WIth the high cost of real estate in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California, many people are looking towards other states when deciding to purchase a home or raise a family.
Taxes, Jobs and Cost of Living California has one of the highest state income taxes in the country, so that alone is a factor that can put more money in people’s pockets and allow them to spend more of it on housing and other costs. The job market in California has been strong recently, and while there may be better paying jobs and opportunities in certain areas and industries like Silicon Valley or the newer Silicon Beach area of Los Angeles, on a relative basis, it may not make that much of a difference once the high cost of living is factored in. California has a net Out-Migration to other states as can be seen in this report from the Legislative Analyst’s office. The top beneficiary recently has been the state of Texas, followed by Arizona and Nevada. Low or no state income tax, and a much lower cost of living have proven to be too much to overcome for even the beautiful beaches, mountains and temperate climate of Los Angeles and other areas in the state. Even though people may be moving to a lower paying job, the prospects of a larger house, less congestion, and an easier lifestyle are big draws. Relocating Your Equity Do you own a house in Southern California? If you have owned it for a long time, chances are you have a good equity position. Selling it may give you all the cash needed to move and buy a newer or larger home in another state. You might even be able to pay cash for the new house and avoid a mortgage all together if you have the equity in your current home. Locating and finding the right home in your new state will have its own challenges, and if you are relying on the equity from the sale of your Southern California home to pay for the new one, you may not want to risk the market uncertainties of listing and selling your house in Los Angeles or other areas in a traditional way by hiring a real estate agent. If this is the case, then selling to a professional house buyer may be a good solution for you. Going this route you can pick the date you want to close, and can predict when you will have the cash in hand so you can commit to the purchase of your new house. You may also have inherited a house in Southern California and wish to monetize that equity too. If it’s an older house that needs repairs, selling to an investor buyer means you won’t have to worry about doing anything to fix up the house - it can be sold completely as-is. When you need to sell your house fast to help you relocate, consider all your options and do what’s going to work best for you and your situation.
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You may think it’s only regular homeowners and not investors or rental property owners who have trouble paying the mortgage, but as a real estate investor or landlord, there may be times when it’s hard to come up with that monthly mortgage payment on your end as well. Here are some things you can do to avoid facing difficulty in getting that payment made each month. Keep your properties occupied While this may sound overly simple, this is the most obvious and important method for ensuring you’ve got rental income coming in each month to cover your property's mortgage payments. When your property goes vacant, don’t slack off and waste time before advertising for new tenants - if you can you should even begin looking before your current tenants move out. And don’t delay on screening applicants or filling your properties because you get busy or overworked. Recognize filling your vacancies as a major aspect of your business success as a real estate investor and deal with it quickly and efficiently every time. Work hard to find quality tenants While you want to keep your properties full, finding good quality tenants is key. By “good” it means they pay their rent on time, keep the property maintained and don’t abuse the lease. By using background and credit checks, you can find the best tenants available and thereby do what’s possible to keep your rental fees coming in regularly, which will help you pay the mortgage when it comes due. There are resources available online such the screening service from credit bureau Experian which allows the tenant to pay the charges of the credit check so there is no charge to you. Invest in finding long term tenants Don’t assume that quality tenants will necessarily be long term ones. Some good renters may know they can’t stay over a few months at most. They may be students or working a temporary job. They may just be living in an area waiting to move or retire somewhere else. Whatever the situation, opt for long term renters when the choice is available. Doing so will make filling a vacancy at least a more infrequent possibility. Also recognize that your biggest costs will be due to tenant turnover - so the less often you have to find new tenants, the better your investment will perform. Keep the property well maintained If you want quality, long term tenants who pay their rent on time, do your part to keep them. Deal with maintenance issues quickly. Make repairs as and schedule regular maintenance as necessary. Upgrade appliances or at least ensure the ones you provide are in good working order. Respond to your tenants’ calls quickly, or if you can’t have another system in place to deal with repair requests and other issues - such as using email or property management software that has some of these communication features built in. Doing your part to be a good landlord will go a long in way in developing lasting relationships with your tenants, which will in turn, help you keep them in your property longer. Often a tenant and landlord relationship can turn an average tenant into a great one simply because they want to keep that relationship intact. In a tough economy, it’s important to do all you can to avoid facing the difficulty of paying the mortgage. That applies just as much to an REI professional as it does to the average homeowner. These simple tips can help as you work to develop lasting, longterm, rent paying tenants to keep your properties bringing in the income you need every month. Should you take a cash offer for your Los Angeles house?
