Happy St Patrick’s Day in Redondo Beach
From all of us at Redondo Beach Real Estate & Homes, Keith Kyle Homes and Vista Sotheby’s International Realty, we wanted to wish you a happy St Patrick’s Day! Enjoy the sunny weather (finally!)
From all of us at Redondo Beach Real Estate & Homes, Keith Kyle Homes and Vista Sotheby’s International Realty, we wanted to wish you a happy St Patrick’s Day! Enjoy the sunny weather (finally!)
One of the relatively unique home options in Redondo Beach is what realtors call a “3 on a lot”.
One of the property types fairly unique to Redondo Beach is the “3 on a lot” townhome. When most buyers, especially those coming from out of the area, think of a townhome they picture endless rows of identical looking houses. Many buyers reach out to me looking for a single family home in the area, but unfortunately, can’t always afford single family homes in Redondo Beach. I often recommend that they consider a townhome as they’ll generally get nicer, newer, larger and better location for a lower price. Most of the time this idea is quickly rejected but once I show them the concept of a “two on a lot” or “three on a lot” they become far more interested. A great number of the lots in North Redondo are fairly large for the area at 50×150. These lots originally had some type of bungalow or duplex built in the 50s and many were long ago sold and knocked down. Due to zoning rules in Redondo Beach, what replaced them were most often townhomes. A “3 on a lot” townhome is a building in which 3 units share the lot.
These 3 on a lot townhomes are always connected, unlike some 2 on a lot situation, with shared walls between the front unit and middle, and back unit and middle. The most common details of the units are:
One aspect that many buyers find difficult to accept is the fact that there is an HOA. Unlike large complexes with management companies, HOA board meetings etc., the HOA on a 3 on a lot can be very low key and sometimes not even active. As the 3 owners collectively own a portion of the land, the HOA cannot be dissolved but in many cases it is inactive. In general they are informal affairs with the minimal HOA fees (often around $175 a month) covering landscaping and shared insurance and each owner covering maintenance, and other items separately. As with any property not wholly owned there are possible challenges and frustrations as owners (just like neighbors) don’t always see eye to eye on fixes, repairs like termite work, roof fixes, etc. Overall the benefit of the townhouse concept is that the same price that may purchase a 1100 foot 2 or 3 bed 1 bath house in need of work, can purchase a 1800 foot 3 bedroom 3 bath townhome that’s far newer. Real estate purchases almost always involve compromises and priorities and depending on just what’s important to a buyer in Redondo Beach, a 3 on a lot townhome might be an ideal fit.
By Keith Kyle
There hasn’t been much available in The Village condos in South Redondo Beach in the past few months but all of the sudden we have 3 units for sale. 2 of the units are one bedroom (by far the most common as every floor in each building only has 2 studios in the rear and 2 two bedroom which are always oceanfront…everything else is a one bedroom).