You’ll want to come see this new listing either this Thursday (March 4th) from 12-2 or this Sunday (March 7th) from 1-4 because it is spectacular.  It offers a great lifestye in the Hollywood Riviera living close to the walking trail and not too far from the beach, Riviera Village and Riviera Elementary, Rocketship Park – these are all some of the fine benefits to living in this wonderful neighborhood.  This home has a sparkling pool and a bonus pool house with half bath and outdoor shower all in your backyard.  It makes for some fun parties or relaxing afternoons in the sun.  The minute you walk into this appealing home you are warmed by the light streaming in from the distinctive windows and clearstory windows in the open beam ceilings.  There is a gorgeous kitchen with honed black granite counters, wet bar and office area built in – and it’s open to the dining area/family room all warmed by a cozy fireplace.  Stone patio off the dining area perfect for BBQ’s.  Throughout the house there are gleaming walnut hardwood floors that are so pretty.  Wood with frosted glass interior doors add distinctive style to the home.  A sharp master bathroom boasts a spacious shower and lots of pretty light.  The master bedroom has its own private deck to admire the pretty back yard with gated pool area.  Don’t forget the bonus room – garage converted to a pool house with 1/2 bath and it’s plumbed for a wet bar.  This bonus room is perfect for whatever you desire – art room, guest house, pool/game room, home office, etc.  Come see it for yourself this week!

ShareThis

Do you have hazardous and/or E-Waste to dispose of?  Did you know the Southbay has a few FREE spots open regularly for your convenience?  Here are their locations and times of operation.

Hyperion Treatment Plants S.A.F.E. Collection Center
7660 West Imperial Highway, Gate B, Playa Del Rey, CA
1-800-988-6942
Hours of Operation – Saturdays & Sundays from 9:00 – 3:00 pm

S.A.F.E Collection Center
1400 N. Gaffey St, San Pedro, CA
1-800-988-6942
Hours of Operation – Friday, Saturday & Sunday from 9:00 – 3:00 pm

Goodwill – Electronic Waste Only
2318 Artesia Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA
“Must be in working condition.  TV’s and computer monitors are not required to be in working condition.”
1-310-376-8122

Salvation Army – Electronic Waste Only
2406 Artesia Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA
“All donations must be in working condition.”
1-310-376-1385

ShareThis

It takes local knowledge from a seasoned professional to really come up with a true value of a home.  Maybe even an appraiser can not come up with a real value if they are “out of area.”   There is no way these appraisers (or agents from out of the area) could have actually gone into the comparable homes.  A local real estate agent who specializes in your neighborhood most likely will have been inside (maybe even more than once) most of the comparable homes in your neighborhood.   Local real estate agents preview homes constantly as they come on the market during broker open tours as well as when they are showing property to their buyers and/or they have just been in the house since – as local area specialists you’d think they must live in the neighborhood and know the neighbors.    Knowing the comps on paper and knowing the comps in person are two very different things.  As an agent we can certainly gleen certain information from the MLS data – pictures, description, agent notes often tell a certain story, but being there in person really is the only way to “know” a house and it’s flow, footprint, flaws, etc.  These are what really add or subtract from a homes value.  Square footage, year built, recent remodels – granite, stainless, wood floors, etc… – do add value as well.  But a quirky floor plan is hard to forgive. 

Just looking at the comps on paper again is just not enough.  Digging deeper, making some phone calls and researching time on market, distressed or not seller situation, what type of financing was used?  These are all conditions that could make a difference in the pricing of a home, which in turn may or may not hurt the price of your home.

Noting the difference between the “asking” price of a home and then the “selling price” of  a home can tell a story in itself.  Clearly there is a relationship between time on market and the selling price.  The closer to the list date typically closer to the list price a home sells for.  The longer a home sits on the market, the further away the sales price is the original list price.  How many price changes were made on a listing before it sold?  These are all ways to really help determine what a home’s true value is.  Often, a home that is priced right to start with will sell for more than a home that overprices and then follows the market down in price.  This type of sale typically ends up as a loss for the seller.  It languishes on the market and then looses steam and people start to wonder what is wrong with that house and in the end it sells for less – typically.

Valuing a home requires a full inspection of a home – inside and out.  A discussion with a homeowner as to what improvements have been made can add value to a home and without knowing what those improvements are one can not accurately price the home.  Obviously, market conditions drive the price as well.  How many homes are currently for sale in that market?  What has sold recently?  What homes are pending sale and will offer the latest comps to come?

$/sq ft – can be useful in a “cookie cutter” neighborhood where all the homes were built the same year and have not been remodeled too much yet – think a newer planned unit development.  (You know – there is floorplan A, B or C.)  In an average suburban neighborhood built in the 50’s, there is too much differnce in all the homes – remodels, additions, improvements, etc to compare them this way.  One can come up with a general average dollar per square foot, but of course the smaller the home that greater that number will be and vice versa.

As you can see, it’s not a science.  There are so many factors.  Please be sure to call a professional realtor in your area who is knowledgeable and who has been “around the block” for a while as they will have been in the comparables and will know it by heart typically.

ShareThis

Here’s a great article on the above topic – click here.

