Endre Barath,Jr.

As we all know there is limited amount of Vacant Land left. Particularly in the Greater Los Angeles area there is less and less of it available. I have been selling these investment lots for over 13+ years it takes a long time to sell, it is not as liquid as Stock, nevertheless I never had anyone loose money on it. Every one has increased their net worth over the years. Including in today's economic times, I found it to be a solid investment.

The value has been solid and not volatile. Can you build a home on it? It does not pencil out yet, since you have to build a road to the land. If you accumulate enough parcels, where you can build 3-4 homes then you can divide the cost of the road amongst the homes and then it will pencil out.

If you like to buy for long term investments, this is the safest way to go. This is better then Gold, Silver or Stocks, since there is no volatility. If you are interested get in touch with me.

If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at http://www.endrebarath.com A pet friendly Realtor who contributes from every one of his commissions to Local Animal Rescue Organizations!

The dilemma: Should I sell now or next year? Many sellers are asking themselves this question. As a trusted advisor you have to give good advice. I am constantly asked this question as I sit in front of my prospective clients. To me the answer is very clear. There are many reasons to sell now rather then wait until next year.

Even though the economic recovery is appearing to be improving, the economy remains very fragile. As long it is fragile, that means consumer confidence is still lacking. As long as consumer confidence is weak, prices are vulnerable to new shock waves that can be seen on the news outlets daily.

Add to this the unemployment figures. As long as the job market remains weak the answer is clear. There will be a great deal more economic mess, due to the banking sector remaining reluctant to lend money, home owners struggling to maintain without income.

So there are many questions to ask. Will the Job Market be better next year? Will interest rates remain low? Will consumer confidence be stronger? Will the buyers return to the real estate buying in stronger numbers then this year? Depends how you answer this questions will determine in your mind whether you will decide to sell now or next year.

I just want to pose the question: what if the prices drop another 10-15% next year? Would you sell now or next year?

If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at http://www.endrebarath.com

Did you know that in Korea 'dog' is still served as a Meal in Restaurants? I was catching up on my LA Times reading today and I was so shocked at what I read in the September 4^th Issue of the LA Times written by John Glionna & Ju-Min Park of Seoul, South Korea, I had to post this. Some of you might not want to read this, others of you might want to take action and others of you might just want to spread the word.

The Hero of the story is Lee Won-Bok, he is a 45 year old animal rights activist. Every Saturday he places very graphic pictures (I opted not to post pictures) at a busy mall depicting images of dogs in cages, to different stages of the process all the way to the Restaurant table. (I will not describe the graphic parts you get the idea) He is a one man warrior. He says he has collected over 300,000 signatures over a period of nine years.

The Goal is to stop the despicable tradition of eating cats and dogs. Even though national laws prohibit the eating of these critters, the government rarely enforces it.

I was so outraged about this activity; I had to write about it. How could a society still allow, tolerate such activity? How could anyone have their pets at home and then go out to a Restaurant and eat "boshintang" (dog soup)? How could a Government, Politicians and Judicial members still allow this despicable practice? How could a society still tolerate this? How could we stand by and not do something? I urge each and all of you to take action, how ever small or large.

As a caretaker of three cats and supporter of Local Animal Rescue Organizations I have to speak out against this deplorable practice and the lack of caring by a Society and its People. I commend Lee Won-bok and the two LA Times Reporter John Glionna & JU-Min Park in spreading his crusade. Too bad the LA Times only put this on page 26 rather then the front page.

If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at http://www.endrebarath.com A pet friendly Realtor who contributes from every one of his commissions to Local Animal Rescue Organizations!

Appraisals Delays and the Cause and Effect of these delays to all involved is just amazing.More often then I would like to know, Appraisals have been consistently reaching Lenders late. There have been a number of discussions about Appraisals by Realtors and Mortgage Brokers and the delays that this has caused in obtaining loans for the Buyers.

As the Real Estate market continues to move slower then we would like, Sellers, Buyers, Realtors and Mortgage Lenders all remain uncertain. We are looking at these trends and first thing we need to do is to adjust our way of doing business.

Gone are the days of 17 days Loan Contingency Removal and 30 day Escrow periods when it comes getting a loan? In the heyday of our market Mortgage Brokers could assure Realtors that they could remove the loan contingency within 12 days. Now that is not the case.

From a Buyer's perspective, what would a reasonable time be, to remove the loan contingency? As Realtors we need to be responsible in competently and carefully advising our buyers to make sure that their interests are protected. The sellers need to be educated, counseled regarding Loan and Appraisal Contingency Periods and the time it takes to achieve this.

The most important commodity we as Realtors have to bring to the Table is a sense of Fair play, patience and educating the buyers as well as the sellers of the process. Most Buyers and sellers would agree that a transaction should be fair and equitable to all parties.

We must not only educate, but we have to verbalize the pros and cons of each action and then ultimately we have to remind ourselves that we are the Realtors and that the final decision must come from our clients the principals.

The Cause and Effect of all this is, we need more Time to close an Escrow. We need more patience by all parties involved and more education by the Realtors involved. The final Effect more stress can be avoided by better educating the Principals involved.

So in conclusion I am very optimistic that we will continue to have a robust summer into the Fall Real Estate Season as long as we stay on top of these issues and continue to educate all parties involved.

If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at http://www.endrebarath.com

Here we are the Century City, CA Condominium Market Report a bit late, nevertheless still interesting. I find it always interesting when you talk to people who like to generalize how the real estate market is, based on their feelings, emotions or what they have heard in

The Active listings have decreased by about five from last month. In the big picture that is negligible when you see that there are currently 309 Condominiums on the Market.

The ones that are in Escrow and have not removed their contingencies are identical to the month before. There are 34 accepting Backup Offers.

Now what I find very telling is there has been a huge increase in the Pending. These are the ones that the buyers have removed all their contingencies and are waiting to close Escrow. These will be September's Closed Transactions a very large increase of 7.6% over the previous month. That is there are 56 properties that are waiting to close.

The closed transactions over the previous month are almost identical. There were 32 Actual Sales for the month of August.

These are very interesting numbers. The buyers are out there and are rushing to close Escrow, before the Tax incentive disappears.(November 30^th) I am very much amazed with all this activity, in spite of Appraisers slowing down the Sales Process as well as Mortgage lenders.

So in conclusion I am very optimistic that we will continue to have a robust summer into the Fall Real Estate Season.

If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 (USA) or email me at EndreBarath@TheMLS.Com or visit one of my websites at http://www.endrebarath.com