When to use 'Notice To Perform' and how does it work?

Home sellers do not have many options when it comes to canceling an escrow.

For example, you can't cancel an existing escrow if you find another buyer willing to pay more money for your home or if you simply change your mind about selling.

Once you are under contract with a buyer, you are basically stuck.

However, you can get out of escrow if the buyer refuses to perform.

So if the buyer refuses to remove their inspection contingency, give them the notice to perform.

If they still don't remove that contingency, then you have the right to cancel the deal.

Do a 1 day listing agreement to sell your home

When you list your home for sale with an agent, the first thing you need to do is determine how long you are going to give that agent an opportunity to sell your home.

The length of time is determined by you and the agent.

Nothing is set in stone.

You can do a year, 6 months (this is average), you can even do a 1-day listing agreement.

I have done plenty of 1 day listing agreements.

I use that when I want to show a home 1 time to 1 of my buyers.

Can you accept a Rolex as a deposit?

If the buyer refuses to send cash as their deposit, find another buyer.

Remember, the deposit is sent over within the first 3 days of opening escrow.

If the buyer is this difficult to work with just 3 days in, imagine how hard it will be for the rest of the 30 day escrow period.

Don't accept a Rolex as your home purchase deposit

As soon as you accept an offer for someone to buy your home, the buyer has to send over an all-cash good faith deposit.

This deposit is typically 3% of the purchase price of the property and is held by the escrow company in an escrow account just in case the buyer breaches the contract and you want to try to collect for damages.

If the buyer wants to send over anything but cash as their deposit, say no!

I have heard of buyers trying to use necklaces, #Rolex watches, and all types of other items for their deposit.

There are a few problems with this.

1) Will the escrow company hold a physical item as a deposit?

2) What is the true appraised value of the item?

3) Is that item real and authentic?

Because so many problems can arise out of this, only accept cash as your deposit.

If the buyer refuses, find yourself another buyer.

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.

Episode 33 of The #AskDanielLosAngeles Show

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

1) I'm looking online at homes for sale. They all list the price per square foot. What does $500 per square foot mean?

2) We are in the final stages of closing on a condo. We are just about a week away from closing escrow. I'm not really sure this is the right place for us anymore. What's the worst thing that can happen if we back out of the deal now?

3) When I purchase a home, do I have to put the title of the property in my name?

4) I put in an offer on a property, but the listing agent said I have to get pre-approved with their lender before the seller can accept my offer. Why do I have to go through that process if I already got pre-approved through my own lender?

We have ​almost 20,000 followers on Instagram... come join us @DanielLosAngeles!

Home buyer demand hits highest level in 11 years

January continues to be a hot month for the housing market.

Weekly mortgage applications jumped 30% for the week ending Jan. 10, a sign that homebuyers are emerging in 2020.

As I mentioned in the past, buyers typically take a break in December, then start their search again in January.

The Beverly Hillbillies mansion sells for $150 MM

The Bel Air mansion that played the Clampett’s Beverly Hills home in the 1960s television show, The Beverly Hillbillies, just sold for a reported $150 million—a record-setting price not only for Los Angeles but California.

The buyer is Lachlan Murdoch, American Media Mogul, Rupert Murdoch’s son.

The main house measures roughly 25,000 square feet.

The lot size is approximately 10 acres.

There is a 75-foot pool and a 12,000 bottle wine cellar!

What an awesome property!

For sale home inventory has gone down 11.2%

The shortage of homes that are for sale in Los Angeles is accelerating.

Inventories in November dropped 11.2% annually.

This comes at a time when low-interest rates are increasing buyer demand.

The housing shortage is felt most at the entry-level of the market.

Traditionally, housing inventory goes down in the 4th quarter of the year... but 11.2% is a big drop.

Inventory should pick up slightly in the first quarter of 2020.

Which month is better to put a home up for sale: Jan. or Feb.

This home buyer pattern happens every single year.

Buyers stop their home search in December and pick it back up again in January.

To get top dollar for your home, take advantage of this rough data and choose to list your home for sale in January instead of February.

More buyers on the market lead to more competition.

If your home is priced right, that will lead to multiple offers for your property.

It's smarter to sell your home in January vs. February

Every year in December, a lot of my buyers that have been looking for a home take a break from the property search.

They are busy with the holidays and parties and family.

But come January 1st, their new year's resolutions of owning a home kicks in and their search gets ramped up again.

As a home seller, you should understand this pattern and take advantage of it.

You can do that by putting your home on the market in January and getting that initial wave of buyers to come check out your home.

If you wait until February to put your home on the market, you miss the buyer rush and your home could stay on the market longer.

If you are going to list your home, be smart about it, and list your home for sale in January.

That means you need to start to prepare for that today!

Most expensive home to sell this week in Studio City

Original asking price: $4,750,000
Sold price: $4,250,000
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After being on the market for only 25 days, the owner of this #StudioCity home decided to accept a offer that was $500,000 below asking price.
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Do you think the owner was too quick to accept such a low offer... or should the owner have kept the home on the market a little longer in hopes of getting more money?
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Comment "accept" or "wait".

3 years' search for this Glendale home

The buyers of this #Glendale home had been searching for a property for 3 years.
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Their agent put in several offers on their behalf, but they could not get the job done.
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My past client and friend referred them over to me. The buyers came by my office in the morning for my "Buyer Orientation" meeting.
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This is where I take them through the entire purchase process, from beginning to end. 
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In the afternoon I showed them 3 properties. They fell in love with one and immediately decided to put in an offer. 
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After a little negotiating with the seller, my clients got the home for $1,075,000. The sellers original asking price was $1,250,000.
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3 years of searching with another agent... and in 1 day I found them their home.
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I hate to toot my own horn... but... TOOT TOOT!

Most expensive home to sell in Burbank this week

Original asking price: $2,399,000
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Sold price: $1,800,000
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Is a backyard important to you?
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This #Burbank home does not have much of a backyard and still demanded the million dollar price tag.
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If a small yard is a dealbreaker for you, comment below "dealbreaker".

What fees do I have to pay when selling my home?

Expect your seller closing costs to be 6%-7% of the sales price of the home.

Don't worry buyers, you have your own closing costs you need to stress out over 😐

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