ShareThis

Sunset on Calle Miramar Jan 2010

January 28, 2010 – check out this amazing sunset we were priviledged enough to view the other evening out on a walk!  We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful neighborhood.  The beach is so close as is the very quaint Riviera Village for all your shopping, caffeine and culinary needs.  It’s the end of January and we’re able to head out, take a walk and enjoy an amazing sunset like this one!

ShareThis

Here are a few reasons why:

On April 5th, the cost of required up-front mortgage insurance for loans guaranteed by the FHA will increase from 1.75% to 2.25%. For a borrower purchasing a $200,000 home with a $7,000 down payment, the up-front mortgage insurance will increase by $965. Up-front mortgage insurance is typically financed in the final loan amount so the impact to a monthly payment will be minimal but overall, the increase is still borne by the borrower both upfront and monthly.

Later this spring, the amount of money that a seller can return to the buyer from their sale proceeds will be reduced from 6% to 3%. The reduction in these “seller concessions” can increase the amount of cash a buyer will be required to pay at closing by $6,000 for a home purchase of $200,000.HUD feels that by allowing a 6% concession to continue will cause property prices to become inflated and the end result in their mind in another “Housing Bubble”.  Is that far fetched?  Of course it is.  Would a 3% reduction avert something like this if it were possible, NO! FHA loans are 40% of the nations market today.  That figure is lower in the higher cost states like California and New York however it does represent a sizeable portion of the market and what FHA does at this point will effect what the market does.

Today the Fed announced that they will indeed stop the practice of buying Mortgage Backed Securities.  The stock market loves this news and the bond market hates it!

WASHINGTON - In an effort to stabilize home values and improve conditions in communities where foreclosure activity is high, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced a temporary policy that will expand access to FHA mortgage insurance and allow for the quick resale of foreclosed properties. The announcement is part of the Obama administration commitment to addressing foreclosure. Just yesterday, Secretary Donovan announced $2 billion in Neighborhood Stabilization Program grants to local communities and nonprofit housing developers to combat the effects of vacant and abandoned homes.

“As a result of the tightened credit market, FHA-insured mortgage financing is often the only means of financing available to potential homebuyers,” said Donovan. “FHA has an unprecedented opportunity to fulfill its mission by helping many homebuyers find affordable housing while contributing to neighborhood stabilization.”

With certain exceptions, FHA currently prohibits insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days. This temporary waiver will give FHA borrowers access to a broader array of recently foreclosed properties.

“This change in policy is temporary and will have very strict conditions and guidelines to assure that predatory practices are not allowed,” Donovan said.

In today’s market, FHA research finds that acquiring, rehabilitating and the reselling these properties to prospective homeowners often takes less than 90 days. Prohibiting the use of FHA mortgage insurance for a subsequent resale within 90 days of acquisition adversely impacts the willingness of sellers to allow contracts from potential FHA buyers because they must consider holding costs and the risk of vandalism associated with allowing a property to sit vacant over a 90-day period of time.

The policy change will permit buyers to use FHA-insured financing to purchase HUD-owned properties, bank-owned properties, or properties resold through private sales. This will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and to revitalize neighborhoods and communities.

“FHA borrowers, because of the restrictions we are now lifting, have often been shut out from buying affordable properties,” said FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens. “This action will enable our borrowers, especially first-time buyers, to take advantage of this opportunity.”

The waiver will take effect on February 1, 2010 and is effective for one year, unless otherwise extended or withdrawn by the FHA Commissioner. To protect FHA borrowers against predatory practices of “flipping” where properties are quickly resold at inflated prices to unsuspecting borrowers, this waiver is limited to those sales meeting the following general conditions:

• All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction.
• In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the seller’s acquisition cost, the waiver will only apply if the lender meets specific conditions.
• The waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.

Specific conditions and other details of this new temporary policy are in the text of the waiver, available on HUD’s website.

###

HUD is the nation’s housing agency committed to sustaining homeownership; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development ad enforces the nation’s fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at http://www.hud.gov/ and espanol.hud.gov.

http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2010/HUDNo.10-011

I think we could see this continue well into next week

Another time I was looking for a house for a family who wanted a large kitchen and family room.  I pulled up one listing that in the photos looked like it had a huge kitchen. It was quite believable as this was a fairly large home, almost 4000 square feet. Fortunately, I previewed the home before taking my buyers out and found that the kitchen really wasn’t all that big. Other photos of the same home made the entry hall look spacious and very elegant when it actually wasn’t anything to write home about. So, needless to say, I did not show this home to my buyers.

Having pictures of your home is a must when you list it for sale. Most potential buyers searching the Internet will just skip over listings that do not have photos. But be careful not to make your house look better than it really is. If so, when buyers actually come to see the home, they will be upset and disappointed that the house isn’t what they thought. It is hard to get an offer from an upset and disappointed buyer.

Make sure your pictures look like what the buyers will see when they view your home. For example, my backyard is really pretty (at least in my opinion) and this could be a plus if I ever decide to sell my house. I have a beautiful picture of the yard that was taken from just outside the dog-run at the side of the house. But how many buyers are going to look at the yard from the dog-run? My back porch looks really nice when you stand at the back fence, but again, are buyers really going to stand at the back fence when they are considering my house? No. Buyers are going to first look at the yard while standing in the house looking out a window.

The point is, don’t let your photos mislead buyers because you will lose buyers. Try to reach a happy medium. Have photos that will entice buyers to want to see your home but not disappoint them when they get there.