By Jeffery Marino
With the median sale price in NELA topping out at $1.025 million in July, it’s hard to imagine finding anything one might call “affordable.” Even fixer uppers are going for prices in the mid-six figures.
Two homes that recently sold in Cypress Park — located a few blocks from one another and featuring similar specs — illustrate how much buyers are willing to pay up for a turnkey property in NELA these days.
The Cypress Ave. house shown below, which sold for $950,000, has been impeccably renovated, including a garage converted into an accessory dwelling unit. In contrast, the fixer-upper on Alice St. went for $635,000.
If you adhere to the adage that the best deal in real estate is the cheapest house on the best block, Alice St. is the better buy.
Sold for: $950,000
List Price: $749,000
Off market in: 13 days
Listed by: Brock Harris of Keller Williams Loz Feliz
The listing description for this remodeled 1,065 square-foot, two-bed, one-bath Cypress Park home exclaimed: “The price per square foot cannot be beat.” But that claim was based on the asking price, not the much higher sale price, which worked out to a hefty $892 per square foot.
Sold for: $635,000
List price: $750,000
Off market in: 6 days
Listed by: Cindy Quiroz of Sun Realtors
This classic 1,300 square-foot, three-bed, two-bath Spanish bungalow in Cypress Park definitely needs a lot of TLC, including new flooring throughout and a coat of paint, to say the least. However, the property appears to have “good bones” and, at $469 per square foot, it was a bargain. From an investment perspective, it comes with the added benefit of being located two blocks away from the Cypress Park property that just sold for nearly twice as much on a per-square foot basis.
Are we comparing apples to oranges? Maybe. Cypress Ave. is the very definition of turnkey. But whether or not the remodel is worth the premium, especially given that it is located blocks away from the fixer upper on Alice St. and has a smaller footprint, is up for debate.
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Jeffery is a seasoned data journalist and has covered the California real estate market for over a decade.
