Studio City Shuttle

Free Studio City Shuttle

Have you heard about the shuttle that will be running in Studio City starting this coming week?  What a great way to keep you from having to drive.  Check out the details below

--There will be an opening ceremony on Saturday, July 2 @ 9AM - to hear Councilman Paul Krekorian's opening comments on the FREE SUMMER SHUTTLE program in Studio City. --It will be operating on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 9am to 8pm looping from Radford Ave to Coldwater Canyon. --Come out and enjoy this new service provided for your convenience and working is association with the Mayor and his clean Streets Initiative to get cars off the roads.

5 Things Buyers Need To Stand Out To A Seller In This Competitive Market

Have you heard your friend's talking about it? Or read it in the paper? LA is in a highly competitive seller's market right now.  And if you are hoping to buy soon, there are some things you will need to be a competitive buyer in this market and make your offer more appealing.
1. Get with a lender.
Not only can you not have your offer taken seriously without a pre-approval from a lender, but you don't even want to start looking till you have a solid idea of what your can afford. And in this market, Direct lenders are preferred. So ask your lender if they are a direct lender and if not, maybe consider calling a couple others to see about working with them.
2. Work with a really good agent.
I know, I know...I shouldn't be selling myself on point #2 but it's true.  You don't want to work with someone who is difficult to work with, difficult to reach, not experienced, or doesn't give you straight forward helpful advice. Believe me, our reputation as agents go far with other agents and when we are known for being professional and hardworking, that goes far. And the opposite is true as well that when an agent is known for being (how to I put this?) well...a less desirable person to work with, that goes even further and it can actually hurt you.
3. Before you find the house you want to put an offer in on, talk with your agent about what makes an offer more desirable to the seller.
It can be like playing a card game and some hands that you show can be more appealing as a good player even though the rest of the cards may not make a good hand.  And there are ways to do this so talk about it.
4.  Get your offer in as early as possible.
If the house comes on the market Saturday and you see it at an open house Sunday, try to get it in the very next day.  No sense in waiting..it can only create more competition that may come in.
5.  And then there is a personal letter you may write to the sellers.
  There was a recent case where a letter was considered evidence that a seller chose a buyer because of family status, marital status, age or race so the advice to write a letter has been looked upon by our companies as not-a-good-idea.  And from a legal standpoint, I get it. After all, we live in California where people practically sue over bad weather, right?  But then there is the compassionate side of people that just like to know the buyer is a decent person who's going to love their home when they sell it.  So, that may be something to think about with your offer.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about buying or selling your home, or you are just curious what your home may be worth, call me. I'm always here for you.
                                                                                   

Escrow Opened in Tujunga Village

Location, location, location! This great little condo is going to make my soon-to-be Grandmother (although doesn't look anywhere near old enough to be one) a new resident of Studio City.  I'm sure she's excited to be closer to her daughter and I'm excited she's going to be close to the great coffee spot, Aroma Cafe.
                                                                                 

Joan's On Third in Studio City

I'm sure I'm not the only one living in the valley that originated from "The other side of the hill".  This is where we came for less expensive rents, more parking and less traffic (if that is possible).  But what we left behind on the other side of the hill was Joan's On Third.  Well, now they have taken the plunge and moved here with us.  Well, not really moved here but they've made a second home right here in Studio City.  And we couldn't be happier to have them. So stop by and welcome them to the neighborhood and see what all the fuss is about. You can find them at 12059 Ventura Place, Studio City along that little triangle street that starts at Trader Joes and ends at the entrance to the Vons parking lot. 
                                                          http://www.joansonthird.com/

What Will You Gain From Selling Your House In Today's Market?

It's August 2013 and this isn't the first time I've told you that it's a good time to sell.  Every time, I've told you what you could expect to gain from selling during that time.  From the end of 2012 through the end of Spring 2013, I mentioned it was a good time to sell since there was an extreme shortage of houses for sale.  This was putting the seller in the driver's seat in terms of negotiations during a transaction. This made it a great time for sellers that may have otherwise had troubles during a sale with things such as repair work needed on the home or perhaps needing longer escrow periods or rent backs. We were seeing 10, 20 and more offers on each home if they were marketed well. But that amount of multiple offers has slowed down now with loan rates having increased.  So why is it a good time to sell now? Because you finally have equity back in your home!!! This past year of increasing home prices has finally put money back into your home and now you are probably not in need of thinking about short selling or you've gained enough equity to take that money elsewhere.  So for everyone who has been thinking about moving for the past 2-5 years but haven't been able to because of the down market, well now you finally can.  And how do you find out how much you could sell your house for and how much it would cost to sell your home?  Call me. I can give you an idea of what your home would sell for and go over the math of closing costs with you as well.  Or if you don't live in the LA area, I can recommend agents in other areas as well.  So if you've been itching to make a move for a while now...go ahead!  Chances are you're house is worth a lot more this year than it did this time last year.
                                                                         

 

What Does A Low Appraisal Mean For You?

