It’s My 50th Birthday 🎂 – TBG Update 1/29/2023
We just went live on the lease of Aida’s condo at 109 Sycamore #202. I represented Aida when she bought this condo in 2017. I love seeing clients buy a condo and then progress to buy a house; I can’t wait to watch the next progression from little house to bigger house. The starter condo is at the corner of Sycamore and First. Because it’s on a corner and it’s surrounded by many deep windows, it is filled with so much natural sunlight. It’s unusual to find a one bedroom space for lease in our area. Aida’s condo is modern and updated, clean and bright. My favorite part of The Warwick is the common area back courtyard that’s surrounded by trees and feels like a quaint outdoor gathering space in Europe. The owners/landlords are the best and anyone who leases the space will be lucky to interact with them! I know this place will be leased immediately.
We just went live on the lease of 239 S Orange, which is the downstairs of a fully remodeled duplex that has 4 beds and 3.5 baths! The living room and dining room are both large and they open to one another, which makes for great entertaining. Every bedroom has an adjacent bathroom, and there’s a powder room in the hallway for guests. The kitchen is updated and has tons of storage, a breakfast room, and clean stainless steel appliances. The laundry room is unusually spacious for a duplex unit. Small pets are ok and parking in the garage is ok too because the driveway is shared by both tenants. Both the landlords and the upstairs neighbors are lovely and this location is central and great!
The market is starting to hop again. This week, we got an offer for $200,000 over the asking price on a listing, with two more offers right behind it. We got 3 offers on a different listing with all 3 buyers really wanting the property. A third property that’s been on the market for some time keeps getting all cash offers just slightly below the price of the owners’ dreams. As in every market, it takes a meeting of the minds between buyers and sellers to get the properties sold but strong offers (and so many all cash!) are coming in and that’s a step in the right direction! Interest rates have stayed stable for some time now (Citibank 30 yr fixed has been at 5%) and buyer confidence is increasing because some of the uncertainty and volatility has gone away.
It’s fascinating to observe the very high end luxury listings for sale right now in Hancock Park and Windsor Square! To give context, records were set when 355 S Muirfield sold in January 2022 for $21,000,000; very extensive high end designer renovations were done to the house from when it was purchased for $8,800,000 in 2014. 315 S Hudson followed suit and initially listed for $25,000,000 but lowered the price in time to $16,500,000. It’s in escrow and will be sold soon; the house was entirely reimagined and rebuilt since it was purchased for $5,325,000 in 2016. 501 S Hudson is a beautiful house for sale for $17,500,000; it was purchased off market for $10,000,000 around 2016 and has been continuously restored and updated since. 101 N Hudson just went up for sale for $25,995,000; the house was beautifully and entirely restored and remodeled from when it was purchased for $11,500,000 in August of 2020. 425 S Plymouth is for sale off market for $22,000,000; the house was entirely remodeled since it was purchased for $7,500,000 in the fall of 2021. Since 2017, only a total of 13 houses have sold for more than 10,000,000 in Hancock Park and Windsor Square; 5 houses for around $10M, 3 houses for around $11M, 1 house for about $12M, and 3 houses for approximately $13M. Given the very recent market activity, I got 2 calls this week from sellers who are thinking of putting their houses in the area up for sale at some point in the future for around $20M. It’s fascinating how the sale at 355 S Muirfield for $21M was a total outlier when it sold exactly 1 year ago, and just one year later there’s competition among more than one house to break that record. I’m fascinated to watch and see the local Hancock Park and Windsor Square market shift with the current collection of ultra high end houses up for sale right now!
I’m turning 50 in February!!! First stop in our celebration is Israel with our daughters, sons-in-law and grandson!! Each time I see the girls for the first time when I arrive in Israel it’s like a jolt to my system because it feels like being reunited with the other half of my heart. After that it’s soaking in every minute of our very short time together until it’s time to go back home again. The highlight of our trip was definitely when we all squished together on the couch in the kids’ apartment to watch the birthday video they put together for me. Everyone answered a prompt question on video. Some of the highlights…If Mom was an animal, she’d be an octopus to have so many more arms to multi-task. If Mom gave a Ted Talk, it would be, “The Scientific Benefits of Grown Children Raising Their Children Near Grandparents.” Mom’s favorite books would be, “Oh The Places You’ll Go”, “The Little House on The MLS”, “The Very Hungry Sourdough Starter”, and in the self-help category, “The 7 Habits of Raising Highly Effective Children.” I love Elia, my housekeeper, and the way she spoke on my birthday video, about how much she learns from and enjoys our time spent cooking together for Shabbat for almost 25 years now. Leaving the kids in Israel is so hard for Seth and me each time. Thankfully it’s less than 2 months to Passover!
Even though it’s hard to leave the kids, I’m excited to go back to work at home! I absolutely love what I do and for that I’m overwhelmingly grateful!
Wishing everyone an awesome week ahead!
Xoxoxo,
Sheri