Andi Grant's Blog - Everyday Real Estate with a Twist

FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS WANTED IN 2012! Los Angeles, Long Beach, Downey and Nearby Cities!

Are you a first time home buyer looking to purchase your first home in 2012 using a first time home buyer program?  This year is your lucky year!  

As of right now, the holy trinity of home buying is still holding steady with lower home prices, low interest rates and low down payment incentives, positioning first time home buyers to truly benefit in a way that even their parents and grandparents would envy.  

LOW HOME PRICES ~ LOW INTEREST RATES ~  LOW DOWN-PAYMENT

Contrary to media reports using the wide brush of national real estate numbers to preach doom and gloom in your local area, more home buyers are becoming home owners in Los Angeles county as thousands of homes were bought and sold last year in Los Angeles and it's surrounding cities according to CARETS MLS sold results data. 

Total home sales 2011 (not including condos):  

• 7000+ single family homes sold in Los  Angeles (3700+ sold $300K and below)
• 2000+ homes sold in Long Beach (820+ sold $300K and below)
• 600+ homes sold in Downey (140+ sold $300K and below). 

Because it's still early, the National Association of Realtors has yet to release numbers estimating how many homes sold were actually purchased from first time home buyers, but after facing many multiple offer situations last year for homes below the $400K mark (a range that is usually first time home buyer friendly), I reckon the numbers produced to prove quite strong!  

Find out if you too can save money and become a homeowner in 2012 using one of the First time home buyer programs currently offered throughout  Los Angeles County, including the cities of Long Beach, Downey, Carson as detailed at the First Time Home Buyer Real Estate website. You can also find out if you qualify for down-payment assistance.  If you are ready to get started right away, be sure to request a mortgage pre-qualification application or call us today at 310-508-4354!  Happy house hunting!

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APPLY NOW (no SS# required): 

Pre-Qualification Mortgage Application  

Down-Payment Assistance   

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DWP Overcharging Already Struggling Homeowners with Monthly Utility Bills in the $1000ds?

I spoke with a wonderful past client today who bought a home in early spring of this year in South Los Angeles area that falls under DWP (Dept of Water and Power) coverage. 

During a conversation, she told me she recently received a $700 bill from DWP for her June/July usage which was a 150% increase since her last April/May bill of $280, which also seemed extraordinarily high.  This was well beyond the 15% increase consumers were informed of in recent months. She has since spoken to neighbors and they too are randomly receiving exorbitant bills from DWP and being left with the option of being forced to pay or not have continued utility service.  

When my client called DWP, she spoke to both customer service and meter depts. The various reasons given to her were:  

• Broken meters
• Difficult meter reads if gate was locked in which meters were said to have been read by looking over fences and gates (you read that correctly).
• Estimates (not actual reads).

Based on a surface Google search, I came across several articles and one in particular that has a L.A. City Councilman Dennis Zine stating, "...customers with new meters that were never connected correctly are likely to receive several years of late bills."  The article also mentions bills coming in the thousands.  This article was posted in April of this year and it is now mid August.  This is clearly a problem that has yet to be resolved by DWP and gov't officials.  Where is this watchdog group for DWP that has yet to be realized? 

So some homeowners are now paying on top of their mortgages, higher gas prices, increased food costs, and now what appears to be  hundreds to thousands of overcharges for general water and power usage?  They are also being informed to pay by the bill's due date (or two week extension) or lose electricity and water?  If that is the case, it's absolutely unacceptable.  Having represented owners of multi-unit properties before, $700 monthly utility bills are what some large apartment building owners could possibly expect to find for water and electricity bills, not single full-time working individuals of single family dwellings.   

Are People Now Forced to Choose Between Sitting in the Dark or Paying Their Mortgage?  

If this type of blatant fleecing of homewowners who are already challenged in this economy is really happening, it's disturbing to say the least.  I've sent the bulk of this blog article to several investigative teams of local news organizations and emailed the LA City councilman Bernard Parks for my client's district and councilman Dennis Zine mentioned in the linked article. 

These poor homeowners need answers and results, and they need them now...or at least before their next DWP bill!

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If you are a victim of what appears to be grossly miscalculated balances of your DWP bills and have had little success with resolving them first with DWP, call or write your local councilman NOW, and/or write to investigative newsteams of local news stations CBS Channel 2 News, ABC Channel 7 News, KTLA (Channel 5), myFoxLA (Channel 11).  Good luck!

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Water meter photo courtesy of ax2groin and electricity meter photo by benswing for Creative Commons Flickr. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License. 

Sellers Stop Camouflaging Your Great Home by Wearing an Overpriced Listing! 

I wrote a blog last week about unrealistic expectations when it came to competitively pricing a home on factors other than comparables (comps) of recently sold homes and nearby active homes for sale of similar size and feature.  The blog fetched over 100 comments but one in particular stood out to me.  The commenter mentioned that a $40,000 difference may not have mattered if the home was in the higher price range of $700K.  This could very well be the case in some markets, but in the LA market, I tend to disagree and here's why.

When searching for a home in Los Angeles, Long Beach or nearby cities, buyers will narrow their search to a neighborhood in which a $40,000 price difference would in most cases push the potential homebuyer into a BETTER neighborhood when considering the price of an overpriced listing. Also, the buyer demographic for the higher price range could change as well.  Agents using the MLS and buyers performing online home searches are shopping in price blocks within a certain price range. 

