Michael Trust Realty - Your San Fernando Valley real estate professionals

Have a discussion with a Broker and Realtor(r) about various issues related to real estate. Enjoy Michael's random thoughts about Real Estate and the changing market, or what Michael likes in the Los Angeles area... Michael works primarily in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita, and Simi Valleys and in the West Los Angeles and surrounding area of Los Angeles... Serving your real estate needs in Encino, Tarzana, Agoura, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Calabasas Park, Reseda, Woodland Hills, Sherman Oaks, Chatsworth, Canoga Park, West Hills, Winnetka, Northridge, Van Nuys, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Burbank, Granada Hills, Mission Hills, Arleta, Pacoima, Sylmar, Panorama City and the rest of the San Fernando Valley; Valencia, Stevenson Ranch, Saugus, Newhall, Santa Clarita, Canyon Country and the rest of the Santa Clarita Valley; Simi Valley; Moorpark; Newbury Park; Conejo Valley; Westwood, Century City, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Santa Monica, Culver City, Mar Vista, Rancho Park, Cheviot Hills, Beverlywood, Miracle Mile, West Hollywood, and West Los Angeles. We've got your Real Estate Needs Covered!!

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August 2006

Picture of San Fernando Valley on a Sunday Afternoon

Posted at 8:48 PM, Aug. 26, 2006

Los Angeles Views Along Mulholland Drive

I took these photos one Sunday afternoon along Mulholland Drive.

Mulholland Drive is notable because it separates the ‘city side’ from the ‘valley’ side of LA. This road runs along the back side of Bel Air (yes, as in the ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air”) from Hollywood almost reaching the Pacific Ocean.

Mulholland traverses through many of LA and Beverly Hills’ most exclusive neighborhoods.

The views in these photos overlook Encino and Tarzana in the foreground and out over the entire mid/eastern San Fernando Valley in the background.

I grew up facing the other direction - on the other side of the "hill" - in LA "proper".

If you have any questions about LA, please feel free to send a comment/question. I would be pleased to help. I have lived and worked in Los Angeles all of my life.

A view of Tarzana and Encino north, northeast off road Mulholland

A view of Tarzana and Encino north east from offroad Mulholland

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When A Great View Is Not A Great View

Posted at 10:59 AM, Aug. 7, 2006

When A Great View Is Not A Great View

By:
Raynor
House hunting is a game wherein you try to get the most while paying the least. Part of getting the most is often finding a home with a view, but don’t be a sucker.

When A Great View Is Not A Great View

After a hard days work, you come home to your dream home. You change into something comfortable, grab a beverage and head out to the deck. There, you relax and take in your fabulous view. This is the daydream you have while standing in a home for sale that has an incredible view. Yes, it is a nice view. In fact, it may be so nice that you do not really pay attention to the rest of the home. Even if you do, you may be able to overlook some problems that you would not otherwise if there was no view. At the end of the day, you make an offer and the seller accepts.

Sixty days later, you are the owner, moved in, unpacked and enjoying your new property. After a year or so, you come home after a stressful day. You change clothes, grab a beverage and head out to the deck. You are stunned to see a two-story home being built in the middle of your view.

How can this be? This is an outrage! Unfortunately, you probably are out of luck. Depending on your state laws, you may have no way of keeping the other property owner from spoiling your view.

As you might expect, this situation arises more often than people would like to admit. When considering making an offer on a home, one must be very careful when it comes to views. You should never dismiss other problems with the home because you like a view. Further, you should not overvalue the view.

A beautiful view today may just be a view of the side of a home in a year. Investigate local legal regulations regarding new construction in the area, the height homes can be built to and whether pre-existing homes can add second or third floors. If you do not, you run the risk of owning the room without a view.

Article Source http://www.articledashboard.com

Raynor James is with the site - FSBOAmerica.org - http://www.fsboamerica.org/buyer.com

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What Should I Look For When I Purchase A New Home?

Posted at 10:50 AM, Aug. 7, 2006

What Should I Look For When I Purchase A New Home?

By: Nocita http://www.articledashboard.com/profile/Nocita/6313

Good question! It’s a good idea to think about what you should look for when you purchase a new home before you actually sign on the dotted line and pay.

Buying a new home can be a rewarding experience if you do it right.

Just make sure you protect yourself from any surprises down the line. You want to know some of the ways you can?

Well, you may want to consider these tips before purchasing your new home:

1) Make sure you select a reputable builder when you purchase your new home! Do your research on the builder to find out about their past work. You can find out the type of work a builder has previously done by getting the names of the home communities established by the builder. Go to those particular communities and ask some of the homeowners if they have had any problems with that particular builder. You can also ask the homeowners what they like about their home builder.

