Downtown Long Beach Market Report – January 2007

Downtown Long Beach Real Estate Market Report

Area Sales Information (West)

1/1/2007 through 1/31/2007

For the area bounded by the 710

Freeway on the West, 1st Street on the South,

Pine Avenue on the East, Anaheim on the North.

1 Bedrooms

Active                27     Avg Price  $366,825      Avg DOM   77

In Escrow            6                         $312,316                         98

Closed Escrow    2                          $247,000                        65

On Hold              0

Withdrawn          1

Cancelled             1

2 Bedrooms

Active                 27     Avg Price  $368,551     Avg DOM   84

In Escrow             8                        $369825                        163

Closed Escrow     4                        $331,875                         81                

On Hold               2

Withdrawn           1

Cancelled              2

3 Bedrooms

Active                   3    Avg Price $549,300      Avg DOM  67

In Escrow             1                       $410,000                        81

Closed Escrow     1                       $625,000                        89

On Hold               0

Withdrawn           0

Cancelled              0

The above results do not include properties on Ocean Blvd.

and reflect all sales for the Western side of Downtown Long

Beach.

Posted on February 6, 2007 by Laurie Manny

Realtors and Commissions – Why?

                  Why    

The consumer  wants to know what makes one Realtor worth more than another and is seeking an explanation about  commissions.  I think the consumer should have some answers.

At the end of 3 interviews a sellers head must be spinning.  Most of the Realtors seem to be offering much the same, but the commission rates and suggested sale price are different and the seller just cant figure out why.  All of the Realtors said they do the same thing!  They all send out Just Listed postcards, provide flyers, signs and MLS listing.  They all will put my home in the local newspaper.  They all will do open houses.  They all will put my home on their websites.  They all will put my home out on the Internet.  They all had suggestions about how to show better.  They all showed me the comparables and had a comparable market analysis.  All of their findings were not the same!   Agent 1 said he could sell my house for a lot more and is not charging as much as that Agent 2 gal who said it would sell for less, but she wants a higher commission.  Agent 3 is out, didn’t make the cut (pick your own reason, there are many). 

What do I do?

I really want to make as much money as I can from the sale, that Agent 1 says he will get me more money and charge less commission!

Did the seller ask each agent how many Just Listed Postcards were going out? 

Agent 1 will send out 200/300 around the immediate property, the seller does not know this because Agent 1 didn’t say how many he would send out, the seller only knows that he said he would send out the cards.

Agent 2 is sending out 2500 cards-to the entire neighborhood and told the seller how many and where, does the seller assume that Agent 1 is doing the same, seller didn’t know then to ask how many. Large difference in coverage and expense here.   

Did both agents bring sample postcards and flyers from past listings? 

Does the seller get an opportunity to see the quality of the advertising and marketing they will receive?  Agent 1 brought a few flyers, that Agent 2 had a binder filled with beautiful, high quality flyers and samples of past post cards, and left me with a stack of samples.  (I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, I have a stack of her postcards in my kitchen drawer, I have been receiving them for years.)

Both agents said they would advertise my home in the local paper. 

Does the seller know that Agent 1 will advertise it for only 2 or 3 weeks?  No Agent 1 was the first interview - the seller didn’t know to ask.  Agent 2 has a annual contract with the local paper and will advertise my home for the life of the listing.  Does the seller know the difference?

Both agents said they would put my home on the Internet. 

Does the seller know that Agent 1 considers the Internet sites that the MLS sends the listings to as putting the seller on the Internet and that Agent 2 spends days placing the listing on 20 or 30 or more sites, and pays for premium services for the sellers exposure?  Did the seller ask Agent 1, how many sites, which ones, how powerful are they? Or does the seller assume that Agent 1 is doing the same as Agent 2?

Both agents said they would put my listing on their websites. 

Agent 1 has a company issued website with a Google Rank of 0, does not advertise his site and receives little or no traffic from the website.  Agent 2 has a custom site, with lead capture and automated drip system, perhaps even a blog and/or an RSS feed or 2, and is constantly cultivating leads, showed the site to the seller on her laptop, brought them into the back end and showed them the stats, hits and lead generation system.  Does the seller know the difference? 

