A Trip Down Perkins Lane

Perkins Lane, home to multi-million dollar waterfront view properties, is also home to a number of vacant lots (and a treehouse) that look great online. So great that I’ve had numerous requests from buyers about the opportunity to buy a third of an acre on water in Magnolia for only $125k or to buy a quarter of an acre with a treehouse for $200k.

I dutifully tell them there was a massive landslide in ’96 that took out five homes and the road. But some are still curious since it is so cheap. None ever think that because it is so cheap, (the city values the land at $1,000), there must be a huge catch.

Curious to see the catch for myself, I drove out to what is now the end of Perkins Lane.

The “road” then quickly narrows then quickly disappears into a narrow 4×4 track that looks to have been recently put in by the buyer of one of the lots.

It is here as you stand on a steep slope on a tiny trail that the catch becomes obvious – THERE IS NO ROAD. Not to mention, no utilities, no level place to build, and a slope to your back that has shown that it would love to swim in the ocean. To see what it is like for yourself, check out this video.

Anyhow, if you follow the 4×4 track there are a few “hiking” trails down to the beach. At least the hiking trail I took is not for the faint of heart, it is a scramble where a wrong foot placement could sending you tumbling down a very steep slope which surely will not end well. Fortunately, I made it up and down unscathed (wear thick clothes, and even gloves, there are lots of prickly bushes, hiking poles would be helpful.)

Once you hopefully get safely to the beach, the view at the beach is epic. It is also littered with concrete. Is that from the homes that slid?

Keep walking and you run into the infamous treehouse. The treehouse has since been de-listed and it should be worth noting, it has no utilities. Note the bluff behind the treehouse. I wouldn’t sleep well with that behind me! :)

A little further and you run into five “surf shacks” owned by the Logan West Group for years (who’s that?) accessed presumably by the 32nd Ave West Boat Launch at low-tide.

So for everyone thinking they can buy a third of an acre on the water, drop a pre-fab home on it and turn it into a profitable Airbnb, good luck. But give me a call, happy to help you buy the land :). You won’t be the only crazy one, a few of the lots have sold recently, and someone was definitely swinging a hammer on the lot closest to the treehouse while I was out there. It’ll be very interesting to see what goes up on these lots and how long it takes for them to a road back in.