Long Beach CA Real Estate Blog

What if the Internet Went Away?

2008-08-12T11:04:36Z

2012: The Year The Internet Ends

This video should inspire an interesting conversation. What do you think?

We have been and are building our businesses around the internet. What if the internet, as we know it was either taken away or became too expensive for us to access large enough distribution of our product? What would we do? Is this really possible? Is there a plan B?

Is it conceivable that only the largest and wealthiest companies could be left standing?
Can you imagine having access to only about 200 sites?
Can you conceive the cost of having to pay for any additional sites accessed that were not part of the package?
We are becoming completely dependant on the internet for our marketing, what would happen to our businesses if it became cost prohibitive?

What do you think?

Connected Faces - Inman Connect 2008

2008-07-25T03:03:17Z

Belmont Heights Homes Market Report - 2008 - Long Beach California Real Estate

2008-07-09T17:37:24Z

Home Sales in Belmont Heights are picking up. The availability of lower priced homes has todays buyers out shopping. The plethera of available short sale and bank owned homes has brought prices down in Belmont Heights. Well priced homes are often receiving multiple offers. Smart sellers are pricing their homes to sell instead of chasing the market down, which is never a good idea. If you do not need to sell, this is not the time to be on the market. Smart buyers are out shopping.

There are currently 68 homes for sale in Belmont Heights.

Average Price: $1,111,793

Lowest Price: $530,000
Highest Price: $2,500,000
30 Homes are priced under $1,000,000
38 Homes are priced over $1,000,000

Average Days on Market: 91

6 homes in Belmont Heights are in escrow accepting back-up offers.

Average Price: $804,650

Average Days on Market: 83

2 homes in Belmont Heights are currently pending in escrow.

Average Price: $1,019,000

Average Days on Market: 34

42 homes in Belmont Heights have Sold (closed escrow) in 2008.

Average Price: $820,619

Average Days on Market: 85

27 Belmont Heights home owners have cancelled their listings.

Average Price: $967,201

Average Days on Market: 119

6 Belmont Heights homes have withdawn from the market.

Average Price: $1,056,000

Average Days on Market: 104

22 Belmont Heights single family home listings have expired.

Average Price: $912,881

Average Days on Market: 153

Contact Laurie to begin your search for your Belmont Heights Home (562) 212-5420

Are you thinking about selling your Belmont Heights home? Internet exposure and marketing has never been more important. Expansive internet exposure will drive many buyers to view your home. Hire an internet savvy Realtor. Contact Laurie (562)212-5420

Why Hire an Internet Savvy Realtor?

Over 80% of all home searches start on the internet. Your Long Beach homes need to be online, and findable, when buyers begin their search. Have the Realtors you interview show you their ability to market your Long Beach properties on the internet. Step back; pick keywords that should bring that item to the front page of Google; keywords like Long Beach Real Estate. Are any of the sites that your Realtor is using to promote your property coming up at the top of the engines? No? Keep shopping. Better yet, call the Realtors on the front page of Google, they already know how to get there and you can cut right through the unlikely candidates.

Over 25% of all Home Buyers FIRST saw the home they purchased on the internet. If your Long Beach homes are not heavily marketed on the internet, you are missing thousands of potential buyers.

Visit our blog for more helpful Long Beach Real Estate Information and Updates

Long Beach Real Estate Home Blog>>>

Luxury Homes For Sale in Long Beach California

Long Beach CA Ocean Blvd Condos For Sale

Laurie Manny

Long Beach Realtor®

Prudential California Realty

Long Beach California

(562) 212-5420

Hey EPERKS - Time To Get Real!

2008-06-19T14:18:00Z

All around the blogosphere there is talk about EPerks and the Vlad Zablotskyy freedom of speech issues. Bloodhound has taken the issue very seriously and has set up a legal defense fund for Vlad. Mary McKnight over at RSSpieces is very generously offering free blogs to anybody taking up the cause and writing to support both Vlad and our right to free speech.

I received a phone call this morning from a sales representative at EPerks. They are looking for an agent in my area to refer to for a 19% referral fee. After explaining to them that I would never do business with them, they wanted to know why. I simply stated "VLAD". The woman on the phone immediately turned into a heinous bitch and screeched that they would not do business with me either and hung up on me. It sounds like the people over at EPerks are quite familiar with the name VLAD.

So, EPERKS I have a question for you. Why was it that you called me? DUH!

