New Comstock Hills Pocket Listing in Westwood
March 17, 2009 by Debbie Bremner · View Comments
This elegant four-bedroom Spanish Revival home, meticulously restored and enlarged, is situated in the highly coveted Comstock Hills neighborhood within minutes to Century City, Beverly Hills and UCLA. Its seamless addition respects every detail of the original craftsmanship, replicating intricate archways and creating a magnificently tiled staircase with custom ironwork that winds its way through a rotunda to the second floor.
Sun floods the majestic living room articulated with carved beams and an exquisite original art glass window looking out to the garden. A formal dining room and breakfast room with vintage leaded glass cabinets open to the outdoors with French doors offering easy flow for entertaining to the front terrace and lawn with its skyline view of Century City. The glamorous kitchen with Carrara marble and wood block counters features all the appliances that an accomplished chef demands. It opens to an inviting tiled terrace ready for comfortable al fresco dining. The cozy library/den and family room both have French doors opening to inviting tiled terraces. The downstairs bathrooms have vintage light fixtures and exquisite tile work with an original sunburst window showing off the delightful powder room.
Three bedrooms comprise the second floor with the generous master enjoying garden views from a Juliet balcony. The large master bathroom in blazing white tile has a separate tub, extra large shower and double Cararra marble-top sinks mounted in antique stands. The second upstairs bathroom is beautifully tiled and has a large tub and generous separate shower.
The home contains outstanding custom cabinetry and a state of the art entertainment and security system and dual zone heat and air conditioning. A separate outside studio has been created as a home office.
The Comstock Hills neighborhood, east of Beverly Glen Blvd, is not only close to hip restaurants, shops and theaters, but is proud of its outstanding Fairburn Elementary School, one of the best in the City.
The home is offered for $3,195,000. Total bedrooms, 4, total baths, 3.5. The house is approximately 4,000 sq. ft., and the lot is approximately 6882 sq. ft.
Little Holmby Pocket Listing Sold
March 16, 2009 by Debbie Bremner · View Comments
What did the pocket listing at 10708 Le Conte sell for?
Elegant Corner Traditional
This property is a perfectly elegant Westwood picket-fenced charmer on a beautiful, sweeping corner lot. This rare, larger one-story home, built in 1939, has a gracious living room, built for grand entertaining and a nicely sized formal dining room. The family room leads through French doors to patio and pool. Updated Carrara marble kitchen with separate breakfast room also leads out to the yard. Lovely master suite with newer Carrara marble bath and lots of closets. Two additional bedroom suites, each with its own bath. The property was asking $2,600,000 as a pocket listing, and sold for $2,525,ooo. The house was listed as 3345 square feet per assessor, and the lot was 11,880 per assessor.
The private sales in Little Holmby, Westwood, and Brentwood are helping appraisers, who have a dearth of new data with which to appraise local properties. (See Appraisals compromised due to lack of comps)
Timing the Bounce
March 16, 2009 by Debbie Bremner · View Comments
It seems that Realtors always think its a good time to buy, but I like to think about it from a logical, rational perspective. Historically, real estate is cyclical, and the recovery is imminent. Throughout this downward cycle, buyers have been “on the fence”, waiting for the market to turn. There is a tremendous amount of pent-up demand from those buyers waiting in the marketplace. Buying before the market fully recovers is better than buying when prices start back up, and housing inventory is in short supply.
No one was complaining when rates were 6.5%. not long ago, BUT a 30 year fixed rate mortgage was 4.875% on Friday at close of business. Because of mortgage rates alone, the average home buyer in our market can afford a home priced $150,000 to $200,000 MORE and still have virtually the same payment! (Obviously taxes and insurance will need to be taken into consideration.)
Because of mortgage rates, first time home buyers can look up to $600,000 instead of $450,000, and that certainly opens up more possibilities. Add to that the various stimulus tax credits available, and 2009 could prove to be one of the best times for first time purchasers in 25 years. A move up buyer can look up to $1,700,000 instead of $1,500,000, (rounded for negotiation). The difference could be getting a house instead of a townhome, those granite counters and family room that you always wanted, or getting the home with the 2 car garage and pool now instead of waiting until your next move.
Timing The Bounce
When did the ball bounce? It bounces when it hits bottom and starts back up. Can one ever time the bounce to see the exact bottom? Unfortunately, no. So then what is the buyer’s strategy for building wealth in a turbulent market? The old saying of “buy low, sell high” is a tried and true method of creating wealth. The expression is not, “buy bottom, sell top” for a reason- it’s not possible to time the bounce.
We never know when the bottom, nor the top, is. So the best advice for buyers is, aim low. Consult with your Realtor, who will help you weigh all the facts, including interest rates, inventory, personal need, and what you can afford. Then get off the fence and buy. Don’t listen to pundits or peers at the water cooler. Have confidence that the decisions you make will be wealth- building in the long run.
