$145,000 Price Reduction!! HUGE Penthouse in Middle of Beverly Hills
January 19th, 2009 Categories: Beverly Hills - BHPO, Real Estate, Real Estate News
Hot off the press- not even in the MLS yet- listing on 121 N. Canon #402 in Beverly Hills is getting a huge price reduction- $1,775,000 to $1,630,000! That’s $145,000!
Incredible location, incredible space! Penthouse is over 3000 sq (per owner), totally private with no common walls and sun all day. Views everywhere- from downtown and the Hollywood Sign to Century City. 3 bedrooms/3.5 baths, balconies off of almost every room. Bright open living and dining room with hardwood floors, recessed lighting, fireplace & high ceilings- perfect for entertaining. Gourmet eat-in kitchen with island, granite counters, spacious patio. Huge private rooftop is crying out to be made into a gorgeous garden entertaining deck. Great building with low HOA dues of only $566/month. Secured entry, 3 side-by-side parking spaces & private storage unit.
Feels like a house & walking distance to everything in Beverly Hills! See former post for more pictures or go to the website:
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Tackling THE Question of the Day, Week, Year: How’s the Market Doing?
January 19th, 2009 Categories: For Buyers, For Sellers, Real Estate
“How’s the market doing?”
That seems to be the daily question I’m hearing right now from everyone. And I have to answer with: “Why do you ask?”
The reason is that it’s different for everyone. If you’re looking to buy, it’s a pretty great market. Prices are at places I haven’t seen in years. In certain communities, I’m seeing 2003 prices. In others, I’m seeing 2004 prices. Other areas are holding surprisingly well and haven’t had any slowdown in the least (these are the places that were moderate in their appreciation from the start).
If you’d looking to sell, time to get strategic with your pricing. You can still turn this market around in your favor- but you must tune into what market value is for your home and go over different scenarios with your agent. Homes ARE still selling. Buyers ARE still out there. Certain communities are still chronically short in homes available- and, the key here, available in the right price range. If you’re smart with your pricing, you WILL sell.
If you’re looking for investment properties, now’s the time to really start to crunch some numbers and give it some serious thought. I’m seeing fantastic deals on those and positive cash return- something new in our Los Angeles market.
Could you wait to buy? Wait to sell?
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Get Involved! It’s MLK Day of Service!
January 12th, 2009 Categories: Events, Things To Do
With the excitement of the Inauguration approaching and change in the air, it’s a great time to do our part locally and get involved! Whether you donate blood, visit with a senior citizen, clean up the beach, mentor a student, collect food for the food shelves, opportunities are out there ready to welcome you with open arms. The Day of Service is officially on Monday, January 19th but there are events happening all weekend. Find an event here:
http://www.usaservice.org/content/home/
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New Year- New Price Reductions for Westside Homes!
January 8th, 2009 Categories: Bel Air - Holmby Hills, Beverly Hills - BHPO, Real Estate
What a start to the New Year- I’m seeing BIG price reductions everywhere all across the Westside. The general mood with sellers is that they want to sell NOW, yet buyers are in the “wait and see” mode. How to bridge that gap? How to get people off the fence to write an offer? Price reduction!
A spectacular contemporary home on Highridge in Beverly Hills Post Office just got an almost $1M(!!!) price reduction- they went from $7.7M to $6.8M! It is probably one of the most drop dead gorgeous view homes out there, so if you’re in the market, let me know ASAP. These sellers want to sell this week!
Another notable price reduction is a dramatic French manor home on Mulholland, dropping from $3.25M to $2.7M. With almost 4600 sf, 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, pool, it has now moved into the “deal” territory with the new price.
“Baby” price reductions aren’t cutting it- but overpriced homes who get serious and really give their price the big push it needs, will see serious buyers and their property, even in this market, should sell.
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HUGE Penthouse in the Heart of Beverly Hills!
December 5th, 2008 Categories: Beverly Hills - BHPO, For Buyers, For Sellers, Real Estate, Real Estate News
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Don’t Be a Deer Caught in the Headlights- A Real Gameplan for you to Survive in our LA Real Estate Market
November 23rd, 2008 Categories: For Buyers, For Sellers, Real Estate
Los Angeles is full of abnormalities.
No, I don’t mean just the locals. I’m also talking about the real estate market. We’ve got neighborhoods that are doing well next to those that have hit the skids. We have homes that will go into multiple offers but others down the block that have sat on the market for months and months. To really figure out what to do in this market, you just have to go back to common sense.
If you are planning on selling within 2-3 years, I’d suggest selling now- but price it right. The reason is that when looking at the Westside, we’re still building inventory and homes are not moving off the market to keep up with the supply. That means there are a lot of choices for buyers out there and no sense of urgency. No urgency means no energy to write an offer. Furthermore, that means the prices are still going to go down and then the market is going to need to recover and come back to the prices of today. The ONLY homes that are selling are those when the buyer feels like they’re getting a deal. How to price? Look at all your competition and price below them- we’re not talking 5% below. To sell now, you must price between 10-15% below. You must set your home up as a good deal.
If you want to be in your home for say, 3-5 more years, then it may be more prudent to wait to sell until we’re on the next upswing.
For people thinking about buying, should you buy now when the prices may still come down? If you think there could be a definite possibility of moving again within 1-2 years, consider waiting. If you’re looking for a home where you want to stay put for awhile, concentrate right now on finding the right home, whether you find it now or 6-9 months from now, and make sure to get a great deal that you’re happy with. You’d really be crazy to not be looking right now with the prices the way they are and great interest rates. Homes aren’t cars-you can’t go to the dealership down the street and get the same thing. When you find one you really like, grab it- just make sure you get it at a great price.
