829 Lees – Living Room In these video, we look at a home that had been neglected and abused. The owner had let his sons live in the property and rent out rooms to all of the son’s college buddies. We came in and helped the seller maximize the homes value with an interior cosmetic […]
Negotiating the Highest Price for Your Home is Like Poker, You Must Know the Strength of the Hand you are Playing.
March 2, 2010 By
It takes years of experience to become a good negotiator. Much like a good poker player, a good negotiator is both technically competent, knowing odds and with years of experience, knows which rules to apply and how far they can “push it” for any given situation. In Real Estate, the strength of the hand you […]
Appraisals & Why Andrew Cuomo’s Legislation Must Die
October 1, 2009 By
On May 1st new legislation (by Andrew Cuomo) went into effect, which is crippling the Real Estate market. The piece of legislation that I am referring to is know as the HVCC or Home Valuation Code of Conduct. Theoretically the intent of the legislation sounded good, to enhance integrity in the appraisal industry. The result […]
Looking for Value in the Income Property Market
April 1, 2009 By
Last year, we began looking to purchase a piece of income property with a partner. Our search started with the 5+ unit category because this is traditionally where you find the best cash flow. After scouring the market for 6 months, we came across very little inventory, and even less attractive deals. If the Real […]
A Tale of Two Cities
November 1, 2008 By
The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens starts off with a statement of contrast, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…..”. The real estate market, as well as the stock market, has embraced the opening line of this novel. One day the stock market is up 11%, then down […]
Market Showing Signs of a Bottom
May 1, 2008 By
Recap – Last Year – A sharp correction In the 2nd half of 2007 market activity and prices fell off a cliff. (see www.LBRE.com for previous newsletters). The correction was so abrupt and dramatic, it ranked as the largest year over year price drop in California real estate history. (See Case-Shiller S&P Stats next page) […]
Home Prices Drop Double Digits in only 4 Months!
March 1, 2008 By
Credit Crunch – the Straw that Broke the Buyer’s Back. It was the perfect storm. A seasonally quiet time coupled with the now infamous “credit crunch”, quoted as the worst credit crunch in the last 20 years by Bear Stearns president, James Cayne. As the credit crunch started to unfold, it was unclear what would […]
Credit Crunch, Short Pays & CAR’s 2008 Economic Outlook
November 29, 2007 By
The Credit Crunch I’m a big fan of financial sayings. “It’s only when the tide goes out that you discover who’s been swimming naked – Warren Buffett, is one of my favorites. In August of this year, that is exactly what happened to many sub prime lenders and the loans they made. See page 34 […]
Free Fall or Soft Landing?
February 28, 2007 By
Last night I pulled up some very encouraging statistics. The total number of unsold homes in Long Beached dropped from 1033 to 819, in just the last month. A clear indication that the market is firming up. In addition, December saw increased sales activity. Good homes that had been sitting for a while finally started […]
What Improvements, Prior to Sale, Return the Most Profit for Your Home?
August 29, 2006 By
After a seller knows how much his home is worth, the next question is “What can I do to increase the value?”. Sellers will usually start with ideas based upon the fix up work they were going to do for themselves, that list of 20 things you haven’t done yet. While Real Estate agents have […]