The Monterey Peninsula is still showing signs of strong housing demand not only from local buyers but out of area buyers as well.
This blog will detail a first-hand experience of how I had the pleasure of seeing the demand for housing over a busy weekend of showing property down the Big Sur Coast.
View From 36420 Weston Ridge Rd
This last month June of 2021, a portfolio of properties down the Big Sur Coast was listed for sale. The portfolio included 6 properties ranging from a large parcel of land over 35 acres to 4 homes on several acres ranging from $825,000 to north of $6M. The properties are all situated just before the Rocky Point Restaurant, all of them have desirable features for a wide range of buyers. In this article, we will focus on one property, in particular, the lowest priced property of them all. 36420 WESTON RIDGE ROAD priced at $825,000 called for a buyer who wanted privacy and unmatched ocean views.
Quintessential Big Sur Charm
The combination of privacy and unmatched ocean views means you have to go the road less traveled aka a one-lane road up a steep mountainside to get to the property. This is something that can turn most buyers off. However given the price it was listed at, just about every agent from Santa Salinas to Carmel had buyers dying to take a look at the property.
I myself was one of those agents. I had two sets of clients call to take a look. One set came in through a digital marketing source whom I had never met, and the other was a well-established buyer client of mine whom I had shown several properties. To further describe the excitement surrounding the portfolio of properties, I had several agents from out of the area contact me with referrals that I was not willing to take.
For confidentiality purposes, we will call and focus on the digital lead who I was meeting for the first time, Doug. Doug randomly called me off of a digital ad and wanted to check out the property. Doug could not understand why the property was listed at such a discounted price given the grand ocean views, and quite frankly I couldn’t either. We had scheduled a time to meet at the property at 10:30 AM. It was the first time Doug and I were to meet and I anticipated meeting him at the property entry gate. I showed up 15 minutes early to assure I did not miss him, however, he slipped through the gate, tailing behind another perspective buyer. While waiting for Doug, I greeted 15 or more buyers at the entry gate within a 20 minute period, none of which were Doug. Cell reception is poor anywhere past the Carmel Highlands, and I assumed he was just late for our appointment. After waiting for Doug at the gate for 20 minutes I decided to trek up the one-lane dirt road toward the house in search of my new client.
Unmatched Views
The road was busy. A single road with buyers coming and going up and down was a nerve-wracking experience, but I had finally arrived at the property. I thought I would quickly find Doug, my assumption turned out to be wrong due to the sheer number of perspective buyers that were at the property. After introducing myself to another 15 buyers, I had finally picked Doug out of the crowd.
We walked the property and got to know one another very quickly and became aquatinted with the property. The property was clearly underpriced. It was extremely well built, the finishes were bar none, it had the quintessential Big Sur charm with tremendous views. Doug was excited! He had interest, he had cash, and he wanted to know how to land the deal! It would clearly be a multiple offer situation. Given the sheer number of buyers that were at the property in the 40 minutes that we had spent there, I knew it was going well over the asking price. As an agent advising clients on a multiple offer situation, it is never an easy task. It takes intimate market knowledge to understand how to land the deal, it also takes clients that are willing to perform and follow the advice of their agent. I gave Doug my honest opinion on how to navigate the situation. Over a long weekend of phone calls, text messages, and emails, relaying market data and agent insights we came to the conclusion that Doug wasn’t willing to perform at what the home would ultimately sell for. To just about everyone's astonishment the property recently sold for a whopping $2.5M.
The moral of the story, sometimes real estate values don’t make sense. Especially in today’s market. With sings of inflation, stock market volatility, the wave a digital currencies, and so many other unknowns in today’s world it seems that many are hedging markets and diversifying portfolios with real estate. Post covid-19 values in today’s market is all about perception. You simply can’t place a dollar value on the memories a property will provide, or the sense of pride in ownership owning a Monterey Peninsula property will give you. Looking back a year ago during the SIP orders what a dream a Big Sur Coast Property would have been. The lens of buyers has forever changed and thus the real estate market.
Buyer Advice
My best advice to any buyer in today’s market is to not be afraid to compete, you can’t build more coastline and my calculated guess is long term values will continue to rise.
Seller Advice
My best advice for sellers in today’s market: Don't be afraid to let go if the property no longer serves you. Don't be afraid of change, and don’t be afraid to diversify your portfolio outside of real estate. Many markets outside of real estate still provide substantial quick realized gains.
As always, if you ever have any questions, I am happy to help however I may.
Respectfully always,
