The Argument Against Renting

INFLATION. PERIOD.

This is such debated topic when home prices are through the roof (no pun intended). I get the perspective of renting a place while the market cools. But my issue with this is that the market may not cool. It may go up or stay the same. Secondly, rent paid is money you'll NEVER get back. And rents are expected to increase 4-5% each year. Mortgage paid, if you hold on the property, is money you'll get back in the form of equity when you sell at the right time. And a 30 year fixed loan during inflation times? No brainer.

But did you know that homeowners have on average at least 50,000 in wealth equity in Los Angeles, while renters have about $600.00?

And here's the other kicker. Anyone who has bought a detached house in LA in the past 12 years is sitting on at least 20% equity. This is the average percentage of increased value since COVID. Crazy.

And don't forget, you don't have to be responsible for the entire mortgage. There's also the hybrid argument. You can rent a place, but still buy an investment property to rent out to someone else who will pay for half your mortgage!

REMEMBER, there's never a bad time to buy real estate, only a bad time to sell.

L.A.'s Largest Homeless Housing Building to Begin Construction on Skid Row

The Weingart Towers to begin construction and targeting a 2023 completion. https://www.weingart.org/building-the-future

It's a step in the right direction and HHH funds finally being used.

Building Highlight - Elleven Condos

Situated on the corner of Grand Ave and 11th St, the Elleven Condos was the first LEED Certified residential building in DTLA! The immaculately kept building has maintained its luxury status with a first class staff, 24/7 concierge-like front desk services, onsite manager 5 days per week, onsite engineer, and amenities such as a south-facing pool deck with hot tub, and garden deck with lush foliage, fireplace, lounge areas, Viking BBQ Grills, and fountain. 

Featured units below:

Elleven #614 - 960sf - 1+1

East facing with views of Grand Ave, South Park Commons, and tree tops. Has a built-in wall partition separating bedroom area, a huge laundry and storage room, glass shower doors. 1 Parking space with Asking $565k 

Coldwell Banker

Elleven #PH5 - 3150sf - 3+2.5

Northwest with views of the DTLA skyline. Has a spacious corner balcony for indoor/outdoor entertaining, grand open plan living areas, rare double entry doors, 2 rare storage units, 2 side by side parking spaces.

Asking $3.795M 

WEA

Big DTLA Open House Event - Sunday 9/12 from 12-4pm

30+ units will be holding open houses for the first time since COVID began. Here's your chance to tour the lofts--great inventory lately, especially in South Park. There's some really interesting ones on the market right now. 

#DTLAisOpen

Visit here to see all the open houses: www.AgentsDowntown.com

How to Win the House in a Seller's Market

I normally HATE games in real estate. It just makes everything so much more complicated in an already complicated process. But sometimes, we do have to play, especially in a very competitive market. Particularly for single family homes right now. What a crazy past 18 mos, who knew real estate would be over 25% above 2019 prices on average? Pandemic pricing. 

Right now the ONLY way to win the housing bidding wars is to:

1. Pay more than any other bidder

2. Have the best terms (short escrow, all cash if possible)

3. Negotiate once you're in escrow (Hate this one, but it does work)

4. Get it before it hits the market (I personally love these, and lots of my buyer clients have had no competition because of this. The key is to be ready to bid ON THE SPOT if you like it). 

DTLA is Bouncing Back - Recent Sales

Sales are happening, as homebuyers and investors become more confident in the market. There seems to be more owner-occupying buyers than investors for now though, no doubt due to the all the eviction moratorium activity that's in flux.

We do love owner occupied buyers in DTLA! It's these stakeholders who make the area a community, and spur on things like small businesses, artist galleries, pedestrian events, and more residents into the neighborhoods. 

Recent notable sales:

Eastern Columbia #311 - SOLD FOR $1.65M - 1740sf 

Stunning remodel of a true loft in the only Art Deco condo building in the Historic Core

Coldwell Banker

https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=dnJZvjfEBJ8

Textile Loft #906 - SOLD FOR $635K - 890sf 

Corner loft with views views views in the beloved Textile Building in the Fashion District

Coldwell Banker

https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/21-690300

Rowan Loft #705 - SOLD FOR $835K - 1260sf 

Rare park-facing loft in the Rowan Building in the Historic Core

Compass

https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/21-711532

Flower Street Loft #402 - SOLD FOR $1.280M - 2075sf 

Rare split level top floor loft in the heart of South Park

Compass

https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/PW21074216MR

Elleven Loft #1101 - SOLD FOR $1.42M - 2100sf 

Rare southwest corner loft in the heart of South Park

Compass

https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/20-672888

Eckardt Loft #201 - SOLD FOR $563K - 960sf 

Unique T-shaped floorplan in the Fashion District

Coldwell Banker

https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/21-745308

Why Pay Cash for Real Estate?

Seriously though, why? Interested rates are 2.5% and when inflation creeps up to 5%, you'll be paying off your mortgage at 50 cents on the dollar. 

The upside to this high market? Lowest ever interest rates.

