Selling Your Long Beach Homes-Long Beach Real Estate

Yay!  The Down Market is OVER!

No it's not, but now that I have your attention, the market has changed a bit and there are a few things you really need to know if you are thinking about selling your Long Beach homes. 

Back in the hot sellers market one of the sales strategies used was to price a home a little low, take multiple offers, and play them off of each other to drive the price up.  It worked!  That strategy, applied to today's Long Beach real estate market is working as well. 

Pricing your home low will inspire the interest of buyers and agents and create a quick, steady flow of traffic and multiple offers to your home. 

For instance, if your home, in great condition, comps out at $500,000 and you listed it at $299,000 you would have the attention of the entire real estate market.  You would have to prepare yourself for a major onslaught of showings, perhaps as many as 30 to 50 a day.  The offers would pour in and bid up.  At $500,000, you would sit on the market for months, probably price reduce a couple of times to about $450k and likely sell around $440k, if at all.  If you choose this road, you will probably sell at around the same price, without the time delay.  It's clean and fast. 

An added benefit to creating multiple offers is that you have a choice.  You will not be forced to accept an offer with weak financing because it is the only offer you have.  There will be an assortment of offers for you to choose from thereby placing you in a stronger position to close escrow successfully. 

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Posted on May 24, 2008 17:51:57 by Laurie.Manny

Long Beach Own Your Owns-OYO-OYOs-Condo Conversions-Income Properties in Long Beach

Long Beach Own Your Owns - OYOs

What the Heck is an OYO?

Why would I want to own one?

Long Beach has been home to many Own Your Owns over the years. They can be found throughout Downtown Long Beach, Alamitos Beach, Bluff Park and into Belmont Heights; older, usually 2 or 3 story buildings tucked between newer and sometimes taller buildings.   Recent Condo Conversions have trimmed the numbers of available OYOs considerably. OYOs used to be a really good investment, selling for considerably less than Long Beach Condos, they proved to be a very desirable purchase. When they successfully converted to condominiums owners realized large profits.  Often condo conversion was the motivation for purchasing an Own Your Own. 

Many buyers ask about OYOs.  They want to know if they are the same as a condo, or more like a stock cooperative. 

OYOs are similar in ownership to condos in that they are both fee simple ownership with individual tax bills and deeds. OYOs are a pre-condominium form of ownership, mostly built in the 50s. They generally sell for less than condos and are occasionally candidates for condo conversion, if they qualify, at which time they increase in value dramatically. Often OYOs will not have sufficient parking to qualify for condo conversion. 

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Posted on May 05, 2008 18:18:26 by Laurie.Manny

Long Beach California Real Estate Sales

Long Beach California Real Estate Sales Update

January - April 2008

The real estate market in Long Beach has begun to shift.  We have witnessed a steady rise in homes and condos for sale in Long Beach since the beginning of the year, as is witnessed by the chart provided.  Buyers who have been waiting out the real estate market hoping to get that incredible deal are now buying those Long Beach homes and condos they have been wanting. 

Interest rates are still great, although lenders are tightening up on lending standards.  It is getting more difficult to procure a home loan unless your income and credit scores are high, your credit history is good and your debt ratio is low.  As we progress into the summer months lending standards will become even more stringent.   

• Long Beach Mortgage Rates Reports

If you are one of the consumers who has been sitting on the sidelines waiting for Long Beach real estate prices to drop before you begin your buying process, you might want to speak to a mortgage lender pretty soon.  Run your credit, find out if you qualify for a home loan sufficient to make that purchase.  You may also decide to go ahead and buy now while Long Beach prices are low, some concessions are still being granted and home loans are still available to consumers with less than pristine credit. 

• Long Beach Homes & Condos-7 Steps to Pre-Home Purchase Preparedness 
• Buying Your Long Beach Home - Getting Started 
• Long Beach Home Search-Where do I start? 
• New FHA Loan Limit For Long Beach Homes
  
• Long Beach Homes - To Buy or Not To Buy? 
• Long Beach Homes and Condos - Negotiating Your Offer 
• Long Beach Home Ownership - 1st Time Home Buyers and The American Dream 

 Real Estate Sales in Long Beach California - 2008 - Year to Date

• Long Beach Homes and Condos Market Report-Jan-Dec Home Sales 2007 
• Long Beach Income Property Market Report-January-December 2007-Including Signal Hill 
• Downtown Long Beach Stock Co-operatives 

There are many REO (Real Estate Owned) or bank owned homes and condos on the market in Long Beach.  There is a huge demand for these homes, especially the nicer ones, and many are receiving multiple offers and selling quickly.  When a bank, or a seller, receives multiple offers, they generally are not willing to grant much, if anything, in the way of concessions, which means the buyer is paying a higher NET price. 

Recently many home sales have been at or near full price with minimal contribution, if any, toward closing costs.  Some bank owned properties, which have sat on the market, have been successfully negotiated at considerably lower prices.  Most of these have been purchased by contractors or other professionals who know how to make the necessary repairs and upgrades at minimal cost.  First Time Buyers do not have the after purchase cash to bring these homes up to standard. 

