Breaking Long Beach Real Estate News:

Long Beach Own Your Own (OYO) Owners Are Organizing for Condo Conversion. Back in May the Long Beach Real Estate Home Blog published an article on OYO's. So many buyers were inquiring about this form of ownership it made sense to publish an article, explaining this form of ownership, to be found on the Internet. Well it has been found, by several thousand Long Beach and potential Long Beach residents who have indeed read it, including many frustrated Long Beach OYO owners. Several days ago I was contacted by the lovely Deb Dobias, a Long Beach OYO owner who is a major contributing force in the quest to organize OYO owners to push state and local officials to loosen the reigns and convert the last of the existing Long Beach OYO's to condos. Deb went on to explain what these owners have been up against and the efforts they have put forth. We invited her to write an article here and are very pleased that she accepted our offer.

It is our sincere hope that the District Weekly, Curbed LA, the Grunion and Downtown Gazettes, the Press Telegram, the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register will also pick up this article or will contact Deb and assist in this noble effort with an article of their own to help these troubled OYO owners. It is our further hope that both California state and local officials will get out of the box and make this happen.

Please understand that many of these owners are in deep trouble. They cannot sell their Own Your Own (OYO) homes because there is little or no financing available. Due to the problems plaguing this form of ownership many owners have rented their units out and have moved on. In doing so they have decreased the level of owner occupied units in the remaining OYOs which has eliminated any chance for a Long Beach buyer to obtain financing to purchase.

Read the entire article at the Long Beach Real Estate Home Blog

It was tiresome enough dealing with agents who would place their unsold Long Beach properties as sold in the MLS in order to re-list them to appear as new listings. The sold status would be picked up by other agents as comps when pricing property for both listings and buyers comparables, wreaking havoc all over the place. Unreliable results - from the MLS, which is supposed to be a reliable source of information. Information placed by licensed Realtors with standards! Information that would not be missed by an appraiser! Information that could totally screw up a deal!

What fun it was to find that the comps you used to price a long beach property weren't really comps at all! It got so bad for a while I was checking title records for each comp to make certain they actually sold. I don't even want to go into how much of my time these idiots wasted. Our MLS sends an occasional minor violation to agents in the system but somehow never gets any of the major items corrected, no matter how many times they are pointed out, it is beyond annoying.

Today brought a whole new twist to this age old game.

While researching a few Long Beach homes for sale for one of my buyers I discovered that one of the listings had also been for lease on the MLS; for $1.00. Yep, I said one dollar. And, it showed that it had been leased, yet was still active on the MLS for sale. Ok, I had a few questions so I called the listing agent before I called to set up the appointment to show it to my buyer.

The listing agent assured me that it had not actually been leased and went on to explain to me that he didn't want to be responsible for screwing up another agents comps by placing it in sold so that he could make the listing appear to be new (how considerate). He went on to explain that he brainstormed this brilliant idea himself. By placing the listing as a lease, then indicating it as leased, he was able to re-list the property without the combined days on market (CDOM) showing. I am sitting listening to this on the phone and looking into the phone like I am speaking to an alien at this point.

WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!!!

Here I am representing the very buyer he was trying to hoodwink and he is telling me what he did. So what was the point? I figure that he only told me because I found the lease listing and was asking if the home had indeed been rented out. My buyer would not be interested in purchasing a home with a tenant in it, few buyers would. What the heck ever happened to just doing things the right way? Who does this clown think he is fooling?

Off my buyer and I go to see the home. Cute place, client liked it, so I started poking around. We found a new combo lock hidden on the side of the house, fairly obvious it belonged to the bank; the listing agent didn't disclose this little tidbit on the MLS either, or on the phone.

Cracks going in different directions on the ceilings in every single room. An apparent attempt at covering up the cracks in the kitchen/laundry room ceilings. The cracks sent me outside to do a perimeter check of the foundation and roof. Not a pretty site. A cinder-block foundation with cracks everywhere. Steps broken away from the building with major cracks, chimney with major cracks. Huge paint bubbles all around the exterior of the home, many freshly picked, large fresh paint chips all around the exterior of the home.

A room attached to the detached garage with a partially constructed kitchen and a bath that had been disassembled. Fairly obvious that it was not permitted and was being torn out. Probably the reason for the "as is" statement on the MLS.

Disclose! Disclose! Disclose!

And of course this cute little money pit was priced at full market value, has been on the market for about 6 months total with one minor price reduction and needed some very pricey repairs.

I really resent the bad rep Realtors are subject to, but understand that this is just the type of behavior that creates it.

So, would you report him?

Laurie Manny Long Beach Realtor (562) 212-5420
Main Street Realtors Belmont Heights 244 Redondo Avenue Long Beach California 90803
Long Beach Real Estate Blog Long Beach Real Estate Website

Divorce often necessitates the sale of family homes. Selling your Long Beach Homes does not have to become a damaging event in your lives. Couples coming to terms with the loss of love, past memories, dealing with the present and trying to plan for the future, need to maintain a level head throughout this process; not always an easy task. Well intentioned friends and relatives are offering you advice on your divorce, your children, your careers, the sale of your home, your future; all adding to the overwhelming stress you are already experiencing. It has been my experience that this is best handled when realistic boundaries are set at the beginning of the process.

