I know I sound like a broken record, but it would really, really be to your advantage to hire an architect for that kind of a project (and not just the draftsperson you used before). Having a complete set of plans before you start will undoubtedly save you money and hassles in the end, and the final product will likely be far superior. Adding a second story is a major remodel and you want the project to cohesive. (That’s assuming that you get the house in the first place.)
I would definitely hire an architect because i want to maximize the mid century bones of the house
Fingers crossed. 
My fingers are crossed that the current house sells ASAP.
Yes!! That’s what I’m hoping for as well.
I have decided NOT to make an offer on the Adair house, but for a really crazy reason.
Building a 2nd story addition is more than we have ever tried to do before, but it doesn’t scare me.
Condition of house is horrible and it needs full rewire, all new plumbing, etc. That doesn’t scare me.
Addition to property in coastal zone doesn’t scare me because the permit regulations are clear and concise. It’s doable.
What scares me to death is something really crazy. This house could ‘possibly’ be considered Architecturally Significant, if you can believe that. I called my draftsman and reviewed all the potential permitting pitfalls and he was kind enough to pull the address up on the Internet. Because the house is over 45 years old it will have to go through Historical Review. Unfortunately, there are no concise rules or regulations - it up to someone’s whim whatever day they review it. I knew I was safe with all of the cracker boxes I have purchased before.
But, the latest crazy is Mid Century Modern. There are some features in this home that could smell like that style; flat roof, single level, large brick fireplace in front, big plate glass windows across back and the dark paneling all over the interior. I called the Listing Agent and asked her to inquire with the family if they remember the name of the Architect. Their recollection was that their parents were so poor they had to borrow money for each phase of house, they built the house themselves and it took over 2 years to build. They don’t believe any architect was involved.
If the City designates the home Architecturally Significant I am not allowed to change anything on the Exterior AND there is a big chance that I will be denied adding a 2nd story, because Mid Century Modern architectural style usually is single level.
I had a friend that bought 1335 Alexandria, 92107 during the recession to do a renovation and flip. He was not adding any square footage, but just changing some interior walls and the HVAC system and replacing windows and doors. I’m guessing the City didn’t have anything better to do, since there were not a lot of permits being processed during that time period, so they suddenly announced the house was Architecturally Significant and would not allow him to change any exterior. Then they proceeded to demand a bunch of meetings to ‘discuss’ what windows he needed to use. They had no criteria, documented rules, building codes or policies. They just kept saying they ‘felt’ that he needed to replace with solid wood windows. He ended up having to spend thousands of dollars on windows and doors to keep them happy just so they would approve the permit.
That’s what scares me!! I just cannot go down an unknown, subjective rabbit hole for months on end.
We will be holding another Open House on Sunday, with a large quarter page ad in the San Diego newspaper.
However, it is my opinion that we have now gone through the pool of pent up buyers looking for this size, shape and price range. Once you go through the group of buyers that are out looking you have to patiently wait for a new buyer to start their search. Since I haven’t seen anything go Pending in the range, I’m guessing the buyer pool is dwindling or still waiting for the right thing. Also, home sales have slowed down a bit across Central San Diego area.
So, we will be coming back ‘available for showings’ on Friday morning and I have decided to drop the price to $999,000 as of Thursday night. The price change will hit emails and websites by Friday morning and we hope it brings a new interest in the property.
I am not happy about doing a price drop - my agent insisted on the original asking price. This is the price I wanted to start with all along and now it looks like we are ‘desperate to sell’ and we will probably get some low ball offers. And, I wasted 2 weeks on market that cost me quite a lot of $$$$ in holding costs.
We will see.
I guess that there was a monthly County-wide Pacific Sotheby’s meeting this morning. The General Manager of Pacific Sotheby’s (who came through during the Extravaganza Open House) evidently got up and gave a speech to all the agents about the Nipoma house and ‘what a great value it was’ and they should all help sell it.
Not that that means anything to me, agents don’t buy houses… buyers do.
Fingers crossed for a bidding war that drives the price up!
cb, trust your gut instincts. We armchair flippers can go rah-rah at times, but you know your RE market and permitting stuff firsthand. Me approves of you walking away from that deal.
“Also, home sales have slowed down a bit across Central San Diego area.”
ditto up here in NCal. Even in hot-as-a-pistol Menlo Park.