I guess that is how they have earned the nickname EJERKS!

Long Beach California Relocation Information Resource-Long Beach Real Estate

2008-03-31T08:45:28Z

Relocating to Long Beach California?

If you are relocating to Long Beach California you will need lots of information. You will be curious to know about Long Beach communities, neighborhoods and resources. We have tried to include as many area resources as possible here to make your transition a smooth one.

Long Beach California has become a destination resort area. This sleepy seaside city, known as Iowa by the sea, has blossomed into a fabulous beach resort area. Luxury high rise condos are sprouting all along the coastline, in Downtown Long Beach and Alamitos Beach. These elegant and prestigious coastal properties provide sweeping ocean views down the beautiful California coastline, views of Catalina Island - 25 miles off of our coastline and delicious, clean ocean breezes wafting in daily. The sound of gently lapping waves can be heard from your 17th floor Hi Rise condo on the sand.

Here are some local resources to help make your transition a pleasant one:

Local Area and Neighborhood Information:

Long Beach Homes and Condos For Sale

(Direct feeds from the Southern California MLS)

California Megan's Law - California Department of Justice

Laurie Manny

Long Beach Realtor®

(562) 212-5420

Prudential California Realty

Bixby Knolls

3728 Atlantic Avenue

Long Beach, CA 90807

Long Beach CA Real Estate

I Hate Blood Sucking Vendors

2008-03-29T00:02:05Z

I Hate Blood Sucking Vendors

What is it with the blood sucking rip-off artists vendors surrounding the real estate industry these days? I know the pickings have been slim, but when did a sense of decency and fair play go straight out of the window? This week I was approached with yet another hair brained scheme to pass costs along to the consumer needlessly. Yes I am on a rant here.

Salesman barges into my office, laptop fired up and in his arms, already talking - with no regard for the fact that I am on the phone. (I already don't want to do business with him!) This one wants to show me a wonderful new system; for JUST $50.00, which by the way - you can JUST pass along to your customer - your customer gets their entire file on a CD framed with the Realtors advertising. Also the broker will get a copy of the entire file.

Lets clarify what they are referring to:

1) They will copy the broker file. Which is a basic file with transaction related forms in it. It does not contain any of the correspondance, fax confirmations, rejected offers, etc... It is just the basic file - Big Whoop! Doesn't do me a lot of good if I need the rest of the file at a later date.

2) If the Realtor wants a copy it is an additional $8.00. You have got to be kidding! Didn't you just ask me to sell your product to my clients? Do I need to explain this to you?

3) Why is the customer paying for a copy of the CD for the Broker? How does the Broker benefit? Great Question! The brokers pay a lot of money for the storage space those files take up, they can attrition that out over the next 4 or so years they are required by law to keep the files. What a great way to pay nothing - just charge the customer! And benefit from reduced expenses by way of eliminating your storage costs. For crying out loud - pay the damn $8.00! How much commission did you just earn?

4) So Mr. Salesman lets see if I understand you correctly. You want me to sell your product to my client? You want me to pay an additional $8.00 if I want a copy for my records? You are giving the Broker a free copy of the disc? The Broker saves the exorbitant cost of file storage?

Are you aware that I am in the business of selling real estate? Why would I want to sell your product and stick it to my client? Why would you bring such a hair brained scheme to me, and not even offer me a copy of the CD as part of the package? Are you stoopid? Or do you think I am?

First of all IF I were interested in this product - and I am not - the cost would not be passed along to my client. I would absorb it, the same way I absorb costs for transaction co-ordination (which many agents charge their clients for) and other fees that I don't believe should be passed along to the client. These fees are part of our internal cost of doing business, nuff said?

Second, I certainly would not pay for copies for other parties, they can just pay for their own.

Most importantly, I want you Mr. Vendor to understand that you have deeply offended me. Your assumption that we Realtors would not see through your intent is an insult to our intelligence. You have assumed that we are not very bright, you are wrong. Contrary to the opinions of some, many Realtors are exceptionally bright. Smart enough to see right through you!

Would you like to try to read and explain some of our contracts? Or perhaps try negotiating a few of them?

I didn't think so!

