When is a $4.4M home a great value? When it is worth a while lot more. The word on the street is that this home already has 7 offers pushing the winning bid significantly OVER asking! What does this home have that is so immensely appealing… you decide and let me know if you wish to make an appointment to see it as well.

There are few homes around that are as meticulously maintained from the 1910s as 454 South Windsor. This home known as the Windsor Estate is a vision of Mediterranean Revival sitting on 27000 sq feet; over half a acre, in beautiful Hancock Park. It was designed by Frank Meline, who was the architect for the Fox Theatre in Hollywood. What is most impressive about this home is the integrity of the upkeep to its original design combined with the comforts of a renovated home. What makes this home a deal is its price, condition, and frankly the rarity of among homes built almost 100 years ago. For more on 454 S Windsor

When a buyer closes escrow on a home, they will sign a grant deed at the closing, then this grant deed will go to the County Recorder's Office for recording. A grant deed is defined as "the document which transfers title to real property or a real property interest from one party (grantor) to another (grantee). It must describe the property by legal description of boundaries and/or parcel numbers, be signed by all people transferring the property, and be acknowledged before a notary public. The transfer is finalized by recording with the County Recorder or Recorder of Deeds. Importantly, a grant deed warrants that the grantor actually owned the title to transfer." This is an incredibly important document. Typically a buyer will get this document from the County anywhere from 30 days, and perhaps several months after the closing should the County Recorder's Office be extremely busy. Recently, a client who closed escrow 10 months ago wrote to tell me that he received a letter from a "Title Compliance Office" and for $167 they will send him the grant deed. He asked whether he should respond to get the deed. The answer is a resounding "no" in this situation because the deed would have been mailed out to him already last year. Should he not be in possession of his deed, then the next step is to contact the County Recorder's Office directly to get a copy of the deed from them. For more info, see their website at http://www.lavote.net/Recorder/Document_Recording.cfm or for copies of the grant deed, call 562-462-2133, and follow the instructions. The paperwork will cost less than $10 and the recording provides an address to write to with payment for processing of the request.

A buyer was about to close escrow on a property which is in close proximity to the 405 freeway and was not aware that the freeway was being widened. This info has been all over the news and yet this is a material fact that the seller and yes, agents, should have stated in writing in the various forms. The buyer cancelled the escrow. Lesson to share -- it is absolutely critical to disclose all material facts even if a seller thinks that the buyer should "already" know.

DEAL of the WEEK. 2500 Tilden is home to two separate units. Each looks really terrific. The single family house is 2 bed and 2 baths and is netting $30,000 rent per year. The second building is a 2 story property and has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths and is netting $42,000. This is in West LA just south of Pico in a nice residential community. The architecture is contemporary and the property is in great shape. What makes this home a great deal is that – both units look nice and priced close to a lot that has only 1 of the two units. It is perfect for a owner occupied with rental income or – ideal for someone who has lots of guests or needs an office set-up that is distinctively separated from the main house.

Los Angeles is by far one of the most exciting and diverse cities in the country. The plethora of neighborhoods and the sheer number of them create a gigantic pool of incredibly interesting options for the native Angeleno, newcomer, and tourist alike. Each area touts some significant differences in lifestyle options – from restaurants, to shops, to the best grocery store to pick up candied ginger.

 

Observing neighborhoods on this level is fantastic and fun. Getting down to the nitty gritty for real estate investment purposes requires more data and analysis that go beyond whether there’s a fancy frozen yogurt shop on the corner.

 

The following reports are compiled using information relating to housing ownership type, education attainment status, income level, smoking information, and even temperature. Combine this level of detailed data with your own take on the neighborhood and add in real estate market trends provided by us – and the knowledge you will have regarding any neighborhood is incredibly powerful to help in the decision making process. For a conversation on what’s happening in each neighborhood, contact us.

 

Marina Del Rey

Santa Monica

Brentwood
Westwood

Will the newly renovated Santa Monica Place increase the city’s property values? Santa Monica Place is quite attractive and seems to integrate seamlessly with the Third Street Promenade. It features a collection of luxury retail stores, mass merchandise retailers, and specialty boutiques. The open air environment is very reminiscent of Westfield’s Century City Mall except Santa Monica Place is owned by Macerich.

