The Malibu Real Estate Blog

Is there anything affordable in Malibu you ask? Yes. You want to roll big because….well,  that’s how you roll, right? You just want to say “I live in Malibu..right above the beach”. Not much cash? OK! Here’s your answer…Mobile homes. Big ones with ocean views, the sound of waves to put you to sleep, and a tricked out golf cart with surfboard racks and a 2 inch lift.

 The price may sound high but you’ll be watching the same sunset over the water that several celebs watch from their $15,000,000 homes on the same bluff just a block away. 

Malibu has two mobile home parks. One at Paradise Cove and the other, known as The Point Dume Club, on Point Dume. Between the two parks there are currently 5 mobile homes for sale above $1,000,000! The highest comes in at $1,395,000 and you will still need to pay space rent once you buy the mobile home. Space rents run from $1000 to $3000 depending on location, size of the lot, and views. Since the mobile homes might only be worth a few hundred thousand what you are really paying for is the right to be there on the rented land. That right gives you ocean views, an affordable alternative to the high priced mansions in Malibu, and your own beach to use within a few minutes walk away.

  Here are the Top 5 with descriptions from the MLS.

  1) $1,395,000 for a 2 bedroom 2 bath in Paradise Cove

LOCATION! LOCATION! THIS UNIT SITS ON THE BLUFF TOP OF THE PARK OFFERING SWEEPING OCEAN VIEWS. IT FEATURES A BEAUTIFUL WRAP AROUND DECK WITH A GRASSY BACKYARD THAT IS PERFECT FOR ENTERTAINING. THE HOME IS IN PRISTINE CONDITION AND HAS BEEN NEWLY PAINTED, HARDWOOD FLOORS THROUGHOUT AND NEW GRANITE COUNTERS IN KITCHEN AND BATHROOMS. THE UNIT IS LOCATED IN ONE OF THE BEST SPOTS IN THE PARK.

Listed with Shirley Sherman of Westside Estate Agency

2) $1,395,000 for a 2 bedroom 2 bath in Paradise Cove

  PARADISE COVE BLUFF LOCATION. OUTSTANDING SANTA MONICA BAY OCEAN VIEWS. BEAUTIFUL, CUSTOM ” MEXICAN HACIENDA” STYLE HOME. UPGRADED WITH THE UTMOST QUALITY AND STYLE; AS ‘ FEATURED ON THE TRAVEL CHANNEL, CBS NEWS AND LA TIMES ‘. LEADED GLASS WINDOWS, CENTER ISLAND TILE KITCHEN, TILE BATHROOMS, SKYLIGHTS, FIREPLACE, AND RECESSED LIGHTING. FRENCH DOORS OPEN FROM EVERY ROOM ONTO LARGE STONE DECK. ENTER A TROPICAL PARADISE OF LUSH LANDSCAPING, PRIVACY AND SPA TUB. BONUS ROOM CAN BE 3RD BEDROOM.

 Listed with David Carter of Pritchett-Rapf Malibu

3) $1,385,000 for a 2 bedroom 2 bath in Paradise Cove

UNOBSTRUCTED, AWESOME, WHITE WATER OCEAN VIEWS OF PARADISE COVE AND SANTA MONICA BAY. COMPLETE UPSCALE REMODEL WITH WALNUT HARDWOOD FLOORS, BUILT-IN BANQUETTE, STONE FIREPLACE, CUSTOM CABINETS, TILE BATHROOMS WITH GRANITE COUNTERS, AND STUNNING KITCHEN WITH CENTER ISLAND. GREAT FLOOR PLAN, HUGE CUSTOM SLIDERS TO LARGE WRAP AROUND ENTERTAINMENT DECK, WITH TILED OUTSIDE BBQ & FRIDGE. HILLSIDE BLUFF LOCATION, QUIET STREET, GOOD PARKING.

 Listed with David Carter of Pritchett-Rapf Malibu

4)$1,250,000 for a 4 bedroom 3 bath in the Point Dume Club

JOIN THE ENTERTAINMENT ELITE IN THIS EXCLUSIVE GUARD GATED MALIBU BEACH-SIDE COMMUNITY WHERE THE HOLLYWOOD HIP HIDE OUT FROM THE PAPARAZZI AND HANG OUT IN FABULOUS HOMES FOR A STEAL – LIKE THIS ONE AT ONLY $1.25 MILLION. THIS FANTASY HOME HAS BREEZY OCEAN VIEWS, 4 BEDROOMS, 3 LUXE BATHS, ANTIQUE CABINETRY, CHEF’

S KITCHEN & PVT PATH TO LEGENDARY ZUMA BEACH. THE NEIGHBORS ALONE ARE WORTH THE PRICE!

