How Not to Give in to a Softening Housing Market

Been a while between posts because it's been busy. The buying and selling activity in most parts of LA has hardly softened. Yes, there are some price drops for properties that trying to gouge. For instance, if you're trying to price a house in Highland Park for $1000/sf, that's going to sit for a while. But price it around $750/sf, then you're right where things should be.

Tips for the new year:

1. If you want to buy a house that is hugely overpriced compared to comps, then go ahead and try a lowball offer. The outright rejection activity isn't happening as much, and you're likely to at least get countered.

2. If you want to sell for over the comps, go ahead, but prepare to do a few things before listing. Such as remodeling a few things. I just sold a house in West Adams for the highest price/sf because I had told the Seller to paint the house in trendy colors. It worked. It looked like a new house, which it wasn't, but it did the trick.

3. If you're budget isn't amazing, then considering a cosmetic fixer. Borrow less, and have more to spend on cosmetic fixes and increase the value.

4. If selling fast is your goal, then price it slightly under comps, and either paint the exterior or interior of the place or change out the bathroom sinks. These are generally inexpensive things that often get you triple your money back in sales price.