A Tale of Two Households

PROLOGUE
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair … Van Nuys, where we lay our scene…

OK, with apologies to Shakespeare – and Verona – I wanted to play up how alike I found two attractive corner homes listed for sale directly across the street from one another in a quiet, pleasant neigborhood bordering Sherman Oaks. 

And yet how different their fates are.  One, on the northwest corner of Noble Ave. and Hatteras St., listed only 18 days, is showered with multiple offers, with a request for final sealed bids to have come in at 10 am yesterday morning.  The other, on the southwest corner, a well-cared-for pool home, has languished on the market nearly six months, endured several rounds of price cuts, and is still star-crossed with no apparent offers.

Does looking to the list prices help us fathom the difference?  The white-picket-fenced home on the south corner entered the market at $749,000 last November and was ratcheted down to $639,000 since then.  The smaller but somewhat more updated house on the north corner hit the market running last month at $499,900.

At first it seems obvious:  the bottom-hunting market responded to the magical price that snuck in under $500,000.

But now let’s make a closer, more detailed comparison.  The higher-priced home, with four bedrooms and two baths, has one more bed and bath than its competition.  At 1,581 sq. ft. it’s 40% larger too.  And it has a pool – a feature with a subjective value that may make the deal for some, sweeten it for others, and break it for a few.  Finally, on a cost-per-sq. ft. basis, it seems like a better value at $404/sq. ft. vs. $453/sq. ft.

Yet the smaller, higher-priced home per square foot is the one that generated more heat.

When it comes to why people buy homes, you just can’t explain everything with numbers. 

Could it be the recently perceived beginning of a shift in preferences for smaller homes but more features? 

There are still mysteries, as the Bard reminds us in another play:

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
than are dreamt of in your philosophy.