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    Cute La Crescenta Home for Lease-3069 Manhattan

    Published January 27, 2012 | By teamgreen

    We’re please to have a great lease in La Crescenta.  It’s a super cute 2 bedroom in a Blue Ribbon school district.  We’ll be having an open house this Sunday, 1/29/12, from 2:30-4pm.  Stop on by and take a look and meet some of the team!

    Here are the details:

     

    Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

    Real Estate Market on the Mend

    Published January 22, 2012 | By teamgreen

    Several recent indicators for the real estate industry are pointing to a market that is on the mend and entering recovery mode. 

    Housing experts’ predictions for the new year tend to center around a market stabilizing before entering a gradual, albeit very slow, recovery. However, the tone is more upbeat than it has been in years for the housing market.

    Here are a few of the signs that are showing the market moving in a more positive direction:

    Home sales: Existing home sales are expected to increase 12 percent this year, following a 2 percent jump last year, Moody’s Analytics predicts. The signs are already showing: In November, pending home sales — a gauge for future home buying — reached its highest level in 19 months, the National Association of REALTORS® reported.

    New-home market: Coming off of what could be considered the worst year for new-home building ever recorded, the sector is expected to bounce back this year. New-home sales and starts were already showing a rebound in the last few months of 2011. Moody’s is predicting that single-family housing starts will increase 37 percent this year, and new-home sales will soar 74 percent.

    Housing stocks: Investors are starting to get optimistic about the possibility of a rebound too, and are turning to home builder stocks. These equities have recently outperformed the broader stock market and the S&P 1500 homebuilding index has increased 38 percent since mid-October, USA Today reports.

    Consumer confidence: With mortgage rates at record lows and housing affordability high, about 71 percent of Americans say now is a good time to purchase a home. Also, more Americans are optimistic that home prices will rise over the next year — about 26 percent say prices will rise in 2012, an increase of 4 percent over the last survey, according to Fannie Mae’s December National Housing Survey

    Posted in Buyers, Community Information, Market Information, Real Estate Sales and Market Statistics, Sellers | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

    Keep Your Home Sale from Falling Apart

    Published January 21, 2012 | By teamgreen

    After finding a buyer, all you have to do to make it to closing is to avoid these five traps. 

    Mistake #1: Ignore contingencies

    If your contract requires you to do something before the sale, do it. If the buyers make the sale contingent on certain repairs, don’t do cheap patch-jobs and expect the buyers not to notice the fixes weren’t done properly.

    Mistake #2: Don’t bother to fix things that break

    The last thing any seller needs is for the buyers to notice on the pre-closing walk-through that the home isn’t in the same condition as when they made their offer. When things fall apart in a home about to be purchased, sellers must make the repairs. If the furnace fails, get a professional to fix it, and inform the buyers that the work was done. When you fail to maintain the home, the buyers may lose confidence in your integrity and the condition of the home and back out of the sale.

    Mistake #3: Get lax about deadlines

    Treat deadlines as sacrosanct. If you have three days to accept or reject the home inspection, make your decision within three days. If you’re selling, move out a few days early, so you can turn over the keys at closing.

    Mistake #4: Refuse to negotiate any further

    Once you’ve negotiated a price, it’s natural to calculate how much you’ll walk away with from the closing table. However, problems uncovered during inspections will have to be fixed. The appraisal may come in at a price below what the buyers offered to pay. Be prepared to negotiate with the buyers over these bottom-line-influencing issues.

    Mistake #5: Hide liens from buyers

    Did you neglect to mention that Uncle Sam has placed a tax lien on your home or you owe six months of homeowners association fees? The title search is going to turn up any liens filed on your house. To sell your house, you have to pay off the lien (or get the borrower to agree to pay it off). If you can do that with the sales proceeds, great. If not, the sale isn’t going to close.

    Posted in Market Information, Sellers | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

    7 Tips for Staging Your Home

    Published January 20, 2012 | By teamgreen

    Make your home warm and inviting to boost your home’s value and speed up the sale process.

    1. Start with a clean slate

    Before you can worry about where to place furniture and which wall hanging should go where, each room in your home must be spotless. Do a thorough cleaning right down to the nitpicky details like wiping down light switch covers. Deep clean and deodorize carpets and window coverings.

    2. Stow away your clutter

    It’s harder for buyers to picture themselves in your home when they’re looking at your family photos, collectibles, and knickknacks. Pack up all your personal decorations. However, don’t make spaces like mantles and coffee and end tables barren. Leave three items of varying heights on each surface, suggests Barb Schwarz ofwww.StagedHomes.com in Concord, Pa. For example, place a lamp, a small plant, and a book on an end table.

