5703 Troost, North Hollywood is sold and I get taught a lesson

5703 Troost in North Hollywood, listed in September for $495,000, sold this week for $512,000.  It had been in escrow for $515,000 but that got 'walked back' during the inspection process.  My sellers were wonderful, savvy clients who moved to get a shorter commute.

I met the buyers at the open house and it was immediately evident that they liked the property.  The buyers told me they were going to use an agent from a popular online site that we'll call Greenscale.  I told them this would put their offer in a bad light -- Greenscale chunks its tasks down so much that you never know what agent you'll be dealing with that day, or who said what to whom, or who has the paperwork, etc.  Because of that, they are quite difficult to work with and that's a material fact I would have to tell my sellers as they considered the multiple offers we received.

So the buyers picked a regular Valley agent instead.  Hurray -- but not so fast.  This Realtor is completely untrained on the internet or any electronic communication devices.  I should have known I was in trouble when I received a hand-written offer on forms that were six generations old.  Anyway, we wound up double- and triple-doing and communicating everything over and over again, which is exactly what I wanted to avoid with a Greenscale agent.  And I got taught a lesson about trying to make transactions easier.  But the transaction closed, and I will miss my sellers and their baby.

Real estate in Spain

Just what you wanted to know -- how's the real estate market in Spain?  Well, since I was there last week I'm able to tell you.  The Spanish economy is not good.  Unemployment is really, really high and of course the Spanish are experiencing somewhat of the same kind of real estate market that we did in 2008+.  A lot of smaller areas have new developments that are unsold and, in some cases, not even finished.  The picture above is of a town in Don Quixote country.

...But of course, in the highly desirable centers of the bigger cities, premium apartments and homes in the bigger cities are going up in price.  Sound familiar?

But what of all those lovely character homes in the centers of the old cities? Wouldn't it just be fabulous to own one of those? Apparently, nobody wants them.  There is no place to park.  The streets are just a few feet wide.  (Imagine trying to get your brand-new front-loading washer dryer set delivered.)  All electrical wiring is on the outside of the building.  It's a real problem to get anything fixed as the municipalities won't let you make changes to the outside of the residential buildings.  Sellers have to hang for-sale signs from their windows as there are no yards to put posts in (see above).  So as interesting as this all was, I think I'll stick to San Fernando Valley real estate for now.

HGtv's House Hunters Renovation

I shot an episode of House Hunters Renovation last week with some clients who recently purchased.  It was really fun -- the crew were really nice and very professional and of course I love my clients. Unfortunately I can't tell you any more than that right now and I don't yet know when it will be on.

San Fernando Valley ranch-style homes

I attended a fascinating presentation today by architect Alan Hess on ranch homes in the San Fernando Valley.  Mr. Hess has written many architecture books about mid-century modern homes, coffee-shop architecture (the so-called "Googie" architecture), specific architects like John Lautner and Frank Lloyd Wright, etc.  Needless to say, he knows what he's talking about. I learned the following nuggets:

- Did you know how the "ranch" got its name? Why, from popular culture and the movies, of course.  This particular style of development ran parallel to America's love for anything "western."

- Toluca Woods was the first large-scale planned community and predated Levittown in NY.

- The suburbs aren't just sprawl.  At the time they were built in the 1950s, they solved America's post-war housing shortage and were really planned communities.  Most were anchored by grocery stores, schools, and other things consumers needed at the time.  They were the original walking communities (nobody in those days knew about the need to walk to the tanning place or the craft beer bar.)

Most of Mr. Hess's books can be found online at Amazon.com.

Bravo TV's Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis

I just got a call from the casting director of Bravo TV's Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis.  That's Jeff, above.  The show sounds great -- they actually rehab/reconstruct space in your home to make it more user-friendly.  Considering the basic housing stock here and what generations of home owners have done to that stock, home rehab is something that just about every home owner in the San Fernando Valley needs, no?

Home buyers Ryan and Misty discuss their experiences

My home buyer clients, Ryan and Misty, have been looking for a home in Burbank for some time now. They discuss their experiences here.  Excuse the poor sound quality.

I predict the short-term future of the local real estate market

Although I don't have a crystal ball, I think we're in for a strong first and second yearly quarters, as far as San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles real estate goes. Why do I say that? It appears that buyers are coming out of the woodwork.  There's a nexus right now between low interest rates and lower-than-in-recent-memory home prices and short inventory.  Everything is going into multiple offers.  There are lots of cash buyers out there.  Plus, I think that potential buyers may just be tired of sitting on their hands and may be feeling a little more confident than they have in the recent past.  I wouldn't be surprised to see prices go up before the summer. We'll see...

San Fernando Valley real estate is heating up

I'm noticing more buyer activity for homes for sale in Burbank, Glendale, North Hollywood, etc. More showings, more offers. This is consistent with what I've seen in the past in January. I'm not seeing prices rise -- yet. Now, we just need more inventory.