Getting Your Hollywood Hills Home Ready for a Sale
You might think that selling a home in the Hollywood Hills basically sells itself. Certainly it’s easier to sell a home in the Hollywood Hills than it is to sell a home with a less celebrated address. Homes in Beverly Hills and other locales on the Westside of L.A. also have this advantage. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do everything in your power to make a home as attractive as possible.
Home buyers know that they’re in the driver’s seat right not. They go home shopping with the assumption that they’ll be able to get a cheap price for a home and that sellers will be desperate to sell. Because of this scenario, home buyers will take any evidence of a poor quality home and hope to knock a price off the home. Additionally, because there are fewer home buyers on the market, you need to give a prospective buyer as much eye candy as possible.
What this means is that selling a home will take some investment on your part – a new coat of paint, other home repairs, and potentially even new furniture. You may need a storage facility as well to store some furniture or other items. Depending on the layout of your home, you want the home to seem as airy and spacious as possible. At the same time, you want it to seem lived in – you want a buyer to be able to picture him or herself in the home, so don’t make the home to sterile and uninviting. If all it amounts to is hiring a maid to clean the home top to bottom then this is good as well. But trying to sell a home “as is” is usually a mistake.
About Susan Andrews:
Susan Andrews is a top producing real estate agent at prestigious Beverly Hills real estate firm, Hilton & Hyland. She specializes in Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood and Los Feliz real estate. Susan can be contacted at 323.829.8811 or by e-mail regarding her properties.
The 2009 Home Buyers Tax Credit
It’s not surprising that the federal government is getting involved to try to spur activity in the housing market. In addition to providing measures that allow for the processing of loan modification, to help stem the tide of foreclosures, there is also an $8000 tax credit for people who buy a house. Now that we’ve just passed through the gauntlet of tax season, having this extra $8000 in pocket may really speak to people.
The 2008 tax benefit was $7500, which has been raised by $500 in the new year and is good until December of this year. If the house costs less than $80,000 then the tax benefit will be 10% of the cost. Obviously this doesn’t factor into the home costs of homes in the Hollywood Hills, unless you have the ability to travel very far back in time – at which point you won’t be eligible for the 2009 tax break 
Generally, most homeowners will be eligible for the full $8000 and this money can factor into how much you put down for your down payment. This is an increasingly important part of the home buying transaction. It always was, but with lenders being more risk averse, it is becoming more necessary to put down a larger down payment to ensure lower rates – even with the low prime rate.
The important thing to consider is that this is a first time buyer’s tax break. However, first time is a fairly liberal term, as someone who has not bough a home within the last three years is also eligible. If a person’s tax liability is below the amount received for the tax credit then the IRS will send the difference as a handsome check. Really, it’s a good program that will hopefully spur some home sales. Yes, $8000 is a small fraction of home costs in the Hollywood Hills, and elsewhere, but it is not insignificant, especially for those on the fence about whether or not to enter this housing market.
About Susan Andrews:
Susan Andrews is a top producing real estate agent at prestigious Beverly Hills real estate firm, Hilton & Hyland. She specializes in Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood and Los Feliz real estate. Susan can be contacted at 323.829.8811 or by e-mail regarding her properties.
The Luck of a Good Home Sale
If you’ve been following recent Hollywood Hills real estate sales and you’ve recently put your home up for sale, or you’re considering entering this market, then you might be confused about what to expect. One day you might read an item about how a home sold very quickly for above asking price. Another day you might read a story that tells the exact opposite story: a house that gathered cobwebs in the market that eventually sold for under asking price.
So which circumstance can you hope to achieve? One thing that needs to be made clear is that situation #2 does not necessarily mean that the home seller was dealing with a sub-par real estate agent. Of course, this is most certainly possible – it could have remained on the market for too long because the agent did not have a lot of contacts. But an agent has to ride the mood of the market just like home buyers and sellers.
There is one thing that is not often discussed when it comes to home selling: luck. Yes, plain old luck. Sometimes the stars align and the perfect home buyer emerges just as you’re selling your home (or, ideally, several at once). However, this is not always the case. Perhaps that perfect buyer starts shopping six months or more after your home is listed. That’s not the fault of the agent and though an agent should be a good salesperson, a home purchase is highly personal: it’s not something you can force onto someone else, especially in a climate where people are watching every dollar.
