Los Angeles Westside Real Estate

SOLD: Stylishly updated home in northwest Mar Vista (adjacent to Santa Monica) – 13032 Psomas Way Los Angeles CA 90066 $799,000

JD — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 07:53:29 +0000

Custom exterior wood siding and front facade designed by HGTV (and it appeared on their show). Open floor plan with a gorgeous, new modern kitchen complete with Caesarstone countertops, Italian tile floors & stainless steel appliances. Full bathroom remodeled with designer mosaic tiled shower backsplash & ½ bath is also nicely redone. Made for entertaining, there are French doors off the living room that open to the backyard which has a relaxing garden setting. Cozy brick fireplace in the living room. Newly refinished hardwood floors & the home has also been freshly painted. Custom closets. Located on a very quiet cul-de-sac with ample parking to supplement the attached 2-car garage. Tree top views all the way to Marina del Rey, see the 4th of July fireworks from the backyard. Conveniently located just 2 miles from the beach. 2nd story view potential. Traditional style home is on a large corner lot and has great curb appeal!

Click on play button below to view a photo slideshow of the home

J.D. Songstad, Realtor®
Real estate in Santa Monica and the surrounding areas of Brentwood, Westwood, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Bel Air, Venice, Marina del Rey, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and beyond.
JD@MrWestside.com
310-571-3441
www.MrWestside.com

SOLD: Charming 3 bd, 2 ba home in beautiful Westwood Hills – 175 Barlock Avenue Los Angeles 90049 $1,450,000

JD — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 05:58:03 +0000

Home is on an 8500 sf lot and has a lush backyard with lots of trees. Generous sized living room with fireplace. Formal dining room and there is also a breakfast area in the kitchen. 2 bedrooms upstairs and downstairs is 1 bedroom & a huge den that features a bar, stone fireplace and built-in barbecue. Spacious bedrooms. Lots of original details and built-ins throughout. Light and bright. Home is in very clean condition, has new carpet and was just painted inside and out. Hardwood floors in 2nd upstairs bedroom. Large laundry room. Attached 2 car garage with direct access. Sprinkler system for front and back yards. Close to UCLA & Westwood Village.

Interior square footage listed is per appraiser’s measurements – buyer to verify.


Listing Price: $1,450,000
Address: 175 Barlock Avenue
City: Los Angeles
State: CA
ZIP: 90049
MLS #: 12-614235
Square Feet: 3230
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Year built: 1941

Floor plan available at the following Web page: http://mrwestside.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Scan049.pdf

Square footage listed above is per appraiser’s measurements. Public records show less square footage but the additional space appears to be permitted – buyer to verify.

Map
Schools
Market Stats
Financing
Walkability

Location Map

HURRY – ONLY ONE LEFT: Tuscan Townhome on Euclid – New Construction Luxury Townhome in the heart of Santa Monica – 1327 Euclid Street #2 Santa Monica CA 90404

JD — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 18:08:09 +0000

Price $995,000. Square footage is 1822.

OPEN HOUSE – Saturday, May 25th from 2-5 pm

Townhome offers:

3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms
A private 2 car garage (side by side parking spaces)

Living room features

Maple wood floors
Hewn stone natural gas fireplace
Garden trellis patio off living room

Kitchen features

Bosch stainless steel range/oven, dishwasher & microwave
Limestone countertops with a glass & travertine backsplash
Custom maple cabinets
Blumotion soft close drawers

Bathrooms feature:

Limestone countertops
Custom maple cabinets
Blumotion soft close drawers
Jetted tub in master bathroom (in all units except for #5)
Ceramic tile floors

Master bedroom features:

Venetian plaster natural gas fireplace (in all units except for #5)
Walk-in closet
Balcony with ocean views

Additional details:

Central heat & AC
Classic antiqued solid wood front doors
Wrought iron railings
Solid maple stairs
Recessed lighting throughout
Architectural hardware finishes
Inside laundry
Rinnai tankless hot water heater for each unit
Kolbe & Kolbe windows
Clay tile Tuscan roof
Architectural exterior lighting
City views

Unit #2 - $995,000 - AVAILABLE

1822 sf. Balcony 121 sf. Patio 185 sf.

Estimated inital monthly homeowners dues – $337.50

2 usual and ordinary household pets (such as dogs or cats) are allowed per unit.

Financing is available to qualified buyers with as little as 20% down, 80% financed.

Additional info & floor plans for the project – http://1327euclid.yolasite.com (due to changes done, not everything will match 100% to info on site).

Located at 1327 Euclid Street in Santa Monica (just north of Santa Monica Boulevard). Townhome is just 10 blocks from the 3rd Street Promenade & 3 blocks from Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center.

