Before looking at lofts for sale, prospective buyers want to know how a live/work loft fits into our lifestyle and our finances. #dtla #lawsuits
How does a loft work as an investment? Buyers need to know how lofts fit into the real estate industry, how to avoid the problems with lofts such as loft lending problems, lawsuits, litigation and other issues that affect the loft buildings and sometimes plague urban neighborhoods. Investors can cash in with big tax advantages that come with lofts in some historic buildings.
To help Downtown homeowners and would-be urbanites to make the right decisions, the LA Loft Blog has created several information resources to help avoid the down sides of Downtown while enhancing lifestyles and real estate investments. The newest is the new domain LALoftLaws.com, which contains much information about the legality of live-work lofts in L.A. The site also points to other much-needed info on lawsuits, litigation and other issues of DTLA loft buildings.
Financing Fiasco! In addition to lawsuits, the biggest disaster that often happens to loft buyers is finding out too late that their traditional home loan is not going to work for a loft purchase. Here’s what happens all the time: The buyer’s buddy Joe, who’s a mortgage guy and long-time friend, says, “Sure we’ll hook you up.” NOT!!! Joe has no idea what a loft is, and the buyer finds out too late that Joe cannot really get the financing done because of the many issues that loft buildings often have. Lofts are an uncommon type of real estate. Get details about this common problem at www.LALoftLoan.com
Special Assessments
Downtown lofts have not seen many special assessments until recently. One has popped up at the Higgins Building. The HOA recently voted to spend more than $4 million to renovate the exterior of the building, including the entire facade and portions of the rooftop and other elements. Since the homeowners association reserves are around $1.4 million, the residents need to raise about $3 million by directly collecting cash from each home owner. Because it takes cash directly away from homeowners, a special assessment is the most serious of financial issues that a condominium community might experience. It can happen to any building, but the Higgins community was hit hard because the loft conversion developer Barry Shy did little to remedy the crumbling facade of the nearly 100 year old building when it was converted to live/work residential lofts around 2004. (Shy does deserve credit or being an early visionary in loft conversions when there was less information and guidance available on live-work loft conversion.) Today, the Higgins Building has no lofts for sale, and a convenient, new Metro station is under construction coming across the street on Spring. LAWSUITS | ASSESSMENTS | LOFT LENDERS
Mills Act
Some loft owners save thousands or tens of thousands per year on county property taxes due to the Mills Act historic building property tax benefits. Find out the details at www.MillsActLA.com and get a free list of local Mills Act buildings in your email. Fill out the online form;
