Torrance: $80,000 Under the Original Price, Plus $51,125 Back
· Case study
Listed at $1,825,000, reduced to $1,789,000, bought for our client at $1,745,000 with a $51,125 seller credit after 93 days on market. An essay on patience.
A home in Torrance, a 1977-built three-level house on a corner lot with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, 2,200 square feet and a 180-degree view, listed by another brokerage at $1,825,000 on October 20, 2025 and reduced to $1,789,000 in January, was bought by a client of Shirley Tang Team. The contract was signed on January 21, 2026, after 93 days on the market, and the purchase closed on March 10, 2026 at $1,745,000, $80,000 below the original asking price and $44,000 below the reduced one, with a $51,125 seller credit and a conventional loan.
Buyer-side cases name the city only, not the street address, to protect our client's privacy.
Patience is the least glamorous skill in buying a home and the one that pays best. This sale is an argument for it.
The home came to market in October at $1,825,000: a corner lot in south Torrance, three levels, a 180-degree view, new windows and a Spanish tile roof. The instinct with a home you like is to write an offer at or near asking before someone else does. The better question is whether someone else actually will, and for a home at this price, listed in the slow months, the honest answer was probably not soon.
Thirty days passed, then sixty, then ninety. On January 16 the seller reduced the price to $1,789,000, which is the market's way of announcing that the first number had not worked. That was the moment to act, and five days later the offer went in at $1,745,000, with a reason attached: comparable closings, the time on market, and what the home needed.
The seller accepted. Then, in the second half of the negotiation, after inspections, the seller agreed to a $51,125 credit toward the buyer's costs. All told, our client paid $80,000 less than the original asking price and received $51,125 back at closing, a swing of more than $131,000 against the number the home came to market with.
Escrow closed 48 days after contract, on March 10, 2026, with conventional financing.
Waiting is not the right move for every home. In a hot pocket, the home that sits for a week is gone in the second week. Knowing which kind of home and which kind of week you are looking at is the job, and it is what we are for. If you are buying in the South Bay or anywhere in Los Angeles County, text (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.