With fewer home buyers right now, finding that perfect buyer is less likely than a crowded market, but sometimes lady luck does shine and a home is bought right away when a buyer falls in love with the property. You never know if this will happen until you put the home up for sale.
About Susan Andrews:
Susan Andrews is a top producing real estate agent at prestigious Beverly Hills real estate firm, Hilton & Hyland. She specializes in Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood and Los Feliz real estate. Susan can be contacted at 323.829.8811 or by e-mail regarding her properties.
Lifestyles of the Modestly Wealthy in the Hollywood Hills
It’s understandable if most people are interested in the home sales of celebrities in the Hollywood Hills. We are too – it gives a fascinating window into the lifestyles of the rich and famous. At the same time, anyone who’s interested in buying a more modest home in the Hills will need a more realistic assessment of home costs and values.
What? Modest homes in the Hollywood Hills? Certainly, and this is the reason that concentrating too much on expensive luxury homes in the Hollywood Hills can give a skewed sense of what’s available in this region. While, most of the real estate in the Hollywood Hills is no doubt higher-end than other neighborhood’s in Los Angeles, it’s not as though every home is a sprawling $8 million house or something like Scary Spice’s glamorous home with three separate waterfalls. In fact, those types of homes are the exception, not the rule.
So if you’re interested in buying a less expensive home in the Hollywood Hills, you’ll no doubt be interested in the closing time and value for homes priced around the $1 million market. Scary Spice’s home - which was listed and sold within a week – is the exception. You’re most likely going to have to wait longer than that to sell your home. This was true even before the downturn in the housing market. Home sales re creeping upward so it is possible that you can sell the home well under a year and for asking price, if not above your asking price.
Likewise, if you’re a buyer you want to be sure that a Hollywood Hills home will retain its value. In general, the home values in luxury neighborhoods have not been victim of the same fluctuations in values as lower-income areas, as there are fewer neighborhood foreclosures. So home values are still strong in the Hollywood Hills, while prices are relatively lower. The market is getting stronger – which is good news for sellers, but buyers should look to get involved sooner rather than later before prices go steadily upward.
About Susan Andrews:
Susan Andrews is a top producing real estate agent at prestigious Beverly Hills real estate firm, Hilton & Hyland. She specializes in Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood and Los Feliz real estate. Susan can be contacted at 323.829.8811 or by e-mail regarding her properties.
Scary Spice Sells Her Home for Above the Asking Price
These days you’re seeing more and more tales of celebrities putting their homes on the market and having them sit in stasis for a year or more and then selling it for below asking price. So the recent news that Scary Spice was able to under her $3 million dollar home almost immediately – and for above asking price – has the Hollywood Hills real estate community buzzing. Is this a portent of better things to come in the housing market?
The home was put on the market in late March for just under $3 million and sold for $3.14 million. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, the housing market is improving. The hysteria of a few months ago is settling down and people are inching back to the market. But what also has to mentioned regarding this sale is star power. Yes, even people who can afford a 3 mil plus home get start struck, and there is more value in saying, “Scary Spice used to live here,” compared to “A soap opera actress you may not have heard of lived here once.” The caliber of the celebrity living in a home in the past has a lot to do with its future value. This is most certainly true of homes lived in by the Hollywood greats, like Cary Grant, but also a pop star like Scary Spice.
The home also happens to be one befitting a rock star – as it has an eight camera surveillance system, an outdoor living room, a saline pool with three waterfalls, and ocean and sprawling city views. In short, it is the top of Hollywood Hills real estate, which also has to do with its eventual selling price. At the same time, any news like this is good for Hollywood Hills real estate on the whole – showing that the region is still healthy and on the upswing.
About Susan Andrews:
Susan Andrews is a top producing real estate agent at prestigious Beverly Hills real estate firm, Hilton & Hyland. She specializes in Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood and Los Feliz real estate. Susan can be contacted at 323.829.8811 or by e-mail regarding her properties.