$40,000 OVERPRICED LISTING SCENARIO:

A home seller has a home that is priced at $720K in an area that shows most comps of recently sold homes or those currently up for sale (containing similar square footage and in similar condition) priced closer to the $680K price which is a $40,000 price difference.

Agents and pre-approved homebuyers looking in that area would most likely be performing home searches where their price criteria is up to $700K.  The scenario seller is potentially missing the bulk of buyer traffic from those who are actually qualified to buy in his area.  Also, his home is most likely not on the agent's printout of homes to view. 

The agents and their homebuyers that are approved in the $720K range will come across the over-priced listing among their results and will notice right off the bat that the area and quality of home is not the same as most of the other homes on their list.  The over-priced $720K seller is now competing with homes and a neighborhood that can justify the additional $40K in price increase.  Unfortunately, the overpriced home is more likely to be scoffed at and/or disregarded rather than considered no matter how fantastic it looks.   

Today's buyer isn't the same as the pre-housing bubble buyer that was simply looking to jump into the homebuying frenzy at any cost.  Today's buyers are watching family and friends lose their homes all around them, but are still hopeful of being homeowners. They are much more cautious, much more saavy and are making each and every one of their homebuying dollars count when it comes to the biggest financial investment of their lives.

Sellers, homebuyers are not the enemy.  Do not camouflage your home in an overpriced listing.  You need the homebuyers to clearly notice and see your home among the many. Pre-approved home buyers that are looking in your area want to see your great home!  Price it logically and competively according to recent nearby solds and nearby actives that are of a similar size and condition.  Price it correctly and you can win the war on this market with a proven strategy that works!

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License. Camouflaged home photo courtesy of Natalie Maynor for Creative Commons.  Army man in fatigues holding rope courtesy of notinponce for Creative Commons.  Fatigue dress by falsedan. Sold sign by istock.  Photos not to be copied or used without purchase or expressed written permission.

HGTV CASTING CALL IN LOS ANGELES AND LONG BEACH! Interior Design Disasters Needed for HGTV Show!

Is your home an interior design disaster?  Have words or phrases like "hideous," "that 70's show," ever been used to describe your home?  Or do you know someone that needs an interior designer intervention?  Then HGTV may be the solution for you!

HGTV is looking in the Los Angeles area (within 60 miles) for Homeowners, aka "Design Victims" to cast in their Inferior Design Disaster Show!

You can also be either a friend, family member or past Realtor of the homeowner!  If the applicant is a charismatic and energetic individual and a good sport, and can take a wee-bit of fun-natured jesting with a great reward in the end, please apply NOW!  Taping is set to begin in only a few weeks!

***HGTV DESIGNER VICTIMS MUST LIVE WITHIN 60 MILES OF LOS ANGELES TO BE ELIGIBLE!***

APPLY NOW

If you currently do not own a home and would love to become a homeowner, do not hesitate to contact me Andi Grant at 310-508-4354 or visit my website AndiGrant.com to start your home search.

Bathroom photo courtesy of Creative Commons: 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

Activerain blog lead told me "I will be sad after closing... 

...because I'll miss you." This is what was written to me by a happy home buyer and ACTIVERAIN blog lead who found me online when researching  first-time homebuyer programs in Los Angeles!  She will be signing loan documents TODAY as we close escrow on a beautiful completely remodeled Spanish style home in Los Angeles, CA!  

I told her not to worry because we are friends and that means I'll be at the housewarming party, tree-trimming parties and most certainly she would be my soul food buddy!  She is a transplant from the south and has been scouring the land, searching every ristorante, hole-in-the-wall, ma & pa joint for good soul food and I've been more than happy to accompany her during these yummy and delicious outings!  Looking for the perfect home can really increase one's appetite!  Of course we'll be celebrating her close of escrow by trying out a restaurant the Bayou Grille that is getting great reviews!  There's nothing like handing-over-the-keys to a happy home buyer on a full stomach!  

She really is the best kind of buyer!  She was easy to work with (but didn't bite her tongue), tech savvy (turnaround times for docs were quick), and she really did her homework (how do you think she found me?)   

Yes, real estate can be about helping home buyers find the perfect home, but most importantly it's about building relationships!  Blog readers can easily get a feel for who you are and if you are a good fit for them and likewise.  Closing escrows and making lifelong friends!  I love ActiveRain and I love my career! 

If you too are looking to buy or sell in the Greater Los Angeles area, do not hesitate to contact me at 310-508-4354 and I'll be more than happy to assist you.

HOMEBUYER PROTOCOL AND GUIDELINES:  Can two walk together unless they be agreed? --Amos 3:3

When teaming up with buyers, you are in a three-legged race!  There must be teamwork and cooperation of all parties involved to make it to the finish line (closing) without a detrimental tumble or fall.  

Years ago when I was a new agent, I had submitted an offer and for whatever reason, the listing agent seemed to have the inside information on my buyers.  He knew how much my buyers were qualified for, how soon they were looking to move and why they were looking to buy in that particular area.  He knew the Who, What, When, Where and How of my buyers.  How could this be? 

I questioned my buyers as to whether or not they knew the agent personally.  They were certain they didn't recognize the name.  Long story short, my buyers during one of their more curious moments, decided to check out an open house before I was to meet with them for the previous Saturday's showings.  The listing agent recognized the husband's name because it wasn't a common name.  When the open house agent stumbled over the name, my buyer spelled it out for him in order to help him get a clearer understanding of the pronounciation.  How very considerate of my buyer.  

"There is a Time to Be Silent and a Time to Speak" --Ecc. 3:7