    3. Scale back on your furniture

    When a room is packed with furniture, it looks smaller, which will make buyers think your home is less valuable than it is. Make sure buyers appreciate the size of each room by removing one or two pieces of furniture. If you have an eat-in dining area, using a small table and chair set makes the area seem bigger.

    4. Rethink your furniture placement

    Highlight the flow of your rooms by arranging the furniture to guide buyers from one room to another. In each room, create a focal point on the farthest wall from the doorway and arrange the other pieces of furniture in a triangle around the focal point, advises Schwarz. In the bedroom, the bed should be the focal point. In the living room, it may be the fireplace, and your couch and sofa can form the triangle in front of it.

    5. Add color to brighten your rooms

    Brush on a fresh coat of warm, neutral-color paint in each room. Ask your real estate agent for help choosing the right shade. Then accessorize. Adding a vibrant afghan, throw, or accent pillows for the couch will jazz up a muted living room, as will a healthy plant or a bright vase on your mantle. High-wattage bulbs in your light fixtures will also brighten up rooms and basements.

    6. Set the scene

    Lay logs in the fireplace, and set your dining room table with dishes and a centerpiece of fresh fruit or flowers. Create other vignettes throughout the home—such as a chess game in progress—to help buyers envision living there. Replace heavy curtains with sheer ones that let in more light.

    Make your bathrooms feel luxurious by adding a new shower curtain, towels, and fancy guest soaps (after you put all your personal toiletry items are out of sight). Judiciously add subtle potpourri, scented candles, or boil water with a bit of vanilla mixed in. If you have pets, clean bedding frequently and spray an odor remover before each showing.

    7. Make the entrance grand

    Mow your lawn and trim your hedges, and turn on the sprinklers for 30 minutes before showings to make your lawn sparkle. If flowers or plants don’t surround your home’s entrance, add a pot of bright flowers. Top it all off by buying a new doormat and adding a seasonal wreath to your front door.

    Posted in Market Information, Sellers | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

    Low Rates Send Mortgage Applications Soaring 12.8%

    Published December 8, 2011 | By teamgreen

    Mortgage applications, a future gauge of home buying, had a sharp jump as more consumers rushed to take advantage of low interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports. 

    For the week ending Dec. 2, mortgage applications increased 12.8 percent. Applications for home purchase jumped 8.3 percent from a week earlier while applications for refinancing soared 15.3 percent.

    Of the home purchase applications, 85.5% were for fixed-rate 30-year loans.

    “Coming out of the Thanksgiving holiday, applications increased significantly as mortgage rates dropped to their lowest levels in about two months,” Michael Fratantoni, MBA vice president of research and economics, said in a statement. “In particular, refinance applications increased sharply, with some lenders seeing refinance volume double. Despite this surge, aggregate refinance activity is still below levels reported two weeks ago. Some lenders indicated they are beginning to see an increase in HARP loans, but that increase is still a small portion of the move this week.”

    Source: “Mortgage Applications Jump 12.8% as Refinancing Volume Soars,” HousingWire (Dec. 7, 2011)

    Posted in Buyers, Community Information, Market Information, Real Estate Sales and Market Statistics, Sellers | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

    Home Energy Efficiency Tax Credits to Expire Dec. 31

    Published December 7, 2011 | By teamgreen

    Home owners may be able to take advantage of several tax credits for energy efficiency home improvements from this year. But they need to hurry: The tax credits are set to expire Dec. 31, and Congress has yet to renew them for 2012. 

    “Making efficiency improvements this year will lower home energy bills and improve home comfort for years to come, while also reducing 2011 federal income tax bills,” Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy.

    The allowance for the tax credits that home owners may be eligible for include:

    • 10% of the cost of insulation and sealing materials, exterior doors, and certain types of energy efficient roofs.
    • 10% of the cost, up to $200, of exterior windows or skylights.
    • $300 for electric heat pump water heaters, electric heat pumps, central air conditioners, biomass stoves, and natural gas, propane, or oil water heaters.
    • $50 for advanced main air circulating fans.
    • $150 for natural gas, propane, oil furnace, or hot water boilers.

    For more information about applying for these tax credits, visit the Alliance to Save Energy Web site.

    Posted in Buyers, Community Information, Market Information, Real Estate Sales and Market Statistics, Sellers | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

    Prices Mostly Stabilize: Why Aren’t More Talking About It?

    Published December 6, 2011 | By teamgreen

    There was a great article today from Realtor.com that deserves to be shared.  We have been pondering this question for about a year now.

    An improving job picture and prices stabilizing for non-distressed homes are all signs that point to a housing recovery taking shape, Barclays Capital analyst Stephen Kim told HousingWire.