Part of the problem is that while both agents sounded like they provide the same service, the service is no where near the same.  Agent 1 glossed over details that many sellers do not catch or understand, while Agent 2 explained the details and numbers.  Some sellers may go back and ask Agent 1 for the numbers, many assume they are doing the same and the Agent 1’s of the world slide by the radar. 

Gee, this also explains why there are so many expired listings these days!

There is no telling whether a seller will choose Agent 1 or Agent 2.  Those that choose Agent 1 stand a high chance of not selling but may get lucky, another agent might sell it after a couple of price reductions and with concessions.  They also may net less than Agent 2 quoted originally because;  they will sit on the market for a long time while prices decline.  Agent 2 will sell it, with a lot less stress and will more than likely end up netting you more money because you will not be chasing the market down.  Why?  Because it is priced properly and marketed to a wide audience.

You might want to read How to Hire the Best Realtor in Your Area

Traditional advertising and marketing, postcards, newspaper and magazine ads no longer provide the same punch they did in yesterdays market.  These are however, still expected by sellers.  They are very expensive.  Internet marketing and advertising is more effective.  With 80% of buyers searching for properties on the web it has quickly become the venue of choice.  However,  we are in between worlds right now.  Sellers still expect the traditional advertising and marketing along with the Internet punch and sometimes they are right, sometimes it still works.

Realtors are beginning to pull away from traditional advertising and marketing. 

Why do you think the news media is squealing so loudly.  Their revenues are down big time.  We are good business.  Buyers and Sellers are moving to the Internet for their housing needs. 

We Realtors are in a difficult position right now.  We are providing much more service now than ever before at a time when commissions are under scruitiny and are being challenged while expenses are up considerably.  Sellers do not want to pay the traditional commissions but do want and need the elevated services.

When we can move to a purely virtual world and possibly bring down expenses hopefully there will be more harmony between the consumers and Realtors.

Posted on February 2, 2007 by Laurie Manny

How to Hire the Best REALTOR in Your Area

LONG BEACH REAL ESTATE

We have reached, and exceeded, saturation point on what the market can tolerate financially. Buyers have gone into sticker shock and have retreated; standing on the sidelines, watching prices going down. Wanting to purchase a property and buy it way below market. Sellers are watching the market wanting to believe that prices will escalate as they have for many of the past several years. As each week goes by they are getting more nervous. Should I list now? Should I wait? Prices are not going up, maybe I should list it now, if I wait I could get a lot less value.

What to do?

All of this as the Long Beach properties pile up on the market; more and more going on every day. Many agents are listing Long Beach homes with the high prices of a time gone by. Failing to properly educate sellers about the inherent risks of pricing their properties at too high a price and how much money this terrible, terrible error will cost them. Reducing prices too late, having to reduce them again and again, while the seller chases the market down and down further. The Sellers watching as their property value flies out the window, all because either their agent did not properly educate them, or they did not listen. Result: The property does not sell and is worth a lot less than it would have been had it been priced properly and sold in the early part of the contract. Did you know that approximately 80% of listed homes are not selling in today’s market?

How do I avoid this?

Take the pricing decision out of your agents hands. Insist on seeing the comparable sales. Look at them, I mean really look at them. Spend some time with them. Compare them to your property and remove your ego. Really look at size, condition and proximity to your own home. How long ago did they sell? Did they sell at the top of the market? If they did what is the market now? How much can you truly ask for your property, realistically? Interview several agents, really interview them. Ask the hard questions and demand the answers. Ask why there are so many properties on the market in your area that have not sold. There are basically only three reasons property does not sell, price, condition and lack of communication. Examine these, determine why each one did not sell, or is not selling, knowledge is power.

Don´t make the same mistakes.

The Buyers that are in the market have their choice of the multitude of properties that are listed; naturally they are going to shop for the best property at the best price. If they have a good agent, they are going to negotiate terms. Is your agent a good negotiator? Did they accept a reduced commission?

