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The bank forecloses on your home and then files a lawsuit against you, how is this possible?
The bank forecloses on your home and then files a lawsuit against you. How is this possible? I was reading in RISMEDIA on June 8, 2010, about a home seller who has sold his home in a short sale. He sold it for approximately $200,000.00 less than the first and second mortgage he owed on the property. The Mortgage lender has agreed not to pursue further action to recoup their losses. Evidently there are many home sellers who did not negotiate this clause into the transaction. Hence there are many lenders who file lawsuits and are going after foreclosures and short sales owners. Why you might say? The answer is, that lenders are trying to discourage bad behavior, such as angry homeowners who destroy kitchens, bathrooms and sell fixtures such as granite counter tops on e-bay to name a few. Customarily mortgage companies will not sue homeowners who negotiate in good faith or those who default due to job loss or other catastrophic circumstances. Nevertheless I strongly encourage potential sellers who are underwater to get it in writing from the Mortgage Lender that they will not pursue further legal action once the transaction closes. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of My commission to Local Animal Rescue...
read moreLe Belvedere Sold! How exiting!
Le Belvedere Sold! How exiting, this home was built for spec. The owner’s intention was to build and make a profit. Originally this property was listed for $85,000,000.00 February 2009, then due to lack of activity reduced to $72,000,000.00 and now it has an owner. Many people are just amazed at the stratospheric prices (and they should). This market is not affected by the everyday economic turns one would say. (I humbly disagree)There are rumblings on the street, that the seller owed some money and yes it was a “sale”, but…. Even if it is false rumors, you have to have some money to be able to buy a Luxury Mansion in this price point. Hence you must be on the upside of the economic wave to be able to buy this home. So enough of my philosophizing, so you might wonder, what do you get for this money? If you look at the Multiple Listing Information you will find that the House was built in 2006 and has 10 Bedrooms and 14 bathrooms. The living square feet is around 48,000 and the lot is on 94,090 sq ft. (disregard what the LA Times wrote, it is only partially accurate) There are 280 degree City Views from these 2.2 manicured acres of land. It is inspired from France, a chateau, hence the name “Le Belvedere”. Of Course there is wine cellar if you were wondering; it can hold 5000 bottles of your favored wines. This Bel Air Chateau has 19 fireplaces, a gym, swan pond and much more. This is a great location, Elizabeth Taylor, Ronald Regan, Frank Sinatra and many more lived and too many to name still live here. This is inside the coveted 90077 zip code, i.e.: Bel Air proper inside the arched gates of East and West Gate. The listing agent is in my office and has many similar priced opportunities on and off the market. Now if you are interested in buying or selling homes, not just in this price point, but in any price point please do not hesitate to reach out to me. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of My commission to Local Animal Rescue Organizations. ...
read moreMarina Del Rey Condominium Market Report May 2010
Marina Del Rey Condominium Market Report May 2010 There are some interesting developments in the Marina Del Rey, CA Condominium activities. First there are 155 Active listings for the period of May 1st, 2010 to May 31st, 2010 this is about an 8.6 per cent increase of the inventory from the previous month. Indicating that there will be a be a large selection for buyers to choose from. Currently for the same time period there were 29 Properties in Escrow and 13 of those the buyers have not removed their contingencies and 16 have removed their contingencies. A good indication what the month of June will have to offer in closed transactions The total closed transactions were 32, almost identical to the previous month’s sales number of 31. This is quite a solid trend for the Marina. I wanted to see how the days on market statistics fared compared to last year. Since that is a very good indication how robust or lackluster the market is. As you can see there was a huge drop compared to year over year, 51% to be exact and this is a clear confirmation reflected in the sales activity. Should be interesting what next month brings us. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of My commission to Local Animal Rescue Organizations. ...
read moreChanges are coming to FHA loans. Do you think it would be wise for Home buyers to use the FHA loans?
Changes are coming to FHA loans (Federal Housing Administration Loans).Let me ask you: Do you think it would be wise for Home buyers to use the FHA loans? Congress is expected to approve House Resolution 5072 or better known as the FHA Reform Act of 2010. Many lenders of the mortgage finance industry are concerned that HR 5072 part of the provision of this law is geared towards, cracking down on lenders who are approved by FHA. These lenders are concerned that the law would do more harm than good. What are your thoughts? I am all for regulations if they benefit the Real Estate in a responsible way. I am not for regulation for the sake of regulation. I am concerned that the buyers who use FHA have generally lower FICO scores (credit scores), less financial means to save up to 20% for a conventional loan down payment. Hence they will have less means to save and survive catastrophic situations such as job loss or medical issues. So I am afraid that the future FHA buyers will be set up for failure and we are creating the next Real Estate crisis. Join the discussion and tell me if I am off base. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of My commission to Local Animal Rescue...
read moreWhat were you doing at 2:17am this morning?
What were you doing at 2:17am this morning? I had a tremendous head ache after the Lakers-Celtics game and I was lying in bed awake. I am one of those armchair coaches who amerces himself totally into the game, and boy this was a stressful game. Next thing I know is, the bad shaking, it was a small earthquake. According to the US Geological Survey this was a 3.6 magnitude temblor and was centered about four miles west of Redondo Beach at a depth of 8 miles. Thankfully this was minor and did not even make it into the major news. Since I live in Marina Del Rey, I felt this brief and mild jolt which lasted about a second or two. This is a small price to pay for living in such a great area. Times like this I reaffirm that I have to take the Earthquake preparedness more seriously. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of My commission to Local Animal Rescue...
read morePlaya Vista Condominium Market Report for May 2010
Playa Vista Condominium Market Report for May 2010. As I promised I would be timelier this month with the report. Here you go. The numbers are quite interesting. There were 33 Active listings on the market for the period of May 1, 2010 to May 31, 2010. Pending and Accepting Backup Offers totaled 15. The actual sales were 18. This is just fantastic, for a small area to have such good volume is quite amazing. Now I was curious how the days on market fared compared to a year ago. Not surprising you will see that the decrease is staggering. As you can see there was a 74% drop. This clearly confirms why the sales numbers have increased. Fewer days on the market equal to more sales. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of My commission to Local Animal Rescue...
read moreThe Question is should I wait for Prices to drop? What if rates go up?
