Just Sold: 5241 Pacific Terrace in ThreeSixty South Bay

Every listing has a story and this one is no exception. Here goes.

I had represented the sellers of this home when they bought it in 2015. At that point it was the model home for the Terraces at ThreeSixty. The Terraces are a collection of detached properties that were marketed by the builder as SFRs although in truth they are more like detached townhomes based on the legal description.

I was quite surprised when they told me that they were now thinking of moving back to North Redondo Beach. I knew they loved the community and amenities and the Wiseburn Schools in Hawthorne. But with a growing family they needed more space and were already in the largest floor plan in ThreeSixty. And if you are familiar with Hollyglen you know that there are very few homes over 2000 Sq Ft west of the 405 Freeway.

As with many families they knew they had to sell before they could buy. They did not want to sell before they knew where they were moving to. Understandable with 2 kids in school (and two dogs). So we were faced with the challenge of getting a contingent offer accepted before their home was even listed for sale.

While this is a tough one to pull off, I had done it before in recent history (my sale at 1638 Havemeyer Ln) and knew I could do it again if they could find a home they were excited about moving to. (Sometimes confidence is my best attribute).

In any case I was shut down on my first attempt in a multiple offer situation to get a contingent offer accepted. But the second time on a different and better property - offer accepted. Now we just had to get Pacific Terrace sold. Easier said than done considering that a) this was one of the highest priced properties in Hawthorne and b) sales at ThreeSixty are really slow right now.

Sounds like fun, right?

Let’s back up second so I can share how the contingent offer was structured.

Most agents don’t understand the C.A.R. COP form we use in this instance. I do. I was able to structure a 55 day close of escrow with 30 days, not the usual 17, to get the current property in escrow. And yes, if you do the math that would mean that if we took the entire time to open escrow we would have to find a buyer who could close in 25 days. Ouch.

But in far less than 30 days we had three very good offers including one “all cash” offer. Yes, the proverbial all cash buyer who could close in 10 days. Wow.

Now we get to story two of this tale. The buyer made a very unusual request. She wanted to pay her agent directly (through escrow) and deduct the commission the seller wouldn’t be paying from the sales price. Huh? I’m not sure of the logic of that and if my clients weren’t in the situation that we were in for the up-leg, I would simply have said I’m not interested in reinventing real estate practice.

Very surprisingly, both brokerages agreed to this and after taking a lot of precautions and getting multiple levels of assurances from the buyer’s brokerage that they weren’t going to make a claim to be paid the commission offered in the MLS, we accepted and opened escrow.

Because the final sales price was net of the buyer brokerage commission, the sales price was much lower than it otherwise would have been. I noted that in the confidential agent remarks in the MLS so appraisers and other agents can “normalize” the sale.

All of which might leave the other buyers who offered more scratching their heads.

Here’s more about the property:

2423 Sq Ft, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2 car attached garage, indoor - outdoor living.

“When William Lyons built the Terraces this was the model home with all of the the upgrades you would expect. I know because I sold it new.

It is the largest of the Terrace plans in ThreeSixty and the perfect place to enjoy the SoCal lifestyle.

Let me walk you through the floor plan before you watch the video and view the gallery so you get an idea of the payout.

As you enter on the main level there is a huge kitchen featuring lots of storage with ample counter space, an enormous island, a walk in pantry and stainless steel appliances.

There is also a dining area and a downstairs living area which opens to a private outdoor courtyard area through a wall of retractable glass doors.

All 4 bedrooms are located on the second floor of the home where you also will find a the laundry room. The master has an en-suite bathroom and large walk in closet. The other bedrooms share another bathroom off the hallway.

And finally the huge open third floor with its west facing rooftop patio overlooking the community is perfect for viewing sunsets.

This property is flooded with natural sunlight and is centrally located near the facilities.”

Check out my video and a gallery of pictures or read about another contingent sale I pulled off.