midcentury modern in Palm Desert? (Palm Springs, La Quinta: for sale, house, transfer)

[Jane Clark]

I will be transferred to the Palm Desert/La Quinta area shortly and am working with a realtor assigned to me by my corporate transfer dept. I expressed an interest in a three-bedroom home in the 250,000 - 350,000 range, naively thinking there would be a range of home styles. All 50 listings the realtor sent me were beige stucco boxes, which surprised me because I've always thought of the area as THE mecca of Midcentury Modern. A quick Zillow search turned up only a few modernist homes in questionable shape. I will be flying out at the end of the month for a single day of house hunting and want to give my realtor a chance of showing something with more architectural integrity. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm not really interested in a "golf course lifestyle"!

[skelaki]

Mid-Century Modern – Palm Desert Homes For Sale

Mid-Century Modern – Rancho Mirage Homes For Sale

[Jane Clark]

Thanks! I was hoping it was just my realtor making lifestyle assumptions about Midwesterners!

[skelaki]

I think you realize now, looking at the above links that your budget might limit your choices. You might need to consider something that requires some rennovations to get what you want. Palm Desert is not generally a cheap area to live (which surprises many people).

[Jane Clark]

My biggest concern about the area isn't the price, but the preponderance of gated communities. Coming from the Midwest I'm used to neighborhoods that have developed character, if not over the past 150 years, then at least for 5 decades or so. Everything seems so golf/tennis oriented and I'm not a "leisure lifestyle" kind of person. Where do the real people live and hang out?

[murfslaw]

As a long time Coachella Valley home owner I've seen the most Mid-Century Modern homes in the city of Palm Springs; most are located north of 111. Palm Desert is a very affordable city to live; if you think $700K is expensive then you might want to rethink moving to California. My current and final home is in Indian Wells. In my neighborhood folks are tearing down existing homes and building new ones using Mid-Century modern architecture

[blakesgst]

Hi Jane,

I just wanted to add that it might help when using redfin, zillow, realtor.com as a search tool, to use the year built min-max option to your advantage in this situation, say something like 1920-1960. A good amount of options with some character came up (on zillow) around the Portola, Shadow Mountain, El paseo streets popped up when i did. Since you are only coming to town for a day I would highly recommend doing your own research and print outs ahead of time and send them to your agent so he/she can make appointments if necessary. Don't leave out the surrounding areas like cathedral city and indio. While they might have an ugly side of town, they have good neighborhoods as well with mid century homes. Quite often a realtor might only be familiar or comfortable with one area and you will miss out on something a mile down the road.

Good Luck,

Blake

[Jane Clark]

Thanks Blake!

Excellent suggestion to search on year built! Not only did I find several interesting homes, but it helped me find neighborhoods outside the gated golf ghettos. I think I also need to have a reality check with the realtor I was assigned. I suspect he's only showing me properties in specific developments that give him better commissions.

[murfslaw]

Gated golf ghettos?? I think that the Coachella may not be the right place for you.

[Ulysses61]

MCM homes in the low desert come at a very high price. Even dumpy, non-renovated MCM homes in Palm Springs go for $700,000. Forget Zillow, use Remax.com, which lists all homes whether they're Remax or not.