Laurie Manny

Long Beach Realtor®

(562) 212-5420

Prudential California Realty

Bixby Knolls

3728 Atlantic Avenue

Long Beach, CA 90807

Long Beach CA Real Estate

Happy St. Paddys Day - Just for FUN

2008-03-16T18:06:55Z

The Rise and Fall of an Empire-Rheingold Brewing Company-Marketing 101

2008-03-16T16:59:12Z

If you haven't read Monika McGillcuddy's recent post Real Estate's Paradigm Shift you should. It is a great account of the massive changes currently taking place in our industry and how they are perceived. The resistance in the real estate industry to blogging and Social Networking is still strong. Those who have embraced it are having success and understand that a future without viable venues to market ourselves is bleak. Never has it been more important to reach out to the consumer and make a direct connect.

Web 2.0 is marketing. We are marketing ourselves, our ideas, our business in an attempt to both educate the consumer and to survive. Marketing is by no means a new idea; it has played an active role in promoting companies, products, ideas and people for ages. Anybody who doesn't recognize this is just foolish.

I left this comment on Monika's post:

The one constant in our world is change. Everything is changing all of the time. Sometimes change starts with a barely perceptible shift in the way things are done, barely noticed by many. While only a small percentage of us have embraced the internet and know this is the wave to ride, the direction to take our business in, there are already changes happening here in our new world. I often wonder how many of our ranks recognize the changes happening right here in our 2.0 world. I also wonder how many will embrace these changes.

Sometimes I step back and watch our industry purge itself. That is what is happening you know. The resistance to change combined with the fear of the unknown is crippling many of the ranks in the real estate industry. It's not just at the agent level. We, the 2.0 world, have changed so many facets of our industry that large vendors are showing signs of eminent collapse as we demand better services that actually work for us and refuse to continue with their outdated and useless products. We have discovered our "voice" and combined our voice is quite loud.

Brian Brady and I had a conversation a while back; we discussed the gap that entering the 2.0 world has bridged. Before blogging and social networking agents across the nation rarely connected, heads of major corporations were untouchable icons and large companies were our drug dealers without which we thought we couldn't survive. None of this is true any longer. Anybody who is out of reach is out of touch and dooming themselves to inevitable failure. We live in an interactive world in which everybody is expected to participate.

What is different? We have engaged and connected directly with the consumer eradicating the need for many of the middlemen in business's previously used to fleece us of our hard earned income. Liberating Huh?!?

My grandmother was one of 13 children of Irish and German immigrants, many of her brothers worked at the Rheingold Brewery Brooklyn plant for their entire working life. They purchased homes and cars, paid them off, had families, put their children through college, loved their jobs, were committed to the company they worked for, and were happy. When the company began to falter they were blown away. Fortunately most of them were able to retire comfortably.

My grandmother is the last surviving member of her immediate family; she is in her late 90's now. I would love to share this story with her as it would bring back a flood of wonderful memories that would make her smile. Unfortunately my grandmother has no memories any longer; she now lives in her own little world and doesn't know who any of us are.

This is an interesting account of the history of the rise and fall of The Rheingold Brewing Company, and an era. It is a testament to what a really good marketing campaign can achieve. It is also a testament to what bad business decisions and a lack of future vision can do to destroy the empire forever. I hope you enjoy and learn from the read:

Nothing is forever...

Tapping Into The Rheingold Story Has A Distinctive Brooklyn Taste

originally published on February 14, 2008 - Part 1

The Miss Rheingold Contest Showed Beauty Of A Marketing Brainstorm
originally published on February 28, 2008 - Part 2

Laurie Manny

Long Beach Realtor®

(562) 212-5420

Prudential California Realty

Bixby Knolls

3728 Atlantic Avenue

Long Beach, CA 90807

Long Beach CA Real Estate

Long Beach Real Estate - Buyers Specialist - Position Available

2008-02-27T20:48:36Z

Position Available - Buyers Specialist

Seeking experienced, warm and congenial addition to our rapidly growing Long Beach Real Estate team of professionals.

The perfect candidate is a highly experienced, professional Long Beach Realtor/Buyers Specialist, seeking a steady stream of buyers to assist.

Keen knowledge of contracts, sharp negotiating skills and a client first attitude mandatory. 5 or more years experience preferred.

If you have considerable experience and thrive working in a highly energized environment, contact us today to discuss the possibilities.

email contact: longbeachrealestate@gmail.com

Lead Generation

2008-02-18T09:53:54Z

Before blogging many of us non-techie type Realtors purchased template websites. 800 or 900 pages of unoriginal, real estate related drivel that was duplicated onto every site they sold. They spoke with us about SEO and our eyes rolled up into our heads until we purchased premium SEO packages from them with promises of top search engine placement and lead generation; which of course rarely occurred.

