Blog

Home Selling in the Middle of Covid

October 28, 2020

 

We listed this rare five bedroom Mid-Century modern home in Rolling Hills Estates with walls of glass looking out over spectacular city and mountain views, incorporating amazing vistas of the Los Angeles Basin at the end of May while still in the middle of the Covid lockdowns. We went on the market just as California was starting to reopen.  There were new rules and guidelines to follow.  Some very real fears existed about how safe it was to show houses and allow people inside to view occupied homes.   It was a challenging time to go on the market.  No one really knew how strong the economy was going to be as we came out of the lockdowns, and the purchase of a high-end home seemed like a risky proposition to most people.  

This home had a lot going for it.  Located at the end of a cul-de-sac, it had a flexible floor plan with vaulted ceilings and loads of windows to allow the light to pour in. The gorgeous, completely remodeled kitchen offered gourmet stainless steel appliances, a commercial stove, and a large island with seating and that opened to the inviting great room. The great room had expansive views, a fireplace, and glass sliders that open to a large patio area perfect for entertaining and enjoying the warm summer nights. Also located off the great room was an enclosed sunroom perfect for a quiet home office, playroom, or crafting room. Downstairs was a bedroom, used as a den, with built in bookshelves and a full bath located adjacent to it. Upstairs were four additional bedrooms and one full bath in the hall. The upstairs master had fantastic city light views, vaulted ceilings with lots of windows, two closets, and sliders to a deck that wraps around the bedroom. 

The owner had just completed over 100k in recent upgrades including dual zone air conditioning, new fences, and sliders.  The home was located on a very private 14,359 square foot lot offering lush landscaping, large yard, patio areas, private spa and mature trees. Close to shopping and schools, easy access off the hill to freeways, and minutes to the beach this home offered the ideal Palos Verdes location.  It sounds like a winner, right?  But how do you sell a home that people are afraid to come see?  With guidelines that changed almost daily and rules that said homes really shouldn’t be viewed in person only purchased based on photos it wasn’t an easy time to be a seller or listing agent.  The State-required entry form, or PEAD, the buyers were required to sign was constantly being updated and changed, and just keeping track of the most current version was a task in itself.  It was a very interesting time in Real Estate.  I thought in my 30 years of selling homes I had seen it all but it was time to pivot and adapt in a new way.  This home sale was one of my most interesting during Covid because we were caught up in the middle of reopening and the subsequent market boom in Palos Verdes that accompanied it.  Many of the buyers that looked at this home wanted to move out of the surrounding cities and into Palos Verdes to take advantage of the bigger houses, larger lots, and open space that Palos Verdes offered.  Now that they were working from home and no longer commuting to work, more bedrooms were needed and commute time was no longer a consideration for where they lived.  All of a sudden we saw the Palos Verdes market rebound from the Covid shutdowns, and by August we were negotiating an offer and opening escrow with one of the many new transplant families moving to Palos Verdes.

 

Share this on:

Work With Suzanne

If you´re listing or selling real estate in the Palos Verdes Peninsula and surrounding areas, put a winning real estate professional to work for you.

Let's Connect
Follow Me