Just Sold: 6362 Doral Drive Huntington Beach

Ellis Posner Sales

Apr 20

No, not a type. I just represented the Buyers of this OC SFR that backs up to the golf course at the SeaCliff Country Club in Huntington Beach. A lot to unpack here and you may be wondering what’s up.

You may have noticed on my Instagram that I have started to joke that I “have car - will travel”. Well not joking. I made a strategic decision that until the end of 2021 I’m willing to drive 50 miles north or south. Part of that is driven by with lower inventory, broadening my territory is not entirely a bad idea. And these days there’s just a lot less traffic on the road than previously. Most times that I went to Huntington, it was around 30 mins door to door from where I live in Redondo Beach. Honestly, I could spend as much time driving to some parts of PV. So I’ve been on the road.

It was interesting, but not entirely surprising, to find that right now wherever you go in Southern CA the story is the same: no inventory and people are new hot listings are getting multiple offers and selling over the asking price for record high prices.

But, once you get outside of the first weekend on the market crush, then the world changes. A lot and very quickly.

For 6362 Doral, which have been on the market for around 60 days when my clients put an offer in, we were not only able to get it under the list price, I also got their contingent offer accepted. To be clear, the house they were selling was in escrow and all the contingencies were removed, but really? A contingent offer accepted. Yes! Oh, and we also got the property into escrow for $75K less than the last list price.

How and Why

6362 Doral is a really great house in a great location but it kind of felt like it was Grandma’s house. Dated furniture and vibe. This was one where it definitely would have been advantageous for the Sellers if they had their estate sale first (not after escrow closed), then did some painting and staged the house super hip contemporary furniture. It would have sold for a higher price. Of that, I am certain.

As for getting the contingent offer accepted - and my clients did not have to waive any of their Buyer contingencies, here’s a trick for all you other agents out there reading this: pick up the phone and call the other agent before you write an offer.

I never ask the other agent if they will accept a contingent offer because the answer is almost always a polite (and sometimes a not so polite) “no”. But what I do do is to establish some rapport with the other agent and fill them in about my clients and me and how I do business.

Huntington Beach

I’ve actually been following the market in West and North Huntington Beach for quite a while. There was a time, about 5-7 years ago, when you could buy a home in Huntington for about the same price as North Redondo Beach but be a lot closer to the water. The pricing has changed so that’s not really the case anymore. Now HB is priced more like South Redondo to be the same distance from the sand.

I always was intrigued that Huntington also has their own version of Tall & Skinny SFRs which you find on the numbered streets that end at PCH. Tall & Skinnies in Huntington typically have standard floor plans but they are otherwise similar in many ways to their Redondo Beach Golden Hills counterparts.

Here’s something cool about HB that I enjoyed while I was going down there - the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve Trails.