Whew!! How do I know 2013 has been hectic? I haven't put aside time to write my darling blog!
But let me tell you something that has inspired me to write today. I have a wonderful client, whom I love, and she is looking to find the perfect home for her family. She is married and has 2 young children. Of course we all love Hancock Park so that is where we are currently looking and keeping an eye out for something AMAZING to come on the market.
In the past three months I have previewed every new home that fits into my clients criteria and some of these have been rehabbed or "flipped" as some like to call it. This doesn't happen too often in our neighborhood because the homes typically have some historical significance and/or they are in a Historical Preservation Overlay Zone so we usually see people putting great effort into RESTORING their beautiful 1920's homes.
Occasionally an investor will get their hands on one of these beauties and I would say ... 70% of the time they get it right.
So back to my client....I am searching for a house with 3 bedrooms or more and we don't really want to spend over $2MM. The house needs to be move in ready but doesn't need to be completely done.
Most of the homes I am looking at are over 2,000 square feet and I have seen 3 flipped homes in that price range that for some reason have only two bedrooms upstairs~!!? In a three to four bedroom house???
People who don't have kids are like "so what?"... well let me tell you something...If you have 2 small children and you are looking at spending between $1.2 and $2MM on your first family home there better be at least 3 bloody bedrooms on one level!
What are you going to do? Put a 2 year old by herself downstairs or put 2 little kids upstairs and have your master bedroom downstairs? Are you really going to spend over a million bucks and make your kids share a bedroom?
Here's the real question...Why are investors going to all this trouble to make these lavish homes with all the finishing touches one can imagine, huge master suites, huge guest suites, giant closets, 5 million shower heads and nozzles spraying in different directions, surround sound, state of the art kitchens and bathrooms, imported finishes... etc etc and then they take up the entire second floor with one or two giant bedrooms!?! Kind of funny (or laughable I should say) as I write this but totally frustrating when all I want to do is find the perfect family home. Why are they overlooking the most important key to a home? - it's functionality!?
Why do investors think that we need GIANT bloody bedrooms in 2,500 square feet or less. Don't they realize we would rather buy a house and blow out the wall between two rooms than have to figure out how to turn two HUMONGOUS bedrooms into three??!
So anyway - Investors - please before you start just tearing down walls to make baseball field sized master living suites - how about ask some people who are looking to buy in that neighborhood what they want, find out about the types of people who are attracted to that neighborhood...cater to the buyers. Do some stats, and how about just use your bloody brains!!
I'm keeping it real here people.
Investors - please - I work with buyers in many different types of neighborhoods and markets in Los Angeles. Feel free to call me and ask a few questions about your project. Make your flip the kind that will sell in minutes - not because it is all sparkly and new but because it WORKS for the buyers.
But let me tell you something that has inspired me to write today. I have a wonderful client, whom I love, and she is looking to find the perfect home for her family. She is married and has 2 young children. Of course we all love Hancock Park so that is where we are currently looking and keeping an eye out for something AMAZING to come on the market.
In the past three months I have previewed every new home that fits into my clients criteria and some of these have been rehabbed or "flipped" as some like to call it. This doesn't happen too often in our neighborhood because the homes typically have some historical significance and/or they are in a Historical Preservation Overlay Zone so we usually see people putting great effort into RESTORING their beautiful 1920's homes.
Occasionally an investor will get their hands on one of these beauties and I would say ... 70% of the time they get it right.
So back to my client....I am searching for a house with 3 bedrooms or more and we don't really want to spend over $2MM. The house needs to be move in ready but doesn't need to be completely done.
Most of the homes I am looking at are over 2,000 square feet and I have seen 3 flipped homes in that price range that for some reason have only two bedrooms upstairs~!!? In a three to four bedroom house???
People who don't have kids are like "so what?"... well let me tell you something...If you have 2 small children and you are looking at spending between $1.2 and $2MM on your first family home there better be at least 3 bloody bedrooms on one level!
What are you going to do? Put a 2 year old by herself downstairs or put 2 little kids upstairs and have your master bedroom downstairs? Are you really going to spend over a million bucks and make your kids share a bedroom?
Here's the real question...Why are investors going to all this trouble to make these lavish homes with all the finishing touches one can imagine, huge master suites, huge guest suites, giant closets, 5 million shower heads and nozzles spraying in different directions, surround sound, state of the art kitchens and bathrooms, imported finishes... etc etc and then they take up the entire second floor with one or two giant bedrooms!?! Kind of funny (or laughable I should say) as I write this but totally frustrating when all I want to do is find the perfect family home. Why are they overlooking the most important key to a home? - it's functionality!?
Why do investors think that we need GIANT bloody bedrooms in 2,500 square feet or less. Don't they realize we would rather buy a house and blow out the wall between two rooms than have to figure out how to turn two HUMONGOUS bedrooms into three??!
So anyway - Investors - please before you start just tearing down walls to make baseball field sized master living suites - how about ask some people who are looking to buy in that neighborhood what they want, find out about the types of people who are attracted to that neighborhood...cater to the buyers. Do some stats, and how about just use your bloody brains!!
I'm keeping it real here people.
Investors - please - I work with buyers in many different types of neighborhoods and markets in Los Angeles. Feel free to call me and ask a few questions about your project. Make your flip the kind that will sell in minutes - not because it is all sparkly and new but because it WORKS for the buyers.
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