If they could not negotiate with you on their own behalf, how are they going to fare when negotiating on YOUR behalf?

Are you offering a Buyers agent a tempting commission? A tempting commission may be the difference in your house being shown to many more Buyers, perhaps an over and above bonus to the Buyers agent for a full price offer that actually closes in 30 days? What is your agent going to do to put your property in the forefront? How are they going to make it visible to the Buyers that are looking now? Can they tempt the Buyers to force their agents to show YOUR Long Beach property?

Is your agent prepared to and capable of reaching these Buyers through print media and advertising, do they have the ability to E-Market your property to a large cross section of Buyers, investors and top agents? How Many? Are they Internet savvy? Will they place your property on enough sites to actually make a difference? What sites? How powerful are those sites? Do they subscribe to additional premium services to better display your property to a larger cross section of potential Buyers and agents? Do they have a successful, lead generating web site? Do they have a large arsenal at their immediate disposal to best represent you?

Download the Google toolbar, pull up their website and run your cursor over the Page Rank icon on the toolbar. An “average” agent’s home page should have a 3 ranking, few do, many don’t even have sites and most are sub par. Anything over a 3 required a “tremendous” amount of time, money and content generation. This agent works hard, is intelligent, cares about their business, and is generating a lot of traffic (leads) to benefit their clients. This is NOT an agent who is buying their way up the search engines, yet unable to perform. This is an agent that performs.

Is your potential agent well financed? Interesting question, “Is your potential agent financially sound enough to properly represent you?” It takes a large investment by an agent in our current market to put your property into all of the above mentioned venues. The longer you sit on the market, the more money it costs. Or is your potential agent going to place you on the MLS and hope that another agent will sell it and they will get a hefty commission check. This is the case much of the time.

The really BIG question here is do you want to “LIST” your Long Beach property or do you want to “SELL” it?

Hiring an agent is not a personality contest; it is a business partnership between yourself and your agent. If you want to sell your Long Beach home in the current market you must have a Realtor that can provide you with the tools required to reach the largest cross section of Buyers effectively and immediately.

Posted on February 2, 2007 by Laurie Manny

Artcraft Manor, Long Beach California

Artcraft Manor Neighborhood of Long Beach California

Just south of the 405 Freeway and north of the traffic circle, you will find this charming area of Long Beach.  Artcraft Manor provides the best of two worlds: Easy, quick access to work, fabulous shopping and California State University, Long Beach (CSULB); plus a family-friendly, quiet neighborhood where you can enjoy outdoor activities like walking or jogging.  Homes in the Artcraft Manor neighborhood were primarily built between the early to mid 1900s.

Centrally located in the Long Beach area the Artcraft Manor neighborhood is only a hop, skip or a jump to the beach, Belmont Shore, Downtown Long Beach, Bixby Knolls, Colorado Lagoon, or to El Dorado Park for a great day of golf or outdoor family fun.

Community and school information for 90815.

Investment Opportunities

If you’re looking for investment property, look no further than Artcraft Manor. Here you’ll find many well maintained duplexes ideal for owners who want to occupy one unit and rent the other.  You’ll have no trouble finding renters.  Because of the convenient location, the demand for rental properties are high in Artcraft Manor.

Let´s Play Ball

With night-lighted volleyball and basketball courts, its no wonder that Stearns Champions Park is a favorite of residents and visitors.  Within its 20.97 acres, you’ll find a baseball field, community center with rentable rooms, picnic area, playground and soccer field

Make Artcraft Manor Your New Home

It would be my pleasure to consult with you regarding available properties in the Artcraft Manor area.  Contact Laurie (562) 212-5420 For all of your Long Beach CA Real Estate needs.

If you are Relocating to Long Beach; thinking about Selling your Long Beach Home or about to Purchase a Long Beach Home, Contact Laurie today, 562-212-5420.

In a Slow Market you need a Strong Realtor.

I dont make promises.

I deliver results!

Relocating to Long Beach California-Resource Guide

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Laurie Manny