RUSSELL GRETHER & TONY MARK Founders of the Mark & Grether Group, Grether and Mark have a combined 35 years of experience and net over $1 billion in sales.
We recommend Broad Beach and Malibu Park What real estate trends do you foresee in 2020? We expect the Malibu market to remain active and strong in 2020 but with a few caveats. Interest rates are still historically low, and Malibu is still one of the best places to live in the world, and those things should remain in place through 2020! The caveats are that buyers have become more particular and sellers have to be willing to work with us more closely to get their properties sold. Homes need to be compelling in this market, and as we move into 2020. They can be compellingly priced, or they can be compelling in their presentation, or preferably, both. The best apple in its category will sell. We recommend cleaning, painting, and staging for any of our listings that are not new construction. Compass offers an amazing program to pay for all of the up front costs for preparatory work and then to finance the costs at 0% interest until the close of escrow. We generally see the homes that do this program sell faster and for better prices, and highly recommend our clients take advantage of the program.
What areas in Malibu will be best to buy into in 2020? We both live in Malibu and feel it is one of the best places to live in the world. From a pure investment perspective we recommend Broad Beach Road on the beach side, and Malibu Park on the land side. Broad Beach Road, the Malibu Colony, and Carbon Beach have historically been considered Malibu’s “A-List� beach addresses for beach homes. Of the 3, Broad Beach is the only one of those markets that has not met or exceeded its high water price levels of the 20062007 markets. The beach replenishment project continues to keep Broad Beach at least 30-40% off of its all time highs. If you believe that the Broad Beach homeowner group, who represent some of the most powerful and influential people in Los Angeles County, will ultimately complete the project, its hard not to find value here. On the land side, Malibu Park is the market we see performing best in the coming years. As land specialists, this is an area we follow closely, Russell lives in Malibu Park, and Tony owns property there that he is looking forward to building
on. The Woolsey fire hit Malibu with a level of devastation never before seen, and Malibu Park was the hardest hit. There are many home owners who were under insured, and many others who are just tired of the process of trying to obtain permits and rebuilding. We have sold 4 burnout lots this year and see more in the pipeline for 2020. The increase in lots going to market will put downward pressure on pricing and offer buyers unprecedented opportunities in the coming year. When is the best time for people to put their home on the market? Spring is currently considered to be the best time to put homes on the market. However timing is not so easy to pigeon hole because inventory levels shift continuously, and weather can be glorious in Malibu almost any time of the year. We expect to see a bump in inventory in January as that is another popular time for properties to launch that are currently in the pipeline but decide to wait out the holidays.
Do you feel the market will still be affected by the Woolsey fire throughout 2020? The market has most definitely been affected by the fire, and will be for years to come. This is not in all negative ways though. For buyers there are opportunities to purchase and build that may not come around again in our lifetimes. Areas like Malibu Park will see so many new homes being built in place of many older homes that it will transform the presentation of the overall market, and we expect great things, along with rising prices, in the Malibu Park area after the burnout lots have been rebuilt. We consider Malibu Park to be one of the best investments of 2020. Is there anything else you would like to add? We live in and love the community of Malibu. We have tried hard to help relocate many of our friends and clients who lost homes and we continue to post resources on our website, blog and The Malibu Podcast. We are very approachable people and are always available as a resource to anyone looking for a home in Malibu or reevaluating their deciMM sion to rebuild or sell.
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