Real Estate News
Los Angeles Times “Puts to Bed” the Real Estate Section
August 8th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate, Real Estate News
This really shouldn’t come as a huge surprise knowing about all the staff cutbacks that have happened at the Los Angeles Times recently, but the paper has printed its last edition of the Real Estate section. This part of the paper has been an important source of LA home information since 1901.
They’ll continue some regular columns in their new Saturday Home section and Sunday Business section, as well as put online content on their site throughout the week.
We all know that the emphasis in marketing for homes- and the corresponding advertising dollars- have gone online. Very few people are going to their local real estate pages in the paper and rely on that to find their future home. We’ve known this for awhile now.
I’d guess that the paper had the ad money for the length of time it did because when the market was booming, brokers had the cash to put into advertising that they knew wasn’t very effective just because they could. It was easier to appease sellers and continue the same old thing because it was less work that educating people about how the marketing paradigm had shifted away from print media. Now that everyone is watching their wallets much more closely, better advertising dollars are spent on being where the customers are.
Personally, I think this is unfortunate news about losing the section. Yes, anything people really want to know about, they can find online and do their research there. But in terms of replacing reporters, generating new content with depth and having the research behind feature articles, that’s pretty tough to replace with bloggers and a hodgepodge of web content.
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Termite Inspections, Reports and Work - Who is Responsible?
May 21st, 2008 Categories: Bel Air - Holmby Hills, Beverly Hills - BHPO, Brentwood, Buying Real Estate, Cheviot Hills - Rancho Park, Culver City, Hollywood Hills, Home Improvement, Home Resources, Inspection Resources, Malibu, Marina Del Rey - Venice, Pacific Palisades, Real Estate, Real Estate News, Santa Monica, Selling Real Estate, Sherman Oaks - Studio City, West Hollywood, Westwood - Century City
So you’re about to buy or sell a house and the subject of termite inspections come up in discussion - usually when the offer is being written and/or presented.
Here is what YOU need to know:
CUSTOMARILY, the Seller is responsible for the inspection, providing the buyer with a termite report, and ultimately a termite clearance at the close escrow. The Seller usually pays for Section I work, and the Buyer can pay for any Section II work needed.
What is “Section I” and “Section II” work?
Section I is any EXISTING termite infestation, damage or wood destroying organisms such as dryrot fungus and the like. This may include local treatment, whole house tenting, and replacement of damaged timber.
Section II is anything found to possibly invite termite infestation or cause wood damage in the future, such as debris in the attic, earth to wood contact, etc.
There are circumstances when the Seller is NOT responsible for all the “termite work”, some examples are:
- When it’s an ALL CASH purchase. The termite clearance is necessary to close escrow because it’s often a condition for funding by the lenders.
- When the property is a TEAR-DOWN. If the intent by the buyer is to bulldoze the property to the ground, no one really cares if there are termites or rotted wood all over the place.
- When the SELLER specifies in the contract they will not do any work, or caps the dollar amount they are willing to pay for work needed. The Buyer then can agree to pick up the difference.
95% of the homes that are sold here in SoCal require some termite clearance action. Homeowners are well advised to maintain a termite treatment regime once a year to keep those buggers away.
Call us anytime for a referral to a reputable company to add to your home vendors list!
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Mixed Signals: Making Sense of Real Estate News for the Westside
March 14th, 2008 Categories: Buying Real Estate, Real Estate, Real Estate News, Selling Real Estate
We are asked by clients every day about what we’re seeing in the market. Are prices really dropping like what we’re seeing in the news? What’s going to happen next year? When should they buy? Should they sell now or wait to get more? And so it goes. Well, no one has a crystal ball but I can tell you what I’m noticing lately…
Everywhere we look, we see stories about the real estate market. This was true before the mortgage crisis in September and will be true next year and the year after. What’s happening is newsworthy, yes, but more than that, it sells papers and the media knows that if they lead with a story about the real estate market, people are going to watch. We are all interested and bad news- not good news- is going to get viewers’ attention. To confuse everyone even more, we see a constant stream of mixed signals by the press (see the relatively positive recent UCLA Anderson School’s report and a recent negative Los Angeles Times’ article as examples).
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SOLD! To the Highest Bidder at a Santa Monica Home Auction
March 3rd, 2008 Categories: Buying Real Estate, Events, Real Estate, Real Estate News, Santa Monica, Selling Real Estate
If you haven’t attended a live home auction recently, you’re like the rest of us because they just don’t take place all that often!
I witnessed my first home auction this Saturday at 710 Kingman Ave in Santa Monica. The property is a beautiful Spanish contemporary on a lovely tree lined street. The home is in great condition, 4 bedrooms with 3.5 baths in just over 3,000 square feet, on a 7,500 square foot lot. There is a beautiful tropical grotto style lagoon pool in the back, with the master balcony overlooking it. Fabulous home in a great neighborhood.
The living room was filled to capacity. It started with the expected dictation of the auction’s rules and regulations followed by a fun and LOUD practice bid for those participating in the process to get warmed up to the real deal. Yes, the Santa Monica Pier was auctioned off.
Opening bids for the home started at $2,000,000. The energy in the room blew the roof off as the auctioneer swung his gavel in the air rambling (in his professional auctioneer way that only an auctioneer can) off the increasing prices while the (five registered bidders’) paddles shot up in succession of one another…until we reached…da da da dummm…MARKET VALUE.
SOLD! with the crack of the gavel promising the home to the winning buyer for $2,450,000.
