South Bay-Beach Cities Home Sales: Will $15 K make a difference

The U.S. Senate in an effort to customize their version of the Bailout Bill and add a few more perks the House missed, voted to give home buyers a credit of 10% of the sale price or a maximum of $15,000 on a home purchase. Of course the bill is not actually a done deal... It has to go back to The House and then be signed by The President before it takes effect. Right now I'm guessing the bill will be changed along the way and won't be ready for consumers anytime soon... if ever.

Unlike the previous version of a $7500 tax credit that must be paid back..the new bill will not require buyers to reimburse the government...ie taxpayers... for the money. I understand the idea behind the bill but once again I think the folks in DC are off the mark.

Would a $15,000 credit stimulate sales in the South Bay-Beach Cities...yes and no. Certainly getting an extra $15K credit looks like a good deal for anyone buying but the problem is that while the credit is nice, it's pretty useless if banks are not making loans. And therein lies one of the major problems with many of the ideas about real estate and the housing market floating around Washington.

You can pass stimulus packages 'til the cows come home..but they are pretty useless if consumers can't use them. If the boys in DC are really serious about doing something about the housing crisis then I would suggest that the first step is putting a few conditions on the money they are passing around to lending instutions... namely if you want money from the government you have to make loans on homes.

House Hunting: How to Dress for Success

There is something really exciting about looking for a new home. The anticipation of finding the perfect place is an amazing feeling. However house hunting can be fun, tiring, a pain or all of the above. Wearing the right clothes and shoes can make looking at homes easier for everyone. This is especially true if you are relocating and have to see a lot of inventory in a short amount of time. Fortunately in Manhattan Beach and the other beach cities our dress is beach casual.

Here are a few tips to make your house hunting experience a bit easier and more fun.

Clothes: Getting in and out of a car is tiring and fussing with clothing makes it worse. Wear something comfortable and layer your clothes. Our weather can change in an instant from warm and sunny to cool and breezy. Good choices are natural fiber pants and skirts that are comfortable with a shirt /tee and light weight jacket. This is good for both men and women..however some men may not be too happy with the skirt idea ... This is also true for children. They need to be able to move in their clothes.

Shoes: At least 70% of the homes you will visit want you to remove your shoes or wear shoe covers. Most of these homes will not have a place to sit so you will often find yourself having to balance on one foot doing the bootie dance while trying to tie or untie a shoe. I suggest wearing socks with some type of loafer or clog that is easy to slip on and off. Tennis shoes and boots are not good choices. Children should have shoes that have velcro fastenings.. makes life much easier. It might even be a good idea to check out an inexpensive pair at Target etc.. that you will never wear for anything else. If your parents will be coming along and they have a hard time bending over they will be miserable if they don't have on the right shoe.

Purses: This is tough... we carry our lives in our hand bags. You might consider something small to carry with you and a larger one that can go in the trunk to hold items you may want for later. I always lock my purse in the trunk and just have my phone and lock box key with me. I usually try to wear something with a pocket to hold these items.

At the end of the day you will feel better if you didn't have to worry about your clothes or shoes and could concentrate on finding the right home.

What is the Value of Real Estate Agent?

I belong to a real estate blogging community where we often pose questions about the market. One of these was on value. I thought I would share my comment about how I perceive the value I bring to my clients.

It seems to me that our value lies in our knowledge of the market. Whether the market is a fast or slow; agent knowledge is the key. Knowing your market and recognizing true value is the advantage a good agent brings to the mix. You have to know more then the numbers you have to know why one area is worth more or less than another.. and often a street or a block can be the difference. People buy for a lot of reasons and a good agent will listen to determine what a specific client wants. We can't protect them from a sudden move due to a job change or family difficulty but we can give them our best information on where the market has been in the past, where it is today and where it may go in the future based on XYZ factors.

In Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo and El Segundo prices declined in some areas and increased slightly in others in 2006. At the moment prices seem flat but that can change if the market suddenly gets flooded with inventory or if inventory stays flat or declines. This is what I need to discuss with my clients. I can't predict what will happen but I can share my knowledge of what has happened. I can tell clients that the home they think is so adorable has a fundamental flaw that will drive them nuts in two years. I can point out that the street may see higher traffic in the future because there may be a new shopping center on the corner.

For investors I need to know what is happening in the rental market and the value of land. The biggest factor in our area isn't the value of the structure (unless it is fairly new) but the value of the land and what can be built on it. Are there zoning changes that may affect future value. Again this is market knowledge.

How do you get market knowledge.. experience is a big factor.. but so is paying attention to what is happening around your town. Find out what builders will pay for dirt, read about planned zoning changes and purposed new developments the city may be considering. Talk to other agents and get their take on what is happening.

My value is my knowledge.. the more knowledgeable I am.. the more I am worth to my clients..that's what we get paid for.