2) Consider getting a home inspection done on your new home by hiring your own independent home inspector. You can find a certified home inspector via the American Society of Home Inspectors(ASHI) www.ashi.org. If the builder of the new home you’re considering to purchase won’t allow an inspection, then you may want to consider moving on to another home builder that will allow you to do this.

3) Investigate and research any easements that may be on the property you’re considering to purchase. This will save you headaches later on! Make sure the easements don’t affect your enjoyment of your property in the future.

4) Consider having a real estate attorney look over the real estate documents for your new home purchase. Especially your closing purchase documents before you sign them at closing.

5) Purchase title insurance! This will protect you when you purchase your home. Title insurance will provide you with protection if someone challenges you about being the property owner of your new home.

6) You may want to consider not purchasing your first new home in a new community that has been developed. Why should you do this you say? Well, for one thing, it’s a test run and all of the kinks may not be worked out yet. You may get stuck with a lemon! It might be better for you to wait until the builder has developed more communities in order for you to consider making a new home purchase.

7) Find out how long it will take you to travel from your home to work. Can you deal with your commute? If so, that’s great! If not, this may end your quest with that particular builder to purchase a new home with them.

Well, get the idea why it’s so important to think about certain things before you consider a new home purchase? Good, then start looking for your new home now with these tips and information to assist you when you’re in the process of considering making your new home purchase.

http://www.articledashboard.com/

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Unrepresented Home Buyers Should Take Care

Posted at 10:11 AM, Aug. 7, 2006

Unrepresented Home Buyers Should Take Care

By: Austinrealestateguy

If you plan on buying a home and you plan on representing yourself, think again. Many buyers these days are very internet savvy and do a great deal of research online before contacting anyone about buying a house. However, this may not get you the deal you expect.

A number of people have discovered Zillow, which estimates value of homes. People have also discovered county tax appraisal district sites. County Assessor sites may show the assessed value that the taxing authority puts on a home to assess property taxes. Armed with this information, some buyers think they are pretty prepared to negotiate with a selling agent. What they don’t realize is that these sites are frequently not very accurate compared to the actual market value of a home.

Many unrepresented buyers also assume that a home may have a 5% to 7% selling commission built into the list price, assuming that the buyer’s agent will be paid around half of that to bring a buyer. So unrepresented sellers go to the listing agent and state that they know there may be around a 3% reduction right off the top because they do not have a Buyer’s Agent. This also happens when some unrepresented sellers to straight to a builder’s rep rather than being represented by a Buyer’s Agent. What the unrepresented sellers don’t realize is that many builders don’t negotiate much, if any, regardless of how much they planned on paying out as commission. This is also true of many Listing Agents and sellers.

A Listing Agent negotiates a commission with a seller, not a buyer. There is no way an unrepresented buyer can tell whether or not the Listing Agent chooses to discount his or her commission to the seller. Some Listing Agents will accept a variable rate commission. What this means is that if the house sells to an unrepresented seller, the Listing Agent will actually be paid a rate less than the full commission that was initially to be paid. So the unrepresented seller doesn’t have any benefit at all of a price reduction. The seller simply pays less commission.

With this in mind, the buyer should get representation.

A good Buyer’s Agent will have access to real information about the market value of a property. The Buyer’s Agent does this by comparing the house the buyer is interested to recently sold properties that compare favorably to it. The only accurate way to do this is to search the MLS. A buyer can not do this. A Buyer’s Rep who is a member of that area’s Board of REALTORS® can. A good Buyer’s Rep will also guide the buyers through the process. They will assist in the inspection process; help find a lender and a variety of other things in addition to negotiating the contract. So buyers should beware. If you choose to go it alone, you may not be as prepared as you think.

Learn more about the benefits of working with a Buyer's Agent

http://www.austinrealestateguy.com/Buyers_Agent/page_1024421.html

or read about Austin Real Estate News here http://www.austinrealestateguy.blogspot.com/

Article Source http://www.articledashboard.com

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Tips for Creating a Great Open House Flyer

Posted at 7:21 AM, Aug. 7, 2006

Open House Flyer – Ideas to Maximize This Simple, Useful and Inexpensive Real Estate Tool

The Open House flyer is one of the most useful and inexpensive advertising tools a realtor or a For-Sale-By-Owner can utilize before, during and after an Open House is held.

