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Did you know that in Korea ‘dog’ is still served as a Meal in Restaurants?
Did you know that in Korea ‘dog’ is still served as a Meal in Restaurants? I was catching up on my LA Times reading today and I was so shocked at what I read in the September 4th Issue of the LA Times written by John Glionna & Ju-Min Park of Seoul, South Korea, I had to post this. Some of you might not want to read this, others of you might want to take action and others of you might just want to spread the word. The Hero of the story is Lee Won-Bok, he is a 45 year old animal rights activist. Every Saturday he places very graphic pictures (I opted not to post pictures) at a busy mall depicting images of dogs in cages, to different stages of the process all the way to the Restaurant table. (I will not describe the graphic parts you get the idea) He is a one man warrior. He says he has collected over 300,000 signatures over a period of nine years. The Goal is to stop the despicable tradition of eating cats and dogs. Even though national laws prohibit the eating of these critters, the government rarely enforces it. I was so outraged about this activity; I had to write about it. How could a society still allow, tolerate such activity? How could anyone have their pets at home and then go out to a Restaurant and eat “boshintang” (dog soup)? How could a Government, Politicians and Judicial members still allow this despicable practice? How could a society still tolerate this? How could we stand by and not do something? I urge each and all of you to take action, how ever small or large. As a caretaker of three cats and supporter of Local Animal Rescue Organizations I have to speak out against this deplorable practice and the lack of caring by a Society and its People. I commend Lee Won-bok and the two LA Times Reporter John Glionna & JU-Min Park in spreading his crusade. Too bad the LA Times only put this on page 26 rather then the front page. 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 EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com A pet friendly Realtor who contributes from every one of his commissions to Local Animal Rescue Organizations!...
read moreAppraisals Delays and the Cause and Effect of these delays to all involved.
Appraisals Delays and the Cause and Effect of these delays to all involved is just amazing.More often then I would like to know, Appraisals have been consistently reaching Lenders late. There have been a number of discussions about Appraisals by Realtors and Mortgage Brokers and the delays that this has caused in obtaining loans for the Buyers. As the Real Estate market continues to move slower then we would like, Sellers, Buyers, Realtors and Mortgage Lenders all remain uncertain. We are looking at these trends and first thing we need to do is to adjust our way of doing business. Gone are the days of 17 days Loan Contingency Removal and 30 day Escrow periods when it comes getting a loan? In the heyday of our market Mortgage Brokers could assure Realtors that they could remove the loan contingency within 12 days. Now that is not the case. From a Buyer’s perspective, what would a reasonable time be, to remove the loan contingency? As Realtors we need to be responsible in competently and carefully advising our buyers to make sure that their interests are protected. The sellers need to be educated, counseled regarding Loan and Appraisal Contingency Periods and the time it takes to achieve this. The most important commodity we as Realtors have to bring to the Table is a sense of Fair play, patience and educating the buyers as well as the sellers of the process. Most Buyers and sellers would agree that a transaction should be fair and equitable to all parties. We must not only educate, but we have to verbalize the pros and cons of each action and then ultimately we have to remind ourselves that we are the Realtors and that the final decision must come from our clients the principals. The Cause and Effect of all this is, we need more Time to close an Escrow. We need more patience by all parties involved and more education by the Realtors involved. The final Effect more stress can be avoided by better educating the Principals involved. So in conclusion I am very optimistic that we will continue to have a robust summer into the Fall Real Estate Season as long as we stay on top of these issues and continue to educate all parties involved. 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 EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at...
read moreCentury City,CA. Condominium Market Report for August 2009
Here we are the Century City, CA Condominium Market Report a bit late, nevertheless still interesting. I find it always interesting when you talk to people who like to generalize how the real estate market is, based on their feelings, emotions or what they have heard in The Active listings have decreased by about five from last month. In the big picture that is negligible when you see that there are currently 309 Condominiums on the Market. The ones that are in Escrow and have not removed their contingencies are identical to the month before. There are 34 accepting Backup Offers. Now what I find very telling is there has been a huge increase in the Pending. These are the ones that the buyers have removed all their contingencies and are waiting to close Escrow. These will be September’s Closed Transactions a very large increase of 7.6% over the previous month. That is there are 56 properties that are waiting to close. The closed transactions over the previous month are almost identical. There were 32 Actual Sales for the month of August. These are very interesting numbers. The buyers are out there and are rushing to close Escrow, before the Tax incentive disappears.(November 30th) I am very much amazed with all this activity, in spite of Appraisers slowing down the Sales Process as well as Mortgage lenders. So in conclusion I am very optimistic that we will continue to have a robust summer into the Fall Real Estate Season. 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 EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com ...
read moreMarket Report for the month of August 2009 Playa Vista, CA.