Could be the time of year- many buyers dont want to even think about moving around the Holidays, could be many businesses are reporting not so robust sales/ profits recently - then buyers tend to get cautious.
If I were you, I’d have your agent list the property in the NYTimes.
there are lots of people back east with tons of $$ who want second homes in warmer climates.
menloparkmom, funny you should mention that. I had a long discussion with her just today that I felt we need to be pushing for out of town buyers. They really really want the views and don’t care about a yard for the kids to play in. They want a vacation home/future retirement home/soon coming retirement home with full ocean views in a warm climate. That is who I targeted with the design, and they don’t live in the immediate area - they want to move here.
Since the name of her agency is Pacific Sotheby’s International I told her I want to have some creative marketing ideas on how we are going to market across the nation and internationally.
One other thing on Adair - the numbers were not crunching out to where I would feel OK about taking the risk.
Even though several little fixers in the neighborhood have quickly sold in the $850,000 to $900,000 range, the $1.2 to $1.3 million homes are not selling quickly. I think the best I could hope for would to get a 1,500 to 1,600 sq ft house built on the small lot (it is a small pie shaped lot with alley access) because of set back and lot size requirements. City is getting very stringent about mini mansions built on smaller lots.
Most of the homes in the neighborhood that sell at the $1.2 to 1.3 million range are a minimum of 1,900 to 2,500 sq ft size.
I estimated at least $175,000 to build the 2nd story and do some significant landscape work. The house has huge trees that are buckling the sidewalk out front and the City would make me fix the sidewalks. These trees are blocking a lot of views in the neighborhood so I would be a hero for taking down the ones that are causing a lot of root intrusion.
In the end, I felt there was too much risk. And, not to mention I don’t even have $850,000 sitting in the bank !!! to even show Proof of Funds for a strong offer against competitors.
At this point the Listing Agent has only two offers that are below asking price, but the MLS states offers will be reviewed on Saturday. So I’m guessing a bunch of investors will come flying in on Friday afternoon with their offers.
“They really really want the views and don’t care about a yard for the kids to play in.”
EXACTLY!
Sotheby’s runs full page ads in the NY Times each week.
She needs to get your home listed in that ad asap. And a second ad in the WSJ wouldnt hurt.
They will be seen throughout the world.
If I was in the market for a warm weather 2nd home I’d snap yours up in a nanosecond.
Does that suggest that you shouldn’t drop the price yet? Especially with the new marketing that is being suggested, it may be better to wait a week and see what happens.
It is very difficult to make the pricing decision. It is pure agony. But, the bottom line is that it costs a lot to sit on the house and I need to get it sold because I am carrying a lot of debt.
I have no idea how that guy that owns Leroy and Newell can even sleep at night. He owes a ton of money (almost more than the homes are worth) and he just keeps holding out for his asking price.
Wow! 3755 Amaryllis (rock band house) just went Pending after only 11 days on market asking $1.6 million. Its right at the end of Nipoma and partially on the busy Poinsettia street.
It went back up for sale with new agent. Hope it had better staging, i havent looked at the new photos
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3755-Amaryllis-Dr-San-Diego-CA-92106/16965343_zpid/
85 photos (includes newer ones)
Newell just dropped price from $1,099,000 to $1,095,000. Price drop is so insignificant it will not cause a flurry to the house - it’s just a ploy to get the property to show up in email alerts and get in front of agents and buyers again.
Other house owned by same guy (sorry, it was not Leroy, it’s the Byron house) dropped price also
DETAILS DONE
We are all done with our details. Just as the flooring guy was putting the final coat of polyurethane on the floors this morning, a group of real estate agents came through. Thursdays are ‘broker caravan’ days in the neighborhood and I guess these guys did not see it when it was on caravan 2 weeks ago. Obviously ignoring everything about ‘no showings’. My flooring guy had a fit because the house has to be sealed tight. I was at Home Depot and the guys had no idea what to do.
So, I took key out of agent lock box and locked up the house tight for the rest of the day.
All of our final details are done now - I loaded some photos. I love love the color change on the bath vanity, it makes a world of difference in the style of the bathroom.
We have two small things left to do, but they are going to wait until next week. We have to anchor one side of the range hood and I want my carpenter to screw in the top of the dishwasher to stabilize it.
Tomorrow is a massive cleaning day (it never stops!!), move the furniture back into the Living Room. I’m disappointed because some of the windows need cleaning again