An experienced REALTOR® and a realistic Seller often know if a house for sale is a teardown or is salvageable for a remodel. While a home is an owner's castle, that sentiment may not be shared by the next owner and razing is a Buyer's decision.

- Neighborhood construction or remodel activity

- Years of deferred maintenance

- Allowable size of replacement home

- Current floor plan and room size

- Previous additions without a permit

- Architectural or historical designation limitations

When a Buyer determines their options, it boils down to how much money it takes to bring the existing home to today’s standards. Those costs start from the roof down to the sewer line, and everything in between. Plus, the cost of a possible addition to the existing structure. The decision also varies if the Buyer is a speculator/developer or an end-user. Speculators have the funds available to make sound economic decisions, but need to determine holding costs (keeping unsold inventory) and a profit margin for re-selling when purchasing. Few owner-users who want to tackle a major fixer have the financial wherewithal (cash-on-hand) to update.

Teardowns are purchased with home inspection waivers because the price is based on lot value. When selling a teardown as a "fixer", a Buyer may obtain inspections just to re-negotiate the price. No further negotiations are needed in a teardown, and the Buyer usually pays all cash.

Whether or not a home will be razed or remodeled is not in the Seller's control. It is best to just let go of the outcome and take years of memories with you.

Tired of being a landlord? No longer using your vacation home? Whatever property you want to sell...call REALTOR Radom, and I'll match a qualified Buyer. No matter where the property is located or type: residential, commercial, industrial, land, income or vacation, call, Cynthia (310) 288-0479.

Century Plaza condos are ready to move-in, call me for a showing. Have you seen Laura?

Home hardening is now a point-of-sale requirement and refers to taking advance measures to prepare your home in case of fire. Hardening can help increase the structure's chance of survival in a wildfire or from any flying embers. Hardening will be a negotiated point if the owner has not complied.

A new form is included in the sale packet for all properties built prior to 2010 and located in high fire-risk areas. The high-risk notifica-tion will be identified in the Natural Hazard Disclosure report issued to every Buyer.

Making hardening improvements to vulnerable areas include:

Also, new laws effective July 1st ensure that homeowners take responsibility and proactively protect their property from a wildfire according to CA’s building and fire codes. The law requires that homeowners remove flammable materials such as brush or vegetation within 100 feet surrounding their buildings (or within the property line) to create a defensible space buffer. This helps halt the progress of an approaching wildfire and keeps firefighters safe while they defend your home. The law also requires all new homes to be constructed with fire-resistant materials.

Prior to selling a home, the owner must determine if any affixed or enclosed item is not included in the sale. When a desired object is identified:

- Exclude the item in the listing agreement and the agent will advise all prospects upfront.

- Better yet, remove the item prior to showings. If necessary, replace it with something that will be included in the sale.

Open Houses on Tuesday and Sunday are back with reduced hours and REALTORS® are busy learning the new procedures and accommodating all the showings.

Multiples offers are the norm in our current real estate market and will continue for the foreseeable future. Sellers, with the aid of their REALTOR®, need to identify the strongest prospects for submitting a Counter Offer and for selecting the ultimate Buyer.

Buyers are pulling out all the stops to garner the Seller's attention in hopes of getting a Counter Offer. Many Buyers have submitted numerous purchase offers only to lose the bid based on price and/or terms. Two potential red flags that a Seller needs to heed, include:

A Buyer has one opportunity to grab the Seller's attention. What may be a red flag is when one offer far exceeds the purchase price of others. Prices may vary; above, at or below the listing price. But, it is the Buyer who offers a substantially higher price who may be the wrong candidate.

When there is an appraisal required, and the value does not cover the purchase price, most likely the Buyer will renegotiate and ask for a price reduction. Sellers, keep in mind the adage; if it's too good to be true, it probably is. Just don't spend the money until the escrow closes.

Buyers who need a loan to pur-chase a property can compete with all-cash offers. The first step is to obtain an advanced loan review. Sellers, note the difference between a pre-approval and pre-qualification letter.

A lender will obtain borrower information verbally or in an application about their work and financial history. This may take all of fifteen minutes and, if satisfactory, a loan pre-qualifica-tion letter will be issued. The value of this approval is worth the paper it is written on.

What a Seller should require is an advanced review, whereby a Buyer has submitted all required documentation and credit history for a lender to review, and all that remains is the subject property address, purchase price and an appraisal (a Buyer can decide to waive that contingency). With this type of commitment letter, a Buyer (and Seller) is confident of getting a loan and can remove the loan contingency, thereby compet-ing with an all-cash offer.

