The Price is......Right?!? (Part 1)

I took these photos last night, in the dense fog that blanketed West Adams. They have no relation to the editorial.

In West Adams, Pico-Union, Westlake, and the like, pricing is all over the map. Some properties are shedding dollars like a ballooners' ballast, while others of dubious merit seek uncharted highs. Actually I like a little more spread in pricing, always have.

The hitch, I often contend, isn't too high highs, but rather too high lows. Which is still the case. The spread amongst similar product, one state of condition and another, superior and lesser features, isn't great enough.



The value of unpainted woodwork in a Craftsman for example might account for a 1% difference in asking price, whereas it should correspond to a 5 - 10% difference (given the cost to perform the work). A well-painted exterior might add only 10 grand, but merit closer to thirty.

Overpricing was less a problem in the past, values rose so quickly. The market might catch an inflated listing, even surpass it, given a long enough marketing period.

When determining an asking price based on comparable sales, I often use a method similar to Olympic judging, discarding the highest and lowest marks. Too often, sellers and the agents latch desperately to a "lightning strike" comp, some unaccountably high, one-time sales figure.

Last year in Harvard Heights an area business owner purchased an adjacent residential property, fusing the two into a quasi compound. The incentivised business owner paid an astronomical sum, perhaps in order to sway a reluctant seller. That fluke sales total continues to permeate sales discussions in the neighborhood a year later.

End Part 1