The question is should I wait for Prices to drop? What if rates go up? As a Southern California Realtor I monitor the Real Estate Market very closely as well as the economic indicators. I feel like I should just scream, when I hear Respected Economists, members of the Federal Reserve Board and Politicians speak and creating misinformation to potential buyers and creating potential future economic problems for us, as well as the rest of the world. Many buyers are listening and hearing that there is another wave of price drops in the works due to more Loans Re-setting. So is it in their best interest to wait till prices drop some more? Then I am listening to one of the members of the Federal Reserve Board giving a speech that the government should raise the Interest Rate since the economy is so much better than last year. I could go on and on, anyway, let me not get off the subject about the wisdom or the there lack of this Federal Reserve Board Member’s. Let’s say the Fed decides to raise the interest rate. Let me illustrate the potential shift in the housing and mortgage markets. The cause and effect is very clear (see my illustration): Today you buy a $1 million dollar home: Sales Price $1,000,000.00 Down Payment $ 270,250.00 Loan Amount $ 729,750.00 Monthly Payment on a 30 year fixed at 5.125% $ 3,973.00 Now let us say if prices drop 10% in home values and today’s $1 million dollar home sells for $900,000.00, this seems very reasonable. The buyer would think well of course I should wait. Now let me add in to this scenario that the interest rate increased only by a modest 1% per cent. Let’s look at the numbers. Sales Price $900,000.00 Down Payment $200,000.00 Loan Amount $700,000.00 Monthly Payment on a 30 year fixed at 6.125% $ 4,253.00 This increase in monthly payment will have a huge effect of the overall purchase power of the buyers and ultimately it will decrease the number of sales transactions. Hence the question should you wait or buy now, the answer is very clear to me. Hope you all can see it with my illustration. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of My commission to Local Animal Rescue Organizations. ...
read moreCentury City, CA. Condominium Market Report for April 2010
Century City, CA. Condominium Market Report for April 2010. Although you are used to my reports within a few days after the month ends, I am sorry to have this report delayed for many reasons. One happens to be I had such a busy month. Now with that said let us look at the numbers. There were 251 Active Condominium Listings. This part of the West Side of Los Angeles is such a desired area, it is seconds from Beverly Hills as well as only six to nine miles to the Ocean in Santa Monica, hence the activity remains strong and the values remain steady. Nine condominiums were in Escrow waiting to remove their contingencies and 18 Condominiums have already removed all their contingencies and are waiting for their loans to fund and close Escrow. There were 32 Closed Transactions. That is quite a lot of sales, more than one per month. We have made a lot of progress if we compare the statistics year over year and month over month. I will try to do the month of May’s statistics sooner so you can compare the two months. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of My commission to Local Animal Rescue Organizations. ...
read moreMarina Del Rey, CA. Condominium Market Report for the Month of April, 2010
Marina Del Rey, CA Condominium Market Report for April 2010. As you have gathered I have been extremely busy with buyers and sellers during the past month, hence a bit delayed still interesting, In light of the fact that the media outlets are still talking about March’s statistics. There were 134 Active listing during the month of April. The least expensive Condominium for sale was for a one bedroom one bath 870 sq ft of living space for a mere $318,000. Hard to believe we are seeing Condominiums South of $400,000. Then on the other direction the most expensive on the market is a Penthouse Unit three bedroom three bath 2150 sq ft of living space for $2,995,000. There were 11 Condominiums accepting Back Up offers and 14 were pending, waiting to close Escrow. Just as I mentioned in my previous report I was anticipating a great deal of sales, for the month of April. Compared to March it is amazing. We went from 10 sales to 31 sales. I attributed this robust activity to the Tax credits. A few people disagreed with me about this phenomenon, never the less the facts speak louder. I will try to do the month of May’s statistics sooner so you can compare the two months. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of My commission to Local Animal Rescue Organizations. ...
read more1345 Beverly Estates Dr. Beverly Hills CA, 90210 (PO) SOLD!
1345 Beverly Estates Dr. Beverly Hills CA, 90210 (PO) SOLD! As Realtors we like to be proud of all of our accomplishments. In my case I am especially proud of this sale. This is a vacant land in Beverly Hills Post Office, (90210 zip code). I had the listing on and off for about five years. The sellers have turned down many offers. This time they accepted it. Hurrah for everyone. This Land is Extra Special to me. There used to be a house on it many years ago. The land decided to move and the house slipped off. The ramification, it became a challenge to sell it. The fortification of this view, down slope lot will cost anywhere from $600,000 to $1million before one can begin to build on it. (Depending which Developer you talked to, they had these figures to throw out at me) This information came based on a Geological Study, which was done in the early 1980’s. I have faxed the documents to at least 50 developers over the years and most walked away and few wrote low offers which the seller rejected. Representing the seller many times I was ready to give back the listing due to frustration. I persevered and so did the sellers. So 2010 comes along, after one of the worst economic disaster years, consumer confidence is starting to return and I see nearby construction going on, hence I replant my for sale sign on the Land. Still not listed actively in the MLS, I receive a call from a fellow agent stating he has an offer. The rest is history. Every time I think about it, this confirms to me that there is a buyer for every property, sometimes it just takes a while to find it. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of My commission to Local Animal Rescue...
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