Westside Story

1. Commute 2. Neighborhood safety (bars on window count negatively) 3. Schools including high school 4. Yard or proximity to safe, usable park 5. Number of bedrooms 6. Ditto bathrooms

Listing History for 1135 Berkeley: 7/8/05 $2,799,000 108 days on market 11/3/05- $2,679,000 209 days on market 6/21/06- $2,190,000 110 days on market 2/1/08 - $1,995,000 46 days on market So really- there are are currently houses listed in this little microneighborhood from $1,995,000 all the way to $3,150,000. They aren't moving. What would be a fair offer today? What about 6 months from now? Guesses?

Yesterday's adventure was visiting homes south of Montana, north of Wilshire (Franklin School). Great lot sizes- 7800-8000 sq. ft. The traffic is a little off-putting though. The hiss of the deflating market has not yet reached the ears of the sellers. We visited two homes that are listed at $1,995,000 and $2,075,000 respectively. Apparently they are priced for people who are incapable of reading the news. 1135 Berkeley is calling itself 5 bed, 3 bath with new upgrades and asking $1,995,000 at 41 days on the market. One thing, it's been on and off the market since 2005- starting near $3 million and drifting downward ever so slightly. The owner recently went all ugly and put in some cheap marble tile, granite counters and fancy stainless steel in the kitchen. The actual bath count is not 3, but is 1 + powder room in a closet upstairs and a 3/4 down. The title indicates 5 bed, 1 bath. From satellite photos, the flat roof has some water pooling issues. No A/C. ancient floor and wa...