Remember, cash is leverage. Use it to downpay and finance two in places like DTLA, where bidding wars are not currently happening.

State of the Market - Crash Looming?

We're half way through the year, pandemic still going, stocks are up, real estate is still buoyant, cost of goods increasing every day. These are chaotic and unstable things going on, but one fact remains, which is that people need places to live. And as the job market continues to pick up, people are moving around, upsizing, downsizing, and changing their surroundings. 

So the big questions:

1. Is there a bubble? - YES. Of course this is a bubble. Multiple offers. Love letters to sellers. As-is. All cash. 

2. Will there be a crash? - PROBABLY. But most likely, it will be a small correction rather than a crash, and it might be a miniscule. WHEN? Likely in 2-3 years. Once all the buyers who accelerated their buying timelines have gone, those who come out to sell will find that there's less demand out there. This will result in some price corrections. But again, I don't see it being big enough to matter in a place like LA. 

3. Hold or sell? - Hold if you've got 5-8 years to hold on. Sell if you're needing to unleash in the next 1-2 years. 

4.  Buy or wait? - If you have a downpayment, buy. Inflation is killing your savings and interest rates are so low, it's practically free money. Only wait if you don't have enough down or you're not prequalified. Otherwise, diversify your investments with stocks, a property, and maybe some crypto if you're risk tolerant.

Grand Openings + Re-Openings in DTLA

As LA begins a return to "normalcy," DTLA is beginning to reinvent itself again. I'm calling this DTLA 2.0. 

Quietly working away during a pandemic, the newly kitted out Apple Store in the old Tower Theatre is finally a reality. Years of restoration and planning have resulted in one of the most interesting Apple Flagship stores in the world! https://www.ladowntowner.com/articles/2021/6/24/revive-amp-revue-the-apple-tower-theater

Other happenings in the neighborhood:

1. Metro Connector near the Higgins and Douglas buildings are making progress for public transportation

2. Proper Hotel to debut its DTLA location within the next 2 weeks (We already have one in Santa Monica https://www.properhotel.com/santa-monica/ )

3. The State Historic Park is hosting a slew of summer events, including concerts

4. The Broad museum opened back up and already booked weeks ahead

5. Restaurants are going crazy, look at all the outdoor dining going on!

6. WeWork offices all over the neighborhood are picking back up as people who work from home are needing a new atmosphere from time to time--it's not always easy to work in a loft when you've got cats and dogs walking in front of monitors and Fedex knocking on your door every 2 hours!

7. Buildings are wrapping up remodels

8. Filming is back in full force as every other street becomes a film or commercial set

9. Farmers Markets are back on

10. Investment activity is picking up as good ROI units are selling

11. USC, FIDM, SciArc, Loyola are all back in session in the Fall!

12. DCBID begins its DTLA IS OPEN campaign http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/bid-begins-dtla-is-open-campaign/article_f9172fdc-d0a2-11eb-8be3-dff2749b0d5e.html

13. Comic Con, Lakers, Clippers, etc are all back!

DTLA - Sellers Must Woo with Prices or Interiors

While "suburban" homes are all the rage, more dense city areas are still lagging behind in activity and prices. In DTLA, prices are starting to catch up as Los Angeles opens up, the weather is always great, and it's now sinking in for buyers that DTLA is one of the few if not only places where you can avoid bidding wars. 

But to be serious about selling, you need to either price it right or just below the market, or really spruce up the place. There's a lot of competition around, and the best units are selling. 

Recently sold for top prices: 

1234 Wilshire #304 - Vero Condos 

https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/21-714874 

746 S. Los Angeles St #910 - Cornell at Santee Village https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/21-694530 

257 S. Spring St #4D - Douglas Lofts 

https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/21-685716 

1155 S. Grand #1708 - EVO Condos https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/PW21003076MR 

530 Hewitt #323 - Barker Block Lofts 

https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/20-669754 

253 S. Broadway #301 - Pan American Lofts https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/21-706744 

253 S. Broadway #509 - Pan American Lofts https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/20-655240 

108 W. 2nd St #413 - Higgins Lofts 

https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/21-678028 

416 S. Spring St #1207 - El Dorado Lofts https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/20-608070 

Currently Active Prime Units: 

1850 Industrial #712 - Biscuit Company Lofts https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/20-672070 

849 S. Broadway #1210 - Eastern Columbia Lofts https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/20-652400 

849 S. Broadway #311 - Eastern Columbia Lofts https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/21-680284 

1111 S. Grand #103 - Elleven Condos https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/WS21097822MR 

1100 Wilshire #1705 

https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/20-660640 

1100 Wilshire #1706 

https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/20-622374 

1855 Industrial #418 - Toy Factory Lofts https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/21-696298 

1111 S. Grand Ave #406 - Elleven Condos https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/21-710154 

629 Traction #507 - MURA Condos https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/PW21065305MR 

315 E. 8th St #906 - Textile Lofts 

https://www.themls.com/mlslistingphoto/listing/slideshow/#/21-690300