Not always. I’ll tell you how to sell any property for cash, some reasons to refuse a cash offer – and when you shouldn’t say no. Selling My House for Cash in Los AngelesIf you’re selling a property in Los Angeles to an end buyer (the person living in the home), chances are good it won’t be bought with cash. Most transactions close with the buyer getting a loan from a bank and bringing in a small percentage of the purchase price from their own funds as a down payment. Even most investors don’t close transactions with cash. It’s easy to let a bank share the risk, even if you have the money – most investors spread themselves too thin. At Bright Idea House Buyers we don’t spread ourselves too thin, because our primary goal is to build stable communities around Los Angeles. In most cases, we’ll pay cash for your Los Angeles CA property. The Benefits Of An All Cash Sale Of Your HouseThe benefits of a cash sale are real:
You don’t have to deal with the hassles of waiting months for a buyer to get a mortgage, only to be told that the lender eliminated the program and you’re back to square one. You don’t have to list your house with a real estate agent and pay a huge commission. You don’t have to deal with a lot of people just “kicking the tires” and checking out your property for fun. We don’t waste your time. This is our business. You don’t need to paint, make repairs, or even clean up. We take properties just as they are. You won’t waste money on junk haulers or contractors. You don’t need to deal with any paperwork. We have it all covered. Working With A Reputable Los Angeles House Buyer / InvestorAlways make sure that your cash buyer is reputable. At Bright Idea House Buyers, we offer great references of past sellers we’ve helped, we can show you examples of some of the latest projects we’ve worked on, and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have so you feel comfortable. We pride ourselves on being a strong part of the Los Angeles community. Our local mission is to help local Los Angeles CA homeowners who need to sell your Los Angeles house fast do it quickly, at a price fair to you, and to help improve the beauty of neighborhoods one house at a time. If you’re wondering about selling your house for cash in Los Angeles or just need to sell a property near Los Angeles, we can help you. We buy properties like yours from people who need to sell fast. Are you making plans for your retirement? Even if it is a long way down the road, it is never too early to begin planning. In our latest post, we offer excellent tips for buying a Los Angeles retirement home!
When buying a house for your retirement, there are many things to consider. You will need to think about things you hadn’t had to think about with real estate purchases in the past. Here are a few of our best tips for buying a Los Angeles retirement house. Don't Put it Off Sure, if retirement is a long ways away, it might be difficult to know what you are going to want down the road. Your needs might change, you might want to live somewhere else, but here is the beauty of it: even if you change your mind, you can always sell the house for something else. By purchasing your perfect retirement house now, you can opt to rent it out in the meantime, so that the mortgage on it is paid by someone else. Let someone else shoulder the costs of your retirement home, while you continue to invest and save for your retirement/vacation fund. What will you want to be Doing? Future you may not want to mow a large lawn each week or have to deal with climbing up and down the stairs to get to the laundry room. It is important to consider what your needs will be down the road, not just what works for you today. Many people fail to consider what their future needs will be and end up stuck with a house that isn’t usable for them. Maybe a single story home or a low maintenance condo should be a consideration. Be considerate of yourself and keep in mind that your body will change over time. You will have different needs than you do today. Of course, it is impossible to exactly what your life will be like, but try to make thoughtful decisions that will help you attain a high quality of life in your retirement years. Location, Location, Location What does the area look like 5 years from now? 10? 15? Even if your plan is to hold on to the house, you will still want a property that is going to retain its value. Take some time to learn about what the future of the area looks like. Are there major development plans? Renewed infrastructure? You will want to retire in an area that makes modern amenities convenient for you. There is no guarantee that says you will be driving in your later years, so pick a spot that has commonly needed services nearby. You may not want to live way out in the country when you are in your later years. Having health care services close by can be a consideration when you are in the years where people tend to use them more often. Costs of Ownership How much does owning the home cost you each year? You must consider the taxes, insurance, maintenance, repairs and utility costs. What happens if you go a few months without a tenant. Will you be able to pay the mortgage on top of your other monthly bills? There are other costs to consider as well which are unique to specific properties. Are there oil or propane tanks to fill? Maybe a septic system to maintain? All of these costs need to be accounted for to determine your true cost of ownership. Are you looking for a great property you can eventually retire in? At Bright Idea House Buyers we buy and sell the best properties in the area, and we are sure to have a home that fits your needs and budget! We would love to help you find the perfect retirement home in the Los Angeles area! I could tell by the sound of the ring. It was just the normal ringtone, but something about it - maybe the fact that it was coming at dinnertime on a Saturday on a long planned vacation with my family.