The Market Report for August 2009 for Playa Vista, CA. is quite different from the previous month. There is a larger inventory to choose from. There are currently 40 Active listings about a 7.5% increase in the inventory from previous month. The Pending inventory consists of 15 buyers who have not removed their contingencies and 11 who have for a total of 26 which is an 8.5% decrease from the previous month. There has been a 7% drop in the Sold as well month over month. This is the first time in eight months we have seen a decline. Playa Vista community is different from the neighboring communities, since it is a Planned Urban Development and it is a very new project. Hence you either love it or you don not. Interestingly this community is the next door to Marina Del Rey, where for the eight month in a row the numbers have increased. I just want to remind everyone, that the first time buyer’s Tax credit is nearing its end. Therefore do not miss out on 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 EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at...
read moreMarina Del Rey Condominium Market Report for August
I have compiled the Marina Del Rey Condominium Market report for August. The numbers seem very consistent with July’s Active Listings. Currently there are 184 Active Condominiums on the Market, compared to July it is one more. Properties that are in Escrow and Accepting Backup offers as well as Pending are amazingly similar as well. There are 26 properties where the Buyers have not removed their contingencies and there are 37 that have removed all their contingencies. The numbers are virtually identical. I just read somewhere that the Pending Sales Index has only been tracked since 2001. This I found quite interesting, since the Pending numbers are the indication what the following month will look like. As I look at these numbers I can see that the momentum continues for the better and I anticipate a robust sales numbers for the month of September as well. The most important number outside predicting next month is the Sold numbers. Last month there were 26 Condominiums that changed hands in Marina Del Rey, CA. that is an increase of 8 per cent again. Compared to the national statistics, Marina Del Rey, CA has had an increase month over month in sales now for the past 8 months vs. the national numbers have been six months in a row in creasing. I just want to remind everyone do not wait too long, since the tax incentive for buying will be ending on November 30th. That means you have less then 60 days to take advantage of this great benefit. 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 EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at...
read moreExtra! Extra! Hear All About it! Active Rain is the Google of Realtors, AR’ Referral in action
I wanted to share this event which transpired between seven and nine pm this evening. It was so amazing. I had to pass this on to our community of Rainers, I could not wait until later. I receive this e-mail during a Seminar from one of my long term Clients who used to live in Los Angeles: Endre can you find me a Realtor? Do you know where El Sobrante, CA is? Amazingly enough I had no idea where El Sobrante was. Someone who relocated from Boston about 13 plus years ago, no I had not had the fogiest idea, where El Sobrante was. No need to panic, I knew I could Post a request on the Referral Network and will get some response. The request was unusual; I did not want a referral fee. My client has picked out the Property Negotiated the Transaction; he just wanted a Realtor to look over the forms for a flat fee of $500. I figured this will be a challenge, probably have to wait a few days and potentially repost or go outside of AR look on Realtor.com and maybe other venues such as Trulia.com or Zillow.com. Much to my disbelief within ten minutes I had three Realtors respond, subsequently three more within two hours. Wow, this is totally amazing and very cool. Thank you Active Rain. This community is just awesome. Not only did I get instant help, but at the same time I have learned a good lesson. When you receive a request or question it is important to get a quick response back. Next time some one needs something I will try extra hard to respond fast. By the way my client is very happy and knows I am the go to guy when it comes to Real Estate help. No matter where he lives. There is no way to put a price on...
read moreBreaking News J.D. Power and Associates annual Home Buyers/Sellers Study is OUT
I just finished reading in Realtor Magazine-Daily that Coldwell Banker has scored the highest on the Customer-Service rankings among Home Sellers and Keller Williams ranked first among home buyers in the annual J.D Power and Associates 2009 Home Buyer/Seller study. This is quite fascinating that the home buyer rankings were based on a 1000- point scale. To me what is even more telling is, that the average score was 791 and the first place Brokerage Keller Williams had a score of 806 and the second place Coldwell Banker had a score of 801. This is very interesting that there is only five points separating first from second place and only fifteen points away is first place from average. As a Red Sox fan I understand that principle of one more hit, one more out and one more win makes all the difference which player is the Hall of Fame material and which team makes it to the Play Offs and which Team is the Champion. As I kept reading on I discovered that the home seller average score was 786 out of 1000 points as well and Coldwell Banker has scored 815, and Keller Williams followed with 801. The order was in reverse for the Sellers, but the margins were equally close. As a Realtor who competes for Listings from Sellers and competes with fellow agents for Buyers I see how close this really is. The difference is one more phone call, one more objection over coming clarification between walking away with one more listing and one more sale. I just wanted to share this with fellow Active Rainer’s after watching the Red Sox being defeated by the Yankees. If you have anyone considering relocating, 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 EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com ...