We placed IDX home search (more money) on our websites and had a choice. Either put up a form for the consumer to fill out to capture the leads, or just open it up, let them search freely and hope that they were so grateful that they would contact us – yeah right!

So where was the lead capture? How did we justify the expense of these websites against the lack of return on investment (ROI) from them?

We were in the throes of a hot sellers market; leads were coming in from signs, ads, marketing and advertising, word of mouth; who cared about the stupid websites? Who had time to even think about them? We were too busy selling real estate! But we continued to pay for the useless sites because we knew we needed an online presence to prove to potential sellers that we had the ability to promote their listings online. The truth be told, it was mostly crap. The websites delivered a few hundred hits a day, probably mostly from other Realtors, and generated very little business, even for the better sites. Todays blog sites are delivering thousands of hits daily. More hits = more leads; more leads = more closed sales; it'a a no brainer folks.

Fast forward to the end of the Sellers Market and the dissipating incoming leads, we began to pay attention to our online presence and how we could improve it to generate leads. Many of us discovered blogging and learned that blogging was a fantastic enhancement to a weak online presence. For many it became their only online presence. We learned all we could about blogging and started to write our little hearts out. For some a few leads dribbled in for others – still nothing. Ever wonder why?

Do any of you remember taking classes on putting together marketing pieces for your real estate business? Do you remember hearing the instructors stressing the placement of “calls to action” on every single piece? Did you forget how important that was? Do you know that without calls to action that you are pretty much wasting your time? Do you know what a call to action is? You do realize that real estate blogging is a form of marketing, don’t you?

Some months ago I added a footer onto all of my posts. Many blogging purists were horrified and called it spam. I call it a brilliant business move! Have you seen those pretty blue buttons at the bottom of my consumer posts? They are hard to miss. They lead directly into my lead generation system, which of course has a lead capture and an automated drip system attached to it. After considerable research into the many different lead generating systems available to us I realized that none of them had the potential to deliver the way 1 Park Place did. I was right! I am able to track where my traffic comes from on the back of my Long Beach Real Estate Blog. I have a pretty good hyper-local blog site so the bulk of my traffic is search engine driven, but who wants all their eggs in one basket? AR and Localism provide a fair amount of traffic that comes in straight off of those little blue buttons, as do many other sites which I have a presence on. Do you have a footer on your posts? Is it leading into a home search with a lead capture attached to it? Is it working for you?

Recently I found myself drowning in leads I could not follow up on, I needed help fast. I now have 2 buyers’ agents working those leads. Yes you heard that right, my little Long Beach Real Estate blog is now providing more leads than 3 agents can keep up with. Still wondering where the leads from that website went, I sure didn’t see them.

Many real estate agents turned to purchasing leads. Has anybody ever wondered where these companies get the leads? I have given this a lot of thought. Consumers weren’t comfortable signing the forms on Realtors IDX websites; are you telling me that they are going to fill out forms on big sites that are going to sell their leads to the highest bidder in any given zip code? Do you think a buyer or seller is OK with a company assigning their business to any old real estate agent who is willing to pay? These companies say that they get a lot of traffic and that people sign in. They say they run PPC (pay per click) ads to promote traffic to their sites so they can corral the traffic and sell you the leads. Where else are they getting those leads from? Do you ever wonder? Don’t you think a buyer or seller would prefer to deal directly with a local Realtor that they know and trust? Consumers tell me they have been reading me for months when they contact me, the trust factor has been built. These companies that sell leads just can’t compete with that, why give it up to them?

Do you understand how the search engines work? Say you join a bunch of social networks and everybody is contributing real estate related articles, Q & A’s, information on forums, etc… all with keywords leading back to their local areas in the hopes of pulling in leads. The power the networks have gives them the ability to pull you up in your local area very quickly. But the networks are so powerful that your contributions can easily propel the social networks to drown out your own online presence; you gave it to them by contributing your local keywords to their system. How many social networks do you belong to? The invitations come into my email at the rate of dozens a week. I don’t even look at them anymore. It is overwhelming. Imagine if all of them were at the top of the search engines in your market. How would you get there? You would be pushed down by your own social networking efforts which empowered them to fly right by you and render you irrelevant.

I am not saying that all social networking is bad, if I believed that I would not have a presence on Active Rain. What I am saying is that you need a plan. You need to pick your positioning carefully and you need to manage it. In order to manage it properly you need to learn how it ticks.

