I recently had the opportunity to help out some colleagues in my office by writing an offer on their listing for some buyers who saw the property during an open house and didn’t have an agent. Most people probably think that agents love this type of situation – we get a call to write an offer for someone without having to do any “work” to help them find a house. However, the truth is that writing an offer is a fairly personal experience – one that can actually be kind of awkward if the buyers and the agent don’t have any kind of established relationship. Continue reading
Buying A House with Unpermitted Additions
You’ve been searching for your dream home for a year now, and finally you come across the perfect house. It’s everything you’ve been looking for, EXCEPT – the listing agent tells you that the awesome third bedroom “may not be permitted”. What does this mean? Can you still buy the house? SHOULD you still buy the house? Here are a few things you should know if you find yourself in this position. Continue reading
What to Expect in a Counter Offer
Let’s face it – HGTV makes buying a house look really easy. We’ve all seen those shows where the buyers have a little chat with their agent and she runs off to make a phone call with a verbal offer for the seller. When she comes back, she says, “you just bought a house!” Piece of cake, right? Well in reality, buying a house is usually a long process that has many stages. Writing your initial offer – as nerve-wracking as it may be – is usually just the first step in the dialogue between you and the seller. Continue reading
Renting Vs. Owning
As the market continues to move steadily into a solid recovery, many long time renters are beginning to weigh the pros and cons of home ownership. If you are considering buying now to take advantage of the historically low interest rates, here are some of the elements you should be considering: Continue reading
10 Tips for Starting Your Home Search
Diving into the real estate market for the first time can be a daunting task, but these ten tips can help you get off to a smooth start. Continue reading
Extreme Bidding Wars
Most buyers entering the Los Angeles real estate market understand that we are experiencing a seller’s market right now – there are significantly more qualified buyers out there than there are homes to buy, so prices are going up and bidding wars are commonplace. However, recently I have noticed a new phenomenon that even the savviest of buyers might not be prepared for: something I call the “extreme bidding war”. Continue reading