Manhattan Beach Real Estate Blog

Manhattan Beach Hill Section

Brinette Holdren — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:31:18 +0000

This section of town is known for its large lots and mansion like homes. The lots here sit atop a hill providing some of the best views of Palos Verdes to Malibu and even downtown LA. While there are homes here that have not been recently developed and maintain their 1950’s charm, many of the homes here boast square footages over 4,000sf and prices of $3 million and up.

Uber Mansion

Square footage values rival those of the Strand properties that sit ocean front. Why? Well, for those who want a large lot and a yard and a large house, this is the place to be. Newer homes in the neighborhood range in price from $4 million to $10 million.

Bordered by Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Sepulveda, Boundary and Ardmore, this is a great location for walking to the beach, downtown and even Hermosa’s Pier Avenue.

If you want to know who lives here, try www.blockshopper.com and search the neighborhood. You’ll find there’s no lack of professional athletes, lawyers and busy professionals who want to enjoy the beach lifestyle with Beverly Hills-like homes.

There are very few commercial lots within the Hill Section. Along Manhattan Beach Boulevard and along Sepulveda and backing up to Larsson Street there are commercial buildings and businesses that face those streets.

There are few parks and no schools directly included in this section of town. The elementary school slated for the residents of this area can be seen in a map of schools located on the Manhattan Beach School District website.

Hill Section Home

Sound like your kind of place? If so, contact me for more information and a housing tour.

Manhattan Beach Sand Section

Brinette Holdren — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:20:34 +0000

Ahhhh glorious Manhattan Beach! When the sun is out, andthe wind dies down, you can findeveryone in Los Angeles at this beach (it seems). The area surrounding the bay in Manhattan is called the Sand Section. As is typical with many beach cities, homes are small, tall and built to see a view of the water…at least that was the original intent.

The Manhattan Sand Section and El Porto are located just at the north end 42nd Street, to the west is the beach, to the south is 1st (Homer actually) and to the east is Valley/Ardmore and the chip path. This dividing line runs through Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach andseparates the sand section from other sections of both towns. It is a nice walking/jogging path maintained by the Cities of Manhattan and Hermosa.

: Veterans Parkway – “Chip Path”

The Homes

The sand section is also an area in transition. It is common to have a brand new home sitting next to a spanish cottage built in the 1930’s. Many of the older cottages are being or have been torn down by developers and typically replaced by two townhomeson the same lot. There are not a lot of condo developments that plague many other beach towns. Here you will findhouses from 700 square feet to over 6000 square feet. Pricing recently has ranged between $575,000 for a condo on a busy street to over $10,000,000 for a house on The Strand. The typical sand section newer townhomesells for around $1,500,000 to $2,000,000.

In some areas of town, you will see streets with no car access. These are called “Walk Streets”. In these neighborhoods, the houses face each other across a wide sidewalk. Their garages are entered through an alley street in the back.

El Porto Property

Walk Street

The homes on these streets are highly desireable. You really can’t get into one for much less than $2,000,000. That is a start. Many are much more pricey than this. Why? Because families like the idea that their children can play out front without a car driving by. This is a huge benefit. In fact, you’ll notice kids toys and bikes left out on these streets at all times.

The flip side of town is El Porto. Once on its own, now a part of Manhattan Beach proper. This is the most dense area of Manhattan Beach. Many homes sit on lots that are just over 1,100 square feet. This is a major surf locale. If you have been wanting to check it out, there’s a parking lot entered from 42nd Street.

Check on Surfline.com for your daily surf update on El Porto! The north end of Manhattan Beach also has many great restaurants, stores and bars to choose from. Some of my favorites are: North End Caffe, Panchos, Beach Hut and Upper Manhattan.

Once you get downtown there are also many great stores, restaurants and pubs. It’s not uncommon to run into a group of cruisers on a pub crawl any given weekend!

Manhattan Beach is the home of AVP! Manhattan Beach hosts the AVP Crocs Tour July 16-19 this year.

There are many fine hotels around Manhattan Beach. Only a couple are downtown where you can walk straight down to the beach and get into the water within minutes of leaving your room. In North Manhattan you have the quaint Sea View Inn. Downtown you have the newly built boutique hotel called Shade. Both are lovely. They are very different types of hotels.

