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Speechless Sundays: An unusual tree in Los Angeles, CA, 90045
Speechless Sundays: An unusual tree in Los Angeles, CA 90045. On a side note I have never seen a tree like this and would love to know the name…. 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, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 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 moreHow much would you pay for this view? 6993 La Presa Drive, LA 90068
How much would you pay for this view? 6993 La Presa Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068 Yesterday, I was at a Probate Auction in the coveted Outpost Estates. The actual address was 6993 La Presa Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068, some of you who read my blog posts on a consistent basis; know I have written about the benefit of living in Outpost Estates. In case you missed one of them check out this link http://actvra.in/HRS This property was marketed for the past three week through all the venues Realtors get the word out. My client, his architect and his partner we all went and saw this property at least twice prior to bidding. I did my market research and based on the most recent comps determined that a new home on the size of land could command a huge dollar amount. Having stayed close to all the activity I was aware that there were at least fifty or more people who spent time at the property. Now keep in mind these were just the ones that signed in. I suspect another twenty five or more went at different times. Clearly there would be a lot of people present for the auction. This was a no contingency best and highest price auction. All investigation had to be done in advance as to size, and what could actually be built here and needless to say the ability to perform was indicated by bringing a Cashier’s Check for $10,000 to be allowed to bid and having a blank check to be able to write the difference of the 10% of the accepted bid. Keep in mind the lot size was about 18,000 sq ft and the house as far as I was concerned was a total teardown. He property was underpriced and was listed at $699,000. I did the research and shared the comps with my client. I anticipated the highest value to be around $1,200,000. They felt that they would be willing to go to $850,000. For that price I thought it would be a great upside to it. I suspected the property will go out somewhere around $950,000-$1,000,000. The bidding was moving slow and started sputtering around $800,000. It looked promising at this point. Then there were three people who did not even step into the bidding until this point. Needless to say then it took off like a rocket ship to about $1,150,000. Then there were only two bidders left and would you believe it the winning bid was $1,270,000. Although I was disappointed that we did not win the bid, I felt clearly vindicated and my clients understood that the value in the Greater Los Angeles Real Estate market is there for not only buying but creating some fantastic properties. After all isn’t this a $5million dollar view once it is done? 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, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I...
read moreIt’s good to be back on Active Rain and being able to post ….
It’s good to be back on Active Rain and being able to post my thoughts & musings about Real Estate and everything else. As some of you know I have been absent from writing Blog Posts on Active Rain. There have been all sorts of issues that were preventing me from uploading ‘new post’s & ‘new pictures’. Clearly some where the side effects of the ‘new improvements others might have been from ‘previous improvements’ the bottom line is Kerrie and company have been trying to help me out. Those of you who sent me private messages on what I should try and how that might affect my inability to post new information, I am very grateful for. It was frustrating to see that some members were able to post and I was not. The solution I suspect came from Alexandra S. suggestions as well as what the Active Rain Techno guys were doing in the background ( you know: those nameless and faceless tech geeks) thank you for your help. Now with that said, this is my second post in about six days and more importantly in the past sixty minutes. This unfortunate circumstance reminded me how important it is to have the ability to get our message out. If we cannot get our Real Estate message out, the buyers and sellers will not know what happened. Why did we fall of the map? At the same time it also made me think how important it is to have a backup plan. Not just about getting the message out but just in our everyday activity. If one thing does not work, then there has been another way of getting the activity done. Finally it made me see also that it is not enough to have a couple back up plans, but we still need the support from friends and experts who can freely and generously give their help when all else fails. It appears that Blogging and Real Estate are Team Sports. Thank you again for all your help. 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, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 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 moreDay in the life of a Los Angeles Realtor: Challenges of staying ahead.
