Selling Your Long Beach California Home? Its A Whole New Game!

Selling Your Long Beach Home

ITS A WHOLE NEW GAME

First came the 'Do Not Call List'.  Soon to be followed by the 'Do Not Mail List'.  Now the City of Long Beach has Launched a campaign to stop unwanted handbills, which means no fliers and menus on doorsteps.  Even I have to admit that I was very pleased about the 'Do Not Call List', the unwanted solicitations were out of control.  The mail doesnt bother me much, I open my mail over a large trash can which is where the clear majority of it lands.  I dont know about you, but I like receiving the take out menus, you never know when they will come in handy.  I also enjoy getting the latest fliers and area information from my local Long Beach  REALTOR.  Its great to know whats going on in your neck of the woods. 

So, if a Long Beach REALTOR cannot call, cannot mail and now cannot drop on some door-steps, how are they going to reach the community to market your Long Beach property, beyond placing it on the MLS?  The local newspaper?  The Grunion Gazette and the Downtown Gazette have been the Long Beach Real Estate Bible and have been great resources in the past, but buyers really dont frequent the Gazette ads any more, and they are very expensive to place.  Same story with the Long Beach Press Telegram, The Real Estate Book, Homes and Land Magazine, etc¦  All of the paper resources, that have been so successful in the past for advertising and marketing your Long Beach Home, just dont work anymore.  Some, like The Real Estate Book and Homes and Land Magazine are moving most of their advertising onto the Internet in order to stay in the game.  The New York Times doesnt even expect to be in print in the coming years says Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times. 

The Internet is evolving so rapidly that companies like Realtor.com, who have been integral in the sale of homes for years now are beginning to fade into the background as major powerhouses emerge.  Zillow, Trulia and many other companies are taking the Internet by storm.  If your Long Beach Realtor  is not a part of the transition into the future of marketing real estate in a big way on the Internet, you will be left in the dust. 

A year ago 70% of all Buyers were beginning their search on the Internet.  Now more than 80% of all Buyers are actively shopping, and finding their homes, on the Internet.  Hiring a local Long Beach Realtor who is Internet savvy, has the technology in place, and can provide you with massive Internet exposure has become an absolute necessity in todays new market.  Internet Marketing has become the only effective venue to sell your Long Beach Home

You would think that all REALTORS would have, Search Engine Optimized (SEO), lead generating web sites, wouldnt you?  A lead generating web site takes a tremendous amount of time, maintenance, knowledge and money to produce. 

As many of these real estate agents scramble to get web sites, technology passes them by unnoticed.  Welcome to the age of Blogging.  Todays top real estate professionals across the country have discovered the many advantages of an amazing opportunity.  Blogs are not like traditional websites.  They are not bogged down by all of the toys and gadgets, and provide a clear path for the search engines to find them and send your message to the top of the search engines.  Savvy real estate agents from around the country have set up local real estate blog sites and are blogging on large national networks like ActiveRain and Localism, driving heavy traffic to their websites.

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Posted on March 04, 2007 15:25:26 by Laurie.Manny

Gallery of Long Beach Street Murals

Gallery of Long Beach California Street Murals

 

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Posted on February 23, 2007 18:30:51 by admin

Title Insurance Issues

In a recent transaction I represented a buyer purchasing a Long Beach CA condo.

One of the many components involved in a purchase is Title Insurance. Early on during the escrow process the Title Company will deliver a Preliminary Title Report to the REALTOR® for review and to disburse to the buyer.

The title report will disclose any obstruction to the transfer of clear title from the seller to the buyer. It will show balance of mortgage due, any unpaid taxes, liens, judgements, all which must be cleared prior to the close of escrow in order to transfer clear title. It will also show any easements and anything else that might cloud clear title.

This particular Preliminary Title Report had a paragraph, buried deep in the back of the report in the boilerplate of the contract. I noticed this while I was reviewing the document and was initially so confused by the statement that I had to re-read it 4 or 5 times, run it by a couple of people in my office and call the title officer that I normally use. I could not believe what I was reading, and was convinced that I must be having a half-heimers moment because this just could not be possible!

The basic crux of the paragraph was that the title company would not deliver title insurance on the 2 parking spaces that are deeded to the unit. I can not even begin to describe the potential problems this could cause. The title company was instructed to remove the paragraph or another title company would be used. They did so, and very quickly when challenged.

Understand that the Title Company is "INSURING" clear title to your new home and these 2 parking spaces are deeded to and a part of your new home.

My title officer went on to explain to me that this is a new ploy being used by a few less than reputable title companies in an effort to reduce their liability. Well it seems to me that if they did their job properly and did proper searches to do just that, they would not have to worry about reducing their liability.

He went on to explain that this has already caused a problem for one Long Beach Buyer and REALTOR®. They were fortunate enough to have been able to work the problem out. Apparently the 2 spaces deeded and transferred had been with that particular unit through several owners and the fact that a prior owner had switched spots with another owner in the building had gone undetected (more poor work by other title companies). When searched the problem was resolved by switching the spaces back without harm. Under different circumstances this could have been a huge problem.

So now we are back on track in the transaction (you would think).

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Posted on February 23, 2007 08:46:07 by Laurie.Manny

Aquarium of the Pacific - Downtown Long Beach CA

LONG BEACH REAL ESTATE

Aquarium of the Pacific

Rainbow Harbor - Downtown Long Beach California

While cruising the web (YouTube.com) I came across a few really nice short videos from the Aquarium of the Pacific that I thought you and your family might like to watch, so I thought I would share these with you.  I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. 

Aquarium of the Pacific Video

FUN VIDEO FROM THE AQUARIUM

Sea Lion at Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific

A Day at the Aquarium of the Pacific

Posted on February 23, 2007 03:40:38 by Laurie.Manny

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

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Posted on February 06, 2007 14:38:26 by Laurie.Manny