Listed with Carol Bird of of Westside Estate Agency

5) $1,149,000 for a 3 bedroom 2 bath in Paradise Cove

BEACH PARADISE IN THE OCEANFRONT COMMUNITY OF PARADISE COVE. GREAT UPPER LEVEL LOCATION WITH OCEAN VIEW.OPEN FLOOR PLAN AND UNIQUE PROPERTY WITH GREAT POTENTIAL. SURROUNDED BY BEAUTIFULLY RENOVATED HOMES. OPEN AND SECLUDED OUTDOOR DECK WITH UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW OF THE OCEAN, SURF, MOUNTAIN AND SUNSET. WALK TO SURF AND BEACH FROM YOUR FRONT DOOR. KIDS PLAYGROUND, REC ROOM, TENNIS AND BASKETBALL COURTS.

Listed with Chelsea Bulte of Coldwell Banker Malibu 

The gilded age continues! For $150,000 per month, with a two month minimum, you can rent the ultimate get away house. The home, located on Cliffside Drive on Point Dume, has 4 bedrooms and 8 baths with enough interior space to park a few Gulf Stream V’s. There is a  direct trail to the beach and you can run around the property naked if you please because you will have total privacy. You are going to have to cough up a nice security deposit of $300,000 which means you’d better be ready  to cut a check for $450,000 to move in for the first month.  Let’s work with smaller numbers ya’ll can grasp. It’s only $200 per hour or $5000 per day. Considering that the Presidential Suite at Shutters in Santa Monica is $3500 per night, renting this for a mere $1500 more  makes sense, right?. Why rent a room in a hotel when you can rent a Mansion? The only downside to staying here is that you can’t walk outside and buy fake sunglasses or watch guys in Dolphin shorts skating on the Venice Boardwalk. Oh well. 

 The home is listed with Chris Cortazzo of Coldwell Banker

A lesson for Sellers. There is  a really great house for sale in Malibu that went on the market in Feb. of 2007 at $4,775,000. A few months later the owners dropped the price to $4,575,000. On Jan. 24, 2008 the owners went for the big  chop and dropped the price almost $800,000! It soon had buyers swarming and the offers came in. That’s a million dollar price reduction in a years time. (There was a sale pending but it is showing as active in the MLS)  Bottom Line. If you want to sell and you don’t have offer’s in the first month or two, get aggressive and start chopping.   

 The home is listed with Wendy Jensen at the Coldwell Banker Malibu. It’s one of the best deals I’ve seen if you want a ~4000 sq. ft.  private house with an easy walk to the beach. 

For $329,000 you can purchase a 1 bed, 1 bath mobile home  with 500 sq. ft. of living space and walk to Paradise Cove beach in about 2 minutes. It has good tires, a strong axle, and current registration. Only 600 yards to the east is another home for sale at $75,000,000. This home boasts an 11,000 sq. ft. main residence, 7 acres of bluff above the sand, 3 guest houses, numerous stables, pool and guess what? It also takes about two minutes to get to the sand. Call me when you are ready to see the second home…I mean either home. 

Here’s what I find so interesting. Can you think of any other place in the world where the price of real estate can be so different in essentially the same neighborhood?  The mobile home park at Paradise Cove sits right along a  section of PCH where most of the estate homes immediately to the east run from $20m-$75m! Only in Malibu.

These price differences can be found all over Malibu. There’s Broad Beach where most home run $10m-$30m. Sharing the same street is a little community of homes, not on the beach, starting at $2m. These homes share the beach with the more expensive homes too. Here’s another example. There are some homes just a block or so off PCH with  ocean views and flat land that may be $6m where they sit. But if you were to take that same property and place it 5 miles up Latigo it might only be worth $3m. That 10 minute drive can save you millions!  Check it out on Google Maps Google maps

First I need to disclose that this parcel is not buildable and more than likely not well suited for crops or anything else for that matter. There are no comps supporting the price and don’t bother asking for any reports. Good news though, you do get to own a piece of Malibu. What you get is  1/3 of a cubic foot of prime pre-earthquake dirt in  a plexiglass box that is destined to be a “priceless museum piece” when Malibu and Southern Califorinia fall into the sea. Yes, someone is selling some Malibu dirt online.  If you are interested you can find it here on Ebay. 

This brings me to  a question that I often get from buyers, “What is the cheapest land in Malibu?”  Well, for about $60-$90k I can find you a piece of land. There will probably be “great views” and “abundant wildlife” but what are you really getting? More than likely you will get a 1/4 acre located on the steep portion of a mountain top and it may not have any access unless you get an easement from a neighbor. In other words a useless piece of land. Okay, so what about $200-$400k? For that price  you may get a few reports and access to power and water. It still may be challenging to build on and in need of major investment before you can even think about applying for a permit.  

So here’s the “Low Down on the High End” with Malibu real estate.  The lower the price the greater the chance that it will be extremely difficult to build on. If you want to build then there really is no “cheap land” in Malibu. A good piece of land with stable geology, access to water and power, and permits will run at least $750,000. The price goes up from there if it has good ocean views, is flat , and not too far away from PCH. Land like this will be close to $1,000,000 an acre.