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Weltanschaung: views of the world a philosopy of Active Rain & my business!
Weltanschaung: views of the world a philosopy of Active Rain & my business! Hard to believe last March I wrote a Blog Post about “Weltanschaung” of my business” https://endrebarath.com/the-weltanschaung-of-my-real-estate-business-is-clear-it-is-my/ so nine months plus or minus later here I am revisiting this word, because Active Rain has a Philosophy which is embodied under the Word “Weltanschaung” http://activerain.trulia.com/culture/weltanschauung my friend from Atlanta, GA is hosting a Contest and she was interested in what particular part of this Philosophy resonates with each and every one of us. Clearly I do not go and read these points daily or regularly, like I said the last time I read it was in March of 2014. I also find that we grow, mature or change as time passes by. All then points are important and resonate with me. At this point in time particularly the last point is what resonated with me. Could be because it was the last one and left a bigger impression on me, or it could be that my value systems have been changing in the past nine months. Do not know, but the fact is this is what resonated with me at this moment: #10. ActiveRain believes that it is in the best interests of real estate professionals to build a community that is focused on educating one another.ActiveRain believes its future depends on members of all experience levels openly sharing their experiences and best practices with others in the field. This communal dialogue offers a unique opportunity for professional growth and is the way to share in the dynamism and excitement that constitutes the modern real estate business. If you asked anyone, they would agree with me that this is a noble goal! Since I have been on Active Rain, (that is 2008 in case you are wondering) I have learned how to write blog posts, I have also learned how to get SEO value and benefit of my Blogging all from fellow members. Keep in mind I did not get that from the previous Broker I worked for, but from my fellow members who freely gave me advice and help. Some I took, others I did not but should have taken! The best part is there have been so many changes during this short period of time and I was able to learn new cutting edge technology which has helped to grow my business as well as helped me build great and lasting relationships that I have not experienced on any other platform. The names of those who helped me are numerous some are gone and others are still here on this platform. So my best advice is for you to take advantage of the community and give and take for all to benefit. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue...
read moreThe Beverly Hills Supply & Demand by months is down respectively 11 % & 15%!
The Beverly Hills Supply & Demand by months statistics are down respectively 11% & 15%. Clearly something that would be a Headline for the Los Angeles Times. now let’s look at these numbers closer. December 2014 there were 94 Single Family Homes on the Market in Beverly Hills Proper. Now December 2014 there were 84 Single family homes on the market. Not that big of a difference. The let us look at the Average Days on the Market that increase from 219 days to 230 days.. That seems to be a little more significant, but not something to be concerned. Now let us look at the Sold # of Properties. It turns out in December 2013 there were 13 Single Family Residences that Sold. so the reality is, yes the statistics say 15% decrease, but the actual reality is I that n December 2014 there were 11 properties that sold. Not that big of a difference if you asked me. At the same time let us not forget that there has been a median price increase of about $600,000. That in my mind puts things in perspective. Hence with the increase in prices this is not that big of a deal. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue organizations....
read moreBeverly Hills Single Family Residence For Sale Properties by Month is down 11%
Beverly Hills Single Family Residence For Sale Properties by Month is down 11%! Since November and now December 2014 we have noticed that the Single Family Homes inventory in Beverly Hills Proper has decreased. So some people reading this message this might be a bit concerned about the statistics, but lets dig deeper into the subject. November 2014 there were 91 Single Family Homes on the market in Beverly hills and the Median Price was $7.590.000 and the Average days on Market to sell these homes was around 206 days. This was an increase in Median price point by almost $600,000.00. Now looking at December’s statistics we can see that The number of homes decreased to 84 properties for sale. The Median Price on the other hand has drastically increased to $7,891,500 which is truly an amazing increase. Now not surprisingly the Average Days on Market has increased to 230 days. Now let’s be realistic that is actually a very short period of time to sell a home in these price points. These homes are in Beverly Hills Proper, the zip codes could vary from 90210, 90212 but the true value is that the homes are inside the Beverly Hills School System, the Beverly Hills Police Department and I could go on and on and you get the idea. The only drawback to this is to some of the developers who understand that the Building Department is a bit stricter than Los Angeles, but the good news it the upside in developing in Beverly Hills is much higher, therefore most would consider worth the challenges of dealing with the Beverly Hills Building Department. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue...
read moreEncroachments & Disclosure : What is your Disclosure Strategy?
