Why I would put a client in a single-level condo across from Palisades Park
I have a listing at 515 Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, Residence 307S at Park Plaza, and I want to make the case for a kind of home that most of my clients have never considered: a single-level residence in a full-service building, directly across the street from Palisades Park. Disclosure first, because I believe in saying it plainly: I am the listing agent, and I am also a trustee of the trust that owns this residence.
The facts
Three bedrooms, two and a half baths, 1,900 square feet on one level, with an oversized private patio off the living room. Two side-by-side parking spaces. The building was built in 1976, has a doorman and concierge around the clock, valet parking, a pool and spa, a fitness center and a conference room. The HOA fee is $2,631 a month. The asking price is $2,350,000. The full page, with 37 photos, a neighborhood map and a monthly cost estimator, is at grazianorealty.com/515-ocean-avenue.
What you are actually buying
Most of my clients buy houses, and a house is a job. The roof, the gardener, the sprinkler timer, the package on the porch, the drive to find someone to let the plumber in. A building like Park Plaza takes that job away. Someone is at the door at 2 a.m. and at 2 p.m. The pool is clean and you did not clean it. You can leave for a month and come home to exactly what you left.
What you give up is a yard and the ability to add a second story. What you get, in this case, is Palisades Park across Ocean Avenue, the bluff, the beach down the California Incline, and Montana Avenue a walk inland. I wrote a whole page about that walk. The short version is that you can live here without touching your car for days.
Who it suits
I am careful about this question, so I will answer it the way I answer it for clients: it suits a way of living, not a type of person. It suits anyone trading a house for service and location, anyone who travels and wants a lock-and-leave home, anyone who wants one level with no stairs, and anyone whose idea of a morning is a walk along the bluff rather than a drive to find one.
The math, honestly
The HOA fee is real money and I do not hide it. The estimator on the listing page puts it next to the mortgage, taxes and insurance so you can see the whole monthly number at your own down payment and rate. Then compare that number with what a house costs you once you add the gardener, the pool service, the roof fund and the time. For some people the house wins. For a surprising number, the building does.
Come see it
Showings are by appointment with 24 hours' notice. Text or call me and we will pick a time, ideally late afternoon, because the light on Ocean Avenue at 5 p.m. is the best argument I have.
Questions about a street, a house or a number? Text or call me at 310.498.1415, or email cwgrazianorealty@gmail.com.
Christina Woodward Graziano is a California real estate licensee (DRE #02072713) with Keller Williams Beverly Hills, 439 N. Canon Drive, Penthouse, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. Each Keller Williams office is independently owned and operated. Equal Housing Opportunity. This post is general information from one agent, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice; talk to your own professionals before you act on it. Business mentions are personal opinion. Nobody paid to be in this post.