Manhattan Village Plan l : New Listing.. 25 Catalina CT

25 Catalina CT. Manhattan Village

Terrific opportunity to buy a Manhattan Village Plan 1 Courthome at a great price.

This Courthome is in original condition and is waiting for a makeover. If you love to remodel this is your opportunity to bring your creativity and make this your "own".

$669,000






Property is shown by appointment only so give me a call (310) 721-7438 or send me an email...

On Tuesday, November 16, 2010,  the City of Manhattan Beach will decide whether or not they are going to require point of sale retrofits for toilets.  What this means for residents is that when you sell your home you would have to either prove that you have installed a new low flush toilet ( 1.28 gallons vs current 1.6-3.5 gallons per flush)by showing a signed permit from the city or if you have not installed a new low flush toilet you would need to do so before the property closes escrow.  

The interesting thing about the proposed ordinance is that the City may not be making a new toilet a requirement if you remodel a home only if you sell... which doesn't make a lot of sense.  If the goal is greater conservation of water then it would seem to me that any remodeling project should also require new toilets.  They are required for new construction. 

I would imagine that if this requirement is approved the city will also soon implement requirements for other water saving devices at point of sale similar to those required in Santa Monica and the City of Los Angeles.    

Currently Manhattan Beach is the only City with this requirement under consideration but you can bet if it goes through other local cities will also require point of sale retrofitting.  The cost would likely be about $100 for a permit + the cost of the toilet and the cost to install it.  I'm thinking it would run about $300-$400 per toilet.  

If you have concerns than you should show up at the City Council meeting next Tuesday and let them know how you feel.

Yesterday the Daily Breeze had a note on the front page that median home prices in the South Bay seemed to have stabilized.  The article noted that prices even seem to have risen in September 2010.  Of course the problem with median price points is that they are dependent on the mix of properties that wind up closing escrow. This is especially true when the volume of sales is on the low side. If more low end then upper end homes close escrow in a given month then the median price appears to have fallen. On the other hand if more upper end homes close escrow then the median rises. Personally I don't see prices rising anytime soon.

 On the same page there was an article about unemployment figures for California.  More then any other single factor, employment or rather lack of employment,  plays a big part in the stability of local housing markets.  While state unemployment levels remain high at 12.4%, the ***local South Bay Cities that have the lowest unemployment rates also have the most stable real estatre markets..  Rolling Hills with some of the priciest property in the nation has a 2.2% unemployment rate while Hawthorne, with most homes either a short sale or foreclosure and a big decline in values, has an unemployment rate of 16.1%.   It's tough to make a house payment when you don't have a job or much in the way of financial resources.

Last fall I wrote a post questioning if we had reached the bottom of the market .  It seemed to me that while homes at the entry level may have found the bottom, the rest of the market remained in flux.  One year later the market doesn't appear to have changed much... the entry level  market in Manhattan Beach and the Beach Cities continues to remain fairly stable with a few ups and downs .  The mid level in Manhattan Beach, up to about $1.6,  may have found stability  as has the same mid-market level in Hermosa, Redondo and El Segundo at slightly lower price points.  It is important to remember that stability doesn't mean prices moving upward.  Rather it means that price points are not as volatile.  Prices will continue to move around... just not as much .   Buyers have a better sense of market value and know when a home is priced right.  This is not the time for a seller to test the market.  The only thing that will get tested is their patience.

 The upper levels of the market in all the Beach Cities are still seeing more movement then the lower price points.  Financing or rather the vagaries of financing for the upper end are definitely plaguing the market as appraisals continue to be more problematic then qualifying issues... but that's another post. 

Last year at this time sales continued to be  brisk through the end of the year and into the Spring market.  This year the market is much slower.   Buyers continue to be cautious, even with interest rates at all time lows, as they try to figure out where the economy is headed.   A few folks are predicting another market crash with prices diving an additional 25%-30% from current levels, but most buyers  are not quite as pessimistic.

Inventory always tends to increase after August. The 4th quarter is typically a good time to buy as folks who have a home on the market over the holidays usually have a reason to close escrow before the end of the year.  Interest rates are at an all time low but that may not be enough to spark a surge in buying in the 4th quarter this year.  Until consumers feel they have a better handle on the economy even relatively stable real estate markets will be on the slow side.  As always the South Bay-Beach Cities market remains a tough one to predict.

*** Unemployment figures for the Beach Cities: ...Manhattan Beach  4.5%, Hermosa Beach  5.6%, El Segundo  6.3% and Redondo Beach at 6.7%. These numbers have been relatively stable for the last year.

In April of 2008 I listed 511 N. Dianthus in the Hill section of Manhattan Beach.  The home was a probate sale.  It had been owned by the same family since it was built in 1964.  The initial listing price was $1,429,000 which was considerably less then the appraised value from the state and  a private appraisal the heirs had ordered. 

Over the next few months the  financial markets would begin to crumble and home prices would soon follow.    This was the home Mom had dearly loved.  She had planned the yard  with care and loved her pond with the Koi and turtles.  The owners  had grown up in  the house and remembered when it was the largest home on the street.  They reduced the asking price a number of times, but it was difficult  watching the home where they had grown up losing value in  a rapidly changing market.

While the property received  offers, the owners and potential buyers were not able to reach an accord on price.  As always there was lots of chatter  about the  real market value of the property.  After being on the market for 10 months the owners decided to rent the house for a year.  In March of 2009  the for sale sign went down. 

But that is not  the end of our tale but rather the beginning.   All was fairly quiet until the fall of 2009.  In September  I started getting a number of calls from agents and  potential buyers who had toured the property while it was on the market wanting to know if the sellers  were still willing to sell.  The interest generally faded away when folks realized that the home was rented until the spring of 2010.   A few months later as inventory continued to decline interest again picked up in the house.   By the end of November I had three potential buyers who wanted to make offers on the house. 

The owners talked and decided that they would entertain offers on the property subject to the existing lease from the folks who had contacted us.   If someone met their price great... and if not they would think about listing  the home at the end of the lease term.    It seemed that now folks were serious and we wound up in a multiple offer situation.    One of the buyers  agreed to the price the owners wanted and escrow was opened in December with a closing to be 30 days after the property was vacant. 

I had to chuckle when reading a comment about the sale on

The new buyers  have some great plans for the home and have promised me a tour when all is done.   With their permission I'll take some pictures and post them.  While many disagreed with me when the property was listed,  this house has good bones and  a great location.  The new owners recognized that and knew that  a bit of imagination and a good architect can make this a lovely home.

For those of you who have been waiting to check out what 360 South Bay is offering keep next Saturday open.  The Grand Opening is planned for Saturday February 20, 2010 from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.  

The good news is that prices are lower then the projected prices I posted a few weeks ago.... although I suspect they may need to drop a bit more especially on the Plan 1 Sudios in The Flats.  Most folks are going to want a bedroom is they are going to spend almost $400,000 for a unit.    Location and price are  definitely going to be  issues for the development.  As Renee Moilanen pointed out in her column in the Daily Breeze last week  most of us know that there is a big difference between  living  in a beach community and Hawthorne.