955 N Vista St.3BR/2.5BA, 1558 sq ft.
REDUCED! BANK OWNED COSMETIC FIXER! Great opportunity to buy this older charmer located in desirable W. Hollywood neighborhood. Close to both Santa Monica Blvd & Melrose Ave. famous shops, restaurants & businesses. Newer bathrms & some kitchen cabinets. Hardwd floors through out. Fireplace in living room, sep. dining rm, breakfast area in kitchen. Garage was converted into a game room. House has been re-arranged, buyer is to check for all permits. Needs TLC, sold "AS IS". See remarks for details
Sold: 7/98 - $288,000
Sold: 12/05 - $827,500
Sold: 11/06 - $1,200,000
Sold (Bank buyback?): 12/07 - $995,000
Listed: 8/08 - $815,900
Reduced: 1/09 - $759,900
There is so much going on with this I don't even know where to start. Maybe just listing some of the points is easier. And remember, we're talking about a small house on a typical but tiny lot in 90046, on what I think is a fairly busy street, since Vista actually merges into Gardner at Santa Monica, with a couple decent-sized condo buildings in your backyard.
1) Look at the price in 1998.
Our friends over at Westside Bubble always post some good charts from Case-Shiller and DataQuick illustrating the market cycles going back to the early 80s. You could argue that 1998 - maybe a couple years earlier - represented the low of the last cycle. Not that I think prices for a single family in a decent part of WeHo will drop below $300k, but if you take the 1998 price and add a reasonable 5% per year typical real estate appreciation, you get a number around $450k. Just sayin' ...
2) "Sold as-is", "Needs TLC", "The house has been 'rearranged'"???
Alarm bells going off all over the place here. From the pictures, it looks like there were some upgrades done - maybe the recent owner ran out of money. The problem is, how much will it cost to "fix"? Does a teardown even make sense here above a price of maybe half of listing?
3) Allegedly this place appreciated almost $400k in less than a year back in 2005-2006.
There have been a number of stories about appraisal fraud during the boom years. I would guess this falls into that category.
Back to one of the main themes on this blog ... who SHOULD be able to afford a place like this? Assuming it needs at least another $100k in improvements, not only would the buyer need $170k to put down, but the monthly cost (pre-tax) would be approximately $4700/mo, meaning somewhere between a $175-200k annual income to reasonably afford. That income level probably puts you in the top 5% of earners in the US. And you can afford this slice of heaven?
