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After spending so much time, energy, and best efforts, we finally found just the right tenant for 4539 St Charles Place. At the point where we chose a tenant, we had 30 active applications!!!! Since it’s a 3 bedroom spot, people had 2 or 3 applicants over the age of 18 in their group. We’re comprehensive and we put together applications that are complete, and so we were chasing so many people for missing parts of their files, such as last 4 months of bank statements, proof of employment with pay stubs, past landlord references, etc. Applicants #16 made the cut and we’re so excited that the space is finally leased!!!!
We found great tenants for 1161 S Hayworth (and downstairs at 1159 S Hayworth), we found great tenants for 219 S Poinsettia (that ended up with multiple applications), we found great tenants for 5670 Wilshire Blvd PH1 (and now we’re on the hunt for great tenants for 5670 Wilshire PH 5.) We’re inundated with showings for 222 S Mansfield and 228 S Orange and we’re holding out for just the right tenants. There are so many tenants looking for new spaces to lease – all the people who are waiting for interest rates to go down before they buy! The tenant who missed out on 424 N Highland WISHES there’d be a great spot for him to lease for the same $12,000 a month he wanted to pay for 424 N Highland.
We’re feverishly and excitedly working to prepare our 4 new listings for sale. Of the 4 new listings, 2 of the sellers have been in conversations with us for years about selling. Both sellers in fact signed 6 month listing agreements that both began and expired over a year ago without ever going on the market because they weren’t actually ready to sell until now. Seller #3 reached out April 4, 2019 for the first time and we met and engaged then and since. Seller #4 is a referral from a seller we absolutely loved working with in 2020. In our world, real estate is very much a long game and so often we find that we know owners for years before we get to the point of selling their home.
One of my favorite things to do in life is to go on listing appointments and meet people who have some thought of selling their home in the future. It’s especially interesting in today’s climate to learn why sellers are considering selling their property. Right now we’re meeting lots of potential sellers who inherited property and they don’t want to continue to hold but instead they would like to cash out and liquidate the proceeds of their inheritance. There’s a seller who used to come to LA for in-person work but his work can now be done remotely and there’s no need for him to own property in LA any longer. There’s a mom whose daughter is graduating USC with a masters degree; the daughter is planning to leave LA when she graduates and so the mom no longer needs a local place. And then there are people who live in LA and they want to move – to Pasadena, Manhattan Beach, Palm Springs, Florida, Texas. We’re still in a market with unprecedented low inventory, and higher demand than supply, so now is a fine time to sell for those who choose to sell now.
It feels like in the very recent past, there’s a noticeable uptick in buyers looking to buy. I wonder if it’s because the latest predictions say that interest rates will be in the low 4’s by the end of 2024. It does seem like by the time interest rates go down, logically there will be massive pent up demand from the buyers who chose to wait for that drop, and that demand will get unleashed as soon as rates hit a point that encourages herd market activity. During Covid when interest rates were at their historic all time low and buyers frantically wanted to buy, we were in a competitive market environment that drove prices up. If the widespread belief is that interest rates will drop before the elections in November 2024 then it’s strategic for people to want to buy a house now, secure an adjustable rate loan, and plan to refinance in a little more than a year when rates are expected to drop. My personal belief is that it’s extremely hard for most people to time the market and it makes most sense to me for people to do smart deals as the opportunity arises. There are smart deals in every market.
Two weeks ago Seth and I accompanied Esti to her departure gate at LAX and onto the Delta plane taking her to NY for her summer camp in the mountains of Eastern Canada…and then we walked to our Delta gate and we flew to Baja California to explore the Gulf of California/Sea of Cortez. Baja California is so close and so serene. The desert weather in Baja is hot, arid and dry. The vegetation is drought resistant with large cacti and succulents, in the sand. The Sea of Cortez is known as “The Aquarium of the World”; it’s warm and filled with colorful marine life. I LOVE to be in the ocean, with or without a snorkeling mask on. On July 4th, Seth and I raced through desert creeks, getting splashed with mud through the open air top of an ATV. We passed cows and goats and we stopped at a farm, where we hiked to a swimming hole with a natural waterfall (in the desert). We hardly saw any people during our short time there; just dry vast desert and peaceful, quiet, beautiful ocean. The sunsets in the desert, over the ocean, are orange + red + yellow + spectacular. Being in a quiet beautiful spot takes the edge off of empty nesting. To an extent. I LOVE August because it means summer with the kids, in-law kids, and grandkids. Seth and I live our lives when we’re on our own, and then we live our best lives when we’re with our kids, in-law kids, and grandkids. Gavriel, aged 23 months, sees me on Facetime and he says, “Grandma. Zebra.” (Zebras are uniquely beautiful animals and I love to gush over them with my toddler grandkids.) I’m dreaming of all the little people hugs and kisses in August!!!!!
Wishing everyone a nice cool week ahead!
Xoxoxoxo,
Sheri