Now that most experts agree that interest rates will be rising sooner rather than later, buyers can lock in low rates in a super strong, relatively stable market in the most exciting place on Earth. We are recently hearing more and more people compare Downtown L.A. to New York City. Of course, Downtown does not compare to NYC in population density, and New York does not compare to Downtown LA in spaciousness, climate or entertainment and recreation options. Best of all, compared to New York City, prices in Downtown Los Angeles are still quite a bargain for now.
When looking for a good deal in Downtown Los Angeles, there are three common mistakes that we see buyers and renters making routinely over the past six months.
More than half of prospective buyers make these unfortunate mistakes that lose them thousands, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now that Downtown loft and condo prices have risen substantially in the past three years, most buyers either give up too soon, wait too long to get serious, or fail to look at all of the possibilities.
It’s always ironic when we hear someone say that prices have gone up too much and therefore it is not a good time to buy. We’ve been hearing people say that prices have risen too much for the past two years. During the past twelve months, we saw the prices again go up another 7% in Downtown. The naysayers again lost out.
Another losing philosophy that we’ve been seeing over the last two years are the procrastinators who realize that they should not have waited to buy over the last three years. They come to realize that they should not have waited, and then they take a failing strategy based on trying to get yesterday’s prices today. Too bad for them; yesterday is gone, and yesterday’s prices are also gone. They get desperate and then try to buy properties that are already in escrow or already sold. These backward-looking strategies don’t work. New times require new strategies.
The prospective Downtowners then make the third mistake and fail to realize how many opportunities there are to find an amazing home and get a great deal. They think that their friend or relative who is a real estate agent can do a great job at finding and negotiating a Downtown loft. What they don’t know is that they do not have access to 45% of the best deals in Downtown. They don’t know that the properties that are not on the internet, not listed to the public, not on the brokers Multiple Listing Service, selling before the public sees them, or selling without the public ever knowing that they sold. These are the best deals in Downtown, and most would-be buyers miss them completely. And boy, do they miss out!
With off-market properties, the deals and possibilities are endless! Here’s just one of the latest examples, an amazing 3-level upgraded, pet-friendly Alta loft that may be coming soon as a pocket listing. It’s not on the internet. The beautiful upgrades include glass panels, designer modern kitchen, upgraded lighting and bathroom tile, upgraded bath tub and scraped I-beams with intumescent paint (the photo shows a non-upgraded unit). Three levels: living room on the bottom with a 2nd entry door, giant warehouse-style rollup-door containing a wall of windows and natural light, upgraded kitchen, bathroom with laundry on the 2nd level, and extended bedroom with integrated custom closet, full upgraded bath on the third level. This property will be listed to the public in the upper $500,000s, but could potentially sell off-market first for less than $500,000.
Get Unlisted Lofts and New Pocket Listings free. Fill out the online form:
