Foreclosure roundup

Here's an excellent roundup of foreclosure news around California. You'll see that things still haven't really hit Los Angeles, but they definitely are hitting the surrounding areas: HOUSING BUBBLE BLOG

Capitalize on the Hollywood boom

Right now, many homebuyers are sitting on the sidelines. They are rightfully watching to see what will happen with the real estate market as homebuilders report record losses and foreclosures increase.

But if you are thinking of buying a house in Hollywood to capitalize on the boom of urban construction, do not wait.

That's right. I'm here to tell you that if you wait, you will look back at this day and say, gosh, I could have bought much cheaper.

Why? Hollywood redevelopment is coming in a big way and there are neighborhoods near the redevelopment that have not yet benefitted in their housing prices from all the activity.

Here's a great rundown from the L.A. Times of all the Hollywood redevelopment: HOLLYWOOD'S LATEST STAR

There is really no smarter buy right now than a character home that needs fixing up in one of the depressed neighborhoods near all this Hollywood redevelopment. Interest rates are still low. Lenders have tightened standards some but are likely to tighten more. And prices are still low on blocks that stand to benefit from this redevelopment.

Very soon, that won't be the case.

See also: URBANISTS

Buying rentals in East L.A.

If you've ever considered buying rentals in Los Angeles in the past few years, you probably quickly asked yourself something as you scanned down the pro-forma sheet: Where's the cash flow?

In many areas of L.A., it's near impossible to buy residential income property and get any kind of cash flow without putting down a significant down payment. But not everywhere.

And with rents rising, you may want to jump into income property. Well, there are a few areas where buying rental property can bring cash flow without a huge down payment. And there's even a few areas where you can find cash flow and expect some property appreciation in the next few years. Now, these are not the well known areas of town. But there is money to be made here.

Let me give you a little inkling of what I'm talking about: EAST L.A.

The trouble with pricing

Like I've said before, in this market, pricing IS marketing, pricing IS strategy, pricing is not science.

You can't just look up some comps or jump on zillow decide what your house is "worth" and expect to get that. It just doesn't work that way. It actually never did. When prices were going up and property was hot, this kind of a tactic worked because there was such an eagerness to buy whatever was available. There was a lack of supply and an excess of demand. So any bad pricing was covered up by the seller's market.

Things are different now (see this recent L.A. Times story).

Now, you've got to look at much more than "the comps." Some of the things I look at include things like buyer activity at different price levels within a particular neighborhood. If we know, at what level more buyers are available, we may decide to price closer to that level. If we have a property that's priced substantially above what people are willing to pay in a particular neighborhood, we may have to expand the marketing campaign to take on some special strategies. Both strategies are about going where the buyers are. Because there's a lot fewer of them.

Amazing Toluca/NoHo condos

This isn't my listing, but I wanted to say that I saw some amazing new construction condos in the West Toluca Lake/NoHo area today.

They're called Arte Toluca and they're billed as "West Toluca" but really they're just south of NoHo on Camarillo west of Vineland. The building isn't even finished, but the model unit is spectacular. It doesn't even feel like you're really in a condo. Subterranean garage. Just top notch work all around. If you'd like more information, contact me at 323-899-4129 or chrishain@hotmail.com