Monterey Park: A 950-Square-Foot 1928 House, $734 a Foot
· Case study
Listed at $698,000, in contract on day 17, closed at $697,500. How the value of a small old house gets explained to buyers: the lot, the extra unit, the location.
121 Electric Avenue in Monterey Park 91754, a single-story house built in 1928 with 950 square feet of living space on a 5,778-square-foot lot, two bedrooms in the main house plus a bonus unit with its own entrance (title shows two bedrooms and two bathrooms), no HOA, near parks, schools and the I-10, was listed by Shirley Tang Team on December 1, 2025 at $698,000. It went into contract on day 17, December 18, and closed on January 15, 2026 at $697,500, 99.9% of the asking price, with no price reduction.
A house of 950 square feet built in 1928 does not sell itself on the house. It sells on everything around the house, and the job of the listing is to make that visible.
The lot: 5,778 square feet, private at the back, with room that a buyer can read as a future accessory dwelling unit. In the San Gabriel Valley, land in a convenient location is what holds value; the structure on it is what a buyer decides to keep or replace.
The extra unit: a bonus space with its own entrance, in addition to the main house's two bedrooms. For a family it is a home office or a parent's room; for an investor it is a second door. The listing said plainly what title shows and what the space could be, so nobody had to guess.
The location: parks, schools, local shops and a quick run to the I-10 toward downtown Los Angeles, all of which a Monterey Park buyer already knows how to price.
On day 17 a buyer agreed to $697,500 against a $698,000 asking price, a difference of $500, and the buyer's conventional loan closed 28 days later, on January 15, 2026. That is $734 per square foot of living space, which is the market's way of saying it valued the lot and the possibilities, exactly as the listing asked it to.
If you own a small older house in Monterey Park, Alhambra or Rosemead and wonder whether it is worth listing as it is, send us the address. We will tell you what the lot, the layout and the location add up to today. Text or call (626) 202-9573 (text preferred), or add us on WeChat. No charge.
This is the record of one real transaction. Every home and every market is different, and nothing here is a promise about any other property.