Category: Real Estate

We hear the idea of resale value quite often pertaining to real estate. The ideal is to buy a property that is a good investment and to have its value appreciate. Good maintenance and appropriate renovations help ensure that when it comes time to sell again, the property has gained equity and you’ll make money.

However, the amount of money you’ll make depends on market appreciation. Which is why it’s important to make improvements that fit the property and the neighborhood.

If you’ve bought a property by a highway or another not-so-great location, you probably got it for a good price. If that location’s value doesn’t increase during the time you own it, you’ll probably have to sell it for a similarly good price, even if you’ve done a lot of work on it.

Many property owners invest in renovations that aren’t in keeping with the neighbourhood. As a result, they end up selling for less than they invested, which can be heartbreaking.

Before you renovate, look at what has been selling around you – at what cost for what quality? If the most expensive home in your neighborhood sold for $400,000 after being completely renovated, it doesn’t make sense to style your house to a value any higher.

And really, how special are those $10-per-square-foot tiles anyway? Go with the $5 tiles instead.

Focus your investment to one or two elements per room. Make pricey items such as granite countertops, a fancy backsplash, or a higher end faucet; work like show pieces, similar to a piece of art.

Smallest may be best when it comes to resale
As for adding a second story to create more space for an expanding family, it may be worth it in the long run to hunt for a bigger home.

If you invest an extra $100,000 on a two-bedroom bungalow in a neighborhood full of two-bedroom bungalows, you may never recover that full investment. It may be a much better idea to take your equity and find a larger home in a neighborhood where your investment will hold and even grow in time.

When it comes to resale value, it’s always better to have the smallest house in an area with mansions rather than a $600K house surrounded by $300K houses.

Of course, creating a joyful home should always be the first priority. Just make wise decisions that will bring you prosperity and happiness for years to come.

Identify potential needs and problems

First and foremost, when making building creative concepts, it is imperative for individuals to identify potential need and problems. Knowing needs allow individuals to determine what things must be included in the designs. Not to mention, individuals can also create a better perspective on how buildings must be constructed. Apart from that, identifying problems before starting the project can help you reduce your expenses. Plus, reducing problems can also increase safety in your work area.

Create the right design

After identifying potential needs and problems, it is now time to create your design. Of course, when designing, you need to be cautious. This is essential to ensure that you will all have the features you need which can match your budget. In addition, it is also important to determine your space. This is another important factor when designing to ensure that you are creating a design that will allow you to make you building space more comfortable and appealing. Knowing these aspects will help you create the right designs you are looking for.

Establish safety schemes

When making building creative concepts, individuals need to make sure that they can establish safety schemes. Of course, accidents may occur unexpectedly. It gets even worse if these accidents will harm your employees. So, make sure that you create safety schemes on your designs. With these schemes, you can reduce risks and prevent overhead expenses which can help improve your finances and profits.

Hire professionals

Lastly, in case that you do not have any ideas or skills in making building creative concepts, it is also best to hire professionals. Luckily, there are numerous professionals who can help you create wonderful building concepts. These experts can even step into another level by providing you with other services that can complement your needs. Plus, they can also help you ensure that their designs can complement your needs properly.

This is an eclectic city located in Central Los Angeles about ten minutes from Downtown. At the center of the city is the renowned Echo Park Lake in Elysian Park, which is the site of special events like the Lotus Festival. It is northwest of Chinatown and Downtown, northeast of Westlake and south east of Silver Lake.

It is split in to four districts.

• Angelino Heights – This area is known for the beautiful Victorian homes that are preserved by the city’s ordinances.
• Elysian Heights – This area is historically known for being the home of famous counter-culture artists, filmmakers, architects and political radicals.
• Historic Filipino town – This section is located in the southwest section.
• Victor Heights – A lovely area scattered with Bungalows and Stucco homes that share breathtaking views of Los Angeles and the Civic Center.

Throughout the four districts, the most common types of homes are Bungalows, Cottages, Victorians and Stuccos. According to the 2000 U.S. Census there were 40,455 people in there. Spread over 2.4 square miles there were approximately 16,868 people per square mile. This makes Echo Park one of the highest density areas in Los Angeles County. The median household income was $37,708, which is low for Los Angeles County. The average household size was 3.0, which is average for the county.