Let's start off by trying to understand how an appraiser arrives at the price of the home. Typically an appraiser shows up at the house or condo and takes notes and pictures of the home. They look for things like updated kitchens, roofs that need to be repaired, 2 car garages or no garage at all, and many other things about the house that influence the price. They will take into account the location as well. Is this house next to a freeway or a high school? And is the condo situated in a building with neighbors above, below and on each side of you? Or is the home more like a townhouse with only one wall shared with a neighbor? Then they will look at recent sales, usually only using ones within the past 3 months. They will also stay within a certain perimeter of about a mile from the home and look at homes that have a similar amount of square footage. With all these things taken into account, that is where an appraiser gets their price of your home from.
But now you are selling or buying your home and the accepted offer price is $900,000 and you've just received the appraisal back, and to everyone's surprise, the appraisal says the home is is valued at $840,000.  Everyone thought this home would be valued at $900,000 or more according to the opinion of both real estate agents and the buyer and sellers. So what happened and what are your options now? Well, there could be a number of things that happened.  First, the appraiser could simply not be from the area and not understand the value of a certain neighborhood or area. We all here in LA know that you can have million dollar homes on one street and just a few blocks away, the homes could be half that price. So if the appraiser isn't familiar with the area, they can miss the boat on that one. Or perhaps there was a recent foreclosure up the street and since the value of those are typically much lower, maybe the appraiser used that home as part of their comparison. And while there are a lot of great appraisers who do their job very well and work hard to understand a home's value, like any other job, there are sometimes appraisers who just aren't as good at what they do, and that can show when you get a low appraisal on a home where the value should be a sure thing.
So now you've got that low appraisal, what do you do?  Well, there are a number of options and most of these must be agreed upon by both buyer and seller. First option is the buyer simply comes up with the difference in cash and moves forward with the sale. Another option is that the buyer can ask the seller to reduce the price to the appraisal amount so that the buyer can work with their lender and buy the home. Depending on the seller and the condition of the market, this can work in the buyer's favor or not work at all and the seller and buyer must agree to not move forward together in this purchase.  Another more complicated option is that the buyer seeks out a different lender who will use a new appraisal for their loan process.  This can be a pricey and risky gamble since you must pay for another appraisal and run the risk that it may come back low again. And it's risky for the fact that your purchase contract has sensitive time lines on them that must be met.  Sometimes seller's are flexible with these timelines since they know the buying process and obtaining a loan can be complicated but a buyer should get that in writing from a seller if that is the case. A low appraisal can be a speed bump or even a road block in the buying or selling of your home.  But if you are working with a good real estate agent, then hopefully they have explained this process well before the situation comes to play and you are in need of making a big decision of what to do. And if you have any questions about real estate, feel free to call me or email me.


                                                                   

Get To Know Your Neighborhood

A couple years ago, someone I know asked me if I had hear of Nextdoor.com. At that time I had no idea what this was.  Fast forward to today and you will find me telling random people about it and recommending it to everyone. This is a site where someone in your neighborhood probably started your neighborhood's online area for all your neighbors to join. You have to be invited and/or be able to verify your address to be on it.  I started the one in my neighborhood when I first heard of this and now we have 40 neighbors that are on it.  Because I started my site, I have the right to monitor it and delete people's comments or profiles if I feel necessary (which has not happened since everyone on it is really great at posting appropriate things to the neighborhood). I don't recommend trying to solicit business on this site since this is not what it was intended for (no one in my neighborhood will ever hear me talk about real estate on the site)  It is a place where you can post things like garage sales, missing cats and dogs, babysitting opportunities and the crime or incidences on your street.  This is a great way to stay connected with neighbors all around you, and you never know when it could help you in a bind.  The more neighbors that join, the better the site.  Nextdoor.com has gone through a couple recent changes (some good, some not-so-good) but they have listened to the feedback and are making changes. My neighborhood recently had our local police force join in on the site and now they can post alerts and need-to-know things that pertain directly to us. So, if you haven't heard of this site, I highly recommend you check it out and join. It really is a good way to stay tuned into what is going on in your hood.And check out what 20/20 had to say about it too http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/nextdoor-social-network-connecting-neighbors-reinvents-neighborhood-watch/story?id=18470589 and here is a video from 20/20 about it as well. http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/neighborhood-future-20325700

                                                                     

How Do Real Estate Agents Make Money?