A good quality, well-written, colorful and informative flyer has good staying power and may end up on a potential Buyer’s kitchen counter or refrigerator door rather than in the trash. Here are some tips to creating a good Open House flyer.

One week before the Open House is scheduled, place at least 20 copies in a flyer tube next to the “Open House This Saturday and Sunday” sign in front of the property. Passer-bys interested in your listing will almost always stop to pick up a flyer, which may end up on the refrigerator door helping to reserve the date for an interested Buyer. Having the flyers available before the event is an opportunity for the Buyer to keep the date handy and can be a visual reminder of the upcoming Open House. As the Seller/Realtor, keeping the advertising tube full is imperative and check back often to see if refills are needed. You may lose a sale by not having a flyer available for the drive-bys and an empty tube can leave the impression that the home has been neglected by the realtor or homeowner. Keep the outside tube filled with Open House flyers even on Open House Day.

During the Open House, keep a fresh supply of flyers in two or three places around the home but be sure to keep a small stack somewhere near the entry so that each Buyer will prompted to take one as they enter the property. If you have a ‘Take One’ sign (a folded index card is fine), place this next to the flyers so the Buyers will follow this instruction…they almost always do. (We are creatures of habit.) Next to the Guest Book (where you will ask for names and phone numbers), and a stack of your business cards, keep a small supply of pencils or pens handy so the Buyer can jot down notes as they go through the home. This is optional but will give the Buyer a chance to refer to the flyer as they go through the property and make any notes that may be helpful later on. If the Buyer has any questions, notes taken during the Open House can be addressed directly from the flyer. Good questions addressed to the realtor or homeowner is yet another marketing opportunity to open up a dialog about the property while developing a business relationship between Seller/Realtor and Buyer. Most people will leave with the flyers in hand, so make sure everyone who comes through the door has at least one flyer as they exit the property.

After the Open House, the flyer may end up in the trash (if the Buyer is not interested in the home) or it may end up back on the fridge door. The Seller’s name and phone number are on the flyer, which gives continued exposure if the Buyer has any questions. Of course, after the Seller/Realtor does the follow-up calls from the Guest Book to see if the Buyer is interested in this listing, so having a good flyer in front of them will only help both parties share common information during the pre-sales process.

To maximize the effectiveness of an Open House flyer, here are a few tips to make that flyer stand apart from all others.

Print the flyer on light colored paper. If the Buyer is touring several Open House events in one day and has a stack of flyers on white paper, your flyer will be color-coded and can be easily identified. Dark papers conflict with colored photos so better to use light colored good stock paper to make a lasting impression.

Print good quality colored photos on your flyer…3 or 4 at most. These photos should show the best views of the property; front, foyer, living room with fireplace and so forth. If you do not have good quality photos then you will need to get them taken. Poor photos are not a good sign of a quality sales presentation.

Make sure the photos are current and do not show any holiday decorations left over from last season. Holiday decorations date the home so if you are having an Open House in July but the photos show Christmas decorations from December, this is a clear indication to the Buyer that this home has been for sale for some time and there might be a problem.

List the basic information first on the flyer; number of bedrooms, bathrooms and then go right into good descriptions of the best qualities of the home. Begin each short sentence with solid, descriptive and visual words such as, “Park-like views”, “Tree-lined street”, “Winding oak staircase”, for example. Bullet these descriptions on the front of the flyer using the bullet tool in your word processing or flyer program. The features need to be quickly read in eye-easy font, bold and should be to the point. Too much information with a difficult font and little open background or “white space” in the margins is a turn-off. Give the Buyer the facts and make it easy to remember.

The flyer heading should only include a simple heading such as, “Open House – Saturday – August 5, 2006- 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.” Below that, include the address of the property in good detail. Use a larger font for this heading but make sure the font used for the entire flyer is the same throughout. Avoid script, fancy or italic fonts. They can be difficult to read, especially for senior Buyers.

Always run a spell check before printing the flyer. Have someone else proofread it for accuracy.

At the bottom of the flyer include the realtor listing information with at least two phone numbers and an email address. Sometimes people would rather communicate by email rather than pick up the phone so leave email as an open option for communication. Do not try to advertise too heavily on these flyers. The realtor’s agency name, homeowner name (if applicable), realtor name, phone numbers (2), email address is fine. If you must use the back of the flyer for additional information, keep it simple and uncluttered. You want to advertise the home and keep the Buyer focused on the important aspects of the listing, which are printed on the front of the flyer.

*Bloggers - Any other tips or ideas about flyers, please let me know. Thanks!

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