Harb & Co February RE Update

Harb & Co. got off to a busy start to the New Year: Harb & Co February RE Update

Our Toluca Lake fixer sold to a non-contingent cash buyer for substantially over the list price. We are scheduled to close the first week of March. Our West Covina listing also sold in multiple offers to a cash buyer. Note to Los Angeles home buyers: you can compete with cash buyers, but you must be aggressive with the offered price. Cash buyers are not getting substantial discounts, and in many instances, they are the highest offer.

We recently listed an Arcadia fixer in a prime location, and it, too, sold in multiple offers (not a cash buyer).

We have two La Canada listings coming soon. Both are fixers on large level lots with guest houses.

I have recently held quite a few homes open.

My biggest open house complaints:

Some agents write offers without ever viewing the home. They send their clients to tour the property but claim they are “too busy” or “too important” to visit it themselves. Often, their offer is the highest. When required to see the home before acceptance, they frequently withdraw the offer. This creates unnecessary work and frustration. It’s tough to show a seller a high offer, only to have it disappear.

Some real estate agents leave messages, yet their voicemail is always full. Others are too busy to speak directly and delegate all communication to their assistants.

I could go on and on, but one last gripe. In the multiple listing service, there is a section for private agent remarks. These private remarks are not fed to Zillow, Realtor.com etc.  In these remarks Harb & Co. note when offers are due and where to locate the disclosures.  Most agents don’t take the time to read them and inform their client of offer deadlines. It’s a lot of needless back and forth.  Is their real estate agent not aware there are private remarks?  Or are they simply too lazy to read them?  I don’t know.

It’s a very competitive real estate market for first time home buyers. They deserve the attention of the real estate agent they are working with.  In order to guide buyers as to which price to offer, it’s imperative that the real estate agent take the time to view the listing.  Read: Why your purchase offer wasn’t accepted

And let’s end this post with something positive!  Kris and I have been diligently working on the annual celebration of the Feast of St. Joseph at St. Bede.  We have collected a lot of silent auction items and continue to work on this endeavor in our down time.