fully separate office/guest suite, accessed down on the first level off of the side patio.

901 Peck starts at $2.000M and is open Sun. 1-4pm.

Sand Section

422 Marine Ave. (3br/3ba, 1375 sqft.) has something of a misleading address, because it's actually in back on Marine Place.

The smallish TH back unit has nothing but garage on the lowest level, three small and mostly original-feeling (1970s) bedrooms on the middle level, and a top floor that got a bold re-do in the 80s at some point.

There are some views now toward the north over under-height, older homes, but those would be temporary.

It's got to be viewed as a fixer with walkability to beach & school being its primary pluses.

And price. You can hardly find anything west of Sepulveda for under $2M, certainly in the Sand Section.

422 Marine starts at $1.600M and is open Sun. 2-5pm.