Why would I purchase leads in my city via zip codes? Most of the agents who follow up on those leads are not successful. Most of them couldn’t capture a client. My blog is so prominent in my area that lead is probably going to find my site anyway. Why would I contribute to their service? That client contacting me directly is much more powerful. It has never been more critical for real estate agents to develop an online lead generation resource.

What are you doing to generate leads in this market?

Speaking of contributing to vendors services, why the heck is Brian Brady writing on the Homegain blog? Why would any real estate professional, or lender contribute to that blog? Brian you and I have had many conversations about lead providers and vendors. We have discussed empowering real estate professionals to generate their own leads and connect directly with consumers, isn't that why you originally set up the Unchained Conference to begin with? That is the basic premise of blogging; isn’t it? Why are you contributing to a platform where they say that blogging is a waste of time? Why are you playing kissy-kissy with these people? Why are you contributing to their cause? It goes against everything you stand for, you hate technology vendors. What the heck are you doing bro? Sumptin ain’t right here, you are being inconsistent with the very principles that you so vehemently promote. You are not listening to me so I am calling you out on this, I hate you being there.

Hard to miss - aren't they?

Did You Get Your Real Estate License in a Box of Cracker Jacks?

2008-01-10T12:39:50Z

Once upon a time there was a nice young couple who wanted a 2 bedroom condo to call home and to begin a future in. About 2 years ago this sweet young couple met a nice real estate agent while visiting open houses beyond their financial reach.

Knowing nothing about real estate and very little about managing their finances they wisely sought out professional assistance. They developed a working relationship with that agent, who helped them find the condo they were dreaming about and live in today.

The agent, not content with this sale, explained to this nice young couple that they could purchase a second condo and rent it out. While they would be upside down to the tune of about $1,000 per month, they should not worry about it because they could afford it and in two years she would sell it for them at a huge profit. Nice agent also assured this young couple that she would find them a tenant and check their credit etc... for the 2nd condo. She didn't.

Relying on the professional they went ahead with the 2nd purchase anticipating a large profit with which they could purchase a nice home with a yard in a couple of years. This nice agent also arranged for financing on both units, both loans were 2 year fixed, both of which are now adjusting, massively. It was a financial plan-of sorts.

2 years ago the hot sellers market was winding down, most agents knew what was developing in the market and were hoping for a mild downturn. This was not a new agent, she had to know the position she put this couple into.

Nice young couple had a hard time finding a tenant and the $1,000 a month became a bit more. They eventually found the tenant from hell, who wrecked their rental condo, annoyed the living crap out of all of the neighbors and took over 8 months to evict. Naturally the tenant did not pay rent for those 8 months and broke the bank.

Nice young couple is watching the market crashing around them while going through the eviction process and are beginning to freak out. They immediately arranged for a nice large heloc so they could cover the unexpected expenses. Nice lender must have been feeling very generous, gave them a very large line to draw freely from, and they did - they maxed it out trying to keep their heads above water.

Both units are now short sales.

Sidenote: If this couple had not purchased the 2nd condo they would not be in trouble today.

Nice agent who sold them the unit noticed the rental condo was on the market and called the young couple at home. She was quite upset that they listed with another agent. Didn't they know how good she is at what she does? She works with an investment firm now and has many investor/buyers for the condo. (Duh! Where are they? Where are the offers?)

Why did you hire HER? You should have hired me.
What is the agent you hired doing for you?
Oh, you like her?
Oh, she sells a lot of units in your complex?
And in the area?
Which Units?
How much did she sell them for?
She is doing a good job?
What does she know about selling short sales? I sell a lot of short sales!
Oh, you have multiple offers.
How many?
Tell me how much the offers are for, I will talk to my buyer and bring you in a better offer! (OMG-THE UNMITIGATED BRASS!)

It pays to educate your clients at the time of listing. My clients were prepared for agents trying to extract information and were prepared with the right answers. That didn't stop them from the shock of this particular phone conversation. Both husband and wife called me the next morning. The wife, who spoke to the agent assures me that she did not disclose the amounts of the offers.

I checked DRE records and the MLS, located the agents phone number and her brokers. I called the agent, no answer, did not leave a message, hung up. She called right back. I told her I was aware of the details of the conversation, discussed the business and professions codes she violated, the lack of ethics that she displayed. Asked her why, if she had a buyer, didn't she call me and write an offer. DUH! She was also informed that the couple was very displeased and didn't want her to call them anymore.

