Does it seem like it's a desert for property listings lately? That's because it is, with one exception.

There you are, all ready to hit some open houses in Los Angeles over the weekend.  But you sadly realize that there are no homes for sale to see.  Hey, it's the holidays! Listings slow way down at this time of year!

However, there is a certain type of home that still pops up around this time -- flips.  Property flippers don't care about the time of year that their listings show up; they just want to make their money back on their extensive house remodels asap.  And most of the flipped homes are pretty nice.  So, if your goal is to purchase something that's in move-in condition, a flipped home may be for you.  Caveat: these houses are usually NOT sold at a discount; the opposite is often true.  And with the L.A. area's history of multiple offers, the house you like may actually go over the purchase price.  Even if not, you may have to wait for January for any price reductions.

There is something special about a house that has been lived in and loved for decades. That doesn't mean that it's easy to sell.

12412 Rye Street in Studio City closed escrow a couple of weeks ago.  The owner is a senior citizen who left the state to move closer to family.  The home is beautifully maintained and gorgeously landscaped.  Unfortunately, it had a floor plan that just isn't popular anymore -- 2 beds, 1 bath, and a huge den tacked on to the back of the house.  And, a large apartment building loomed over the back yard.

Nevertheless, I was excited to sell such a little gem. I competed for the listing and for a few months, the listing was "open" -- other agents (six others, I think) could bring buyers and market the home too.  But eventually, I obtained an exclusive listing at $890,000, which is low for the neighborhood. I thought qualified buyers would be storming the place.

It didn't happen that way.  Although contractor-buyers had swarmed the neighborhood in the early part of the year, most were busy with new builds or just plain not interested by June.  Individual buyers could only see all the work they'd have to do to contemporize the layout.  And we started to get crazy lowball offers, like $700k (buyers, if you are contemplating making lowball offers on any of my properties, know this: if the seller would take a price that low, I'd buy the property myself.)

The seller lowered the price to $849,000 in July and we finally began to get some realistic buyer activity.  We actually had multiple offers just before we accepted one for $840,000.  The buyer is an architect/contractor and closed with a collateralized hard money (as good as cash) in 10 days.  Whew! We then had a bad time with the estate sale person (another story for another time) but the home was finally emptied and closed escrow.  I hope the new buyers do something beautiful to the place that makes their new buyers really happy.