    “In the absence of a government home buyer incentives, prices for non-distressed home sales have stabilized for almost a year,” Kim said. “This is the most important trend in the housing industry right now, and we are amazed at how little attention it has been getting from the media and the street. This stability on the part of nondistressed prices has occurred despite a very high share of distressed activity and continued declines in overall prices.”

    The key to when the housing recovery will largely take off “depends primarily on when these first-time buyers decide it is safe to buy a house,” Kim told HousingWire.

    Source: “Barclays Analyst Sees Housing Rebound Coming in 2012,” HousingWire (Dec. 5, 2011)

    Posted in Buyers, Community Information, Market Information, Real Estate Sales and Market Statistics, Sellers | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

    Are the Holidays a Good Time to Sell?

    Published December 6, 2011 | By teamgreen

    Now here’s a question we get asked each and every year around this time and here’s a statistical answer for you based on facts.

    Sixty percent of real estate professionals advise their sellers to list a home during the holidays because it’s a good time to sell, according to a new survey conducted by Realtor.com. 

    Why are the holidays such a good time to sell? Seventy-nine percent of the agents surveyed said that more serious buyers come out during the holidays, and 61 percent say less competition from other properties make it a great time to sell. Plus, 17 percent of agents say the cold weather is actually a benefit, making homes feel more cozy.

    Online listing photos become even more crucial during the holiday season, according to the survey. Slightly more than half of agents say that the photos are more important because sellers tend to offer less open houses around the holidays, and so the online photos help buyers decide the properties to see and which ones to possibly bypass.

    The biggest hurdles sellers face during the holidays, however, are keeping a home ready to show (clean and staged) as well as winter weather conditions and buyers’ vacation schedules, the Realtor.com survey found.

    Posted in Buyers, Community Information, Market Information, Real Estate Sales and Market Statistics, Sellers | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

    Pasadena Real Estate Sales Statistics

    Published October 30, 2011 | By teamgreen

    It’s time for Pasadena Real Estate Sales Statistics and this year has been quite interesting!  In response to the requests of our clients, we have changed our posting format so that each of the most popular areas has their own individual post for new statistics.  This will cut down on the length of the posts, as well as make the information easier for you to find.  Let us know how you like the new format via email, or comments on the posts.

    As we have stated before, real estate sales and market statistics have a profound affect on the value of your home.  Analyzing them is not always fun, but it is an important task when buying or selling a home.  Essentially what it boils down to, whether you are buying a home or selling one, is that the market determines the value of a home.  To be more specific, a home is worth only what a potential buyer (the market) is willing to pay for it; regardless of how much you paid for it last year, how much work you’ve put into it, or how much you owe on it.  This is something that many would-be sellers and buyers struggle to grasp.

    This article discusses real estate market statistics in Pasadena.  If you need statistics in cities or neighborhoods other than Pasadena, please let us know and we will be happy to provide them for you.  You are welcome to contact Team Green by calling 818.588.6476, via email, or by completing our contact form found here.

    The statistics below are pulled directly from our local Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which is the best and most accurate source for this type of data.  While there are multiple media outlets using national numbers, remember that real estate sales trends are very much a local phenomenon.  Reporting for the nation, a state and even a small region has its place, however, the most important numbers are those from your very own neighborhood.  Local statistics are also the most relevant for a potential buyer or seller.  These numbers represent all residential property types (single family homes, condos, co-ops, townhouses, manufactured, etc.).  We have also included our thoughts on the statistics, which we hope you will find useful.  As always, if you have any questions or comments, please let us know.  We’d love to hear from you.

    9-11-Pasadena Number of Sales and Median Sales Price9-11-Pasadena Median Days to Sell and Number of New Listings

     

    Month Sales, Number of Sale Price, Median Days to Sell, Median New Listings, Number of
    Sep-10 219 $555,000 85 225
    Oct-10 198 $490,000 82 205
    Nov-10 179 $529,000 85 164
    Dec-10 255 $461,000 93 107
    Jan-11 205 $462,500 88 221
    Feb-11 140 $453,500 87 190
    Mar-11 222 $503,000 80 246
    Apr-11 213 $465,250 78 227
    May-11 214 $547,500 62 245
    Jun-11 240 $545,000 79 206
    Jul-11 215 $549,000 67 203
    Aug-11 205 $515,000 76 190
    Sep-11 197 $443,000 93 178
    AVG 208 $501,442 81 201
    Yearly Median 213 $503,000 82 205

     

    The real estate market in Pasadena has been fairly stable all year long.  There were 197 sales in September, which is down slightly from August’s 205.  The median sales price was the lowest it has been all year at $443,000 and homes stayed on the market longer in September, with a median days on market of 93 compared to August’s 76.  The good news is that the number of new homes on the market for September was down at 178, compared to 190 in August.  The decrease in new homes on the market will hopefully help bring prices back up.