The National Association of REALTORS® implemented the Clear Cooperation Policy whereby

an off-market home for sale (a.k.a. pocket listing) can only be mar-keted through agents within the Brokerage that took the listing. Overseeing this nationwide policy is the responsibility of each local MLS (Multiple Listing Service). Our LA area MLS is now offering a workaround.

Reluctant Sellers (celebs, other well-known people or those in divorce proceedings, etc.) may want to keep their home sale under the radar. So, a new MLS listing category was created, called Privacy. A Seller can exclude their street address and name, map location and directions and still have their property listed under a separate category. Up to ten photos and area proximity can be included on the site, if desired.

The benefit is all MLS member agents can have access to "off-market” homes for sale by doing a price range (only) search in this new category and obtain listing agent contact info. Disallowed for these listings are open houses, advertising and listing statistic reports. Privacy listings require a standard contract agreement and a Privacy form signed by the Seller. However, these listings are not available for public/guest viewings in the MLS or third-party websites (Zillow, etc.).

- Forty-One Club: Read about a 1920's LA speakeasy that was located above a storage facility.

- Home mortgage rates: In the 1980's, rates averaged 12.70%, today...3.02%.

- Got Termites? Windex! The well-known glass cleaner kills these critters immediately. Just spray away, while waiting for the exterminator.

- Prop 19: Only a parent’s princi-pal residence may be transferred to their children, and that home must then become the child’s principal home within one year of the transfer.

- Not LA county: So far, LA is not in the 41 of 58 CA counties to be under a drought emergency order.

- Fire insurance quotes: Call me for referrals...310-288-0479.

CA Assembly Bill 3182 went into effect on January 1^st, which broad-ly removes most governed rental restrictions imposed by an HOA (Home Owners Association). AB 3182 adds an entirely new section to the Davis-Stirling Act, declaring: a condominium or stock coopera-tive association may not unrea-sonably restrict the rental or leasing of the owner’s unit.

The two specified restrictions that remain allowable, include:

- the inability to rent a unit for less than 30 days

- a percentage limit on total rentals based on total units

However, what was not specified, but may be implied in the sweeping Bill, is the removal of an initial moratorium whereby an HOA prohibits a Buyer from rent-ing a newly purchased unit for one year. In the LA area, many condo buildings and communities began restricting all Buyers from renting their new purchase upon closing. Property investors who wanted to use the unit as a rental had to wait and possibly be required to move in for that first year of ownership.

Because this one-year moratorium was not mentioned in AB 3182, it may have to be challenged by a Buyer who wants to immediately rent their new unit. In the interim, all HOA's have until the end of 2021 to amend their governing documents on most rental restrictions.

Update: 1 Bev Hills

Beverly Hills City Council approv-ed plans for the $2B mixed-use development site (formerly Robinson May), which includes:

- Two high-rise towers, 32- and 28- stories, containing 303 condos

- Eleven-storey hotel featuring 42 suites and 37 in-house condos

- Eight acres of park-like grounds; botanical gardens and walking paths

The latest BH Courier article is available here. Once final approval is obtained, which may change the initial plan, a 50-month construction period will begin. Expected ground breaking is 2023, suggesting a 2028 completion. Anybody taking bets?

As solar energy becomes more popular to curb electricity costs, REALTORS® are learning of potential issues when selling a property with panels installed on the roof. Most solar panels are rented by property owners from a third-party energy provider, and few panels are owned outright.

With every lease comes a contract, and a deed that may be recorded against the property until the lease obligation is fulfilled. All liens must be removed from a property at the time of sale.

In the Residential Purchase Agreement, there is a section titled: Items Included In and Excluded From Sale. A Seller is to disclose information about Leased or Liened Items and Systems and submit the contract to the Buyer. When items are not owned by the Seller, or there are items to be excluded from the sale, this must be disclosed to the Buyer upfront. In turn, the Buyer has a choice to accept or decline as a contingency of the sale. First and foremost, the Seller needs to determine if a lease contract is transferable to a new party.

Case in point: A Buyer declined the solar panels and required the Seller to deal with the long-term lease. According to the lease contract, not only was the Seller obligated for all the payments of a 25-year lease, but there was an extra cost for removing the panels. This amounted to thousands of dollars that the owner had to absorb, or look for a new Buyer.

Note: Many electric vehicle charging stations are also leased.

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CA's population fell by more than 182,000 last year, the first yearly loss ever recorded for the nation’s most populous state, halting a growth streak dating to its found-ing in 1850 on the heels of a gold rush that prompted a flood of people to seek their fortune in the West.