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LA Digs - Northeast LA Real Estate Blog

Welcome to LA Digs, the real estate and Northeast Los Angeles community blog written by Realtors Tracy King and Keely Myres.

Here, we share tips, market updates, and local news bits to keep you informed on what's happening in Northeast Los Angeles and the surrounding neighborhoods. Read on to learn about the latest in your neighborhood!

Today's Version of Irrational Exuberance

Remember when Alan Greenspan, former chair of the Federal Reserve, talked about the irrational exuberance in the stock market? You might not, because the quote is from a speech he gave all the way back in 1996! I see some of the same enthusiasm in the pricing of some houses on the market in our dear corner of Northeast Los Angeles. But the exuberance Greenspan referred to had to do with actual business being transacted. In today’s real estate market, I’m seeing irrational exuberance in some list prices, not in actual closed sales.

I’m dedicated to attaining a fair market price for our real estate. But that doesn’t mean that sellers should be listing their homes at overly ambitious prices, because that does nothing to firm up actual sale prices.

Let’s imagine that you are in the market for a home. You are pre-approved for $800,000 and you want a 2 bedroom 1 bath home in Eagle Rock. You look on the computer every day to see if something new has come on. Although you think $800,000 is a lot of money to pay for a small home, it is not easy to find a really good property in the right neighborhood for that price.

One day a property comes on that fits your criteria but it’s listed for $829,000. You wouldn’t even see it on the Internet because your search is limited to properties in the $450,000 to $825,000 range. But let’s say you are out one day and see an open house sign and stop in. Hmm. $829,000? Out of your league, you figure, and you leave.

Another day comes with a new listing for $825,000 that is pretty nice, but not quite big enough. Eh, you let that go because it’s at the top of your range and probably not worth it to you.

Another day you are looking and you see a small but perfect property for $675,000. Wow. You rush to call your agent and hurry over. There are already 5 other prospective buyers there with their agents and the buzz is loud. What’s the plan for multiple offers? How much do we need to offer to be in the running? Can we expect a counter if we offer enough over or are they going to take best and final? Do you think I can get the lender to pre-approve me for $830k? $850k?

Which property do you think might get the highest final sales price?

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What is it like to buy a home in Los Angeles?

What is it like to buy a home in Los Angeles?

We all have to live somewhere—even if it’s under a bridge. Most of us don’t live under bridges, though, and herein lies the story—it’s very hard to be a buyer in today’s market. I know this because I just sold my home (of 18 years), and now I need to buy a new one. Buyers today (me too) hope that the market is changing—in their favor of course. But, as a Realtor, I do understand all sides of this issue--Buyer, Seller, Realtor. 

It's painful to try to buy a house in the Los Angeles area today, unless you have unlimited funds and are willing to spend a lot of them. A surprising number  of folks do have a lot of money, and they all seem to like the same houses I do!

People are paying crazy amounts of money to live here. We have been in an increasing price sales cycle for ten years. People say “It can’t go on,” and yet it does. Even so, the market is very discriminating and the standard of quality or style has really been raised. Homes that you wouldn’t put on your Pinterest Dream Home board just sit there—they even have price reductions! 

Back when I first began my real estate career, people in the business jeered at sellers who felt that their house was worth more because they “used heavy-duty nails,” which was code meaning they had used quality materials in their maintenance and remodeling efforts. The only way to increase value then was to increase square footage. That has never been entirely true, but “style, design, and functionality” has now come into play like never before. High-end finishes do add value these days, and the more stylish, the better.  

Why is that? Because what house buying is about these days is “How does this house make me feel?” or “Does this house have the potential to make me feel the way I want to?” Yes, folks, buying a home today is all about the emotion, not price per square foot or recent comps. If you don’t believe me, fine, but you won’t buy a house in this market, or you are not interested in buying a home you love, or you can love a house because it fits into the average price per square foot.

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How to Prepare Your Home to Sell

You’re getting ready to put your home up for sale soon which has you making endless to-do lists of things that need to get done so that your house makes the biggest impact when it goes on the market. You've read article after article about creating curb appeal, decluttering and removing personal belongings, staging each room so it looks like a model home. There’s the deep cleaning, minor repairs to take care of, and giving your walls a fresh coat of paint. It can all start to seem extremely overwhelming and expensive!

We've seen this happen with our clients over and over and so we decided to find a way to make the process much easier (and less stressful!). 

Enter Compass Concierge. With this only-at-Compass offering, we'll front the cost of services to improve your home for a quicker, more profitable return. Exclusive to our clients, our Concierge program will prepare your home for the market. From deep-cleaning to cosmetic improvements, we'll work with you to assess every opportunity to elevate your home's value. 

And with our in-house construction company, Eagle Rock Restoration, all you have to do is decide which improvements you want to include in your preparation plan. We'll manage the project (big or small) from start to finish!

Compass will cover all upfront costs, collecting payment for the services rendered when your home closes escrow. By investing in your home's potential, we aim to provide a swifter, more profitable sale.

Services include: 
Staging

Deep-cleaning

Cosmetic renovations

Decluttering

Landscaping

Painting

Pest control

and more!

Curious to learn more? Contact us to discuss how Compass Concierge could help you.

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Introducing Compass Cares

Through this unique philanthropy program, we're giving back to the community, one home at a time. 

Our new hyper-local approach to giving and volunteering, Compass Cares empowers us to support causes that are meaningful to us — and to you! — right where it counts most: at home. 

With every transaction our team closes, we'll make a contribution to help local institutions continue to make our incredible community an even better place for us all to live.

Our team loves our hometown, but it's all of you—our clients—who inspire us to give back. Recently we've been honored to donate to Union Station Homeless Services, Center for the Arts Eagle Rock, and the Northcentral Animal Shelter on behalf of our clients. We look forward to sharing our progress with you as together we work toward an even brighter tomorrow.

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Introducing Compass Coming Soon

Introducing Compass Coming Soon

As your agent, our primary goal is to find new ways to sell your home as fast as possible for the highest price, so we couldn't be more excited to share a new initiative with you today: Compass Coming Soon. A unique pre-marketing opportunity, Coming Soon will allow us to reach potential buyers before officially listing your home. Why is this so important? For a few key reasons:

Greater demand.

From movie trailers to Fashion Week, other industries have mastered the art of pre-marketing. That’s what Compass Coming Soon is all about — building excitement and anticipation for your property.

Increased exposure.

With a Compass Coming Soon listing, you have not one, but two opportunities to launch your property: first on Compass.com, then later on the MLS and aggregator sites.

Invaluable insights.

We’ll gain key feedback regarding the initial pricing, photography, and positioning of your property ahead of listing it, without having to amass any days on market.

More flexibility.

Don’t have professional photos shot or staging completed just yet? No problem! You can get a head start with Coming Soon while you wrap up the details you’ll need to list with the MLS. 

What about buyers?

Coming Soon allows buyers to learn about these properties — as well as potentially view them and submit an offer — well in advance of the competition. In some cases, Compass Coming Soon listings are sold so quickly, they’re never even entered into the MLS! If you’re looking to buy, don’t miss this significant and unique opportunity to be first in line for the home of your dreams. 

Interested in learning more about the benefits of listing or buying with Compass Coming Soon? Call or email us today and let's get the conversation started!

View all Compass Coming Soon listings!

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