“Happy Days Are Here Again!“ enthuses Corey Chambers, creator of LALoftBlog.com, and a top agent with Keller Williams Realty brokerage firm, who focuses on the fast emerging Downtown Los Angeles area. “Anyone keeping an eye on interest rates and property values in Downtown knows that” he grins — and for very good reason. Since January of 2012, home values in the area have soared by more than $100,000 across the board. Indeed, the value of some properties have risen by more than $150,000. When Chambers joined the team three years ago, his tenacity and intense understanding of the down town area, as well as the real estate market in general, compounded with his keen ability to read trends, quickly saw him skyrocket to becoming one of the premiere agents serving LA’s downtown area. “Downtown Los Angeles has a large number of people moving into it,” Chambers further asserts; “There’s a very big demand for help to RENT and BUY properties in downtown. Likewise, with prices in the area going up sharply over the past year and a half, buyers are now having a hard time finding anything. “The inventory is so low that buyers often cannot find anything close to what they’re looking for.” notes Corey; “Sometimes they can’t find anything at all.”
DOWNTOWN LOFT & CONDO LISTINGS: FOR SALE | RENTALS
The reason? Although, as recently as 2011, buyers had been able to pick up cool, hip, loft properties in this trendy and desirable neighborhood for less than $150,000, presently there are literally no lofts left to purchase under $300,000. Due to record-breaking demand for units in this vibrant, up-and-coming district, previous buyers have gained an incredible $100,000.00 in equity across the board while today’s buyers are facing higher prices and inventory close to nothing. Home prices rose 12.1% over June 2012 according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index. Housing demand too, has strongly picked up, resulting in low levels of inventory in many regions across the country. “Tight inventory is a major factor in the market,” declares National Association Of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Buyer traffic is continuing to pick up, while seller traffic is holding steady. In point of fact, buyer traffic is 40% above a year ago.” Without a doubt, such news augers well for the overall housing market, and is particularly welcome for California, where Los Angeles is easily leading the way in the state’s overall economic resurgence. “Owners and sellers are now enjoying higher property values“ advises Chambers; “interest rates appear to be headed up, but are still not far from historic lows to help today’s buyers.” He is in the perfect position to know from whence he speaks. Corey was among the first agents to hit sales of five million out of more than 100 hundred agents working for his Keller Williams Reality local broker office. “Downtown L.A. was among the first areas in in the nation to see prices rise before anywhere else“ he reminds us adding, “all the units we had just a few months ago are now at zero availability — and still the demand is increasing!”
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Ultimately, timing remains a key factor in the financial success of real estate transactions. While some properties have reached their all time highs, the prices in Downtown are seen to be accelerating, bringing expectations of more big gains to come over the next 18 months. Fortunately, Chambers and his team members have provided more than 100 pocket listings alone in the past 6 months. A pocket listing is an exclusive property listing that is not available to other brokers or buyers. “My job is to give my clients as much advantage as possible, and to look after their interest above the competing buyers,” Corey says, “Because we are more focused on buyers, we are able to provide them with more selection in the form of exclusive opportunities.” Another benefit his clients enjoy is a relative abundance of chic lofts and condos to choose from. “Our method of helping these people is sharing a great deal of information, which has caused us to be the most sought after agents in Downtown. Our business plan is centered around helping renters and buyers, focusing on providing information about the buildings and about the units.” In addition, due to this secret inventory of pocket listings, they’ve been able to provide up to 10 times as many desirable properties to interested buyers. In fact, Chambers cites how in recent weeks, two buyers were able to buy lofts in the highly sought after Barker Block loft condos. With this understanding, he reveals that his goal is to intensify his search for these select pocket listings. “One of the most common mistakes buyers make is to use an out-of-area agent who is not as familiar with Downtown. They go with agents who don’t even know how to get into the building let alone one who really knows that building, units, or unlisted properties,” Corey continues; “not to mention which lender to use for an industrial loft conversion or which listings are involved in frightening lawsuits” (–up to 20% of them, he divulges) “We do!” The mind behind L.A. Loft Blog also points out that it’s free to use Keller Williams Downtown specialists like himself, who have more properties and knowledge of this particular market. “Non-local agents are often limited to month-old information,” he explains, noting “our downtown experts frequently know the prices of properties that sold as recently as yesterday, and can therefore negotiate the price down to the lowest amount in order to get that desired loft or condo.”
Happily, Chambers sees the next 12-24 months as being part of a very positive cycle — one which will guarantee peak real estate gains. Add to it, the new LA Live complex, the planned new football stadium, the Broad Museum and One Santa Fe retail/rental complex under construction, Downtown will definitely be ‘the place to be’ in the foreseeable future and beyond. “With the decade long renaissance, burgeoning business, many new dining and entertainment spots, and the absolutely booming real estate market, “ he reiterates, “Happy times are truly here in Downtown Los Angeles!” For more information or to keep up to date with the latest in LA Loft news and events, log onto :
GET PRIORITY ACCESS TO SECRET, UNLISTED LOFTS IN DOWNTOWN! www.laloftblog.com to set up an appointment with a Keller Williams Agent, call (213) 478-0499 or e-mail coreychambers(at)yahoo(dot)com
DOWNTOWN LOFT & CONDO LISTINGS: FOR SALE | RENTALS