There is soooo much more to tell you about the Sand Section of Manhattan Beach. Events, news and homes for sale. Contact me direct and we can help you with your needs!

Manhattan Beach Tree Section

Brinette Holdren — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:09:55 +0000

I thought I would do a little diary type post with photos and notes about the local areas. It may surprise you to know how many little dedicated areas there are in these little beach towns. There are those who will argue their area of town is the best area to live in. I won’t do this. I will remain unbiased, except to state that ALL of the south bay is great! There is not one particular spot that has it all over another.

Just as we are all unique, so are the areas of town. I Hope you enjoy my review of the Tree Section in Manhattan Beach.

The Trees

The area known as the “Tree Section” is known for …well its trees. In fact, there is a city ordinance in this area regarding restrictions for removing trees and the fine for doing so. The majority of the trees fall into three types: Coral Tree, Carrotwood Tree and Eucalyptus Tree. This neighborhood is flanked by Pacific Coast Highway (PCH, Sepulveda Highway 1- All the same here) to the east, Manhattan Beach Boulevard to the south, Bell and Valley to the west and Rosecrans Blvd. to the north.

The Homes

Homes here vary in size from around 700sf cottages to huge 3400sf new construction. This neighborhood offers a variety of home styles because it is in transformation. In other words, most of the small cottages over the last few years have been purchased off the market by developers and builders, only to be torn down and rebuilt as a newer bigger home. The style in this area for newer homes has been traditional, Cape Cod (Nantucket also works – see photo), Spanish and Tuscan (which vary on tile styles and fixtures mostly) and a couple of unique one-off custom homes. The prices can vary here from $680,000 to $4,000,000 plus. Mostly this depends upon location and house size and age.

The Land

The lots in the tree section can vary in size. A smaller lot is still more land than you will get closer to the beach in the sand section (we’ll talk about this area later). The smallest tree section lot size is 2,100sf. This would be in some smaller lots near downtown where the homes are tall and narrow. The largest lots are around 9,000sf and very rare. Most lots are either 4,480 or 4,640 or 4,800 sf. This means most newer homes will be in the 3,000 sf range.

The Neighborhood

The tree section is a well known family type neighborhood. This is the kind of place you would expect to see kids riding their bikes and families walking their dogs at night. Over holidays, it isn’t unusual to see streets blocked off from traffic for neighborhood parties. From this area, you can walk to downtown, the beach and many shopping destinations east of PCH within a mile or so. Unaffected by weekenders and holiday traffic, this is a quieter area of the city to live in and much less congested. There really isn’t commercial activity here until you get near to downtown. This is just one of the lovely areas we call home here in Manhattan Beach.

IRS Expedites Tax Lien Relief

Brinette Holdren — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:16:18 +0000

IRS TO EXPEDITE TAX LIEN RELIEF FOR HOMEOWNERS
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced it will expedite its process of providing relief from federal tax liens for distressed homeowners. With more than one million current federal tax liens against real and personal property, the IRS announcement should help REALTORS® and their clients resolve federal tax lien issues in their sale and loan transactions.

As background, a homeowner seeking to sell or refinance a property must generally pay off an existing federal tax lien. However, during the current economic downturn, many homeowners don’t have the cash or equity to do so. Hence, for a refinance, the homeowner may request that the IRS makes its tax lien subordinate, or secondary, to the lien of the refinancing lender. For a sale, the homeowner may, under certain circumstances, request that the IRS discharge its claim. The IRS’s processing time for subordination or discharge requests has been about 30 days. The IRS currently is working to expedite that time frame to help distressed homeowners. For IRS instructions on requesting relief from federal tax liens, go to IRS Publication 783 for discharges and Publication 784 for subordinations at www.irs.gov.

National Association of Realtors Proposes Relief Plan

Brinette Holdren — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:17:40 +0000

I recently sent this letter to my congressmen(women) and senators. Please read the NAR’s plan for economic stimulus with regard to the housing market. I think you’ll find it a reasonable plan that will help make purchasing a home a reality for many people.

The Four Point Plan

The most recent economic stimulus bill, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, was a good first step towards stabilizing our nation’s economy. Unfortunately, a number of the Act’s provisions have not proven to be as useful at stabilizing the nation’s housing markets as was first thought.