If my 32 years in the business have taught me one thing, it is this: there will be a lot of people in a few years who will say, “I wish I had bought that house in 2009, when it was only $$$$. ” I’ve seen it before, and I’ll see it again.
New Little Holmby Pocket Listing
March 15, 2009 by Debbie Bremner · View Comments
A new opportunity is here in Little Holmby, not in the MLS. This house, on the market as a private sale, is approximately 4300 square feet. The lot is 13,800 and is gated. The house sits back from the street and is very private. A long drive takes you to a garage and there is also parking in the motor court.
The house has been recently remodeled within the past year. It is contemporary but with warmth (dark wood floors, stainless kitchen, beautiful tile work and granite in kitchen and baths). The ceilings are high and the rooms are big. There is a sun room, formal dining room, media room, breakfast area, family room and living room with balcony and steps down to the pool.
The pool has an entertainment room that supports it. There is a spa and fireplace outdoors with a small bedroom down stairs. The house could be 5 bedrooms but one of the bedrooms is currently used as a media room. The master is stunning, with a big bath with spa tub, steam shower and big closets. Warner Avenue School.
Offered at $3,695,000
Call for more details or a private showing.
Appraisals compromised due to lack of comps
March 14, 2009 by Debbie Bremner · View Comments
One only needs to see the estimates for their homes on Trulia or Zillow.com to figure out that the valuations could be off in either direction due to a lack of comparable neighborhood sales. Apparently that same issue is also impacting the work that appraisers need to do to help underwrite loans.
From CNNMoney.com:
For real estate appraisers, determining what a house is worth has become increasingly difficult, which is making it even harder for buyers to purchase homes or for homeowners to refinance. The main tool in the appraiser’s kit is the sale prices of homes in the area. If they can find similar houses nearby in similar condition that sold recently for, say, $300,000, they can assume that the home they are appraising is worth a comparable amount.
But with sales volume falling, there are fewer homes with which to compare. In fact, sales of new homes crashed in January to the lowest level in 45 years, and existing home sales fell to a 12-year low.
And even when there are recent sales figures, they often don’t hold up as a reliable baseline. Appraisals are estimates of market value at a given time, and with prices in free fall, values “age” quickly…
So in lieu of good sales figures, appraisers often consider contract prices, the ones first agreed to between buyers and sellers. But those are not much better because many sales don’t close.
During the boom, pressure was put on appraisers to inflate values so that sales would go through. Sellers, buyers, real estate agents, loan officers and mortgage brokers all had a vested interest in getting the sale completed. So if appraisers weren’t cooperative and raise their values, they often were not selected to appraise.
Now, there’s pressure on appraisers to be too conservative, so many homeowners are finding themselves unable to purchase a new home or refinance their existing mortgage.
“Lenders want the appraisal at the lower end of the range,” said Joni Herndon, a Tampa, Fla.-based appraiser. “The lender may want it at $100,000 and the appraiser thinks it’s worth closer to the high end of his or her range, say $115,000.”
If the lender does reject the appraisal, one of three things usually happens. “Lenders can order a second appraisal, the seller can lower the price on the house or the buyer can come up with more cash,” according to Jim Amorin, president of the Appraisal Institute, the industry’s professional standards organization. “In some cases, none of those happens and the loan doesn’t go through.”
One way appraisers are addressing stale comps is by using a “negative time adjustment.” If a comparable property sold for $200,000 three months ago in a market where prices are falling at a 12% annualized pace, the comp can be reduced in value by 3% to reflect the market.
Another option is an “automated valuation model,” which uses a mathematical formula to set home values. They establish a baseline home price by examining sales prices and the square footage of recently sold homes in the neighborhood. So if a house is 1,500 square feet in a community where the average home sells for $200 a square foot, the AVM puts the appraisal value at $300,000 and increases or decreases it as new sales data is recorded.
However, these valuations don’t take into consideration a home’s condition or appearance – or even verify the square footage – so the results can be very far off.
But finding accurate appraisals is more important than ever now that the Obama administration has announced its Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. The first prong of this program allows homeowners with Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae loans to refinance into current record-low rates even if they are slightly underwater, meaning they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.
However, eligibility will directly hinge on appraisals: Anyone who owes more than 105% of the value of the home won’t qualify. That adds to the pressure appraisers may feel to “hit the number” so people on the bubble can slide in and refinance.
What does this mean to you? It is more important than ever to consult with your Realtor to interpret the raft of data coming from many sources. In addtion, SHOP FOR A BROKER, NOT A MORTGAGE, ask for references from Realtors as well as borrowers. Your focus should shift from shopping the price of the mortgage to shopping for the best broker. The broker will shop the market for you. Brokers shop lenders far better than you can, among other reasons, because they are in constant contact with many lenders, and know the niches where your situation fits. Your team of the Realtor in conjunction with your mortgage broker will help you develop the proper strategy to combat the difficulties of appraisal in today’s complex market.
Call today for a confidential and personal evaluation from the team of The Bremner Group.