Encroachments & Disclosure: What is your Disclosure Strategy? If you are the seller or you are a Realtor, representing the seller, there are Disclosure Requirements. This applies to Realtors, Agents as well as Sellers in California. I am a firm believer if you use common sense you will be fine. So how do you determine if something needs to be disclosed? I developed this theory over the years, that if you want to have a smooth Escrow Period you need to have Disclosure Strategy. My Disclosure Strategy for information consists of three parts: (1) if I was buying the property would I want to know about this information in advance before I closed the transaction or not. (2) Next if we went to Court and if the Judge asked me why I did not disclose the information, would it pass the smell test “…well your honor the reason I did not……”? (3) If I have to ask: should or should I not disclose my answer is err on the side of caution and disclose, when in doubt disclose! I have never had anyone complain that I disclosed too much. So with that said my advice to sellers is when in doubt disclose whatever you are aware of and the odds are going to be in your favor that there will not be any after sale problems. Now with that said, if your neighbor’s fence is taking a portion of your property, before you get to the point of having to disclose might as well resolve the problem so that way there will not be a problem during Escrow. Keep in mind it is better as a seller to resolve the neighbor’s issue prior to the sale than during the sale. Then there are no concerns to deal with. Clearly if the seller cannot resolve it, then it is a disclosure issue even if the encroachment is considered “minor” it could become a major problem for both the seller as well as the listing agent. Should you have any legal questions you can always consult with a Real Estate Attorney and I am confident they will recommend you to correct the problem prior to listing the property. If it is discovered during buyer’s investigation either through a survey or from another party, then it becomes important for all to document it to potential future buyers of this issue. Especially if the party who discovered it backs out of the transaction because of it. Just to keep things in perspective a Line Survey is not that expensive. Generally here in the Greater Los Angeles they cost about $1000-$2000 and they can easily substantiate the answer to an encroachment question. So why put yourself in a potential law suit, after all it could have been easily prevented. So at the minimum by providing a simple disclosure if the encroachment might solve many headaches later on. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to...
read moreThe 72nd Golden Globe Awards will be held on January 11th, 2015
The 72nd Golden Globe Awards Ceremony will be held on January 11th, 2015: the financial benefits are great for the local economy as well! This event clearly marks the beginning of “Award Season” in the Greater Los Angeles area. Red Carpets are being made, cleaned and a great deal of preparation is coming closer and closer to the big day and the big moment. The nominees have already been announced so the politicking and worrying has been long under way. Talking with most people in the Entertainment Industry the feedback is always the same. They prefer the Golden Globe Award Ceremony over the Oscar Ceremony. Those who do not know and wonder WHY? The answer is easy, the nominees are sitting at the tables are able to eat and drink. Unlike at the Oscars they have to sit there for four to five hours depending how long it gets dragged out to before they can go eat and drink and finally relax. So getting back to the Golden Globes, this event is huge not only for Beverly Hills, but the Greater Los Angeles area in general. The revenue is great for the Hotel Industry from every level, the tourist who are on limited budget to the ones who are comfortable with the high end ultra-luxury hotels and their price points. They all are sold out and this is fantastic for the local economy. Not only do the hotel look forward to the Golden Globes, but all the Limousine Companies as well as their Chauffeurs, this is the day when with little driving, lots of waiting everyone makes some good money. In addition some of the clients who are good tippers take care of their drivers. Not mentioning the ones who are well known to be “cheap skates” you know who you are, open up your wallets and take care of your Chauffeurs and Wait Staff. The Restaurants are jam packed as well so everyone benefits from the owners to the wait staff all included. The locals are the only ones who complain about the Traffic. Keep in mind Los Angeles is already over saturated with vehicles, people and does not have a good public transportation system like New York City or Boston. Hence the roads will be even more congested than normal. So instead of complaining, if you are not invited to the Party or the After Parties, then stay at home and watch it on TV and enjoy the show! Then again if you would like to learn more about the Golden Globes, the nominees and the Hollywood Foreign Press please visit the attached links and enjoy http://www.goldenglobes.com/ and http://www.hfpa.org/ If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue organizations. ...