Day in the life of a Los Angeles Realtor: Challenges of staying ahead of the new technology. I have written more than once about how we as Realtors are always in the forefront of new technology. We are so obsessed with wanting to provide the best client service to our potential buyers as well as potential sellers that we tend to get the newest gadgets to provide faster and better information to our clients. Then there is another prevailing thought that influences us: that is, if it works why change it? As most of you know I have been a loyal BlackBerry customer since they first came out with their smart phone. Once I got used to switching from a standard LG flip phone I was hooked. Hard to comprehend that has been over twelve plus years (if memory serves me right). I have had my BB Bold which served me well for most of what I needed which consisted of sending emails, as well as texting and answering the phone. I resisted the iPhone trend and I did not see a reason to jump ship and go to a different smart phone. Well long and short of it, there were comments from lenders, fellow agents, friends, clients and just in general from people I came in contact when will I come out of the stone ages? I kept reading about the trials and tribulations of the company and finally felt that change will be necessary. There were a few events as some of you know which pushed me over: 1. I started getting my email 15-30 minutes later. Verizon was pointing fingers at Godaddy, they in turn were pointing the fingers at BlackBerry and the finger pointing continued. 2. This was followed by the email servers going down which affected Verizon & BlackBerry as you know I was on the phone with all three for over 4.5-5hrs. Clearly I was of the impression that everything was fixed. Sadly, that was not the case and now I realized that support was lacking at two out of the three places. 3. It was obvious to me, that these technological challenges were now affecting my client service. Therefore I need to rectify this problem ASAP. I have never been a fan of herd mentality. I needed a phone that seems to be functional and now with that said I jumped on the bandwagon that millions of Galaxy S5 owners cannot all be wrong. As I was setting up my phone, I discovered that Verizon actually knew that there was a 15 minute delays of providing emails to smart phones, but they failed to disclose this to me. How interesting it made me ponder: Were this just a few bad Tech Support people or was this more intentionally trying to damage the reputation of BB? Why was the BB Tech Support person not aware that this is done by Verizon? Had they both been clear and straightforward in their clarification I might not have the new Galaxy S5. This of course made me think how important it is for us Realtors, that we convey our knowledge of the factors that influence Real Estate Values when we represent buyers or sellers. If we do not come across as trusted advisors, the buyers...
read more1645 Mountcrest Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90069, Vacant Land PRICE REDUCED!
1645 Mountcrest Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90069 Vacant Land Huge PRICE REDUCTION! As most of you know I just barely listed this great view lot in the Hollywood Hills West. Quite frankly I was confident that this lot was below market price for view lots in the area. The Seller just disclosed to me that he has another project and he needs to sell this fast and wanted the price reduced even further. Needless to say with that said we have a huge Price Reduction: Seller wants to have it sold now! If you are looking for an underpriced vacant lot in the Hollywood Hills West, then clearly this is the lot for you. Hurry before someone else brings the winning offer. DIRECTIONS: North of Sunset Blvd, head West on Franklin and North on to Mountcrest. REMARKS: Fantastic neighborhood with spectacular views in a multi million dollar neighborhood. There is a lot nearby also on the market for a much higher price point. Lot is close to all the Utilities, water, electric and sewer. Great for an owner user or a developer. Contact listing agent for additional information 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, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites athttps://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue Organizations. ...
read moreHow to achieve what you really want? What would Albert Einstein say?
There have been many Motivation Guru’s who have suggested different ways of achieving your goals. Tony Robbins has called it the Pain/Pleasure and Mental State. Then again Zig Ziglar had the answer of “Seeing you at the top” I personally always believed it is the Journey that matters. Not the destination but the long and winding road. How you treat people and how you react to adversity. I know this might differ from the Tom Hopkins and Tom Ferry’s of this world, never the less it has worked for me. Interestingly I just ran across a few quotes from Albert Einstein thought I share with you: 1. Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character 2. I never think of the future. It comes soon enough. 3. Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new!!! Hope this will give you fuel for the comming week. It has given me fuel to face Verizon tomorrow!! 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, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites athttps://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue...
read moreWhat can you do in five to six hours if you have phone & email issues?