This city has a high Walk Score of 83/100. This means that most errands can be accomplished on foot within the city. This city’s transit score is 62. This city has good transit and provides its residents with many public transportation options. These include the Metro Red and Metro Purple Line, numerous bus routes and ride sharing options from Relay Rides. This city received a bike score of 49 because of the steep hills and minimal bike lanes.

According to Zillow, the average home value in Echo Park is $795,100. This value has increased 14.4% since last year and Zillow estimates it will continue to rise 4.3% to $829,000 over the next year. The average price of homes that are currently listed is $742,450. The median list price per square foot is $618, which is higher than the Los Angeles average of $451. The average rental price is $2,967 a month. Zillow has given the Market Health a score of 8.2/10, which is very healthy in comparison to other markets across the country. This is based on a series of metrics including how fast the homes are selling compared to the past rate. Echo Park’s prime location and thrilling culture will be sure to keep the housing market rolling for many years to come.

• Reasons for buying that house: Why do you want to buy, any specific house? Does it meet your present needs, and into the future? Or, are you looking, at a shorter – term, and want to live, there, for a shorter – span, and, then, relocate, when needed and necessary? Are you the type of person, who enjoys moving, or would you rather, remain in your present quarters? What are your needs, goals, and priorities, in terms of location, neighborhood, schools, costs, transportation, conveniences, etc? Why, this house?
• Down – payment: Do you have the necessary funds, to have the down – payment, while avoiding, placing too much stress, on yourself, because of using these funds? Smart homeowners prepare, and make their journey, far less stressful!
• Needed reserves: The best way, to proceed, is to put together, several reserve funds, in order to ease your way, forward! Once, you’ve purchased your house, most people face monthly fixed expenses, which includes mortgage payments (including principal, taxes, and escrow items, such as insurance, etc), utilities (electric, heat, telephone, television, internet, etc). Realize, owning a house, requires preparation, for affording the costs of regular repairs, including appliances, heating, water, etc. Create a reserve fund, for this specific area. Also, realize, houses require attention, and certain items, have useful lives, and will need replacing, such as roofs (rated from 20 – 40 years), appliances (including washer, dryer, refrigerator, oven/ stove, dishwasher, etc), painting or power – washing, etc. At some point, many realize, their house needs certain upgrades, renovations, etc. The better prepared, the easier this process!

Are you prepared to be a happy homeowner? Will you have the needed discipline, organization, and system, to ease the process?

• Before you buy: There are many considerations, before you should purchase, a multi – family, rental property. Are you going to live in one of the units, or rent the entire property? If you live there, your mortgage interest rate, will be lower, because it will be considered, an owner – occupied property, but, you also, will receive less revenue from rentals. Those doing so, often, look at this, as a way, to use rental revenues, to significantly, reduce one’s own, housing costs. If you are looking at this, as an investment, then, your mortgage interest rate, will be slightly higher, your down – payment, a little more, and you might have to justify the viability of the purchase, based on rentals. A formula, I suggest, is receiving a 6% return, and a positive cash flow. This means, if the property costs $500,000, you must have a rent – roll of a net of $30,000 per year, after deducting real estate taxes, and owner/ landlord paid utilities, and basic maintenance. Therefore, if taxes were $10,000 and anticipated utilities and basic maintenance were an additional $5,000, then you must collect, at least $45,000 per year, in rents. Do this calculation, based on 10 months rents, in order to prepare for potential vacancies, etc. In addition, calculate the rents, and compare them, to your expenses, and proceed, only if this is a positive cash flow, and the 6% return, is achieved.
• Selling: Is owning the best idea, for you? Are you prepared for the unanticipated expenses, and will you commit to putting aside, a reserve fund, for maintenance, repairs, and renovations? Is the real estate market, the right one, now, to get the best results, from a sale? Consider competition, the local market, mortgage interest rates, and how much, you feel, you need, from any transaction.
• Renting: Ensure you do, a quality, legal, enforceable, screening process, and seek the finest tenants. There is no guarantee, but pricing correctly, to ensure, you are not the most expensive, often, creates the best opportunities. You must also, either, have the abilities, to do, lots of the repairs, etc, or have qualified service technicians, to prepare for the possibilities, and obstacles.

Like any investment, one should proceed, in the most prepared way, in order to make the best decisions, possible. It may be for you, or not, so, proceed, with your eyes, wide – open!

They sometimes juggle several sales and several renovations at any given time. It is important to know that there is an art learning how to flip a house and make a profit instead of losing money. Make sure that you understand any restrictions and all applicable zoning laws on construction that may apply. From purchasing to flipping, many set a ninety-day time frame.

