LA Digs - Northeast LA Real Estate Blog

Experienced realtors understand that real estate sales is a numbers game. Why are there so few homes on the market? Let's look at the numbers.

While homes for sale in Highland Park, Eagle Rock and Mt. Washington are still greatly in-demand, there are fewer homes on the market in Northeast Los Angeles. This is true of real estate in Altadena, Pasadena and surrounding areas.

In the quest to understand why Northeast Los Angeles is experiencing such low housing sale inventory, I thought it might be helpful to start with some actual numbers.

There is quite a bit of talk about how many more people there are in Northeast Los Angeles than there used to be. For some perspective, I have also included nearby South Pasadena.

When it comes to selling a home in Northeast LA, conventional wisdom tell us, if you have a great home to put on the market, it will be in-demand no matter what time of the year.

They say "timing is everything" about, oh, everything and they're probably right. It's certainly true about buying and selling real estate. This is especially true in the red-hot Northeast Los Angeles real estate market, where homes in Mt. Washington, Highland Park and Eagle Rock are in high demand and real estate in Pasadena, Glendale and Altadena continue to surge.

Many potential sellers believe, for instance, that the holiday season is not an ideal time to put their NELA home on the market. Are they correct? This question is more complicated than it seems, but there is a way to understand it all.

When negotiating the details of a home sale, being shy - and making assumptions - are sure to work against you.

Homebuying is both an art and a science, whether we're talking about buying in the ultra-hot Highland Park real estate market or purchasing homes in Glassell Park, Mt. Washington or, our favorite neighborhood, Eagle Rock. There are tried and trued methods and rules that buyers should understand well in advance of signing on the line that's dotted. Here's one of those vital rules to remember:

When purchasing a home, never assume anything. I can’t count how many times I've heard homebuyers state: “But I assumed that the Seller would leave the refrigerator (or stove, or washer/dryer, or garden tools, etc.).”

Here is how it works under the current California purchase agreement—if it isn’t attached, it isn’t staying unless you specifically ask for it and the Seller agrees to leave it. I refer you to page 3, item 8 of the contract: “Items listed as included or excluded in the MLS, flyers or marketing materials are not included in the purchase price or excluded from the sale unless specified in paragraph 8 B or C.” I also include verbal statements from either agent or anyone else about what stays or goes as something to confirm in writing.

So do you want that birdbath that perfectly goes with the house but is just sitting on the ground outside? Then ask for it! In writing on Page 3, Item 8. Are you not sure if the birdbath (or washer/dryer, or bookcase, or kitchen island and bar stools) is going to stay? Trick question—if it isn’t specified in the purchase contract, it’s not supposed to stay!

Sometimes items that you thought were attached are not. If there is anything you want that you assume (that danger word again) is attached, ask for it anyway just to make sure. It’s better to err on the side of being thought silly for asking for the apparently built-in SubZero refrigerator than to see after the day escrow closes that it is gone.

Sellers, you need to pay attention also. If you want that wonderful chandelier that is the centerpiece of the whole dining room, you should replace it before you go on the market. Otherwise, you are supposed to leave it with the house. Putting it in the marketing remarks that it will be replaced in escrow is asking for the buyer to fixate on that as the main reason that they offered what they did for the house. You can negotiate that out in the contract, but why ask for trouble? Avoid problems, never give the buyer a chance to flip out over it. This is one of the rare times that it’s really better not to talk about something you know about the house.

Eagle Rock homes are now selling in the millions of dollars ... for turnkey homes and fixers. What does this mean to buyers and sellers?

Everyone from homeowners, homebuyers, home sellers, Eagle Rock realtors and market analysts have been keeping a close eye on the Eagle Rock real estate for a long while. The long, steady growth of the market has been the talk of the town. Now enough data is in and the information we can glean from the numbers is telling indeed.

There are so many interesting things to note in this table (all data from TheMLS):

By studying the available data and comparing year-over-year market performance in NELA, there's much to surmise.

The Northeast Los Angeles real estate market continues to be strong, if not for how many homes are on the market, than strong in terms of the average final price of homes sold. Homes in Eagle Rock and real estate in Glassell Park and Highland Park continue to be in-demand. A quick look at the data confirms that even in 2017, it's still a perfect time to sell your home and, if you're seeking to buy, there are still some good deals out there to be had.

Let’s see how some popular zipcodes compare in terms of some of the factors we have to consider when looking for that dream house. This table looks at how competitive a marketplace is in terms of available listings of single family homes to buy and their average sales price, as well how much and what direction the market has changed since end of summer 2015.