We've all heard the news, Los Angeles is a sellers' market.  So what does that mean if you are buying a home in Los Angeles?  Well, you may need to look for your inner Hulk, because it is not pretty out there. Case in point: A home recently listed in the Westwood area for $829,000 sold in 13 days for $914,000.  Another listed for $1.995M sold for $2.082M in 22 days.  And one listed for $3.495M sold for $3.860M, 10% over asking. The average of 15 out of the 21 homes sold in … [Read more...]

When buying a home in Los Angeles you will be faced with the term "Title Insurance".  So what is title insurance? Title insurance protects against any kind of problems affecting the title to a piece of property.  Some of those problems could be: Questions about the legal ownership of the property Any errors in the public records that were not found before the sale Liens against the property Problems with wills and trusts affecting the property Fraudulent documents affecting the … [Read more...]

When buying a Los Angeles home it helps if you understand the Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA) which is what will be filled out when making an offer.  The majority of the contract is standard and pretty much self-explanatory, but there are areas that need to be filled out that can cause some confusion. I have included a sample of an RPA with some explanations below.  Hopefully this will explain some of the items on which you may not be clear.  To clarify, the form below is just a … [Read more...]

Buying a home in Los Angeles can be a daunting task.  Where do you start?  Well, ideally you should use the services of a Los Angeles real estate agent, but often buyers like to look for listings themselves. Most of the listings you will see online derive from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) the bible of the real estate industry.  The layout will look different on different sites, but this should help explain some of the general terminology: LP - list price Status - this will show … [Read more...]

I recently wrote a post, You Have Had your Home Inspection, What's Next?.  As a result I got a call yesterday from a very nice gentleman who wanted my advice on his situation. He is in escrow on a home and had paid $5,000 over the asking price.  The inspection showed some problems that were going to cost around $2,000 to fix.  He had submitted a request for repair, and the seller countered back that they would pay half.  He was asking me what I thought. I asked him what his agent was … [Read more...]

Why do I say inspect with purpose?  When buying a Los Angeles home you should know that each transaction is different, that is why when you are in escrow on that home your inspections should be carried out in a well thought-out manner.  If you don't stay on top of the progression of escrow you can end up wasting money. During the course of escrow you will be doing your due diligence:  conducting inspections, reviewing disclosures, checking permits, etc.  Then comes the appraisal, which … [Read more...]

You are buying a Los Angeles home and your offer has been accepted.  The very first thing you are going to do is put your good faith deposit (generally 3% of the purchase price) into escrow.  This is held, as its name suggests, to show good faith that you are serious about purchasing the property and it will be applied to the amount of the purchase price upon closing.  It is fully refundable if you decide not to continue with the sale for a valid reason as specified in the contract. The … [Read more...]

You may be considering buying Los Angeles real estate and may have luckily have identified a home and gone into escrow.  Now you need to decide how you are going to take title, especially if you a taking it jointly. There are various way to take title, including: Sole Ownership. Co-Ownership:  Below are seven of the most common ways.  However you should consult with an attorney and/or a CPA to find the best option for you. Community Property:   only for husband and wife.  Interest … [Read more...]

If you are a Los Angeles home buyer right now you must be feeling extremely frustrated.  You can't get to a property quick enough to make an offer before there are three, four or more buyers ahead of you also making offers.  And some of those offers are cash. Don't give up.  Your house is out there.  Just make it a point to be available the minute a property comes on the market so that you can go see it and be in at the beginning. There are certain properties where you can only see … [Read more...]

Now is the time to be on the top of your game when buying a Los Angeles home.  As I have reiterated in many posts, Los Angeles is a sellers' market. Avoid these mistakes and you may end up the lucky owner of a new home: Do not start searching for a home without knowing how much you can afford.  You are going to waste a lot of time and energy, and you will save a lot of heartache if you focus on a realistic goal. Do not establish any new credit or in any way do anything that will … [Read more...]

Finally your process of buying a Los Angeles home is over.  You are just about to close escrow and are ready to move in. Here are some things you need to think about: Change all the utilities into your name, and make sure the seller has remembered to cancel their service.  Here are some of the numbers you will need Make sure to change the locks on the day of close of escrow. If you bought the home with cash, be sure that your insurance is in place. Order your change of address … [Read more...]

In Part 5 we discussed the process of making an offer.  Here we will talk about the negotiation of the offer. If you are serious about buying a Los Angeles home then don't listen to the friends who are telling you that there are deals to be made, and you should just make low ball offers until a seller rolls over and says "take my home." It doesn't happen that way. Above all, be prepared to negotiate. The whole process of home buying  and, of course, home selling, is about give and … [Read more...]