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The 2010 Market Recap Part 1 – The Rob Clark

By
Real Estate Agent with Rich Kids Real Estate: The Brokerage

I always feel like I need to start out with an apology when it's been a while since I have last posted a blog entry. It seems like once you pass Halloween, holiday season madness is in full swing. For me, November and December are always extremely hectic. There are so many loose ends to tie up both professionally and personally that it can leave very little free time for anything else. Typically, once we hit December 15th, things tend to get quiet usually until the second week of January. As agents, most of us are so passionate and addicted to what we do that it is very rare for us to take much down time. This makes the holiday season the perfect opportunity to take an actual vacation. Because I am such a workaholic, I find that even after a few days of not working, I am back on my laptop constantly monitoring what's going on. What can I say, real estate is in my blood!

Speaking of markets, I thought I would end the year with a series of juicy recaps on the state of the market from last year until today! This will be a four part series starting with an update for all my Rob Clarksters. As I always preface whenever I have a lease or listing at the Rob Clark, I was one of the sales people that came in for year #2 to sell out the last remaining units. It was definitely a big turning point in my real estate career and I learned a lot from the experience. It's made me and Rich Kids Real Estate what it is today. For that reason, the Rob Clark will always have a special place in my heart and why it gets it's own dedicated recap!

For my friends at the Rob Clark, we know that much like the rest of the market in general, 2009 was not an especially gracious year to the project. Here's the break down:

3 sales total

1 sale was a short sale - a 3rd floor, 1+Den for $395,000

The other 2 sales were conventional: a 1+1, designer done listed at $489,000 selling for $430,000 and a studio for $339,000 selling for $330,000

Average days on the market was 47

Average price per square foot was $619.30

The difference between what a condo was listed at vs. what it actually sold for was 5.17%

There were additional sellers who initially had opted to sell, but knew they would be taking too much of a hit. If they had the means to hold on, most kept their units and leased them out.

2010 was a bit like an S&M dominatrix - we received both pleasure and pain when it came to sales. However, this year was certainly much kinder with regards to volume and one sale in particular which I found especially encouraging:

6 sales total - double the volume from 2009 - whoop whoop!!!

Here's where we get spanked with a paddle - out of the 6 sales, 4 were short sales.

Our velvet embrace is that unit 223 (pool side 2 bedroom/2ba) sold for $505,000 which is the most encouraging resale I have seen to date and sold for higher than what the seller bought it for in 2008. I'll explain why I think he was able to make this happen.

2nd floor 1br/1ba - $380,800 (short sale); 2nd floor 1 br/1ba - $380,000 (short sale); 3rd floor 1+den - $352,000 (short sale); 4th floor 1+1 - $375,000 (regular sale); 5th floor 1+den - $379,900 (short sale); 2nd floor 2+2 - $505,000 (regular sale - yay)

Average days on the market was 50

Average price per square foot (back to the pain part) dropped to $538.64

The difference between what a condo was listed at vs. what it actually sold for was 1.99% (the gap is much smaller, but due to all the short sales the list prices were very low).

You can look at 2010 in a couple of different ways. I choose to use unit 223 as the beacon of light amidst all these short sales. I say this often to my friends at The Rob Clark, but I think it's a terrific example of what to do when selling. The Rob Clark provided the perfect pallet to create an amazing space. I've seen units that look more like college apartments, but I've also seen ones that could rival a swank unit at Sierra Towers. When selling a condo in this market, it is absolutely all about presentation. This particular seller was a perfectionist when it came to paint, lighting, furnishings, and all the extra little goodies that attract a buyer. If you have a couple of couches with white walls, no window dressings, or anything hanging from the wall, it will give provide a completely different showing experience than that of a unit which has been impeccably done. I have a unit for sale now at Shoreham Towers that was vacant. We took a blank canvas, painted, and had it staged for a nominal fee. It transformed a great unit into a spectacular one.

Something else to get excited about is that the Rob Clark has been extremely consistent in bringing in lease amounts that usually range from about $2000-$2300 for a 1 or 1+den. This has held fairly firm over the last two years. In my humble opinion, I think that the Rob Clark is one of the better portfolio builders due to it's consistent demand and rental amounts. Ideally, if it made sense to keep it to lease out when you are ready to upsize, I would advise to do it!

That raps up our year in review at The Rob Clark. I am hoping that we have seen that bulk of the short sales come and go. Being the optimist that I am, I have a gut feeling 2011 will bring in higher comps and more substantial growth. In the mean time, start painting and get yourself to CB2!

Part 2 we will be recapping the West Hollywood/Beverly Center/Beverly Hills condo market as a whole from 2009 to today...stay tuned J

Comments (1)

TERI LINDSAY
Reno, NV
STAGELIGHT HOME STAGING CO.

Just curious, since you are selling in Beverly Hills, what the recap on  real estate was.....   Matt, are you a "Rich Kid" who went into RE ????  Or, are you from a family that has been in RE for many years?

Dec 10, 2010 01:07 PM