 

Homeowners who are currently looking to sell are hoping that housing prices will increase with the mall. Interestingly enough though if a NEW mall were to be built it might actually lower property values if it were to block great views or create additional congestion. In the case of Santa Monica Place, the mall already existed and was going through a transformation – so it now looks better than ever and will bring in more revenue for the city given that some of the shops are new to Santa Monica thereby serving pent up demand for those stores. At the very least Westsiders have the option of going to the Louis Vuitton in Santa Monica if they do not feel like driving to Century City.

On the flip side, some believe that any retail development will encourage additional pan handling. Several years ago, the city council had already put in place an ordinance that would not allow pan handlers to sit on the benches during shop hours. The benches are meant to be used for a short period of time to rest and relax in between shopping on the Promenade, not in lieu of a couch. Should there be more pan handlers, will they contain themselves to just the retail development or might they spill out onto the residential areas?

We might not know the economic results of the mall as it affects housing prices for a year or so and in this economy, it might even be harder to tell. In the meantime when I visited the Third Street Promenade on Friday, I stopped at Banana Republic and chatted with the sales clerk. She stated that business has declined ever since the mall opened. Consumers were spending their dollars at some of the new places. Overtime though, she believes that people would come back to the store and the level of consumption will be strong again. Let’s hope this will be the case for them as I am a fan of their clothing line and don’t want to drive across the city to shop at their store. In looking over which retailers have opened up a post at Santa Monica Place…it is also interesting to see which stores have not. Missing are some of the doyens of women’s apparel: Ann Taylor and Talbots. What does it mean that a White House Black Market opens up but its sister company Chico’s is missing? Maybe the question is of greater significance to business owners in Santa Monica than homeowners in the city.

Claire Thuy Le

I was asked a question about foreclosures. Here is my take on them:

Question: Are Foreclosures a good deal?

Answer: They can be great deals for experienced investors. For most people who are looking for a first home to live in or a 2nd property for income, the considerations are different because the goal and intent is different from, say an investor, who already has 20 homes and is able to spread the risk of one bad purchase across a larger portfolio of real estate assets.

Whenever you purchase a home, watch out for situations where you are not able to exercise all of your rights to conduct a thorough investigation of the home. This includes having the home appraised, title reviewed, home inspected, and the review of the many disclosures that will help you understand the property that you are purchasing.

Homes that are sold at auction or sold in bulk - can be in pretty bad shape...they might have been stripped of some really important components - such as homes with copper - or have had purposeful damage to the property - or through neglect have other issues that are latent and not visible to the naked eye.

The route that would more likely cost the buyer more upfront but save money and provide peace of mind in the long run comes with all the assurances of a regular house purchase (meaning transactions conducted with a seller who is not in distress) is to buy a home just as it is about to go into foreclosure - or after it has been taken back by the bank.

There are three categories of homes that I strongly urge clients consider before going the auction route. (1) "Pre-short sales" are situations where the home is on the NOD list - a Notice of Default. This means the seller is behind on payment and the bank is putting the seller on notice. Since the seller is so behind on payments, it is extremely unlikely they will be able to catch up and thus they now really need to sell their home. (2) Homes that are approved for a "short sale" meaning the bank has agreed to allow the seller to sell the home at some number and that price is below what the seller owes on the entire mortgage. (3) There is also a category of homes that have completely gone thru the Foreclosure process and the bank has taken the home into its inventory of assets and now needs to sell it...known as an REO for Real Estate Owned property.

There is a fourth category of homes that is often overlooked when buyers are considering a good deal and these are homes bought by people before the incredible rise in prices of this decade. These homeowners most likely bought their home for 1/2 to 1/3 the price they are worth now so they have less of a financial burden and are much more flexible in pricing than people who need to sell now when they bought the home just several years ago. These are the best homes to buy! The sellers are more likely to give credits for repairs and the transaction typically close as planned.

