Endre Barath's Discussions

Kirsten, Thank you for clarifying.One less on the Things to do list done.:)

I find it ironic, that you are questioning the Realtor who is representing you. Is this  an issue of paranoid behavior Or is there a reason not to trust this person? Let me be clear if I wrote up 30 pages and explained it to you and spent 2-3 hours of my time, why would I not submit the offer to the Listing Agent?Ofcourse I would submit it. If I understand  this correctly, maybe your Realtor was trying to let you know that the odds are slim ( since you are submitting a low offer)that the bank will accept your offer. I have found that all buyers need to go thru a seasoning process, understanding that if a property is well priced there could be 2-20 offers.Hence they will write a few offers, before they start writing what the property is really worth and then get acceptance. Hope this helps

My advice is to look at what the comparables are going for. Let's use the example :  a neighborhood that selles homes for $800,000 and in the past three months has number of sales confirming this number. A Forclosure appears for $599,000 and is in comparable condition, why would you not be willing to go into a multiple offer situation? Provided you stay under the $800,000 .Then you just got yourself a good deal.Hence, consider the neighborhood and the comps.Yes Do Not bid $800,000+ , but rather be level headed.Most importantly you should remember you are buying a home to live in it for the next five to seven years, make sure you like the house and the neighborhood.

DeeDee99, First you need to determine buildability costs, such as do you need a road to the lot? How far are the Utilities? What does the building department require for the lot such as set-backs, and how large of a house you can build on it? Does it require grading, making it flat or buildable? What type of Geological Hazzards exist on the soil? What is the future value of the home. What will it cost to overcome all the obsticles I mentioned? Will it be still cost effective to build? Or is it more effective to buy a fixer? Most importantly how long will aprovals be from the City? Then you will know it the value is worth doing it. Let me know if you need any other help.

Are you family members familiar with the area? LA commute from Century City back&forth to Pasadena could be 45min to an hour, day in day out. There are great communities in Mar Vista, Playa Del Rey, Westwood. Click on my website  http:/www.endrebarath.com and go to the search for homes. This is a direct link to the Multiple Listing Website where all the other websites copy  the data from. Hence you will get realtime information. Another area to consider is Sherman Oaks which is on the other side of the Mountain and ten to fifteen minute commute to Century City.

Hi Jane:) I find that an offer should be based on: 1.what the comparables sold in the past three to four months in the neiborhood. 2. How good the terms of your offer are, for example is it an all cash offer, or is it 20% down perfect credit with a preapproval letter from a direct lender....3. How good are the terms, such as length of escrow, length of investigations period. And 4. most importantly how does this home compare to the others on the market in simmilar price range? If it is better or worse for the price. Once you factor all this in you will know what is a "fair offer". Hope this helps,Endre

To select a good buyer's agent, that works for you is important. Hence you should sit down and interview each other, either face to face, or over the internet or over the phone. It is important to see if you both are on the same page. During this process you will discover if it is a good fit or not.Knowledge of the Market, knowledge of the area as well as personality and attitude  is important.

I am a big fan of home buying. Now with that said, I am also a big fan of making prudent conservative buying decissions. If you can not afford the closing costs as well as what it entails to do your due dilligence on the soundness of your potential purchase, I would caution you to save money and waite a bit longer.In today's economic times you need to have a reserve more so than ever. If nothing else you need to keep in mind that with home ownership come unexpected repairs, insurance costs, taxes as well as normal daily upkeep costs which previously were absorbed by your landlord.There will be other opportunities when you are financially in a better position.

I currently have about 15 land listing active in the MLS and about 6  not in the MLS for sale. Hence this is experience speaking. Currently I have clients who refinanced vacant land in the Santa Monica Mountain Range. The issue is the Appraisals are lower than the market value by about 25%. Wells Fargo and B of A have done Refinancing if you would like a point of contact please reach out to me directly.