• Who is Negotiating YOUR Long Beach Home Purchase or Sale 

All cash buyers are shopping and closing deals, and thier money is making waves here in Long Beach.  A seller of a Long Beach home or a bank will gladly accept a cash offer.  For them a cash offer means they dont have to worry about a loan program disappearing or a lender closing its doors in the middle of their transaction.  They dont have to worry about a buyers credit position changing during the course of the transaction or the lenders guidlines changing and precluding the buyer from the loan program midstream.  They know that an all cash purchase has an excellent chance of actually closing escrow.  Many escrows have not been successfully closing here in Long Beach, especially those with 100% financing programs involved, which makes the all cash buyer - or the buyer with a large down payment very attractive to a seller.  Sometimes a seller will accept a slightly lesser offer for the assurances an all cash deal can provide.  Money talks¦

Home sales in Long Beach are on the incline, prices are down, interest rates are still great; now is a good time to buy.

• Home Buyer Tips - Dont Make Any Major Purchases
• Home Buyer Tips - Changing Jobs Affects Your Ability to Purchase a Home
• Home Buyer Tips - Things to Avoid Before Purchasing a Home 

Learn About Long Beach California:

• Relocating to Long Beach California-Resource Guide 

Call Laurie today to begin your home buying process.

Long Beach Homes For Sale

• Long Beach Homes For Sale $300000 to $400000
• Long Beach Homes For Sale $400000 to $500000
• Long Beach Homes For Sale $500000 to $700000
• Long Beach Homes For Sale $700000 to $900000
• Long Beach Homes For Sale $900000 to $1200000
• Long Beach Luxury Homes For Sale $1200000 to $2500000
• Luxury Homes For Sale in Long Beach California $2.5 Million and up
  

Long Beach Condos For Sale

• Long Beach Condos For Sale $1,500,000 and higher
• Long Beach Condos For Sale $1,000,000 to $1,500,000
• Long Beach Condos For Sale $900,000 to $1,000,000
• Long Beach Condos For Sale $800,000 to $900,000
• Long Beach Condos For Sale $700,000 to $800,000
• Long Beach Condos For Sale $600,000 to $700,000
• Long Beach Condos For Sale $500,000 to $600,000
• Long Beach Condos For Sale $400,000 to $500,000
• Long Beach Condos For Sale $300,000 to $400,000
• Long Beach Condos For Sale Under $300,000

Long Beach Income Properties For Sale

• Income Property For Sale in Long Beach California-5+ Units
• 2 to 4 Units For Sale in Long Beach California
• Triplexes For Sale in Long Beach California
• Duplexes For Sale in Long Beach California

Posted on May 03, 2008 19:37:51 by Laurie.Manny

Long Beach Real Estate - A Peek Inside the Business of Selling Long Beach Real Estate

Here on our Long Beach Real Estate site I usually write purely real estate related articles targeted at educating and informing buyers and sellers of Long Beach Real Estate. Today I would like to give you a little peek into the business side of things and explain how they can affect the sale or purchase of your Long Beach homes.

In a recently published post I disclosed the 2008 closed sales in Long Beach; 674 of them, through 4/30/08. While the chart shows the sales increasing each month, the sales figures are still very low. (Includes sales of homes, condos, lofts, co-ops, Oyos, 2-4 units and 5+ units as recorded on the MLS)

• Jan 130
• Feb 153
• Mar 179
• Apr 212
• Total: 674

These are difficult times for those of us surviving in the real estate industry. Going into this down market there were about 2900 licensed Realtors on record, there are currently about 1600 licensees active in the Long Beach area. Every market will support a certain amount of agents based on the closed sales of that market. Each agent needs a certain amount of closed sales in order to survive. Lets assume that 8 to 10 closed sales for the year are required for a Realtor to even survive this market; 674 closed sales would produce 8 to 10 sales for the year, for between 200 and 250 Realtors. Those sales are currently spread across 1600 current licensees, which would equate to less than ½ of a sale for each Realtor for the first 4 months of 2008.

In the real estate industry we have an 80/20 saying. It states that 20% of the agents do 80% of the business. 20% of 1600 agents = 320 which would equate to about 2 closed sales for the majority of the 20% still doing business.

So how are 1600 Realtors surviving a market with sales that will currently only support 200 to 250?

• Some have other income, or a spouse or significant other with income.
• Some have taken on Part or Full time jobs, while trying to juggle their real estate.
• Some have anticipated this market and made plans to survive it.
• Some are making enough sales to manage.

What of the 80%? That is 1280 agents, still active, for the last 4 months. How are they surviving with little or no sales? Well, they either have spousal support a trust fund or they have accepted salaried positions. Lets take a look at that. Real estate is a more than full time job; it is a commitment which permeates every hour of every day of our lives. Real estate transactions require a lot of attention on a daily basis. Escrow, title, lenders, inspections, appraisers banks and more need to be attended to, mostly during normal business hours. Buyers need to see properties around their schedules which often means after work or weekend showings. Sellers properties often need tending, flyers run out; keys go missing from a lock box or end up in another box on the same property. A pipe may burst on a listing with an out of town owner; anything can happen. How is an agent who has accepted employment elsewhere, with a set schedule, going to be able to deal with the schedule and responsibilities of a full time Realtor? How does that affect the buyer or seller? Has the agent even disclosed to the buyer or seller that they are not fully available? Do you know if your agent is available to conduct business, full time on your behalf?

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Posted on May 01, 2008 23:00:00 by Laurie.Manny

Long Beach Condos Sales April 2008

Long Beach Condos - Sales April 2008

(Includes Long Beach Lofts and Loft live/work space Sales)

There are currently 652 Lofts and Condos for Sale in Long Beach

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Posted on May 01, 2008 22:53:32 by Laurie.Manny