What can you do in five to six hours if you have smart phone and email issues? You can make a rational and calculated decision! Clearly we have been inundated with the fact ‘that time is money’. Well let me share what I did on this past Friday. I have been without internet on my Blackberry since Wednesday into Thursday….evidently GoDaddy my email host was having server issues. This in turn escalated to my BlackBerry Bold not getting any emails. Not wanting to bore you with all the details after not getting things resolved on Thursday rather making things worse by calls to Verizon & GoDaddy I decided Friday was the day of reckoning. It had to get fixed. So from 11:30 am until 5:20pm I started with Verizon talked with Tech Support in Maine then was transferred to Tech Support in Georgia higher level, then transferred to BlackBerry in Asia who in turn conference me in with GoDaddy in Arizona. My BlackBerry Bold was whipped clean and data reloaded. Once finished I was confident I had email and things were back to normal…. Well not so fast…Saturday I was out with clients and wanted to email a picture I just took with the BlackBerry….good thing I took a whole bunch of pictures with my camera as well, because I was unable to email the pictures from my smart phone…. Well here we are Sunday I am out showing properties and my other clients are emailing me and want answers…I make a quick attempt at sending emails and amazingly enough the smart phone cannot send emails either. So since Wednesday I have been Smartphone challenged, hence after 96 hours of not having the right service and hampering my business I have decided that this t the Loyal BlackBerry client needs to move on for the sake of my clients and my own sanity. I do not know if there is a Samsung Galaxy S5 or an I- phone or who knows what in my picture tomorrow but I know it will not be the BlackBerry Bold. This is very hard for a loyal BB person of over ten plus years to do but my client service comes first. OK any ideas which phone I should get within the next day or two? 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, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites athttps://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue Organizations. ...
read moreWhat makes me different from my competition in the Greater Los Angeles
What makes me different from my competition in the Greater Los Angeles are…seems like I just answered this the other day. Now let me give more details, besides eating and sleeping real estate from the moment I wake up until I close my eyes, there are other things I do which makes me a success. Often times we are just on auto pilot and we wonder are we doing something different that could put us ahead of all of our fellow Realtors as we try to win the coveted “just listed” scenario. Bob from Active Rain decided to challenge us and share what we do to make us be in front of the rest of the pack. I have actually been thinking about this and must admit I do not do anything extraordinary, rather I do the mundane little things consistently. Hence I am confident it puts me ahead of the pack. Just to be specific: 1. When I get a listing I publish it on all my internet portals including Facebook, Active Rain, Trulia, Zillow, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Loopnet, Twitter, Berkshire Hathaway to name a few. 2. Then I send out an email blast to all my contacts including all those who are on my monthly newsletter. 3. Then I send out Post Cards to the nearest 500 neighbors. 4. All this is followed by all the Realtors in the Greater Los Angeles area. Not everyone does all this. Then on top I have my yard sign on the property and of course it is also in the Multiple Listing Service. They in turn syndicate the listing to about a couple hundred other websites which I do not want to bore you with. The bottom line is I might not have anything Flashy like Sheldon Neal, the bottom line is I do everything, including Virtual Tours with Floor Plans and Professional Photography. The best part is I answer all my texts, emails and voice mails within a reasonable amount of time not the next day, not in three to four hours but as soon as I have the opportunity. As far as I am concerned that is the reason I am recognized by Berkshire Hathaway as an Honor Society Recipient. I might not make the most money, but every one of my clients gets 100 per cent individualized attention from me. Clearly I do not have a partner nor an assistant, but I manage to live in Marina Del Rey and provide a very comfortable lifestyle for me and the caregiver of our three cats DianeJ! 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, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites athttps://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue...
read moreWhy work with me? Every Realtor has an answer to this question!
