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.
The Sunset Hills District of the Hollywood Hills
I’ve spent this week talking about the different architectural styles found within the Hollywood Hills. If you request a certain type of home in your home search, it could mean that you will have to limit yourself to certain locations, so by no means should architectural style be your only parameter for buying a home. Of course, if you’re set on a certain style, then this is no problem, but most people are concerned with location as well as style and size.
This is why the term “Hollywood Hills” is a kind of misnomer. Saying that you live in the Hollywood Hills could mean any number of different areas in the Hills. The neighborhoods have a different feels and there are quiet family locations, just as there are areas that are more closely associated with the Sunset Strip’s night life. The Sunset Hills district – also referred to as Hollywood Hills West – is a neighborhood for which the Hollywood Hills has gotten its reputation.
Hollywood Hills West generally starts at the Hollywood Freeway to the east and Hillcrest to the west, and includes Laurel Canyon, Nicholas Canyon, Sunset Plaza, Crescent Heights, and other neighborhoods in the vicinity. It is the basic heart and soul the Hollywood Hills – closer to the Sunset Strip so it is often more affiliated with the Sunset Strip lifestyle. There are plenty of homes in quiet neighborhoods in the Sunset Hills, but this is the general area people think about when they say, “Hollywood Hills.”
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.
American Bungalow Architecture in the Hollywood Hills
The last architectural style to be covered here is the American Bungalow style. Some people don’t think Los Angeles has a sense of history – not in the same sense as a city like New York, and certainly not like the great European cities. Sure, you have to dig a bit more throughout the metropolis of L.A., in which a strip mall might be right next to a building with classic, old Hollywood architecture. But there is plenty of beautiful architecture in the city that is unique to Los Angeles.
Case in point is American Bungalow architecture. Tudor architecture and Spanish architecture have origins far away, American Bungalow architecture has its roots at home. This type of architecture is kind of the antithesis of International style, which uses the cold materials made popular during the Industrial Revolution. American Bungalow architecture aimed to use simpler materials, with a warmer feel.
Though American Bungalow design was first done because materials were cheaper, this does not mean these homes are not solidly built. Especially in the Hollywood Hills, some American Bungalow homes are massive in scale. The main qualities of American Bungalows are overhanging roofs with large spaces within the homes, normally with wood interiors – wood floors and cabinetry built into the home. These homes gives off a real sense of history and give Los Angeles and the Hollywood Hills much of its charm, as these homes seem like an enduring piece of old Hollywood.
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.