Month: June 2012

Like Santa Monica and Brentwood, Pacific Palisades also finds itself in a strong market with quite a few listings going out in auction like fashion:

1147 El Medio – 3 bed/3.50 bath, 3,144 sq. ft. Mid-Century on a 12,820 sq. ft. lot. The low list price of $2.365M created a ton of interest in the property with the listing agent receiving 16 offers. The captivating ocean and city light views combined with recent updates helped push the final sale price of this home to $3.080M, 700K over the asking price and at 979.63 per sq. ft. Rumor has it that counters were issued to the six highest original offers.

745 Swarthmore – 4 bed/2.75 Bath, 2,477 sq. ft. Traditional on a 9,000 sq. ft. lot. Located blocks from the village and recently renovated, this home with a desirable open floor plan received 4 offers and sold just above the $2.495M list price at $2.5M. The final price per square foot= $1009.29

1039 Las Pulgas Road – 3 bed/2.50 Bath, 2,021 sq. ft. Traditional on a 11,425 sq. ft. lot. This Marquez area home provides a great example of the current marketplace and what has been happening over the past 5 years. In 2007, this home was completely remodeled with a gourmet kitchen and providing great indoor/outdoor flow and sold for $2.150M in multiple offers. The house resold 3 years later off the market on 9/23/2010 for $1.759M, representing just over an 18% drop in value. On March 21st of this year, the home was listed at $1.759M and immediately received over 6 offers and sold for $1.825M, about a 4% price increase and it would probably have been 6% if it the market in the past few weeks.

How about 35 offers on one house followed by a neighboring house coming on weeks later and receiving 15 offers! What about almost a million over asking? Here we go-

1750 Westridge Road- 3 bed/5 bath, 4,754 sq. ft. Traditional on a 32,246 sq. ft. lot – Fellow Partner Scott Carmody had a firestorm of buyers on his hands with a $2.195M list price. The property received around 8 offers for the rare opportunity to build or remodel on a lot this size and that rarity apparently drove some to bid over $2.5M (350K over asking) for the property. The escrow is still very young so we will be tracking this one.

117 South Medio- 4 bed/5bath, 5,365 sq. ft. Traditional on a 8,000 sq. ft. lot – This stunning traditional home created an unbelievable buzz when it first hit the market due to a ridiculously low list price of $3.295M. Many agents felt the property was worth over $4 million and it ended up selling for $4.251M almost $1M over asking! In total they received over 11 offers and countered back to 6 of them. Congrats to Partner Vicki Driscoll for helping her client see the value of the home in this marketplace despite the deceptive list price.


1353 Beckwith- 3 bed/2 bath, 2,259 sq. ft. Ranch on about a 9,000 sq. ft. lot – The polo fields of Brentwood are getting a ton of attention but no one expected the property to garner 35 offers at the $1.495M list price. This major remodel/teardown is rumored to be in escrow between $1.650-$1.7M with an all cash buyer.

 On the heels of 1353 Beckwith going into escrow, fellow Partner Richard Stearns listed 1341 Beckwith a tear-down with an 11,140 sq. ft. lot at $1.595M. The trust sale was only open for the broker caravan and garnered 15 offers and an offer was accepted this past Thursday.

As mortgage rates sink deeper into record territory, homeowners are refinancing into 15-year loans at a pace not seen in a decade, aiming to pay off their debt in time for retirement.

Check out the LA Times article.

From the LA Times:

“Financial institutions are agressively seeking to move through their inventories of homes in default or scheduled for auction,” said Stuart A. Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA. “This is a positive sign in the sense that clearing out this shadow inventory is a precondition for the full healing of the housing sector.”