Contact me a private viewing:

Home staging in Los Angeles – Cost, Benefits & ROI (Return On Investment)

JD — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:12:44 +0000

How much does it cost for home staging in Los Angeles?

VACANT:
For a vacant home, the cost of Staging varies depending on the style of the property and how many rooms
need to be furnished. Most two- to three-bedroom single-family homes and condos range from $4000 -
$6000 for a 2-month rental. Large or estate homes and certain styles cost more, but the investment in Staging
ALWAYS costs less than a price reduction!

OCCUPIED:
If you are going to be living in the home and already have furniture, but need updated art, bedding or
accessories, the cost may range from $800 – $2500 or more depending on the size of your home and the
quantity of accessories required.

Chart below is helpful but some costs are low in this chart because it based on average costs for these projects throughout the US (but as you know the costs for most of these projects in Los Angeles is significantly higher).

Home staging in Los Angeles – Seller Benefeits (from The Consumer Guide to Real Estate Stating by Real Estate Staging Association)

Professionally staged homes present and show better than competing houses for sale, including new construction homes and higher-priced houses.
Staged properties will sell faster when compared with houses that have not been staged. From the date of listing until the day of closing, home staging
shortens this time frame, even in a slow real estate market.
Staged properties can increase the number of offers and selling price in hot markets.
Buyers view professionally staged listings as “well-maintained’.
Buyers’ agents recognize that professionally staged listings are “move-in” ready and are inclined to show staged properties.
Photos of professionally staged listings look better on the MLS, as well as in
print.
Professionally staged listings “STAND-OUT” in prospective buyers’ minds.

We (Real Estate Staging Association) studied 97 homes previously on the market on average 181 days before the homeowners gave up trying to sell on their own and called in a professional home stager. Those same homes were staged,
relisted and sold on average in 60 days after staging. This is 67% less time on the market.

Contact me for more information on the benefits of home staging in Los Angeles (I have articles that I can email to you).

Use a video tour to help sell your home quickly!

JD — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:47:03 +0000

Today most buyers search for homes online. To help entice them to come look at your home, it is very important to provide visual stimulation. Most buyers that I work with don’t bother to look at listings that don’t have photos, so it’s ideal to have a minimum of 25 good quality photos of the home. And if you want to get a buyer really excited, then use a high quality video tour to give them a walk-thru of your home. Here are some great statistics to show you the power of video:

Last year, 89% of buyers surfed the Web to find a house, while only 45% attended open houses and 36% looked at print ads, according to the National Assn. of Realtors’ Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

Know your video facts (from remax.net):
• YouTube gets two billion views a day
• The average person spends nearly 15 minutes a day on YouTube
• Using video multiplies your chances of ranking on page 1 of Google by 50
• Seventy-three percent of homeowners are more likely to list with someone using video; only .8 percent of real estate agents use video

But a great video does not do much good if it does not get views, so visit your agent’s YouTube channel to see how much traffic their videos are getting. There are some local Realtors with 10 times more videos than I have on my YouTube Channel, but they have had less total traffic to all their videos than I have had. And lots of other local “big name” Realtors make the mistake of not using video at all!

Here is a great example of a nice video home tour that I did for one of my listings. We received a full price offer on the townhome before the first open house!

Property inspections you need to have done when purchasing a home on the Westside of Los Angeles

JD — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:43:20 +0000

Below are some of the most common and important property inspections to have done when purchasing a home. Most inspectors give you a printed or handwritten report after doing their inspection. Other inspectors just email the report to you.

The physical inspection (also called the general inspection) is an overall inspection that checks the major systems of the home. If the physical inspector finds issues that need further investigation they may recommend that you get additional specialty inspections (roof, electrical, etc). Most physical inspection companies do not check out the alarm system so if there is an existing alarm system that stays with the home and you would like to have it inspected, you will need to contact an alarm company to inspect it.

It is very important to get a mold inspection done on every property you purchase! The physical inspector looks for mold but does not have the equipment to properly investigate all moisture intrusion and mold conditions.

A termite/pest inspection should always be done. After purchasing a home, most owners don’t have regular termite inspections done so they are often unaware of termite issues.

Never skip the sewer inspection when purchasing a single family home because even though the system may be working fine, it does not always mean that there aren’t issues. Root intrusion, bad pipe connections and cracks are common problems (that can be quite expensive to fix). A proper sewer inspection involves running a camera thru the line to visually check the condition of the system.

You will also need to verify that the property is insurable as soon as possible (you need to do this prior to the expiration of your inspection contingency). You may want to compare rates between a few insurance companies. If you currently have auto insurance, that company might be able to give you a multiple policy discount if you go thru them.