Congress may consider a second economic stimulus bill this month. If they do, there are a number of changes that could help to provide more stability to the nation’s real estate markets which most agree is a necessary step towards recovery.

NAR has urged Congress to include the following provisions in any future legislation:

Make the $7500 tax credit available to all purchasers and eliminate the repayment requirement. The credit’s limited availability and required repayment terms have severely limited the credit’s appeal to potential homebuyers. As a result, the credit has not been widely used or proven effective at stimulating sales.

Make the 2008 FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits permanent. New rules for 2009 would significantly reduce the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limit from their 2008 levels. Now is not the time to limit the availability of affordable mortgages.

Get the Emergency Treasury bank relief program back on track by targeting more funds to mortgage relief efforts and increasing efforts to mitigate foreclosures. Don’t just give the banks unrestricted cash. Make the program work to improve mortgage and housing markets as it was originally intended.

Permanently bar banks and banking conglomerates from engaging in real estate brokerage and management. The banks have proven they have enough to do to simply properly manage their current lines of business. Do we really want them to manage the home buying process? Imagine what could have been the situation now if they already had the added ability to engage in real estate sales.

LA Tax Assessor’s Office-Decline in Value Reassessments

Brinette Holdren — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:23:12 +0000

If you purchased your home in LA County between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2007 and feel that the assessed value on your property is much higher than its current worth due to declining housing values, you may apply for a Decline in Value Reassessment from the county tax assessor’s office.

While you may be disappointed that your property has lost value in this declining market, you should be proactive and have your assessed value reviewed. The Assessor’s website says that they will be reviewing these sales themselves and notifying you of their findings, but you can apply on your own before that time. You’ll need to send in the application found on the website and sales comps from the neighborhood showing a decline in value since you purchased the home and as of the lien date of January 1, 2008. I can run these comps for you if you are in need of my services.

Properties will be compared to sales near the lien date of January 1st, 2008. “If the market value is less than the assessed value indicated on your 2007-08 tax bill, the assessed value will be reduced accordingly.” It is important to understand that this reduction may be temporary and should the market correct, you will be reassessed accordingly at that time. Be sure to review the information on the Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor website.

FHA Updates

Brinette Holdren — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:24:13 +0000

Information as of 5/8/08. Provided by Platinum Capital Group.

For new FHA loans, the following will apply. These loans may take the place of a conventional loan for those desiring a smaller down payment who don’t mind providing full documentation (ie. tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, etc.)

6% to $362,000, 6.5% to $729,250, 30 Year Fixed, No PP

Minimum 3% down payment required for all property types

Co-Signers allowed

620 Minimum credit scores. Exceptions considered.

No “declining market” reductions

Owner-occupied properties only, however, will loan on multiple unit properties:

1 unit – $729,750 2 units- $934,200 3 units- $1,129,250 4 units- $1,403,400

No EZ Qual programs. Full-doc only.

Plan for 45 day escrow.

For more information, please contact me and I’ll put you in touch with a mortgage specialist who can answer all of your questions.

Housing Financial News-Rates Remain Same

Brinette Holdren — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:24:49 +0000

Interest rates remain unchanged from last week.

GDP grew at .6% ratein the 1st Quarter, higher than expected, and 2.5% for the past 12 months…slow growth, but no recession.

Economy lost 20,000 jobs in April, much less than the expected decline of 75,000. The unemployment rate remains at 5%.

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by another .25%. Prime rate is now at 5%, down from 8.25% in September. Many experts now predict that the Fed will NOT change rates at the next meeting on June 25th.

For more mortgage information, please send your information to my contact page.

March and April Home Sales in the South Bay

Brinette Holdren — Sat, 03 May 2008 00:25:43 +0000

Single Family Residential Home, Townhomes and Condominiums.
Statistics as of May 2, 2008 compiled from MRMLS South Bay Association of Realtors®.

