Changing your mind is not a home buying contingency

When buying a home, your offer will have a few contingencies written in the purchase agreement.

Here is 1 example of a contingency:

The purchase of the home is contingent upon the home passing your inspections.

If the home doesn't pass your inspections within your inspection contingency period, you can back out of the deal and get your 3% deposit back.

However, once you have removed all of your contingencies, you can't back out of the deal just because you wake up one day and decide you no longer want to buy the home.

If you do that, the buyers could come after your 3% deposit as damages.

Always remember, changing your mind about the purchase of a property is not a contingency.

Here's how to calculate the price per Sq. Ft. on your home

Get your calculators out!

Let’s say your home is 2,000 square feet and you want to sell it for $1,000,000.

To figure out your home’s price per square foot at that selling price is easy.

Plug into the calculator 1,000,000 (the asking price of the home) and divide it by 2,000 (the square footage of the home).

That equation equals 500 ($500 per square foot for the home).

Therefore, if your 2,000 square foot home sells at $1,000,000, the price per square foot for your home is $500.

How to calculate square footage cost

If you live in a condo, take a look at the price per square foot other units in your building have recently sold for.

That is one way to figure out what your unit is currently worth.

It's not as easy with a single-family home.

Unlike a condo, with a single-family home, you have to take the lot size into consideration as well.

Is the holiday season a good time to sell property?

Homebuyers are very frustrated and upset that their offers have not been getting accepted.

Some buyers give up... but most are getting more focused than ever.

They are determined to get their offer accepted before the year ends.

These types of buyers along with low inventory will make for an interesting end to 2019.

Home buyers will be focused this holiday season

It's been a bit of a battle for homebuyers in 2019.

They have faced heavy competition from other buyers and prices going above the asking price.

Many of them have heard "sorry, your offer has not been accepted" at least once.

Heading into the holiday season, they are now focused.

They know how the market is and are ready for war.

I am expecting a hot end to the typically slow 4th quarter of the year.

Cheapest price per sq. ft. home in Studio City

The price per square foot of this home was calculated by dividing the asking price of the property by the square footage.

This particular home has the cheapest price per square foot for the entire city of Studio City.

Many factors should be considered when buying a home. Before putting in an offer, you should always see how the price per square foot on the home you like compares to other recently sold homes in the area.

Cheapest house to sell this week in Burbank

Original List Price: $775,000 Selling Price: $666,666.

These motivated sellers unloaded their property for more than $100K below their original asking price.

The home needs a complete remodel, but because of the fairly good location (the closer you get to the airport the less desirable the property is) and the decent size of the home, the buyers should see a nice return on their investment.

"Breaking Bad" star home on the market

"Jesse Pinkman's" house is on the market!

The original asking price earlier this year was $2,499,000.

It has now been reduced to $2,198,000.

This LA home features some incredible views and a great location!

Porter Ranch - Just Sold!

Back in February of 2018, an individual emailed me inquiring about an online article I had posted.

The article was titled "Analysis: Real estate price action in Northridge and what buyers and sellers should know.”

This person wanted to know if I had heard of the new development in Porter Ranch and if I thought it would be a good investment.

My response was that the Toll Brothers consistently put out beautifully constructed homes and are always in high demand.

For those reasons, backed by the data stated in the article I sent him, I told him that a Toll Brothers home in that community would indeed make a great investment.

We took a tour of the model homes, stood on the vacant lot where they would build his home, and he decided to move forward and buy the property.

After about a year and a half of customizing the home amenities and waiting for construction to conclude, the home was finally completed.

He just closed escrow on the property and is extremely happy with the way everything turned out.

I am happy for him and his family and can't wait for the housewarming party!

Here is how the Toll Brothers describe the community...​

"The Vistas collection offers well-designed single-family homes, some with gorgeous canyon views. Vistas have a variety of options available like an optional balcony off the master bedroom suite, master spa bathroom, and more.

The Vistas at Avila also provides its residences exclusive access to a resort-style recreation center with a pool, spa, cabanas, outdoor TVs, barbecues, wading pool, and a state-of-the-art clubhouse, perfect for hosting family and friends or just enjoying the beautiful California weather.

The Avila village is also located next door to the award-winning K-8 Porter Ranch Community School, families with young children can easily walk, bike, or take a short drive to and from school. The exciting future 50-acre Porter Ranch Community Park, coming soon, is located just South of the Avila village and can be accessed via foot, bike or car.

Travel is no problem for Porter Ranch residents who enjoy easy access to local freeways, which makes traveling via LAX or Burbank airports a breeze.”

What is virtual staging?

I'm always going to recommend first that you do real staging when trying to sell your property.

You want buyers to fall in love with your home the second they walk in.

Staging will allow the buyer’s emotions drive their purchasing decision.

If you refuse to have your home staged, virtual staging is the next best thing.

I have even had my graphic designer work with the current furniture that is in the home.

The designer can use their digital furniture in conjunction with your real furniture.

That way you don't have to move a single piece of furniture at your home and your marketing pictures will still end up looking great.

Virtual staging is better than showing an empty room

If you are getting ready to sell your property, you should consider staging your home.

That is when a home stager comes in and furnishes your house with modern, new, clean furniture. It makes your home look like a model home.

The problem with staging is that it costs money. The minimum cost will be around $3k.

If you refuse to do that, you should consider virtual staging.

This is where you take a picture of an empty room in your house, then a graphic designer edits the picture and ads computer-generated furniture.

In most cases, your marketing pictures will end up looking great.

You will definitely get a lot of attention to your online listing and will bring people in to see your home.

The problem arises when the buyer shows up to tour the home.

They came to see a beautiful model looking home and they end up taking a tour of a bunch of empty rooms.

This is not the ideal situation to put a buyer in.

But, virtually staged photos are better than showing a vacant room or a room filled with furniture from the 1980's.

When are home sales the slowest?

Although right now is typically a slow period in real estate, I am predicting a hot real estate market for the 4th quarter of 2019.

The reason is that buyers have been experiencing heavy competition for the last several months, have had their offers rejected, but are still very motivated to buy a home.

All those buyers that have not had any luck lately will be hungry and ready to pounce on any new listings that come up.

That should make for an interesting end to the year.

Home sales are the slowest in the 4th quarter

The 4th quarter of the year (October, November, December) is usually when home sales are the slowest.

The reason is that everyone is busy with the holidays that come up during those months.

A buyer may put their home search on hold because they are having their family stay at their home for #Thanksgiving.

Or maybe it's more important to a home buyer to go to all the holiday parties instead of focusing on finding a home.

No matter what the reason is, the 4th quarter is typically the slowest time of the year in real estate.

Having said that, the real motivated buyers and sellers are still out there trying to make a deal happen.

Some of the best deals I have seen have gone down during the holiday season.

Episode 30 of The #AskDanielLosAngeles Show

On this episode, I answer the following four real estate questions:

1) At what point during the year are home sales usually the slowest?

2) Now that we found a buyer for my home and we are in escrow, is it safe for us to start moving out?

3) A lot of the homes I am touring are selling for more than the list price. How am I supposed to buy a property if everything I am interested in keeps selling over the asking price?

4) I do not want to spend a dime on staging my home. What other options are out there to make my home look more attractive to buyers?

We have almost 20,000 Instagram followers... join us!

The cheapest home to sell this week in Sunland

The cheapest house sold in Sunland this week closed at $430,000.

Originally listed at $550,000, this home features a newly remodeled kitchen with original hardwood floors and will make a nice starter home.