The types of homes I deal with to help my clients minimize risk and maximize protection from a bad decision usually fall into the above four categories. Buyers want to be able to buy knowing everything about the house, that means a home inspection and various other inspections that might arise based on the home inspection, getting an appraisal to make sure the house price checks out, and finally reserve the possibility of changing your mind and getting your 3% deposit back as long there is no breach of contract. These are all rights and options buyers will want to take advantage of to protect themselves given the challenging market conditions.

If you have a question, please do not hesitate to send it to me.

You heard that a home around the corner is going up for auction and you are interested. An auction sounds interesting, maybe you’ll get a terrific deal…and pretty soon, you're thinking about living in that home already. It can be very exciting! It is (almost) every buyer’s goal to get a home for way (add another way) below market. That person could be YOU!

Here’s how to go about doing that with general guidelines below. If you are going to engage in an actual auction, double-check that specific auction’s rules.

First, determine whether you like the house enough to take the second step.

Second, bring inspectors and all contractors to the house prior to the auction to thoroughly investigate the home.

Third, get your financial picture in order. Know how much you will be able to afford. You don’t want to overbid at the actual auction -- once you are the accepted winner, you are committing to purchasing the property. Also, get pre-approved. Speak to a lender to figure out the loan options that would make sense for you. Yes, you can purchase property with borrowed money.

Fourth, know the worth of the house so you can bid with confidence. What is it worth to you may be more or less than the person standing next to you at the auction. However there are general figures, a range in price that your real estate agent can tell you based on comparable sales and various other parameters.

Fifth, keep in mind there is most likely a reserve amount. The auction may list the house at $1 to excite just about everyone; however, the reserve amount may be $500,000. If the winning bid comes in at $499,000 – the seller reserves the right to not sell below the reserve amount.

Sixth, at the auction, be prepared to put down a deposit with the remainder delivered at the close of escrow, which could be as long as 30 days. The deposit may be 5%. You can get this deposit back if you cancel the contract according to the rules in the sales agreement, if you change your mind and breach the contract...say goodbye to your deposit.

Seventh, auctions are very fast paced. No snoozing so sleep well the night before to be on your toes.

Eighth, keep your real estate agent involved.

The above are general guidelines and may not completely pertain to the auction you are interested in so please double check the rules of your auction. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me.

Sotheby's International Realty can help clients who are looking for auction property. However, we do not auction off property ourselves. There are companies set up to auction off real estate property and we cooperate with them to help our clients.

However if you are interested in purchasing auction items such as art, jewelry, or wine -- or have items you would like to acquire Sotheby's services to auction, let me know and I will help connect you to our auction house.

Claire Thuy Le

Several months ago, my client stated that their home dropped 40% in value from purchase just 12 months ago. I was shocked! I asked them why did they think this? And they stated this was due to the research of online sites.

We have all heard from one person or another who uses figures from sites that take recent sales and do some basic crunching of the numbers to produce figures that really make — little to no sense.

As their agent, I was mortified. I looked at all the homes that has sold since their escrow closed. And did my own thorough number crunching. To my relief, the data of homes that did sell showed nothing of a decline but actually stability. In my market analysis, I evaluated the cost per sq footage of homes sold, I took into account the condition of the home, as well as the exact location, and style of the home. I also evaluated the owners’ situation – sometimes an owner has to sell due to illness or a out of state move — both of which create additional pressure to sell quickly. Internet sites do not do this as they are mostly automated and primarily make their assessments based on square footage or bed and bath counts.

The numbers produced by the sites can often mislead clients in essence providing them with inaccurate data thus this can often be a real detriment to their decision making process. The analysis of a qualified real estate is absolutely critical. In investigating the disclaimer provided by one of the sites, I found the following explanation of the value figures they provide. “The…home valuation…is not an appraisal. It is a starting point in determining a home’s value…your real estate agent or appraiser physically inspects the home and takes special features, location, and market conditions into account. Variations occur because of negotiating factors, closing costs, and timing of closing. We encourage buyers, sellers, and homeowners to supplement [our] information by doing other research such as: Getting a Comparative Market Analysis from a real estate agent.” – Zillow. They then go on to say that the median error rate for Los Angeles is plus or minus 9.8%

So while it might feel efficient to plug in an address and get a quick calculation from an internet resource, nothing is more real than a thorough analysis from your real estate expert. Use real estate agents to get real info.