To answer your question “That said, what got better about this house, area, schools, etc. in less than a year’s time.”
What got better is the market and buyer sentiment.
When the house sold in 2006 there were 282 homes on the market in 92024 and not much was selling. It was the end of the Summer and the sellers jumped at an offer near the bottom of the the range they set after 21 days.
When the house sold in 2007 there were 164 homes on the market (a 42% reduction in the inventory). Homes were selling better and it was the beginning of Spring. The buyers got the house 20,000 below the low end of the asking range as it had been overpriced on the current market for 2 months.
BTW, that area has lots of mature trees and I wouldnt be surprised if thye werent visible from this property. I’ll check it out when i grab my slurpee at 7-11.
Also last year buyers in this area were frozen more than my slurpee with be.
