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A tree-damaged, half-priced Monrovia house is getting ‘astronomical’ interest

September 6, 2024

Buying a home seems increasingly out of reach, especially in Southern California, where the housing market is notoriously expensive and competitive.

That’s why when a house in the northeastern L.A. suburb Monrovia went on the market for $499,999 — nearly half the cost of some of the homes on the same street — the listing seemed almost too good to be true.

The catch: only half of the property remains.

This past May, a large tree came down on the one-bedroom home during a storm, trapping the two homeowners inside, and damaging the surrounding property on the driveway.

There were no injuries. What remains of the house are some of its walls, a battered ceiling, and an exposed interior — which is what the new homeowners will inherit.

A Monrovia home, partially crushed by a downed tree, has gone on the market for $499,000 – one bedroom, one bath – on 113 S. Mountain Ave. photographed on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024.

Because of its current state, the bank will probably not allow for a conventional loan to be taken on the house, said Kevin Wheeler, the real estate agent for the property.

On top of the listing price, the renovation costs pose an additional $350-450/square-foot, estimates Wheeler. Yet the seller is “open to carrying the note,” as the listing reads.

Interested buyers might be those who want to take on home renovation projects or are already in the construction industry.

“Beyond the trend of insurance companies leaving Southern California, mostly due to predatory law firms akin to ambulance chasers soliciting everybody for smoke damage when there wasn’t any…outside of that, there shouldn’t be any problem to insure the property outside of any other home,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler said the electricity is turned off, but the plumbing still works.

Monrovia regulations state that demolitions on properties more than 50 years old, which the house is, require a review. But since it was destroyed by what’s known as an act of God, a review isn’t required, according to Wheeler.

So house-hunters can buy what’s left of the home and fix it up without dealing with some of the red tape typically required during rebuilds.

But despite the alluring price, especially given the difficult reality of buying a home, James Paine thinks the additional cost to renovate just isn’t worth it.

Paine, an Australian national living in San Francisco but whose wife lives in Monrovia, was looking at the property after his friend referred the listing to him.

A Monrovia home, partially crushed by a downed tree, has gone on the market for $499,000 – one bedroom, one bath – on 113 S. Mountain Ave. photographed on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024.

However, on top of the additional construction the house needs, the high interest rates on taking out a loan for a house is ultimately what turned Paine away. He included that the property would probably be of interest to do-it-yourself home renovators.

“It’s not a turn-key home,” Wheeler said of the site, listed at a size of 645 square feet (measurements taken before the tree fell) on a 2,504-square-foot lot. “It’s gonna need a little TLC.” The listing states that the house is 100 years old and already red-tagged, which means that the government entity or city has deemed the property unsafe to live in, thus implying it was doomed to need renovating anyway.

Since the listing went up nearly a week ago, Wheeler has already received an “astronomical” number of phone calls from interested buyers, including some trying to “lowball” him with offers of $300,000 or less.

“Miracle on mountain…Build your dream. It was always destiny,” the listing reads.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.