Real estate continues to be one of the best long-term investments you can make. You’ve got an asset that’s going to appreciate over time, you can take advantage of serious tax benefits to owning and you can live in the asset (take that, stock portfolio!). That’s hard to beat. Just remember to buy smart!!
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Movin’ on Up: Los Angeles Buyers are Seeing Opportunity
November 3rd, 2008 Categories: For Buyers, For Sellers
Here’s something that I’m hearing a LOT lately from people all throughout the Westside and Valley:
“We’re thinking that since we don’t want to stay in this home forever, this may be the time to move up. Prices have come down and now maybe we can get a bigger house or go to a better neighborhood. But we don’t know what to do because our home has also gone down in value. Do we wait to sell? Do we lease out our home until the market comes back?”
This is a very common situation that many Angelenos are finding themselves in right now. For people wanting to move up, prices definitely are looking more agreeable. Yes, when you sell, you most likely are not going to get the summer of 2007 price- BUT you are going to get a much bigger discount on your next home. You’re basically rolling your equity in your current home into the next property. If you need to sell to buy, sell NOW. Time is of the essence. You can always do a lease-back or some kind of short term lease. But if you need that money and need it soon or semi-soon, you may want to give serious thought to selling NOW. I mean it, please take action and get on the phone and call your agent or call/email us.
As far as leasing goes, it may be an option to consider if you don’t need the money out of the home to buy your next one. You have to decide, though, if you want to be a landlord for the next couple of years. Prepare yourself by really knowing the numbers in your neighborhood. Find out how much it would sell and how much it would lease. Give some serious thought to if it’s worth it. (And I insist, please really think about it.)
If moving up is what you’re considering, this is YOUR market!
There are major opportunities out there!
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Quick Take on Our Los Angeles Westside Home Market (for Home Owners)
October 23rd, 2008 Categories: For Sellers, Real Estate
These past 2 weeks have been full of questions from clients- What’s happening with the market? Should I wait to buy? Is it going to get better in 6 months? Should we wait to sell until the market recovers? How much is my home worth NOW?
Here’s some food for thought if you’re thinking about selling…
Real quickly, our market is slow. Kind of. If homes are priced right, they are still selling. Same old story. Most of our toniest neighborhoods never have enough homes to sell and that hasn’t changed. Other neighborhoods where you’d expect homes to still sell at a quick clip are just sitting there. What’s happening?
If you price your home based on 2006 figures, you will not sell your home. Just being candid with you. It will sit on the market and you will end up either taking it off the market in total frustration or chasing the market down. I don’t want that to happen to you because you will end up with less in your pocket than had you looked at the figures we’re dealing with for THIS market and priced accordingly.
Homes are still going into multiple offers. A total fixer in Trousdale (Beverly Hills) just had 7 offers on it. Why? Because it had killer views and we never have enough homes in Trousdale- and it wasn’t outrageously priced. A home is coming on the market in Little Holmby that will also have multiple offers on it. Why? Same thing. It’s all about price and value right now.
Basically, the key to selling right now is that the buyer must feel like they’re going to get a deal for your home. Is something spectacular or undeniably valuable about your home? Well, you’re also in a good position. But still keep that price within reason.
If you want to wait, know that it is an option. The market will recover at some point and I think everyone can agree on that. The timing of that is another story. Is it 2 years? 5 years? You must be prepared that your home will still go down in value and then have to head back up to today’s prices. But there’s a silver lining, if you sell now, just know that you may have to take a hit on the price of your current home but you’re going to get a DEAL on your next one!
If you’re thinking about selling, let us know and we can do the numbers for your neighborhood. We’ll tell you exactly if it’s going down or up and by how much. Then you can know what you’re dealing with and make a wise decision on your next step.
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Los Angeles Buyers, Get Your OWN Representation!
September 29th, 2008 Categories: For Buyers
I just got off the phone with a very nice gentleman who thought he and his wife would buy a house without an agent and they entered escrow a couple of days ago. You know, he’s an attorney, they know the neighborhood… why would they need an agent?
Well, there’s a few important reasons why you’d want to have your own agent. Here it goes…
First of all, they weren’t planning on getting a physical inspection. This is the FIRST inspection you need to get. The second you get acceptance on an offer, book your physical inspection. And there are other inspections you should get after that. This is a time that you would talk with your agent about what inspections they’d recommend- mold, chimney, geological, sewer line, electrical, plumbing, etc. Each property will be different.
Second, if you don’t have a good agent negotiating on your behalf during the initial negotiations and during the escrow if need be, you may be shooting yourself in the foot. You may think that you’ve just saved a bunch of $ but how do you know that you didn’t just give it right back to the seller because you didn’t get the price you could have landed IF you had an agent? Continue Reading »
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Pancakes with the Beverly Hills Police: 12th Annual Police Service Day & Pancake Breakfast
September 12th, 2008 Categories: Beverly Hills - BHPO, Events, Things To Do
Come meet your neighbors and police officers over some hot pancakes this Sunday morning. Free station tours for the kiddies. Sponsored by the Beverly Hills Police Officers Association and the Beverly Hills Rotary Club. Parking is available in the Civic Center parking lot. (Go to the car show after and make a day of it!)
Sun, Sept 14, 8AM-12PM
Beverly Hills Civic Center Plaza
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