A fireplace inspection should be done on every home that has one or more fireplaces. Even if you never plan to use the fireplace, you should still have the inspection done because when it comes time for you to sell the home the same issue may come up then. It’s rather surprising how many fireplaces pass city inspection even though they were not properly installed in the first place!

If the home is located on a hillside or there is a difference in grade height around the home or on the property, you may want to have a geotechnical inspection done. This inspection checks out soil stability, history of any area landslides and it also inspects the effect that the soil around the home is having on the foundation.

When purchasing a home located on the beach in Malibu you definitely need to get a structural inspection. This inspection checks the condition of beams and posts that support the home.

Southern California Escrow Process – A Step-by-Step Explanation (by J.D. Songstad)

JD — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 01:50:02 +0000

The first step in the home buying process is for you to get approved for a home loan.

After finding a property that interests you, I will show you the comps (comparable sales) to help us determine the value of the property. The best comps are in the same building (if a condo/townhome) or in the surrounding area (if a single family home or income property). Appraisers are generally required to focus on the past 6 months when reviewing area sales so I try to do the same when verifying the property’s value.

At this point we are ready to make our offer, which will consist of 4 separate items:
1. The offer contract itself. It is written on a standard California Association of Realtor’s contract, which I complete and then review with you either in person or over the phone. I offer my clients the option of signing electronically, which can save a lot of time and paperwork hassles.
2. A pre-approval letter from your lender (let me know if you would like me to e-mail you contact information for the local lender that my clients most highly recommend).
3. Verification of funds (copies of bank and/or investment statements showing liquid funds to cover the down payment and closing costs).
4. Buyer’s intro letter. This explains who you are, what you do and what you like about the property. I usually write about 95% of this letter for you and then e-mail it to you for final editing and approval.

The offer is presented to the sellers and we wait for their response. Often times they may not sign off on our offer initially but instead write a counter offer which addresses items in the contract that they would like changed (price is the item that is countered most often). It may take several counter offers before the price and terms are agreeable to both parties.

After the offer is accepted, escrow is opened. Escrow is a neutral 3rd party and their job is to make sure all obligations of the contract are fulfilled before the seller gets their money and the buyer gets keys to the property. The most standard escrow length is 30-45 days.

I will send a copy of the completed contract to the lender and you will need to promptly provide them with any additional information and/or paperwork that they require. The lender takes care of scheduling the appraisal.

You will schedule the physical inspection with an inspector of your choice. I can give you a list of inspectors that my clients have been very happy with. The physical inspector checks all the major systems in the property (plumbing, electrical, heating, etc) and also looks for cosmetic damage and problems (sloping floors, doors that stick, cracks in walls/ceilings, etc). For a condo/townhome inspection, the inspector only inspects the unit and not the common areas (building, hallways, pool, etc) but if you are purchasing a home the inspection will also check out the exterior (roof, foundation, garage, etc.). I recommend that my clients always get a mold inspection done and if the property has a fireplace then you should also have that inspected. Whenever purchasing a single-family home it is very important to have a sewer inspection. Geotechnical inspections are especially important if you are buying a home in a hillside area. You can also schedule additional specialty inspections if you would like. After reviewing all inspection reports we will usually complete a Request for Repairs form (asking for a credit and/or repairs)… depending on what was found in the inspections.

You will also need to call an insurance company to verify that the property is insurable and get quotes for the cost of insuring the property. For a condo/townhome you are generally just insuring your personal contents (the building is almost always insured by the Homeowners Association).

The other inspections that take place during escrow include the termite inspection, which is usually paid for by the seller. A retrofitting inspection will also take place to make sure the property is up to code with smoke detectors/carbon menoxide detectors, water heater strapping and the gas shut-off valve (retrofitting requirements vary from city to city).

If the property you are purchasing is a condo/townhome, you will receive copies of all the homeowner’s documents to review. You generally have 5 days to review this paperwork which includes: copies of the meeting minutes for the past year, budget and financial information (including the amount currently in the HOA reserves) and a copy of the CC&R’s (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions).

Loan docs are usually signed as early as a week prior to closing.

Five days or less prior to closing we do a walk-thru of the property. This gives us a chance to verify that any seller repairs were completed and we also make sure the property is in the same condition as is was when we initially wrote our offer.

Two days prior to closing you wire any additional down payment & closing costs to escrow. The loan proceeds are wired to escrow one or two days prior to closing.

On closing day we wait to hear from the title company that you are listed on the county records as the new owner and then you get keys to your new home.