More condo conversions, this time in Torrance
We got another brochure in the regular mail, or rather, a large postcard. Pacific Pines condos are located in Torrance. I have to admit, that line "Own in Torrance from the high $200s" really caught my eye. My first impression was that it sounded pretty good. Ha ha! What a sucker I am.
My scepticism set in, and I looked up the address of this complex on the internet. Turns out this was once a luxury apartment complex called Woodbridge.
The lowest end floorplan, The Spruce, has 674 square feet, 1 bed/1 bath. The brochure says from $284,900 but the website says from $274,900 so maybe some of the lowest end units were sold. The Monterey, 2 bed/1 bath, has 864 square feet and starts from $329,900. The Torrey, 2 bed/2 bath, has 924 square feet and starts from $368,900. The Ponderosa, which is the highest end floorplan, is 3 bed/2 bath, has 1137 square feet, and starts from $408,900. Monthly HOA fee ranges from $179 to $216, depending on the floorplan. Amenities such as fitness center, rec center, swimming pools (don't know how big they are), etc.
The gallery of pictures at the Pacific Pines website is very craftfully done. Picture 3 in particular looks like the condo being photographed has tons of room - it is staged very well. Pictures 6 and 12 make you think you are just footsteps to the surf.
I can't help but notice that the Fusion sales team markets its homes for those with an "energetic" lifestyle whereas the Pacific Pines sales team markets its homes for the lounging lifestylers.
It's only been the last month or so that I've become acutely aware of all these former apartments dressed up to be condos.
posted by bearmaster at 5:48 PM
3 Comments:
gotta love the brochure. a wave, a smiling woman, a tree, a couple at the beach, and a tiny picture of a sidewalk through the property. no pictures of the units themselves. that's okay, because they're selling the laid back california dream, not a dumpy apartment w/ some granite slapped on the counters for twice per month what it would cost you to rent it.
Hey Bearmaster, love your blog. I live in the South Bay too. I checked out Pacific Pines earlier this year and it's okay. Unfortunately, it's not in a great location (next to the 110) and a bad school district. The places are small too. I could probably tolerate a 3 bedroom. I've been waiting to see a real price drop but it hasn't happened yet. Last flyer I got they said you could get a 3 bedroom for $399K for a limited time and that they had sold half the condos.
My biggest fear with a place like this is what happens if they can't sell all the condos. Also, when I went to the open house there were a lot of families there with like 4 kids. 6 people in a 2-3 bedroom condo doesn't sound very good.
Egads! We have more piece and quiet in our little apartment, the back of which overlooks the pool area to the big condo complex 3 doors from us, then we could ever hope to have in a condo.
I lived in a condo in Gardena once many years ago with the next door condo rented out. 3 kids. We constantly had to call and ask the mom to stop her kids from jumping on their beds and banging on the walls. And it was sheer hell to hear them throwing the basketball against the garage doors. I lived in constant fear a ball was going to come through a window.
With HOA approval, my significant other went through a great deal of effort to replace all the ordinary incandescent bulbs lighting the outside with compact florescents. Doing so cut our HOA lighting bill by 2/3rds and the bulbs paid for themselves within a few months. You'd think these condo owners would be happy and get on their kids' cases if they smashed the bulbs?!? Heck no!
Yep, that's the joy of condo living. Though the architectures of these places might prevent a lot of that.
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