read moreNew Year’s Day Traditions Part II
New Year’s Day Traditions Part II Like most of us, I grew up watching the Rose Parade since I was a child, so when we relocated to Los Angeles, Diane and I were thrilled that one of my fellow Realtor’s invited us to go to the Rose Parade. His partner was one of the designers working with the well-known groups that designed about five or six of the floats. Needless to say he also knew the Designer extraordinaire Raul Rodrigues (you know the one with the Blue Parrot and probably the most Awarded float designers of the Rose Parade). Little did Diane and I know how brutally cold it gets that time of morning (4am) in Pasadena? Keep in mind since the Parade Starts at 8am the streets get blocked off, hence you have to be at the bleachers very early. On TV watching it for all those years on the East Coast, little did we realize how cold it really is as you sit on the metal bleachers? Anyway Diane and I were reminiscing as we heard that today was going to be one of the coldest Rose Parades in Years. In spite of the cold we saw on TV the Hawaiian young men without shirts….well we knew how cold they must have been since we were there once. Part of our tradition is to use the “repeats of the Parade “as background noise as we do our normal chores on New Year’s Day. Then as we both get hungry I always make something with Alaskan King Crabs a lite easy appetizer. The Tradition is that we have Lentil Soup and some other small snacks and of course Alaskan King Crab. This time I made it instead of on crackers, on an English Cucumber topped with half a Teardrop Tomatoes with a little Lemon Juice to cut the Salty Flavor of the Alaskan King Crab Meat. In the old days we would watch the Football game i.e.: the Rose Bowl. We do not watch it anymore, we just check out the winners on the internet. So with that said Congratulations to Oregon and our condolences to Florida State and their fans. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue...
read moreDo you believe in Traditions? What New Years traditions do you have?
Do you believe in Traditions? What New Years traditions do you have? I do not mean the typical promise of going to the gym, being nice to people you do not like…. Are you a Traditionalists? Well I do not mean the literal definition that you find in the dictionary. I mean do you have ‘Traditions’ that your family had and passed down from generations and you continue keeping these same Traditions. The honoring of family traditions has been very important to me because it was instilled in me since I was a child. Well I am clearly a big fan of continuing family traditions almost to the point of superstition. Well I have an excuse: I am a Baseball fanatic and Baseball fanatics follow traditions superstitiously. I have certain garments and colors I wear for certain listings, I bring my lucky Baseball Cap with me when I go to listing appointments. Yes you guessed it they are the various World Champion Red Sox hats! Well I am digressing, so getting back to family traditions. On New Year’s Eve or should I say New Year’s Day part of the tradition I grew up with was one has to have Lentil Soup. According to Hungarian tradition after an active New Year’s Eve celebration to ward off a hangover, one has to have lentil soup! In addition if you eat lentil soup on the first day of the year it will prevent you from running out of money for the rest of the year. Interestingly my parents believed that not only will it prevent you from running out of money but it would assure prosperity for the rest of the year as well. Since I am a believer not only do we have lentil soup every New Year’s Eve and Day on the menu, but I introduce friends and relatives to this time honored tradition. I remember introducing Diane’s parents to this tradition many years ago and they embraced it with open arms as well. They were always open to any idea that would assure prosperity and abundance for the rest of the year. Well I did some research and discovered that this same tradition exists in Italy as well. The most sought after lentils are the Castelluccio Lentils. They are grown at an altitude of about 4600 feet and contain a great deal of miner salts and large amount of proteins, hence they do not need soaking and are tender just after about 20-30 minutes of cooking. The sad part is there is only a small production of this great crop. I suspect about 15-20,000 lbs. a year. So if you get the opportunity to get your hand on a batch it is well worth every penny. So with that said let me give you my recipe for the Lentil Soup: Ingredients: 1. Medium onions (minced finely), 2. A few garlic cloves (minced finely), 3. Two or three celery stalks (coarsely chopped), 4. Two carrots, (coarsely chopped), 5. 2- 3 cups lentils, 6.Chicken or vegetable stock 3-4 times more than lentils and 7.pasta (any small pasta will do such as Cavatelli, or Orecchiette or Tubettini to name a few) 8.wine (a cup or so) 9 olive oil, 10. And fresh Italian Parsley (Chopped). Those of you who are accustomed to...