Telemarketer? Maybe worse - upon picking up the phone to check the caller ID it was confirmed - a tenant call. Given the timing of the call it was likely not going to be something good - so I decided to let it go to voicemail and see if he would leave a message. The ringing stopped - but no voicemail… Ringing again - he just hung up and redialed - I resigned myself to the fact that it would be better to find what’s going on than just continue to ignore it so I answered. My reward was to discover an active and significant leak from a copper water supply line in the back of the house. Water was squirting out of the wall around a hose bib and without a doubt was also spraying somewhere inside the wall. After having to walk the tenant through the process of shutting off the main water valve, I now had to look forward to rectifying an urgent repair situation. These are the kinds of calls and situations that landlords dread. What to do? Option 1 - Hire a property manager. You will give up some of your rental income to do so, but the trade off may be worth it. Especially if you do not live close to the property or do not have a good list of trusted vendors. Managers often charge anywhere from 6-10% of the rents collected, and usually have additional fees for finding new tenants, renewing leases and coordinating repairs. They also usually have a discretionary fund or repair amount, maybe $200-$500 depending on the property, where any repair that falls within or below that price range they can just perform on their own with no approval needed from the landlord. Option 2 - Resolve the issue yourself This is the option most mom and pop style landlords follow - for those that self manage this is just part of the job. If you only have one or two rental properties you may not get much benefit from economy of scale or get well established relationships with vendors that do recurring repairs. While it is best to try and establish such relationships when possible, sometimes the only way to deal with it is to search out some vendors online and start calling. You may pay more of a retail price but that is also just the cost of being in the business of landlording. Option 3 - Sell the house For those landlords that have really had it and can’t stand the thought or stress of more problems and calls, this will be a viable solution. But how do you go about doing this? The traditional way might involve hiring a realtor to list your house on the local multiple listing service. But there can be a lot of work involved in going that route - making the needed repairs and getting the house looking pretty so it’s ready to show. Selling a house with tenants in place is generally not as easy, so giving notice to the tenants and getting them to move out of the property before selling it may be another obstacle. But there is another option - selling your your house to an investor can help you to avoid many of these traditional hassles. These kind of cash home buyers will purchase properties as-is, even with tenants still occupying the property, and you can get rid of the unwanted property and go about the rest of your life without that added stress. Bright Idea House Buyers is one such company that does exactly this. You can also avoid paying agent commissions, which combined with not having to do repairs may end up getting you a great price without all the work. Rental properties can be great investments, but when it’s time to sell them remember there is more than one option for doing so. It’s always best to look at all your options before making a final decision. Relocating can be a challenge. It is never an easy task to pack up all your belongings and move to another home. Across town is difficult, but across the country is even more daunting. Now imagine if you are 90 years old and live alone. This was the problem for Jane. She wanted to move across the country to be near her adult children. She had a new house picked out and was planning to purchase it, but just needed to sell her current house first. After listing her property with a realtor and several weeks on the market going by with no offers, she started to get concerned. Her house was dated inside - she had lived there for 20 years and had not done any updating to the property since her husband had passed away a few years after they had moved there. The house did not have major structural or system problems, but the first time buyers that the house was best suited for seemed to be looking for more modern finishes and were not willing to spend significant amounts of money updating a newly purchased home. The problem was compounded by the fact that Jane needed to sell her house relatively soon and on a timeline that could coincide with her purchase of her new home on the other side of the country. After some searching online, Jane’s granddaughter came up with a potential solution. There are companies that purchase houses as is, with no repairs needed, and the ability to close on the seller’s schedule. A perfect solution! These cash home buyers don’t have to deal with potential delays getting bank loans because they have their own funds. And they are not concerned with the condition of the properties they purchase. Jane made a call to Bright Idea House Buyers, and they sent someone out to take a look at her property the next day. After discussing her situation, they were able to make an offer that gave Jane the money she needed for her new house, and close on the date of her choosing so she was able to plan her move ahead of time with much less stress. Jane’s granddaughter was able to help by arranging most of the paperwork to be completed over email, and she was even able to buy a plane ticket to fly out and help her grandmother with the packing and moving since the date of the final sale was predetermined. Given this new flexibility, they decided to drive across the country to spend some memorable time together and to make it easier for Jane’s pet terrier to make the journey without having to brave the airports and airline travel experience. For many people listing their property with a realtor as a traditional sale may be a great way to go. But if you need to sell your house fast with no stress and no hassle - and a lot of added flexibility - then a house buying company may be just the solution you are looking for. The real estate market in southern California is a difficult one. After dropping dramatically during the financial crisis, it has since swung back up and in some areas has reached new highs not seen before. In other areas it has not made it back to its previous peak, but has certainly come up significantly from the bottom.
So are we in a seller’s market or a buyer’s market? Broadly it would seem to lean towards the sellers. But every property is unique and not all situations are the same. Buyers tend to be going after the newer houses, or those that have been fully renovated and are turnkey. Homes that need a lot of work, or perhaps those not in the hottest neighborhoods will not always get a quick sale. If you need to sell your house, here are some things to keep in mind: Timing The prime selling season is in the summer months. Though southern California does not have seasonal weather extremes the way many other parts of the country do, summer is still the best time in the market. Families who are home shopping often want to do so while school is out so their kids can be ready to start school in their new location. Condition If possible, you will sell a property quicker and get a higher value if your home is in great shape. At the very least being clean and livable without significant deferred maintenance especially in any major system such as the plumbing, electrical HVAC, etc. If it is updated with modern and trendy finishes that is the best possible combination. Flexibility Sellers that are willing to work with buyers in terms of escrow timing and terms of the sale will expose themselves to a wider potential pool of buyers. If you are selling your home and need to use the proceeds to buy a new one - which is common - you need to be able to time everything right to close on both the sale of your home and the purchase of the new one. Having that lack of flexibility may make it a little more difficult to sell your home. If you are able to check all these boxes that’s great - that will give you the best odds of getting the highest selling price. But if not, there may be other alternatives worth considering. Selling your property to a professional home buying service may be one of those alternatives. Because they pay with cash and can purchase in any condition, they provide a viable option for sellers that need to sell their homes quick, for any reason and at any time of year. |
Bright Idea House BuyersWe specialize in solving real estate problems - we are a local family owned business that purchases houses throughout the southern California area. Archives
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