Why work with me? Every Realtor has an answer to this question! If you want to know why work with me then please read belowJ! What makes me more unique from the 10,000 plus agents in the Greater Los Angeles area? To me the answer is simple and clear. I eat and sleep real estate. Most people have their routine when conducting business. Mine is you might consider obsessive, compulsive but all my clients love it. I communicate with m clients via email or text as soon as I have the opportunity. This might not be considered a big deal to most people, but when you have clients in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America to name a few: that means my BlackBerry is next to my bed and outside of the bathroom the BlackBerry goes everywhere with me. Vacations, casual drives, no matter what the event consist of, I am available to answer my client’s questions and concerns, because I understand that when they ask it is very important to them. There has been a few times when I was on the plane or in major internet outage zones and my clients understood that if they did not hear from me within a reasonable amount of time there was a legitimate reason. On a side note this instant availability is coupled with being a trusted advisor. My clients know when they ask a question it will be straight forward, not double talk or sales scripts memorized. The result is they get real and honest answers based on my knowledge and experience. Hence the benefit for me, I have happy clients who look forward to dealing with me and passing my name out to their friends and social circles, because they know I am different from the 10,000 other agents in my market place. So how did I develop this attitude and approach? The answer is easy I treat every client as I would like to be treated: respond to my question quickly with straight forward honest advice. This makes me unique, I work from the moment I open my eyes until I close my eyes I am working in Real Estate. Some people might not agree to my style well that is OK you can work with someone else. On the other hand if you like getting straight, honest and not sugar coated answers and you want them relatively fast, and then please reach out to me. We will be a great fit, whether you are buying or selling a property in the Greater Los Angeles area! 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, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites athttps://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue Organiz ...
read moreThe San Fernando Valley: Awkward Moments during a Real Estate Showing
The San Fernando Valley: Awkward Moments during a Real Estate Showing! Many people who do not know what Realtors do all day have a misconception and if I might say a false perception of what we do all day. In some respects it reminds me of what people think of Covert Agents for the government. It is humorous in a weird way. ( Photo to follow ) http://freedigitalphotos.net/ The parallels are uncanny: people think being a Realtor is a glamorous job, looking at homes all day, just as they think that being Spies is a glamorous job. The reality is far from this perception. On a side note the Covert Operator does not want to be recognized and wants to blend in and there are humorous moments when they almost get noticed; the Realtor on the other hand most Realtors want to be seen and noticed but they do not get notice no matter what they do…. so how could they be similar? In my perception both are professional and are very focused they both research, spend a great deal of time investigating trying to figure out what the best solution is to the various challenges. A Realtor clearly wants to find the best property for the buyer at the best price. Internet research, knowledge of the neighborhood, schools, market places, libraries, post offices and I could go on and on. They want to be able to communicate to the buyer if they are not familiar with the neighborhoods as if they lived here all their lives and blend in. Just like Spies want to blend in and not be noticed. So up to this point there is clearly a parallel between both professions. They both have boring research skillsJ! The average person thinks of both professions as glamorous. Well let me continue to dispel this false perception from my perspective. I am up late researching listings and communicating with my buyers and potential buyers on the internet. I get up early and read, respond and delete a hundred and plus emails and communicate with my buyers and sellers as well as potential buyers and seller. I set up appointments to see properties. In my spare time I review existing listings and want to know my inventory. In a fast market that is not always the case…. So I am even on Google trying to learn trivia that I was not aware of. Now with that said if you Google ‘The Porn Capital of the World’ you might be surprised that the San Fernando Valley of California pops up! (and feel free to test me on thisJ). So you can imagine where these mundane post leads to! I was out with a relatively shy and conservative male buyer. We were looking at one bedroom Condominiums and Townhomes since that is what the budget allowed. I took my electronic lock box opener (Supra) and opened this particular unit in Sherman Oaks. We walked past the powder room, then the galley kitchen to this high ceilinged living room with a great balcony. My buyer loved it we were making buying sounds of uhs and ahs …clearly a well maintained unit. Now we decided to go up to the open second level which housed...
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