read moreMarina Del Rey, CA Condominium Market Report for July 2009
Marina Del Rey, CA Condominium Market Report for July 2009. I have been covering three different micro market areas on the West Side of Los Angeles and the trends are very similar. Month over month since January the volume of sales have increased. This is interesting news for the over well being of the Real Estate Market. I am particularly interested in the Marina Del Rey Condominium Market, since not only do I sell here, but I live here as well. Currently as of July 31st 2009 there are 183 Active Condominiums on the Market Accepting Back Up Offers are 26 Condominiums There are 33 Condominiums where the buyers have removed all contingencies and are solidly pending. For the month of July we had 22 Condominiums that Sold. If you compare to the month of June you will be pleasantly surprised that the sales almost tripled month over month. I find that quite impressive, in spite of the Fourth of July celebration, when Real Estate activity ceases in Marina Del Rey. There are street closings all over Via Marina, the Peninsula and Pacific Ave to name a few. If you would like to see the previous statistics I have enclosed the Midyear Report’s Link for your convenience ( http://activerain.com/blogsview/1141254/midyear-assessment-of-the-condominium-sales-in-marina-del-rey-ca ) 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 EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at...
read morePlaya Vista,CA July 2009 Real Estate Market Report
Here is the Playa Vista, CA. July 2009 Real Estate Market Report. I have been extremely busy and grateful for it, hence the delay in my monthly Real Estate Market Report for Playa Vista, CA. I finally started seeing in various media headlines about the Real Estate Market getting some life into it. I find it ironic and rewarding at the same time. Ironically I have been saying this with my monthly Real Estate Market Reports since January of this year, that month over month I have seen this trend and the numbers prove that there have been steady increases. I find it rewarding, that finally the Media is publishing the information which I have been saying, since the beginning of this year i.e.: That there have been increases month over month in sales. I am some what disappointed that now the information that is stated in the media is that the past five months the Real Estate Sales have been increasing. Why did they not just as I reported the Statistics? Why could the Media not do the same? (That of course is a subject of another post) Now with this introduction: There were 40 Active Listings in Playa Vista, CA as of July 31, 2009. There were 13 Properties where the buyers have not removed their contingencies. As well as 17 Escrows where the buyers have removed their contingencies and the properties are solidly pending. July we had 10 Closed Sales transactions in the Playa Vista CA community. If you would like to compare last months’ numbers or for the past six months statistics, feel free to visit the enclosed link and you will be pleasantly surprised. In spite of the fact that July has traditionally been a slower month due to the Fourth of July Celebration, as well as the fact that many people take summer vacations.( http://activerain.com/blogsview/1141281/playa-vista-ca-midyear-market-report ) Feel free to comment, your thoughts and input are welcome. 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 EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com ...
read moreCentury City,CA. Condominium Market Report July 2009
Century City, CA. Market Report for July 2009. Well here we are and another month just flew by. I have been quite busy and productive, hence the delay of my monthly market report. Since the beginning of 2009 you have read my reports and I have been showing the numbers and you could see that the Real Estate Market has been improving month over month in Century City, CA. The volume of sales has been quietly increasing from the previous month as well as year. So it should not come as a surprise to any of my loyal readers what now the media has started to bring up, such as headlines “…Is the Real Estate Bear Market Beginning to Bottom Out?”….Signs of Life in the Los Angeles Real Estate Market….” I could go on and on. So let’s see how Condominium Market for the month of July fared in Century City, CA. : There were 314 Active Condominium Listings as of July 31, 2009 There were 34 Condominiums in Escrow where the buyers have not removed their contingencies and the Sellers were looking for back up Offers. There were 43 Condominiums were the buyers removed all their contingencies, i.e.: solidly pending. Now let us look at the Sales, there were 35 Closed Transactions. Keep in mind this month had many detractors such as Summer Vacations and the Fourth of July celebrations. These all historically cut into the Real Estate sales. So feel free to visit the enclosed link and you will be pleasantly surprised with this month statistics vs. last month’s (http://activerain.com/blogsview/1141582/century-city-ca-midyear-market-report) So in conclusion I am very optimistic that we will continue to have a robust summer into the Fall Real Estate Season. 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 EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com ...
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