Boy...this is the kind of topic that gets everyone feeling awkward.  I mean, nobody talks about what they make or what they spend because it's really a personal matter.  But I'm finding out more and more that clients don't know how real estate agents make their money.  And of course, nobody wants to ask.  But, if you are using someone's services, wouldn't you like to know how they get paid?  During a recent conference a co-owner of my company went to, there was a panel of people that were asked a lot of different questions about real estate.  Each person had recently purchased a house and the people at the conference were all interested to hear about each one's experience. But, when asked, "How does your real estate agent get paid?" the answers were...well, lets just say, interesting.  So, here is the skinny.  Real estate agents work for a company but each agent is actually an independent contractor. This means that agents do not make a salary at all.  Real estate agents all work for commission only.  And everything that is done by each agent that costs money, is paid for out of his or her pocket. So things like photos of a home, those open house signs, flyers and mailers, associations fees and dues, and all other expenses come straight from a personal bank account. When we sell a home, the commission comes from the sale of that home and is split between the two agents that worked on that sale together.  That is, the listing agent and the buyer's agent.  So if you are working with an agent and he or she is doing a good job, stick with them rather than switching to someone new part way through your search.  Chances are, they've put a lot of their own time and money into helping you with your home search and if they are doing a good job, then they should be able to finish that job and see you all the way through a purchase.

So then, you may be wondering, why does an agent work at a particular office or any office at all if they are not paid?  Well, there are a number of different reasons to work with a particular company over another.  Here are some of the reasons I chose the company that I work for: For starters, I really like the branch manager. This is the person you go to with any questions or concerns you may have about a transaction.  I really want to make sure this is someone I can trust and feel free to go to anytime with any questions I may have.  Also, we have to split part of our commission with the company we work for so you want to work at a company where you think your money is going into worthwhile projects. My company puts a lot of effort into staying on top of what is going on in real estate and staying very current with things like social media and new apps and websites.  They are tuned into how to market our company and agents with today's clients which are using the internet and new industry advances like QR codes to find information.  They make sure their website is up to date and looks sleek and professional as well as being easy to navigate. My company also holds monthly meetings where we can learn about architectural styles and designs. We also have a terrific PR person who makes sure our company name gets out to the public a lot and that our agents shine with their marketing pieces.  So I hope that answers at least some of the questions you may be wondering about your real estate agent or just the process of how we work.  I love writing about things that people may be asking about or the hot topics of real estate today so if you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to let me know and I will be sure to put it on here.

                                                                

#1 Most Common Mistake Seller's Make

Do you want to know what I think is the #1 most common mistake I see sellers making? And it is so easy to fix. Do not be home during an open house, a showing, or an inspection. In fact, try to avoid all contact with the buyers if you can. And here is why:  It can get personal.  You are going to want the largest business transaction you will be making to be as non-personal as possible. So, if you don't make it personal, it will be less likely that anyone will take things personally.  I see buyers and sellers that meet, most of the time during the house showing.  And it starts off friendly enough.  They talk about their kids and where they vacation.  But then...you get into the middle of the transaction and the buyers want $5,000 credit to fix the roof. Then the sellers say to themselves "I'm not giving $5k to these people. Their kids are in private school. They can afford to fix it themselves" Or the sellers ask if they can move the closing date back four or five days. Then you hear the buyers say "I'm not moving the date around. The seller's are retired and I bet they are only doing that so they can work it around the many vacations they take."  So, do you see how making "friends" between the buyer and seller is just not a good idea? Oh sure, sometimes a sale can remain friendly and smooth between buyer and seller after they've met and gotten friendly.  But don't count on it.  After all..it's one person's goal to get the highest price for the single most expensive thing they own, and the other person's goal to not spend every dime they have on the most expensive thing they'll ever buy. And besides all the great reasons I already given you, as a seller, you may not want to hear Bob Buyer walk around your house and talk about all the things he doesn't like and is going to change. Some of those things may have been personal touches you worked hard on over the years and are proud of.  So, sellers, to avoid making things personal, get out of your home for a short while when you are expecting potential buyers to be there and you can avoid, what I consider to be, the #1 mistake sellers make when selling their home.

