Understanding Your “Very Limited” Obligations as a Seller In the State of California home sellers are only required to install smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors (one per floor) and the hot water heater must be properly strapped. That’s it. Everything else is sold “AS IS”. The buyer does however have the right to perform an […]
Home Sellers – Be Very Afraid of the Agent that Tells You This….
February 15, 2020 By
“You don’t have to do any fix up, I have buyer that will buy it “AS IS” !!!” Well guess what? So do I. All I have to do is look in my email deleted folder. I have hundreds of buyers wanting to buy my fixer upper listing. These Flippers are so nice that they […]
Nobody Moves in Long Beach!
November 7, 2019 By
This year I sold a client a home in the Island Village development in Long Beach. My client was looking for something very specific and she needed to sell her home first to buy. She chose to sell her home first in case the perfect home came along, she wanted to be ready to pounce. […]
A Level Playing Field – The New Normal
October 21, 2019 By
I had an agent call this morning about one of my listings. I faced the standard question. Other agent- “What will the seller take?……”. In my head I am think – “Really??? “ I am not answering this question. I never do. Then a secondary question “what comps did you use”. Really again in my […]
Lack of Inventory, a Problem for Agents Looking for Open Houses.
June 6, 2012 By
As an individual agent, my personal business does not provide enough statistical data to draw relevant market conclusions. For valid market data I rely upon the Multiple Listing Service. But what experiences I do have, becomes anecdotal evidence. I can then follow up on these anecdotal stories to see if my personal observations are market […]
What are the Secrets to getting YOUR offer accepted?
April 25, 2012 By
You just saw a home. Your excited about the future. You can picture yourself coming home from work to your new home, working in the yard, or in the garage, or preparing dinner for the family. This new home is everything you could want. There is only one problem. Many other buyers feel the same […]
Barron’s Says Housing Market “Ready to Rebound”
April 4, 2012 By
I just re-read Barron’s cover story from story from two weekends ago. Barron’s is the only paid subscription newspaper I get, in addition they tend to be conservative or on the bearish side of the coin. While I thought the article was quite lacking in substance, their timing I believe is of value. So here […]
Investors With Cash, the Federal Reserve & the Misallocation of Capital
March 13, 2012 By
What do these items have in common? Well, a lot. I recently met with a general parter of a prospective Real Estate syndication. This general partner said he has investors willing to throw money at him, but having integrity, he didn’t want to accept the money because he wasn’t sure if he could obtain the […]
How to Evaluate a Rental Property Quickly (Video)
February 21, 2012 By
When scanning new listings I use quick rules of thumb. This enables me to know within 20 seconds or less whether a property has the potential to break even, or have a positive cash flow. Is the monthly rent around 75% of the Price (divided by 100)? If this is the case, or close to […]
The Coming Bottom in Real Estate
March 15, 2011 By
In 1996, Penny and I had dinner at the “upper crusty” Canyon Club in Newport Beach with her great Uncle Bill. The conversation flowed to real estate and at some point great Uncle Bill emphatically stated that “It’s time to buy”. Not only was he right, he nailed it. You see, uncle Bill had been […]
Bank Repo’s and Short Sales – How Much do they Really Affect Prices?
November 2, 2010 By
It’s no secret that short sales and bank repos sell for less. These low sales didn’t affect sellers until the advent of the HVCC (Home Valuation Code of Conduct). This law, enacted by Andrew Cuomo, is an attempt to mitigate appraisal fraud. However, laws to regulate morality or integrity often do neither. If you want […]
How to Prepare your home for Sale, A video example – 829 Lees Ave
September 21, 2010 By
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 […]
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 […]
Inventory Low and Prices Rise…. What’s a buyer to do?
May 29, 2005 By
There is nothing on the horizon that gives any indication that the market is going to soften. If you are a buyer waiting to purchase, you may have to wait until Leisure World becomes the desired location. So if you need to bite the bullet and purchase a new home, then there are some precautions […]
Trading Up in Long Beach
November 28, 2003 By
Tom & Susan have lived in their Los Altos home since 1991. Like most homeowners during the early 90’s they watched their homes value decline to about the loan amount. Simply holding on to their home during this unsettling period was the best strategy. 12 years later, they have two pre-school aged children, several hundred […]