• Step one : Before you even look at homes for sale to buy and flip, you need to determine how you will finance this venture. If you have a background in real estate or construction and have excellent credit, it may be possible to sure from your bank a line of credit. If you do not have these things, you may have to come up with a more creative way to finance a house for sale to flip. This can include finding a partner who will advance the cash that is needed.
• Step two : Once you have the financing in place you can start to look for a likely house to flip. There are many characteristics in a house for sale to flip that you want to look for. It must be affordable so you can make a profit when you flip the house. You want to purchase the house for the lowest price you can. Check out houses that have been on the market for a while. Talk to the owners to see if they would accept a lower offer because they are tired of waiting for their home to be sold.  Make sure that the home you are looking at is salvageable. When flipping a house for sale you should only deal with sound properties. Make sure that the foundation is in good shape and you only have to do minimal upgrades to the plumbing and wiring. The roof should also be sound. If any of these are a problem, you may spend more in repairs than you can get back when you try to flip it. Cosmetic renovations can usually be done without spending a lot of money.
• Step three : The location of the property is also important. Avoid buying a house for sale in neighborhoods that no one would want to live in. Make sure that the neighborhood will attract many buyers. You want to make sure that when you flip the house you make a large profit or at least break even.

Glassell Park is a moderately diverse neighborhood located in Northeast Los Angeles. Glassell Park resides south of Glendale, west of Eagle Rock and northeast of Mount Washington. This neighborhood is quite hilly and provides its residents with astounding views. During the housing boom of 2000 a large group of middle-class people moved to Glassell Park because of the inexpensive cost and abundance of Craftsman homes. The average temperature for the hottest month of the year, July, is 73 degrees. The average temperature for the coldest month of the year, December, is 57 degrees. January is the month with the most precipitation at 4.6 inches.

Area Vibes awarded Glassell Park a livability score of 72, very livable, which is higher than the national average of 70. Walk Score says that Glassell Park is a 61, with a transit score of 44 and a bike score of 38. Therefore, Glassell Park is somewhat walkable, and some errands can be accomplished by walking. There is some public transportation with a score and not many bike lanes.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there were 23,467 residents within the 2.75 square mile neighborhood. This equates to 8,524 people per square mile, which is average density for Los Angeles. The ethnicity break down was as follows: Latinos: 66.1%, Whites: 13.7%, Asians: 17.4%, Blacks: 1.4% and others 1.4%. 51.5% of its residents were born abroad with the highest two being Mexico, 49.3% and the Philippines, 16.2%. The average age for residents was 30; this is average for the city and county of Los Angeles. 19% of the residents who are 25 and older have earned a four-year degree. There was 4.8% of the population listed as veterans.

The median household income in Glassell Park was $50,098, which is an average figure for the city and county of Los Angeles. The average household size is higher compared to most parts of Los Angeles at 3.3 people. This is 21% higher than the national average. Renters reside in 56.2% of the housing stock; this is 55% higher than the national average. Owners are the remaining 43.8%, these figures are 30% lower than the national average.

According to Zillow, Glassell Park homes are valued on average at $713,700. This is a 9.3% increase from last year and they expect it to raise another 2.6% next year. The average price of homes on the market is $675,000; this is 148% higher than the national average. The market health is rated at 3.8 out of 10 in comparison to other markets across the county. The average price per square foot is $499, which is higher than the Los Angeles average of $448. The current market temperature is “cool” which is ideal for the Buyer’s market. The average price of rent is $2,900, which is 33% higher than the national average.

For those of you new to warranties, basically it’s a type of “insurance” the provides coverage for major systems and appliances in your home. For example, lets just say you have a built-in dishwasher that is causing you problems. You can either pay to get it fixed, or depending on the condition of it, you may end up getting a new one. But having warranty coverage enables you to get it fixed or replaced at a fraction of the cost.

Also, most providers have a network of companies they are affiliated with who provides consumers with the replacement parts or repairs. So it eliminates the hassle of trying to find a reputable repair company. It may not seem like a big deal, but every day people spend countless of hours trying to find a company that has good reviews and have a decent price. And having warranty coverage provides you with top notch contractors and at a low price.

As for the cost of coverage, well that usually falls within the range of about $30 to $100 a month depending on the type of coverage you need. Now, for some new home buyers, adding another bill to the list of bills they already have may seem unnecessary, but when you think about how much it cost to repair certain things around your home, you quickly realize that having warranty coverage is the best option.

This is an important aspect to keep in mind, because the last thing you would want to do is have to pay a huge bill to get something repaired and have to dip into your savings to do so.

And lastly, while having coverage is important, as I stated earlier, some people may not need it. Those of you with mostly modern appliances on your home, most of the appliances may be covered under the manufacturer warranty already. But if you have an older home with outdated appliances, you definitely want to at least contact some warranty companies to see how much it would cost you for coverage.

Such a crime can be committed in many different ways. It appears to happen more often when property prices are on the rise. Because of the simplicity of the fraud, some types are seen more than other frauds. Some are not as common because they are more complicated. One of the common forms of such fraud, according to the IRS is preparing two settlement statement sets that are different from each other. In one of the statements, the accurate property-selling price is written, which the buyer receives. The other one will depict a higher selling price that is exaggerated. When the mortgage lender approves the loan for the exaggerated price, the seller is given the amount that is stated in their copy of the settlement statement. The one who committed the fraudulent settlement statements will keep the money that is left over. If there are other conspirators, the money will be divided among them. It could be the entire excess money or a percentage of it.

Using qualification that are fraudulent is another type of real estate fraud. These fraudulent qualifications are used when applying for a mortgage or home loan to help them get the mortgage. In this form of real estate fraud, the real estate agent will usually assist the buyer. The fraudulent qualifications can include fabricating credit reports or history of employment. These two involve the obvious misrepresentation of data but not all real estate fraud is easy to see as these two examples. If buyers who do not intend to commit real estate fraud because they do not know the laws can accidentally commit mortgage fraud.

If a buyer has a down payment by using money that was given as a gift it is legal. If this gift is re-paid to the who gave the gift, this is considered a case of real estate fraud. The gift used to make a down payment cannot be repaid for it to be legal. Another type of property fraud is when the buyer accidentally fails to disclose any financial liabilities on their mortgage application. It becomes fraud when it is not taken care of before the loan is approved. Property flipping can become real estate fraud if you make false representations about the value and condition of the property when you sell it for a much higher price than you paid for the property.

Altadena is charming community located directly north of Pasadena at the base of the Angeles National Forest San Gabriel Mountains. Altadena is an unincorporated and 14 miles northeast from Downtown Los Angeles. This warm, Mediterranean climate has hot and dry summers that average highs of 91 degrees. The winters are essentially warm and windy with the lowest average temperature of 44 degrees. Altadena averages 21 inches of rainfall annually.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census – Altadena had a population of 42,777 people. With 8.71 square miles to share there were 4,909.6 people per square mile. This is average for Los Angeles County. The population was more diverse compared to other areas of the county with the dominate ethnicity being White at 52.8%, followed by 26.9% Latino, 23.7% Black, 5.4% Asian and 0.7% American Indian.

The population of Altadena is well educated in comparison to the rest of the county with 45.6% of residents aged 25 and up with a four year degree and 87.9% with a high school diploma. In regards to the male population: 57.8% were married, 32.9% had never been married, 7.1% had been divorced and 2.1% were widowed. The female population had53.9% who were married, 24.4% had never been married, 12.4% were divorced and 9.4% were widowed. The average age of Altadena was 37, which is an older average age compared to the rest of Los Angeles County. 9.8% of the people in population were veterans and 20.8% of residents were born in a foreign country. The average commute to work was 27.5 minutes. Altadena has a Walk Score of 48 out of 100 meaning that it is a car dependent city.

The average household size was 2.8 people, which was 9% higher than the national average. Approximately 74.6% of residents owned their homes. This was 10% higher than the national average. 25.4% of the population rented from a house, apartment or condominium. The 2010 Census declared there being 15,518 households with a median household income of $83,917. This is high compared to Los Angeles County.

Altadena real estate isn’t cheap, however. The median price of homes for sale in Altadena is $780,000. This is 226% higher than the national average. However, the average home value is $731,400. The price per square foot is $485. The current housing market “temperature” is neutral. Last year the home values increased by 8.1% and Zillow predicts they will rise only 1.9% within the next year. The average monthly rent is $2,921. This is 53% higher than the national average. The current housing market health is 6.9/10. This is healthy score given by Zillow in comparison to other housing markets across the country.