(Understand, that with an auction home sale, the buyer pays the costs of the sale, so the price sold is the amount the seller nets not what the buyer ends up paying. The buyer actually will pay about 8% on top of the $2.4M he’s agreed to pay for the house itself.)
A home auction is quite like dealing with mulitiple offers on a property that’s for sale, with some minor differences. As one of the buyers, you know what the other buyers are willing to pay when everyone is standing in the same room at the same time with the same goal. For the seller, the process of the auction saves time and the paperwork of having to counter offer all buyer offers in writing, a process that can take days.
Most obviously illustrated for all to see is that on the day and time of the auction when real serious buyers (cashier checks in hand!) turn out for the bidding to bid against each other for said property, there is no doubt about the home’s market value once THE MARKET SPEAKS.
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Beverly Hills Real Estate Update
February 26th, 2008 Categories: Beverly Hills - BHPO, Real Estate, Real Estate News
Your weekly fill of Beverly Hills real estate news… eat up!
606 N. Alt
a was held open for the first time today. It’s a gorgeous Spanish, redone to every last detail with over 6,000 sq ft, 6 bedrooms, 2-story guest house, pool and wine tasting room. A hefty price at $9,695,000 but it really is a spectacular home. Definitely a Wow! house.
1705 Angelo Dr.came on the market a couple of days ago and is one cool pad. The swankiest mid-century around, the rooms have enormous volume (feels very Trousdale-esque), walls of glass, terrazzo floors, private yard with pool. Will need some freshening up but definitely a fun project. Oh-so-nice (and rare!) that no one has messed up the home with misguided remodeling work in the past. Asking $3,450,000.
261 El Camino just came on the market today and is a fantastic buy for southwest Beverly Hills. Redone courtyard Spanish with a guest house for $2,640,000. A good one.
At this moment, there are 18 homes in escrow in Beverly Hills ranging in asking price between $1,395,000 (Spanish fixer south of Olympic) to $15,990,000 (English manor behind the Beverly Hills Hotel).
509 N. Palm just closed over asking for $5,326,000. As the for-sale sign was being nailed into the ground, the buyer drove up to the home and bought it on the spot.
Monterey Colonial on Angelo has not been posted to the MLS and it sold for around $7,000,000. The owner bought it last year for $3,950,000. It’s a 4 bedroom home with a pool and guest house on a 13,700 sq ft lot. An example of how “done” homes are selling like hotcakes.
Call us with any questions about these homes or others. We’d be happy to show you the latest and greatest in the area if you’re looking and make sure you don’t miss the best deals!
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(Potential) Great News for Brentwood Glen!
February 22nd, 2008 Categories: Brentwood, Real Estate, Real Estate News
Ahhh… the residents of Brentwood Glen can cautiously breathe a long-awaited sigh of relief.
For months, they’ve been kept on pins and needles as CalTrans looked poised and ready to take out homes, apartment buildings and staples of the community. Now CalTrans is recommending Alternative 2 for final determination and adding in modifications that will be released in the weeks ahead.
Alternative 2 would mean that a northbound HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane would be added from probably National (I-10) to Greenleaf (just south of the 101). There wouldn’t be any construction on the west side of the freeway in Brentwood Glen or the Getty areas.
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Holding the Land Around LA Landmark for Ransom
February 22nd, 2008 Categories: Hollywood Hills, Real Estate, Real Estate News
Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Walk of Fame… people from all over the world come to Los Angeles looking for the glamour of the movies. One of those landmarks may be changing- 138 Acres are up for sale right by the Hollywood Sign.
It can be your’s for a cool $22M.
The land on Cahuenga Peak, just above and west of the Hollywood Sign, was once owned by Howard Hughes as he planned to build a love nest there for his then flame Ginger Rogers. Things didn’t work out for them or the property- it stayed in his trust for decades.
The owners now are a group of Chicago investors, Fox River Financial Resources, who bought it in 2002 for $1,675,000. That’s quite an appreciation there, guys. The city says it was appraised for $6M and they would raise that much to buy it from the developers to preserve the site. The developers aren’t budging from their $22M pricetag. Maybe they can get it- but is it right?
On the listing realtor’s website, they say that the land has 5 contiguous parcels with the potential for building a single family residence and a guest house on each. Yes, our job, for those of us in real estate, is to sell properties but talk about selling your soul. They have convinced themselves that asking $22,000,000 is fair market value.
I’m sure the investors are banking on the emotion that surrounds the Hollywood Sign and hoping the city and conservationists miraculously raise enough money to buy the land from them. If that happens, how do you feel about our tax dollars going into these developers’ pockets?
Update: This story made the NBC Nightly News, on Monday 2/25/08.
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Congress Sends President Stimulus Package-What This Means to Home Buyers
February 12th, 2008 Categories: Money & Mortgages, Real Estate, Real Estate News
Thanks in part to lobbying by C.A.R. and N.A.R. members, the Senate passed their version of an economic stimulus package Thursday, February 07, 2008. The Senate version expands rebate checks for seniors and disabled veterans and includes the same increases to the conforming loan limits for both GSE and FHA found in the House stimulus package. The House just passed the Senate version of the bill and it will now be sent to the White House. The President is expected to sign the legislation by the end of next week, ahead of the Congressional self-appointed deadline of February 15th. The increase in the conforming loan limits will last through 2008, but C.A.R. and N.A.R. continue to lobby for FHA and GSE reform, making these increases permanent.Keep reading for what this all means to you: Read the rest of this entry »
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