read moreThe year in Review: reflections of 2014 from a Greater Los Angeles Realtor’s Perspective!
The year in Review: reflections of 2014 from a Greater Los Angeles Realtor’s Perspective! Customarily I reflect at the end of the year on what has taken place in my life: at home as well as in my business in the previous year. Sometimes I share them with others, other times I keep them to myself. In 2014 we have had many changes in our lives and I thought I share some of them here with you. (Not wanting to bore you with all) Out with the old and in with the new, which is generally the ‘Motto’ of most people. In my case it is a continuation of things started and not finished in 2014. The year 2014 has started out fast and continued at a steady clip till even today. As of two days ago I still have five properties in Escrow from a low end of $45k to the high end of $2.6+million. Needless to say I anticipate 2015 to be equally fast paced. This is a perfect way to start the New Year! Here in the greater Los Angeles Area Real Estate Market, we have seen some very impressive price increases from the year 2013 & 2014. Not only have we seen some impressive price increases, but activity as well. In addition to seeing activity that would make you just gasp, we also had the opportunity to see sales in multiple offers even in the Ultra Luxury Market. (I refer to the Ultra Luxury Market as properties over $25 million) As we say goodbye to 2014 I want to thank my affiliates know, and let them know how grateful I am for all their support, their team mentality which allowed me to achieve my successes! A special thank you must be given to my Transaction Coordinator, my Manager and my other half letting me be a workaholic. Although I have not tabulated my own accomplishments yet, I am confident I am about 30% higher in production compared to the previous year! I would also like to thank my clients for their continued support, loyalty and partnership. Real Estate Sales have continued to evolve at lightning speed and I attribute this to the technology. DocuSign came on the scene around 2003/2004 time frame and it changed my business. It is hard to believe but eight or nine years ago there was no IPhone or a Samsung Galaxy either. These key additions have allowed me to improve my client service not only to all my international clients, but my local clients as well. I had to make some changes in 2014 to keep up with the technology such as my mobile friendly website to mention one. I am looking forward with cautious optimism to see what new technology I will have to learn and embrace in 2015! On the Personal Front: We have relocated from Marina Del Rey, CA, this change was magnified by the fact that we gave up living 500 yards from the Ocean to living in Westchester, CA. One would think how could we do that? Well we chose to have more pets and a back yard with fruit trees vs. the ocean as our back yard. The house came with a Stray Cat and we are making huge progress in socializing him. He...
read moreThe Under Contract Properties by Month in Beverly Hills Post Office is up by 17%
The Under Contract Properties by Month in Beverly Hills Post Office is up by 17% Keep in mind this is quite an impressive figure since November 2013 the average Sold price was $2,495,000. and now the Average sold price is $2,947,000. So that these numbers are up by 17% is quite impressive. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue...
read moreThe Median Sold Price by Month for Beverly Hills Post Office is up by 56%
The Median sold Price by Month for Beverly Hills Post Office is up by 56%! Talk about some impressive increases. The buyers who think they can get 2013 Prices all I can say is Not in BHPO! If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue...
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