Are you ready for the comeback?

Well, we have known each other for years and are very close, I thought it was OK.

Hey - get a clue - they didn't hire you! You don't represent them!

AND

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID WAS UNTHINKABLE!!!

Did You Get Your Real Estate License in a Box of Cracker Jacks? Are you smoking crack?

This is really bad! Unprofessional and unethical behavior is turning up on an almost daily basis these days. I don't have time to turn all of these people in to a system that doesn't deal with them anyway. It is a disgrace!

It is illegal for an agent to disclose the terms of any offer prior to the close of escrow! All agents know this, it is part of basic training.

My question to you:

What would you do if you received an offer from this agent?

The term REALTOR was deliberately omitted from this post!

Laurie Manny

Long Beach Realtor®

Prudential California Realty

Long Beach California

(562) 212-5420

(714) 376-9550

lmanny@socal.rr.com

Long Beach Real Estate Home

Here we go again! DOM - CDOM - LEASED & ACTIVE? What the heck?!?!?!!!!!

2008-01-08T13:20:55Z

It was tiresome enough dealing with agents who would place their unsold Long Beach properties as sold in the MLS in order to re-list them to appear as new listings. The sold status would be picked up by other agents as comps when pricing property for both listings and buyers comparables, wreaking havoc all over the place. Unreliable results - from the MLS, which is supposed to be a reliable source of information. Information placed by licensed Realtors with standards! Information that would not be missed by an appraiser! Information that could totally screw up a deal!

What fun it was to find that the comps you used to price a long beach property weren't really comps at all! It got so bad for a while I was checking title records for each comp to make certain they actually sold. I don't even want to go into how much of my time these idiots wasted. Our MLS sends an occasional minor violation to agents in the system but somehow never gets any of the major items corrected, no matter how many times they are pointed out, it is beyond annoying.

Today brought a whole new twist to this age old game.

While researching a few Long Beach homes for sale for one of my buyers I discovered that one of the listings had also been for lease on the MLS; for $1.00. Yep, I said one dollar. And, it showed that it had been leased, yet was still active on the MLS for sale. Ok, I had a few questions so I called the listing agent before I called to set up the appointment to show it to my buyer.

The listing agent assured me that it had not actually been leased and went on to explain to me that he didn't want to be responsible for screwing up another agents comps by placing it in sold so that he could make the listing appear to be new (how considerate). He went on to explain that he brainstormed this brilliant idea himself. By placing the listing as a lease, then indicating it as leased, he was able to re-list the property without the combined days on market (CDOM) showing. I am sitting listening to this on the phone and looking into the phone like I am speaking to an alien at this point.

WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!!!

Here I am representing the very buyer he was trying to hoodwink and he is telling me what he did. So what was the point? I figure that he only told me because I found the lease listing and was asking if the home had indeed been rented out. My buyer would not be interested in purchasing a home with a tenant in it, few buyers would. What the heck ever happened to just doing things the right way? Who does this clown think he is fooling?

Off my buyer and I go to see the home. Cute place, client liked it, so I started poking around. We found a new combo lock hidden on the side of the house, fairly obvious it belonged to the bank; the listing agent didn't disclose this little tidbit on the MLS either, or on the phone.

Cracks going in different directions on the ceilings in every single room. An apparent attempt at covering up the cracks in the kitchen/laundry room ceilings. The cracks sent me outside to do a perimeter check of the foundation and roof. Not a pretty site. A cinder-block foundation with cracks everywhere. Steps broken away from the building with major cracks, chimney with major cracks. Huge paint bubbles all around the exterior of the home, many freshly picked, large fresh paint chips all around the exterior of the home.

A room attached to the detached garage with a partially constructed kitchen and a bath that had been disassembled. Fairly obvious that it was not permitted and was being torn out. Probably the reason for the "as is" statement on the MLS.

Disclose! Disclose! Disclose!

And of course this cute little money pit was priced at full market value, has been on the market for about 6 months total with one minor price reduction and needed some very pricey repairs.

I really resent the bad rep Realtors are subject to, but understand that this is just the type of behavior that creates it.

So, would you report him?

Laurie Manny

Long Beach Realtor®

(562) 212-5420

Prudential California Realty

Bixby Knolls

3728 Atlantic Avenue

Long Beach, CA 90807

Long Beach CA Real Estate