    If you are planning on buying or selling real estate in Pasadena, give our team a call today at 818.588.6476.  We have experienced agents who can help you navigate today’s complex market.

    To see all homes for sale in Pasadena, click here.

     

    Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

    La Crescenta Real Estate Sales Statistics

    Published October 29, 2011 | By teamgreen

    It’s time for La Crescenta Real Estate Sales Statistics and this year has been quite interesting!  In response to the requests of our clients, we have changed our posting format so that each of the most popular areas has their own individual post for new statistics.  This will cut down on the length of the posts, as well as make the information easier for you to find.  Let us know how you like the new format by email, or comments on the posts.

    As we have stated before, real estate sales and market statistics have a profound affect on the value of your home.  Analyzing them is not always fun, but it is an important task when buying or selling a home.  Essentially what it boils down to, whether you are buying a home or selling one, is that the market determines the value of a home.  To be more specific, a home is worth only what a potential buyer (the market) is willing to pay for it; regardless of how much you paid for it last year, how much work you’ve put into it, or how much you owe on it.  This is something that many would-be sellers and buyers struggle to grasp.

    This article discusses real estate market statistics in La Crescenta.  If you need statistics in cities or neighborhoods other than La Crescenta, please let us know and we will be happy to provide them for you.  You are welcome to contact Team Green by calling 818.588.6476, by email, or by completing our contact form found here.

    The statistics below are pulled directly from our local Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which is the best and most accurate source for this type of data.  While there are multiple media outlets using national numbers, remember that real estate sales trends are very much a local phenomenon.  Reporting for the nation, a state and even a small region has its place, however, the most important numbers are those from your very own neighborhood.  Local statistics are also the most relevant for a potential buyer or seller.  These numbers represent all residential property types (single family homes, condos, co-ops, townhouses, manufactured, etc.).  We have also included our thoughts on the statistics, which we hope you will find useful.  As always, if you have any questions or comments, please let us know.  We’d love to hear from you.

    9-11-La Crescenta Number of New Sales and Median Sales Price9-11-La Crescenta Median Days to Sell and Number of New Listings

     

    Month Sales, Number of Sale Price, Median Days to Sell, Median New Listings, Number of
    Sep-10 26 $537,500 80 31
    Oct-10 36 $590,000 88 32
    Nov-10 28 $605,000 60 25
    Dec-10 45 $549,000 91 8
    Jan-11 31 $556,000 79 24
    Feb-11 24 $462,500 109 32
    Mar-11 27 $560,000 91 33
    Apr-11 35 $522,500 68 28
    May-11 24 $630,000 57 34
    Jun-11 33 $572,950 86 38
    Jul-11 27 $607,500 83 30
    Aug-11 24 $633,000 70 20
    Sep-11 34 $505,000 79 27
    AVG 30 $563,919 80 28
    Yearly Median 28 $560,000 80 30

     

    The number of new sales in La Crescenta rose in September to 34, up ten from August’s 24, while the median sales price dropped from $633,000 in August to $505,000 in September.  Properties stayed on the market slightly longer at a median of 79 days in September, up from August’s 70.  27 new properties entered the market, up slightly from August’s 20.  So in short, there are more properties available, taking longer to sell and at a lower median cost than last month.  We call that a buyer’s market in this business.

    For our buyers: your pre-approval is critical.  There are very few sellers in today’s market that will consider an offer from you if you do not have a pre-approval letter from a known lender.  It’s no longer enough to have a simple pre-qualification letter stating that a lender will lend you money to buy a home.  Sellers today instead want the pre-approval letter, which requires the lender to actually run you through their desktop underwriting software and check out your qualifications more thoroughly.  It’s a great idea to have that in hand for other reasons as well, and should be the first step you take in your dream home journey.  Your second step should be to contact Team Green.  We offer complimentary search services through automated software fed directly from our local Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  This means that you have access to, and can search all homes for sale just like an agent!

    For our sellers: Last month we saw what could have been the infantile stages of a seller’s market.  We know from September’s numbers that’s not the case.  It takes an experienced team like ours to get your home priced well and positioned to sell quickly and for as much money as possible.  Give us a call today at 818.588.6476 if you are contemplating selling your home.  We will be happy to set up a no-obligation meeting to give you an estimate of your home’s current market value.

    To see all homes for sale in La Crescenta, click here.

     

    Posted in Buyers, Community Information, Keller Williams, Market Information, Real Estate Sales and Market Statistics, Sellers | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
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