Manhattan Beach

March Sales
Number of Sales Closed	22
Average List Price	$1,966,642
Average Sale Price	$1,896,523
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-3%
High Sale	$5,600,000
Low Sale	$772,000

April Sales
Number of Sales Closed	32
Average List Price	$1,688,216
Average Sale Price	$1,628,342
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-3%
High Sale	$2,948,750
Low Sale	$1,628,342

Hermosa Beach

March Sales
Number of Sales Closed	11
Average List Price	$2,645,647
Average Sale Price	$2,458,091
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-4%
High Sale	$10,600,000
Low Sale	$879,000

April Sales
Number of Sales Closed	17
Average List Price	$1,453,284
Average Sale Price	$1,380,759
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-5%
High Sale	$3,025,000
Low Sale	$430,000

North Redondo Beach

March Sales
Number of Sales Closed	20
Average List Price	$827,125
Average Sale Price	$805,250
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-3%
High Sale	$1,450,000
Low Sale	$585,000

April Sales
Number of Sales Closed	24
Average List Price	$802,700
Average Sale Price	$783,458
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-2%
High Sale	$1,150,000
Low Sale	$515,000

South Redondo Beach

March Sales
Number of Sales Closed	20
Average List Price	$1,094,100
Average Sale Price	$1,051,775
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-4%
High Sale	$2,100,000
Low Sale	$660,000

April Sales
Number of Sales Closed	15
Average List Price	$879,820
Average Sale Price	$849,367
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-3%
High Sale	$1,760,000
Low Sale	$420,000

El Segundo

March Sales
Number of Sales Closed	7
Average List Price	$896,271
Average Sale Price	$836,286
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-6%
High Sale	$1,610,000
Low Sale	$440,000

April Sales
Number of Sales Closed	8
Average List Price	$853,975
Average Sale Price	$809,875
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-5%
High Sale	$1,350,000
Low Sale	$530,000

Summary:

Recent activity has grown a bit over the last couple of months. The key to remember is that if you’re in the market to buy, now is a great time to get a good deal. If you’re in the market to sell, be sure to market your property right and at the right price! For more information on my marketing programs, please email or call me directly.

Current Number of “Active” Properties on the Market:

Manhattan Beach: 187Hermosa Beach: 82North Redondo Beach:158South Redondo Beach:173El Segundo: 43

February Sales in the South Bay

Brinette Holdren — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:29:00 +0000

Single Family Residential Home, Townhomes and Condominiums.
Statistics as of March 17, 2008 compiled from MRMLS South Bay Association of Realtors®.

Manhattan Beach

February Sales
Number of Sales Closed	16
Average List Price	$2,067,695
Average Sale Price	$1,997,125
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-3.4%
High Sale	$3,625,000
Low Sale	$1,200,000

Hermosa Beach

February Sales
Number of Sales Closed	6
Average List Price	$1,793,293
Average Sale Price	$1,728,661
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-3.6%
High Sale	$7,600,000
Low Sale	$521,000

North Redondo Beach

February Sales
Number of Sales Closed	14
Average List Price	$689,993
Average Sale Price	$674,714
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-2%
High Sale	$890,000
Low Sale	$500,000

South Redondo Beach

February Sales
Number of Sales Closed	4
Average List Price	$1,236,625
Average Sale Price	$1,053,880
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-14%
High Sale	$1,590,000
Low Sale	$520,000

El Segundo

February Sales
Number of Sales Closed	5
Average List Price	$698,360
Average Sale Price	$669,800
% Diff. List Price/Sale Price	-4%
High Sale	$830,000
Low Sale	$529,000

Summary:

In years past, February has been an important month for real estate sales. It has always been a great time to get your home marketed and usually equates to quick sales. With this year’s market, we are seeing a slower turnaround in the homes that are for sale. For example, the number of homes that has sold in past February months has averaged much higher and the pricing much closer to the asking price. What I’m seeing as your professional in the streets is a return to conservative investing on the part of buyers. They are no longer rushing out to purchase a home for fear that someone else will buy it. This ultimately is a good thing for everyone. If buyers make really thoughtful choices about what they want and they are honest with themselves about their financial situation and they are looking to be in a home for 5+ years, then they are more likely to be happy in their decision and less likely to second guess their decision. Everything goes in cycles. Investment is a risk, but over time, real estate has proven to be the strongest of investments a person can make. Many times, real estate will average a higher return than other more volatile investments. This is a great time to make a deal and really enjoy looking for your new home.

Current Number of “Active” Properties on the Market:

Manhattan Beach: 172Hermosa Beach: 97North Redondo Beach:163South Redondo Beach:127El Segundo: 41