In May 2013 we bought 10 Rawhide Lane in Rolling Hills Estates for $1,530,000. About a year later, in May 2014, we sold it for $2,750,000. Both prices are public record.
The numbers make it look simple. It was not. The house was in terrible condition, and the hardest part of the whole project was deciding where to stop.
The House We Bought
10 Rawhide Lane is a 1971 Spanish-style home at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, on a lot of roughly 0.7 acres facing the South Coast Botanic Garden. The lot is zoned for horses and sits in the Palos Verdes Peninsula school district. The location was never the problem.
The house was. It was worn out, dated, and neglected in almost every room. Nearly everything needed attention, inside and out.
The Hard Part: Knowing Where to Stop
When a house is in that kind of shape, it is easy to justify fixing everything. Every room has a problem, and every problem has a better, more expensive solution. That is how remodels run over budget and how investors end up with a beautiful house that never pays them back.
The real work on this project was deciding which upgrades buyers in this price range would actually pay for, and which ones would never come back at sale. We had to put money where it showed up in the price and hold back everywhere else.
One example: we did not add square footage. The existing home already had the size buyers expected at this price point. Instead of building out, we remodeled within the existing footprint and moved walls where it made the biggest difference. Upstairs, two small bedrooms were not well used. We combined them into a second primary suite. Losing a bedroom on paper gained the house a feature buyers at this price point value far more.
What We Did
- Smooth stucco on the exterior and new windows and doors
- Converted two small upstairs bedrooms into a second primary suite
- Moved interior walls to open up the floor plan
- A new kitchen with granite counters
- Remodeled bathrooms
- Chiseled marble flooring in the entry and white oak hardwood in the main living areas and primary bedroom
- A remodeled pool, now solar heated
- New driveway, hardscape, and landscaping
- A 5 kW solar electric system
The finished home has six bedrooms, including two primary suites and a private room with its own entrance that works as an in-law suite.
The Timeline
We closed on the purchase in May 2013, listed the finished home on March 31, 2014, and closed the sale on May 23, 2014. That is about a year from closing to closing, including design, permits, construction, and marketing.
What Happened Next
We listed the home again in 2016, and it sold in January 2017 for $2,831,250. Selling the same house twice gave us a rare second look at which of our choices held their value with a new set of buyers.
What This Means for Your Home
Helping homeowners decide where to spend is what we do. As a licensed general contractor and a licensed real estate broker, Levine Homes Real Estate and Construction looks at a remodel from both sides: what it will cost to build, and what buyers in your neighborhood will pay for it.
Whether you are preparing to sell or planning to stay, the question is the same one we faced at Rawhide Lane. Which improvements are worth it, and where should you stop?
See the full photo gallery on the 10 Rawhide Lane project page, learn more about our remodeling services, or call (310) 796-9088 to talk through your project.
