Western Real Estate News

A lot of people talk about buying foreclosures when they consider the investment opportunities in the current market, but there is another largely unnoticed investment option that sometimes goes under the radar. It is the rental market.

What do foreclosures have to do with rentals? A lot, according to one San Jose property management company, but I’ll narrow it down to two major points here: Purchase price and rental price.

First, foreclosures affect the price of homes, which affects those homes’ investment potential. Second, foreclosures put former homeowners out into the rental market, which creates demand for rentals. These factors combined are bringing savvy investors out of the woodwork to participate in the investment opportunities that abound.

Few rental markets in the country are suffering, and that’s because more people than ever are needing to rent because they couldn’t afford the home they bought in 2005 at the peak of the last real estate boom. As a result, longtime San Jose property management company First Statewide Realty, in business since 1988, is saying that vacancy rates have decreased since 2010. This would appear to be good news for investors as the market seeks to correct itself from the bubble days.

When communities come together, they can do great things. Take the Mount Washington neighborhood of Northeast Los Angeles, for instance. Residents banded together long ago to create what’s called the Mount Washington Homeowners Association. This alliance citizens who care about their home values and community has added real value to home values in the opinion of local real estate pros like Ralph Guerin who sell Mount Washington homes.

One of the most interesting things this group of homeowners has done is to create an archive of the oral and written history of the area, going back quite a few years to some of the elderly residents who lived there in the early 1900s. This ability to preserve stories from the “exclusive” neighborhood (exclusive in the sense that it is desirable and supply is limited, but prices are still very reasonable) has given a real sense of community to residents and a heritage worth passing down to future generations.

Only a few minutes from Silverlake, Mt. Washington homes make a great place to live for those needing to commute to nearby Burbank, Glendale, or Pasadena. Of course, the freeways are close by for those who need to go a bit farther, but by all accounts, the quiet bedroom community makes a nice place to come home to at the end of the day.

What constitutes a luxury home these days, anyway? Most buyers and real estate agents aren’t too sure, but they know it when they see it. With big runups in home prices during the last real estate boom, it would seem that just about anything could pass for a luxury home if you’re simply referring to affordability–or the lack thereof, to be more accurate.

Nevertheless, the luxury home market is probably best defined locally and relatively, rather than in absolute dollar amounts. Why? Because a million dollar home in Oak Park, while fitting into most of our definitions of the word “luxury,” is less so than, say, a million dollar New Mexico home. This is due to local factors such as the economy, the job market, supply and demand for homes in particular neighborhoods, etc.

Taking a look at Oak Park, California home prices, we find a full 30% of homes in Oak Park are listed over $1 million dollars currently. These are definitely a part of the luxury home market, to be sure. However, if we focus in on homes in the top 5%, we’ll find prices in this luxury home bracket to be over $3 million.

If you own real estate in Agoura Hills, California, and you are considering putting it on the market, now may be the perfect opportunity to benefit from a modest surge in buyer interest. Low interest rates and artificially low prices due to the high number of short sales and foreclosures is bringing out some buyers again.

Agoura Hills homes have retained their values fairly well compared to some other areas of the country because it is such a desirable location. The family-friendly community is within half an hour of Malibu and Downtown Los Angeles, meaning that buyers will be increasingly looking here as the end of the school year approaches and the traditional summer buying season warms up.

Pricing is extremely important if you want to sell your home in Agoura Hills. It is well-documented that overpricing your home for sale will end up with a lower sale price than if it were priced accurately from the beginning. An overpriced home will not get foot-traffic from buyers and it will sit on the market until the price is lowered to be reasonable. Invariably, owners will wait too long to lower their price, and when they do, they will be forced to lower it drastically just to make the sale. That is not the recommended approach.
We suggest doing some preliminary research on Agoura Hills homes by checking out current Agoura Hills listings. You can pan and zoom on the real estate map search easily to get an idea of home prices in your immediate vicinity. Then we recommend talking to an experienced Realtor who knows Agoura Hills neighborhoods, schools, and property values inside and out. We suggest Carol Lee at Coldwell Banker in Westlake Village. When you’re ready, just fill out this quick form to find out your Agoura hills property values here.

There are some great deals available on Blue and Gold Realty’s Vacaville homes for sale site, including land, short sales, and foreclosures. The site includes both residential homes within easy commuting distance of Sacramento, California, as well as farm land and development land. You can do a complete Vacaville, CA real estate search, including nearby counties:

• Vavaville County Homes for Sale
• Sacramento County Homes for Sale
  
• Colusa County Homes for Sale
  
• Yolo Count Homes for Sale
  
• Napa County Homes for Sale
  

The map search feature is one of the best. It allows you to pan and zoom in real-time, and the map will refresh with local listings that match your search criteria. In this way, you can get a great visual feel for where the property is located.

You can also save your listings for easy reference later. In fact, if you save your search, you can get automatic email updates of new real estate listings in Vacaville (or whatever city you choose) whenever new properties come on the market! Questions? Contact Ken Kramer.

Need help finding Agoura Hills homes for sale? Agoura Hills real estate specialist Carol Lee has the local knowledge and professional expertise to find you the perfect Agoura property and guide you through a smooth real estate transaction. Carol can help you find great bargains in the Agoura area, and you can search them quickly and easily on her website with a state of the art map search for homes in Agoura Hills. The entire MLS is available to search here:

• Map search for homes in Agoura Hills
• Advanced Agoura Hills real estate search. Use advanced search criteria, like short sales or foreclosures by typing in “Short Sale” or “Foreclosure” into the “Remarks” box at the bottom.
• Agoura Hills Listings
• Agoura Hills Short Sales