Over the years many of my clients have become cherished friends. In a divorce situation it is difficult, when you like both parties, to stay neutral, but is absolutely necessary. Over time I have developed what I now refer to as my Switzerland speech. It has proven to be very effective and goes something like this:

"As your Realtor® it is my job to market and sell your Long Beach Home. This is best accomplished if you both agree to view me as Switzerland. While I am not insensitive to what is going on in your lives, it is best if you both exclude me from your conversations regarding the divorce issues that do not apply to the sale. Over the course of this transaction you will both be called upon to make joint decisions, we need to agree that when we speak on the phone, you come to my office or when I come to your home, we keep the conversation limited to the business of selling your home. It would be most unfortunate if either of you thought that I was biased toward the other, I certainly do not want either of you to think that. Can we all agree on this?"

Recently I read an article on couples seeking kinder, gentler divorces. An approach many couples are now embracing called "Collaborative Divorce", which has been endorsed by the American Bar Association as part of a broader quest to find more civilized and efficient ways to end a marriage. Thousands of attorneys are realizing how damaging the adversarial process is to their clients, are embracing this new method of divorce and are seeking training in collaborative law. Other couples are turning to mediation as a viable alternative to messy, expensive and damaging processes.

Mediation and Collaborative divorces are much more economical and confidential. Boston Law Collaborative analyzed 199 of its recent divorce cases and found that mediation, collaborative divorce and litigation all produced high rates of successful settlement. Mediation was by far the least expensive option, with a median cost of $6,600, compared to $19,723 for a collaborative divorce, $26,830 for settlements negotiated by rival lawyers, and $77,746 for full-scale litigation.

If you are interested in reading the full article it can be found here. It is a very good read, I highly recommend it.

LONG BEACH REAL ESTATE

Downtown Long Beach High Rise Condos

Dream Homes in the Sky

Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams

At what point did Robin Leech's "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" Television show transition from a consumers dream to a purchase contract?

For the last few years the excitement of purchasing High Rise Downtown Long Beach Condos has been high. Consumers have plunked down hefty deposits to procure these fabulous newly built condos and have sat, sometimes for a couple of years, on long waiting lists in the hopes that they too may acquire one of these beautiful sky high homes with walls of glass, endless ocean views, travertine, marble and concierge services.

So many of these potential buyers excitedly shared their dreams of huge profits. Most planned to sell as soon as possible after the close of escrow. Some of these Downtown Long Beach High Rise projects are completed, others are still under construction or in the planning stages.

Over the last several months I have been contacted by many of the soon to be owners to discuss the future sale of their units. Some were approaching the close of escrow and were preparing to put their condos onto the market immediately after the close of escrow. Imagine their shock when they found out they were about to pay $10's of thousands more than current market value. Add to that the cost of sale and oh brother were they in trouble. Others, less fortunate had already purchased, several had purchased multiple units.

One gentleman explained that he had ordered custom everything (already installed) which had added another over $40k to the already staggering price tag. His unit was about 4 weeks from closing and there was a hefty cancellation penalty. We computed his loss by backing out to be far less than the loss would be if he proceeded with the purchase and sold at a loss. He was not a candidate for a short sale, as he has too many other assets and foreclosure was not an option, his credit is pristine. Rent wouldn't even come close to covering the overhead. His decision? Cancel the purchase, write off the loss and move on. This gentleman was smart enough to consult a Realtor, regarding the future sale, prior to his purchase, which saved him a large loss.

Read more »

LONG BEACH CITY COUNCIL APPROVES BREAKWATER STUDY

RESTORE THE SHORE

The Long Beach California Breakwater Is the largest man made breakwater in the world. Made of three gigantic walls of rock, it was completed in 1949 and extends about 2 1/2 miles in front of Long Beach's residential beaches. It's original objective was to thwart submarines and torpedoes during World War II. Sitting in about 50 feet of water the breakwater rises between 10 to 13 feet above the surface.

The breakwater is owned and maintained by the federal government, not by the City of Long Beach. Any changes to the breakwater will require federal support. The Long Beach City Council voted to ask the federal government to order the study back in 2005. The request fell on deaf ears in Washington. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who represents all the coastal area of Long Beach, told city officials he would not ask for the study. Neither of California's senators - Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer - would sponsor the measure either. This is an election year - right?

Many residents feel the breakwater no longer serves it's intended purpose and has ruined the natural waves depriving Long Beach of the cleansing action of the tides. The dirty water and flat surf have reduced beach usage. Some Long Beach residents believe removing part of the existing breakwater would restore the city's appeal to tourists. Some claim there is evidence that it has depressed Long Beach home values as well.

Read the rest of the story at the Long Beach Real Estate Home Blog