My recent experiences representing two sellers, one selling a condo and one selling a home and both going into contract at the end of 2022, suggests this current market may be different for condos versus homes, even though the properties are very different.
A large upper condo in a 2-unit Edwardian building at 2248 California Street was spacious, on two levels, and had 4 bedrooms with four baths. Its location a block from the hot part of Fillmore Street made it very attractive; however, it did not have parking or an outdoor area and was on a busy street. It wasn’t the perfect place for everyone.
It wasn’t until after being on the market for 130 days that we did a 10% reduction after already having done an earlier 10% reduction that a couple came forward and fell in love. At its close price of $1.8M, these buyers got a good deal and the seller got to move on with his life. In this market, it is not unusual to see 20% reductions or more to get condos to sell, especially if the condo is on a busy street and doesn’t have parking.
The home I sold in Bernal Heights at 105 Lundys Lane was a different story. It was a sweet 2-bedroom home with parking and extra space below, and listed at an attractive price of $1,449,000 which in the earlier hot market would have sent it flying off the market. However, by the time it went on the market in mid-October, things had slowed substantially. There were nice turnouts at the open houses and 22 disclosures were requested and given out, but not one offer was received!
Finally, a couple stepped forward and made an offer almost $100,000 below the list price with many contingencies, to my sellers’ chagrin. It was a Saturday and we had an open house scheduled for Sunday so we waited to respond to see if there was any further interest. Fortunately, there was and another couple stepped forward with an offer over the list price. Once the first couple became aware of that, they made an offer $50,000 over the list price with no contingencies. They got it for $1.5M. The sellers did well.
At the end of the day, the condo sold for almost 20% under the list price and the home sold for $50,000 over the list price. Was this just confirming the weakness of the condo market versus the stronger single family home market? Or was it just demonstrating that both markets have been impacted with buyers expecting to make below list price offers, and these home sellers just got lucky? What do you think?