                                                             

      

What is Escrow?

If you are not from Southern California, you may not be familiar with what an Escrow company is or does. In real estate, once an offer is accepted, we use escrow companies from the very start of the transaction until it is closed. We actually refer to this time from when an offer is accepted, until it closes as "being in escrow".  So if you hear someone say they are "in escrow", it simply means they are in the process of buying or selling their home with another buyer or seller. Typically, this process takes 30 days, although sometimes it can be 45 or 60.  On some occasions, such as all-cash transactions, the escrow time period can be less since there is no loan needed, which is a time consuming process to obtain the money for a loan.  But, to put it simply, an escrow company is a 3rd neutral party that collects the paper work from all the people involved in the transaction, and also holds all the money in a transaction until the end of the sale, when all the money is dispersed. If the buyer and seller find themselves at odds with one another, then the escrow company will hold the money (this is typically the deposit) until both parties agree on who gets the money. In order for money to be released from an escrow company, both parties must give their consent to do so or escrow may be directed on what to do with money from a court order if both parties can't agree. Every part of the country does real estate differently. Some parts of the country uses lawyers to help with these things, other parts use a title company...but if you are here in Southern California, you are likely to be using an escrow company. And just like any other company used during a real estate transaction, I have a few of them that I can recommend if you ever need one. So feel free to call me for that or any other real estate needs you may have.

                                                                      

Just Sold! 1412 E Wingate, Covina CA

Just sold this lovely home to Guy and Jessica. They are first time home buyers and are very excited about being home owners


                                                                

Important Tips When Selling Your House In Today's Market: Summer 2013

Summer 2013 is almost on us and the market is starting to make a little bit of a change again. Here in the Valley, the homes that were once selling in the $500,000 or less are practically gone. Home prices have risen and there are going to be little to no more houses selling around that price point in Burbank, Valley Village, Encino, Valley Glen, and most of Van Nuys, North Hollywood and Lake Balboa. A lot of the spike in home sales were in that price range and now that there is little left, those buyers have either moved to looking at areas further out, looking at condos or just given up all together. If you are selling your home and your house is in the price range of $600,000-$800,000, there are some important tips you will need to know. There aren't as many buyers right now in this price range as there are for the the homes just below this. So you can't market your house the same way. Some sellers have thought (or been advised) to price their home higher than what it will sell for. Some people think that just because there are multiple offers on homes, and that people are overbidding on homes, that they can simply list their home at a much higher price than the one that just sold up the street and it will get many offers as well. This isn't the case and buyers aren't going for it. The buyers see home prices now and automatically think they may have to add $10k-$40k (or more) to the price if they want to get the home. If your home is overpriced, people will simply ignore it and when it's been sitting on the market for a few weeks, buyers will automatically assume something is wrong with the house since most houses have been flying off the market in a week or two. And if you set yourself up with a high price in your mind that your house will sell for, and you don't get those type of offers, then you may disappoint yourself and loose out. So, if the most comparable house to yours just sold last month, then price yours $10k or $30k below that. If there are multiple buyers in that area for your home, that will leave a little wiggle room still. And although many sellers were making buyers jump through hoops for their home by saying "sold as is" and asking for contingencies to be removed, this too will be coming to an end. Don't put your buyers into a corner, they will walk away. We will start to slowly be noticing the amount of buyers per each home lessen as the months roll on. Interest rates have started to tease the market with upward movements, and with first-time buyer's home prices now reaching $600k or more in most areas, there are less people who will be able to afford this. So sellers: when marketing your home this summer, market it graciously and don't expect to have such a dramatic show of offers knocking on your door as there have been the first half of this year. Do your due diligence and make your home very presentable, work with a broker who is going to know this market well and not just feed you what you want to hear. If you have a good real estate agent and they market your home well, you will still find good buyers to sell your home too.
                                                                        

Did You Know?... Some Little Known (or unknown) Things About LA's San Fernando Valley

I'm just going to write some bullet points here that include some fun facts about our valley...I will call this the "Did You Know?" blog

Did You Know?  Toluca Lake is really a community in North Hollywood

Did You Know?  That President Reagan married Nancy in 1952 in Studio City's Little Brown Church (it holds about 40 people)
                                                                  

Did You Know?  That the San Gabrielle Valley was once known as "Gabrielino"?

Did You Know?  That Burbank is it's own city...and Studio City is not a city?

