L.A. real estate news and insights.
Echo Park has really changed over the years.
Back in the day, Echo Park was not exactly the safest neighborhood to be in.
But now it's filled with beautiful homes that demand a high price tag.
This charming “Treehouse” vertical cottage built-in 1926 makes the most of its limited space.
Has 1 bed, 1 bath on main floor and a bonus space downstairs w/ separate entrance plus a finished attic.
This home is currently on the market and is asking $819,000.
The Ennis House just sold for $18,000,000 in the Los Feliz hills.
The home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Charles and Mabel Ennis and was built in 1924.
The design of the house was based on the ancient Maya Temples and its notable detail is the relief ornamentation on its 27,000 perforated and patterned decomposed granite blocks.
Filmmakers flocked to its location. The home shot to fame when the exterior façade was used for the House on Haunted Hill in 1958, but it is most known for being in the movie Blade Runner and the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer (one of my favorite shows growing up!).
The house was included as one of the top ten houses of all time in Los Angeles Times, and is a designated California Historical Landmark, and a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
One in five U.S. homeowners say they feel house rich but cash poor, according to the newly released Hometap Homeownership Study.
With home prices continuing to climb up, nearly 20% of 675 homeowners surveyed classify themselves as feeling “house rich, cash poor” most of the time, according to the study produced by Hometap.
Seventy-three percent of respondents say they feel “house rich, cash poor” at least some of the time.
I bet if they surveyed renters they would find similar numbers.
I believe we all face similar challenges.
After all, I think being worried about how you are going to provide shelter and food for your family is a feeling all humans have had since the cavemen times. @hometap_
I highly recommend doing a standard recording.
In that case, you don't have to do anything!
You are simply waiting for a call from your agent to tell you that you now officially own the property.
A special recording should only really be used in an absolute must circumstance.
Unless it's a must, it won't kill you to wait the extra day to close escrow.
Under normal circumstances, you do not close escrow the same day your lender funds your mortgage loan.
You would normally close the day after the loan money is sent to the escrow company.
However, I have come across certain circumstances where the buyer of a property has to close as soon as possible and needs to close the same day the lender funds the loan.
In that case, you can do a "special recording". This requires a little more work on the buyer’s part.
As the buyer, you have to go down to the county recorder's office, wait in line, fill out some paperwork, then get the special recording completed.
It's actually a really big pain in the neck!
But, if you are in a hurry to close escrow, a special recording is available to you.
If you are a buyer, the best strategy is to close escrow on any day Tuesday - Friday.
For example, have the lender fund your mortgage loan on Monday, close on Tuesday.
Or have the loan fund on Thursday, close on Friday.
Avoid having the lender fund on Friday, pay interest on the loan over the weekend, then close escrow on Monday.
There is no point to pay interest over the weekend on a home you technically don't own yet!
You usually don't close escrow the same day your lender funds your mortgage loan.
Normally the lender funds the loan, then you close escrow the next day.
Also, keep in mind you can't close escrow over the weekend, the county recorder office is closed.
Therefore, if you are scheduled to close escrow on a Monday, the lender must fund the loan the Friday before.
This should be avoided if possible. Why?
Because once the loan is funded, you start to pay interest on that loan.
It's not the best idea to pay interest on a home you technically do not own yet (it's not your home until you close escrow on Monday).
The best thing to do would be to wait and have the lender fund the loan on Monday, then close escrow on Tuesday.
That way you are not wasting money and putting more money into your lender's pockets.
Your friend told you they were thinking of selling their home.
What do I have to do for you to refer me to that friend?
Text me at 818-445-7953.
Thank you!
I just saw on the news that a home buyer was scammed out of her entire deposit amount.
She received fake wiring instructions and had thought the instructions came directly from the escrow company.
She wired her deposit money over to the account on the fake instructions.
The thieves took the money and were never heard from again.
The buyer is now out the money she wired over and no longer has enough money to purchase a home.
She has to wait and save up more cash.
This is a terrible story and I am warning you now to always confirm that the wiring instructions are real.
This is very easy to do!
Once you get the wiring instructions emailed to you, call the escrow company and confirm over the phone that the account number that you are wiring to is in fact their real account.
Once confirmed, then you are safe to send the money.
When you buy a home, you have to put down a deposit.
Typically that deposit amount is 3% of the purchase price of the home.
Keep in mind that this 3% amount is not set in stone, but it is customary.
You can put any amount you want, however the seller will not think you are a serious buyer and probably won't accept your offer unless you put at least 3% for your deposit amount.
You have to send your deposit over to the escrow company to hold within 3 days of getting your offer accepted.
Buyers using cash to purchase a home typically close escrow in 7-14 days.
Buyers using a conventional loan to purchase a property (at least 5% down payment) typically close in 30 days.
Buyers using FHA loan to purchase a home (3.5% down payment) typically close escrow in 45 days.
When you accept a purchase offer for your home, escrow begins.
The escrow period is the time from offer acceptance to the day the title of your home officially changes from you to the new buyer.
During that time period the buyer of your property is doing their inspections and getting the loan to buy the home.
A buyer using a conventional loan (5% or more for the down payment) will usually close in 30 days.
However, a cash buyer doesn't have to go through the loan process, so they usually close in 7 - 14 days.
Buyers using a FHA loan usually close in 45 days.
On this episode, I answer the following four real estate questions:
1) Now that my offer is officially accepted, how long does it take to close escrow on the home?
2) How do I send my deposit money over to the escrow company?
3) Is there certain day I should close escrow on?
4) What is a special recording and how is it different than a regular recording?
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Virtual staging is when you take a picture of a vacant room and then have a graphic designer digitally add furniture to that room.
That way your online pictures for your home look great, but in reality the room is vacant.
Virtual staging can be good and bad. It's good because your marketing pictures look awesome and you will get a lot of people through your door and touring your home.
The bad part is that buyers get disappointed when they show up and the house looks completely different than how it looked in the marketing photos.
Real furniture staging is always best because it helps a buyer emotionally connect with a home and you don't end up with a bunch of disappointed potential buyers touring your home.
But if you must, virtual staging is a better option than showing a picture of a empty room in your marketing pictures.
The 2019 Realtor Confidence Index Survey says 74% of home purchasing contracts contain contingencies, with the most common ones pertaining to home inspections, getting a acceptable appraisal, and obtaining a loan.
That means 26% of buyer home purchasing contracts do not contain any contingencies at all.
Sellers LOVE non-contingent offers.
That means that if the buyer backs out of the deal, for whatever reason, the buyer could lose their deposit to the seller (usually 3% of the purchase price).
Wouldn't you find a non-contingent offer appealing if you were selling your home?
