South Bay Real Estate

1150 Keats Street is a Charming three bedroom, two bath home with attractive curb appeal and sunny south facing back yard. Located in the desirable western edge of east Manhattan Beach on a rare 56' x 95' lot. Feel the width of the home as you enter the open and ideal floor plan. Enjoy the remodeled kitchen with breakfast bar and recessed lighting, as well as the updated bathrooms. Hardwood floors run throughout the living room, dining room, hallways, and bedrooms. Vaulted, open beam ceilings, create a larger, aesthetically pleasing, feel to the home.

Looking to enjoy the outdoors?... the double sliding glass door in the living room leads to a nice sized porch and sunny back yard with stone patio and grass area to play. Most everything has already been

232 30th Place is a Great Single Family Home in the heart of the Manhattan Beach Sand Section. 3 bedrooms and 3 baths on a corner lot west of highland with very nice ocean views. Located just steps to the sand and a quick stroll to the shopping and dining district of North Manhattan.

Other features include New Central Air Conditioning and heating system, 2 car garage with extra storage, wood floors throughout and a great layout with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths up and 1 bedroom and 1 bath downstairs with its own wet bar area and private entry. Best value in the sand section.

200 South Dianthus is Southern California's code for beach living at its best. This west-facing home treats you to expansive ocean views and lovely sunsets. This nearly 4,000 square foot home sits on a 6,200+ square foot lot, so you have room to breathe that ocean air while you enjoy three patio areas. This 2002 home welcomes you with variegated stonework and balconies with scrolled metalwork. Step into the stunning two-story entry, then ascend the circular staircase to the open living area with formal living room and dining room.

The huge kitchens oversized center island and breakfast bar features granite counters. Stainless appliances will please the chef in the family. The large nook is easy for casual dining. Then gather in the large family room

If you think it would take an amazing house to break the sales price record in an area where the median sales price of a home is over $1 million, you would be correct.

Although prices are up 13 percent above last year at this time, the sale of 1918 Manhattan Avenue on August 15th is one for the record books. It sold for $5,350,000 -- the highest price ever paid for an off-Strand home in Hermosa. We noted this property prioir to it hitting the market on our blog post, Sellers Testing The Upper End.

To put this sale in perspective, consider that the typical off-Strand homes in the sand section are currently listed at prices in line with the recent sales prices mentioned above.

Looking for Hermosa Beach luxury homes for sale?  View all of the

If you’re considering purchasing or selling Manhattan Beach houses or real estate you may have wondered how we come up with a suggestion on current market value. It’s always based on the sales prices of comparable homes. Think of current list prices as a bit of a fantasyland for the seller. It merely represents what sellers hope to get for the home, not what homes are truly worth. 

To illustrate this point, let’s look at a Manhattan Beach home that was listed in March of 2012. The average listing price at that time was $2,606,000, while the average sales price was $1,723,000. Since area homes tend to remain on the market an average of 97 days, the home most likely sold in early July. The average sales price at that time was almost a million dollars

All it takes is one property to get the price-hike ball rolling. Look back to late 2011 and you’ll see what I mean. In December, 3002 Hermosa Avenue (interior picture on the right and below) sold at $931 a square foot, or $3,350.00. Then, the snowball effect began, picking up steam as it rolled along. Not only did 3002 Hermosa justify the new, higher prices, but buyers were feeling more comfortable and even started showing some aggression in offering prices.

If you aren’t familiar with our area, Hermosa Avenue is one of the busier streets, used by locals to traverse the area from North Hermosa to South Hermosa. Hermosa Avenue is also one street east of The Strand. Homes here tend to have better views, because of the 26-foot height restriction, which

The real estate market in Manhattan Beach never ceases to amaze me – especially lately. The inventory is tight and it doesn’t appear that it will loosen up anytime in the near future. With all the prime properties either sold or in escrow, investors and traditional buyers are forced to look for homes on streets they previously wouldn’t have considered.

This past Saturday, four homes on the same street (two townhouse buildings) went into a pending status after being on the market for almost a year – 330 days to be exact. All four have the same floor plan and all have 1,850 square feet of living space. Let’s take a look at each home’s particulars and then try to figure out what happened. 

224 Marine Ave & 225 Marine Place

These townhouses offer

The real estate market in Manhattan Beach's Tree Section has been on fire with little-to-no inventory and high buyer interest for most of the year. Since the beginning of the year, buyers saw this as an opportunity with low interest rates and prices down to snatch up a property.  The 500 location is a very desireable spot with close access to a few parks, the sand dunes, and still walkable to the beach.

583 31st Street Manhattan Beach: Listed on August 9th, 583 31st St. is already under contract and has a backup offer in place. Offered at $1,299,000, the home sits up high so it has views of the hills and Sand Dune Park. Grandview Elementary is a walkable distance.

The home has hardwood in the dining and living rooms and a nice sized family room with

After a very long 2 year fiasco, we are finally closing the books on 2811 N. Valley in the Tree Section of Manhattan Beach.  The Chase owned foreclosure is finally closed and recorded for $850,000,  which makes this under $400 a square feet.  

But don't be fooled.  This one was on a skinny 25X100 lot on the busy Valley Drive.  The property appraised for $950,000 so it looks like our client got a GREAT DEAL.

This one had 2240 square feet with an additional 450 square feet of "boot leg" enclosed deck on the second story.  The picture we are showing was taken prior to the patio enclosure back in 2010.

For more information on details on this sale or any other Manhattan Beach Tree Section Homes, please call Matt Pernice at (310) 808-3247.

Manhattan Beach high-income homeowners who are considering selling their homes should probably consider doing so before the end of the year. There’s a new 3.8 percent tax going into effect on January 1, 2013, imposed on certain investment income.

How much you’ll owe from the proceeds of the sale of your home depends on your income and how much profit you make off the sale. This new tax, an Obama administration strategy to raise money for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, applies to single filers with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) above $200,000 and married couples, filing jointly with an AGI over $250,000. 

There are many misconceptions about the new tax and one of them is that it eliminates the capital gains exclusions for homeowners