My personal opinion is that this situation has you wrapped up emotionally. Don’t take this the wrong way, but the sale is by a party with whom you have some sort of relationship (so you feel somewhat obligated), and you sold 3-4 years before the housing peak so you’ve had to endure some additional ridicule from friends/family than those that waited longer to sell.

My recommendation is to try your best to separate the emotional components of this transaction and view it as objectively as you can.

The first thing to do would be to view the historical price fluctuations of the property, along with all of the withdrawn and canceled offers that have been made over the years. Analyze the comps as a means of upping your negotiating power. It sounds like this home is quite unique, however, and reasonable comps may be hard to come by. So use them when they favor you and discount them when they don’t.

The next thing would be to try to transcend the fact that you have a relationship with the current owners. Without knowing the depth or breadth of that relationship, I would advise that you focus on how the transaction might benefit your situation, rather than how it might adversely affect the current owners’.

Delaying the process a month or so to perform “your research” may give you a wealth of information. Imagine your wife and the current owners pressuring you make a move and fast. This will give you insight into what their position might be in the sale – whether they are more or less motivated to sell for whatever reason(s). It is perfectly acceptable to tell them that you want to take your time in making the investment of a lifetime. Meanwhile, you may have earned yourself some additional savings in the form of reduced home values and/or negotiated price.

The first rule of negotiating is to NEVER lose the power to walk away from a negotiation. Your current situation is putting you in a position that may potentially compromise this rule, so you must work to overcome it.

I wish you the best of luck on this, and be sure to keep us all posted.

Obtaining price/square foot on other comps could be answered better by those on this site that have ready access to such information (SD Realtor, sdrealtor, etc.). I am not saying to buy or not, but rather to do as much research as you can in the time frame that you are given. Then, no matter what decision you make, you’ll be able to more easily sleep at night knowing that you did all that you could in the best interests of your family.

hammer,

I can’t help but thinking that you are exhausted from waiting for the last 5 years. And now, there is this seemingly “incredible” opportunity that knocks. So, it’s understandable that you want to make a leap.

In today’s market, where real estate is a depreciating asset & lenders are tightening credit standards, cash is KING. There are many desirable areas in SD county with ocean views, I wouldn’t worry about the lack of buying opportunities 15 months from now. If anything, there will be more opportunities/bargains next year.

Hammer,
I pretty much echo what SD R said. If you can afford it, will stay and truly want to be there… go for it. Houses like that are very hard to come by and you are right in that someone often has to die to get one. More so, the heirs have to be in the position not to want to live there themselves which adds more difficulty. Lastly, the home is probably owned free and clear or close to it. If the market is tough or gets tougher, the heirs will rent it out until times get better unless they absolutely dont have any options. For a house like that with unobstructable panoramic view 1 block from the cliffs, the price seems good without checking comps. It’s the price of admission if you want to own something like that. In Manhatten Beach it would probably be 2X or 3X that.

Much of the advice you are getting comes from people on this board who have never tried to find a home like that. I have one in escrow that we searched 5 years to find. They are few and far between at any price not to mention what appears to be a reasonable price.

sdr

If your analysis shows that it would sell for 1.4 M in today’s market and you are getting it for 1.1. M, isn’t this a no-brainer ? It would be for me.

I may end up being wrong but I expect to buy view property in Pt Loma / OB / Sunset Cliffs for $800K at the bottom of the market

I’m not expecting to get the ‘top of the hill estate with a 180 degree unobstructed view’ for this price but I believe I will find a single-level SFR with an unobstructable view for well under $1 mil (in today’s dollars)

Only time will tell

~

I expect view property in Bay Park / Bay Ho to be $600K or less