Catch 22

I’m sentimental about those old beach cottages. Often the owner has lived there for decades, and I imagine the decision to sell must be a hard one. Casa Del Sol is in a part of Hermosa that is zoned for up to three units on each lot, meaning you could build townhomes or condos*.

When we submitted our offer on Casa Del Sol we stressed our plan to live in it as three generations of one family. No cold hearted developers us, we noted that we’d happily eschew the opportunity to build multiple units. We outlined all of this in our covering letter, a feature of the local real estate market that requires some explanation. You see, when you make an offer on a property here you write a covering letter extolling your virtues as a buyer – not just the terms of your offer, but what lovely people you are and what good care you’ll take of the home. We talked about the fact we loved the neighbourhood and had trick-or-treated along that block in recent years.

 It turns out the seller couldn’t give a toss about any of that. He just wanted an all cash offer, and would have been thrilled to sell to any developer who could promise that.

Unfortunately for the seller – and happily for us – it seems all the developers in the South Bay are maxed out at the moment. Lots of newly developed housing stock is sitting on the market, and the developers appear to be willing or able to add to their inventory.  The asking price on Casa Del Sol has already been dropped. So, we could resubmit our bid, but first we have to find a buyer for our house. Only then will the seller consider our offer. We’ll be spending some time tonight poring over spreadsheets and real estate listings with a strong gin and tonic, in order to decide whether the Casa Del Sol is worth going out on a limb for.

* For my British readers: townhomes are houses, sometimes semi-detached or terraced, that share a lot and are maintained together. If you live in a townhome you usually pay a monthly fee for upkeep of the exterior, and you can’t really add to it or paint it a different colour, for example. As for condos, I don’t really know, they’re sort of like flats only owned not rented, I think. That’s filed under things I’ll never understand as long as I live here.