Did You Know?  The house where "The Brady Bunch" was filmed is still looking great and located in a neighborhood in Studio City? (I don't think the people that live there would like me to advertise the address so I won't put it here...but if we are out looking at houses, ask me and we will take a drive past it)

                                                  

Did You Know?  Valley Glen is really a community in Van Nuys?

Did You Know?  Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake/Burbank was built in 1949 and is considered an iconic symbol of modern design for the time that it was built? You can see some amazing classic cars there every Friday from 3-10PM at the car show.
                                                                 

                                                               
Did You Know?  That Studio City was originally a part of North Hollywood? Maybe that explains why there is such a large distance between Hollywood and North Hollywood today....

Did You Know?  The valley made tract houses famous and a lot of that started in areas like Panorama City?                                                            

Did You Know?  The red clay roof tiles (called Terracotta) that are all over the roofs our Spanish-styled houses here in the valley, were believed to have been made, back in the day, with the workers placing clay over their thighs to give the tiles the arch shape.
                                                                    

Did You Know?  The El Portal Theatre was opened in 1926 and is still a working theater? Now the famous Academy of Television and Science is situated just across the street from this landmark.
                                                                   

Did You Know?  Encino is typically 10 degrees warmer than Hollywood, which is just 14 miles away?

Did You Know?  One of the world's most famous people, Michael Jackson, spent most of his childhood, along with his family, in their home...right in Encino?
                                                                    

Did You Know?  The price of single family homes in the valley can range anywhere from around $300,000 to well over $10,000,000?

Did You Know?  There is a sushi bar in North Hollywood where the waiters wildly sing and dance to today's hit music while serving you sushi? Tokyo Delve's is not the place for the early-bird-dinner-special-clients, if you get my drift.

Did you Know?  Mary Astor and Frank Sinatra were both once residents of Toluca Lake.  This famous estate, locate at 10051 Valley Spring Lane,  is still here and if the walls could speak, I bet they'd have a lot to say.
                                                           

Did you Know?  And yet another world known musican lived here too. 4326 Forman Ave in Toluca Lake is where Bing Crosby once lived.  Seems like Tolcua Lake was the happening place to live (and still is)


For more fascinating information about parts of the valley, it's history, architects, and developement, check out this webiste.  It is a goldmine of information http://preservation.lacity.org/files/SO-SC-TL-CP%20Survey%20Report%202.26.13.pdf


If you have any more little known facts about our communities here in the valley, feel free to email me and I will add them on here.

Things You Should Say And Things You Should Not Say To An Agent At An Open House

Have you ever wondered what may be good, or not good to say, to an agent at an open house? Do you think that just because they ask, that you should have to answer them? Oh no, be careful what you say. So here are some things you may hear an agent at an open house say or ask you while you are there and here is what is okay to let them know or perhaps not:

Do you have an agent?- You probably will hear this all the time. Go ahead and tell them and be honest. If you do, maybe even mention who it is since they may know each other or maybe the open house agent is expecting you since your agent said you would be stopping by. And if you don't have an agent, feel free to let them know as well. Especially if you get a good feeling from this agent. Maybe you can work together. But if you would rather not, simply tell them you don't have one and are not looking to work with one at the moment either.

Do you live in the neighborhood?- You may have just as many neighbors stopping into an open house as you have buyers. It's perfectly normal for them to want to see how someone has decorated or maybe upgraded some things. So go ahead and let the agent know you live across the street. It's always nice for us to meet the neighbors too.

What do you think about the house?- Don't be cruel if you think the house is a hot mess. After all, this is probably still someone's home and not everyone likes the same cup of tea. But you can be honest in a diplomatic way.

Is this home something that may interest you?- Sure...go ahead and tell them. And if you happened to walk into a million dollar house and your price range is more around $500k, you can tell them that too. I mean, looking at million dollar houses can just sometimes be fun and we are aware that there is no price tag out front that could have lead you to know the price before you walked in.

Will you sign in with your name and contact info?- Sure. Go ahead and leave it. Especially if you want to be contacted for things like future open houses, other houses that just came on the market or just so I can thank you for stopping by my open house and see if there were any unanswered questions you may have. 

What is your price range?- Now here's the one you may want to not answer. Don't forget, we are in the sales business and unless you hire us to help you purchase this home, our job is to work for the seller and get the highest price we can for them. So if this house is listed at $850K and you tell me your price goes up to $900k, I may go into the deal with a peak at the cards you are holding and that won't be the best move for you. So, if you are interested in this home, keep the numbers to yourself so that you don't reveal too much to the wrong person.