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Long Beach Homeownership Fair, June 28th!

Find a Homeownership Fair near you. 

Pacific West Association of REALTORs and California Association of REALTORs are hosting one this weekend at the Museum of Latin American Art on Saturday, June 28, 9:00 am to 4 pm, 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach.  This event is for both buyers and sellers:

A message from California Association of REALTORs:  "The Homeownership Fair promises to be a great resource for anyone interested in purchasing or selling a home whether you’re looking to re-enter the market or this is your first time purchasing or selling a home – we have the resources for you! Exhibitors will be on hand to provide you information and answer any questions you might have.  We’ll also have workshops sessions throughout the day on the wealth development, what is a REALTOR®?, How to get your offer  accepted? Down Payment Assistance programs, plus free giveaways throughout the day and much, much, more."

There are numerous 30-minute presentations throughout the day on topics including: the current state of the real estate market, buyer assistance loans and grants in California, successfully purchasing HUD homes in California,  building positive credit and credit repair.

Other fairs are being scheduled for  San Gabriel, East Bay, Fresno, and Sacramento

Don't miss this opportunity!

California Smoke Detectors Requirements on July 1, 2014

Are you concerned about your smoke alarms? You should be.  The law is changing as of July 1, 2014 in California.   According to CA's Health and Safety Code, all smoke alarms installed after July 1 must have none-replaceable battery with a 10-year battery life.  If you have currently have smoke alarms installed, you are not required to replace it until you replace it with a new smoke alarm.


Also,beginning January 1, 2015, the State Fire Marshal will require all smoke alarms to:

• display the date of manufacture;
• provide a place where the date of installation can be written; and
• incorporate a hush feature.

Landlords should be careful to note rules regarding their rental units/properties, and though there is no time schedule for inspections of smoke alarms," if a smoke alarm defect can be reasonably ascertained visually during a landlord’s visit to the unit, the landlord needs to repair or replace the device."  This also includes notifications by tenants of any problems.

Property owners applying for building permits will also have to review their smoke alarms when there is more than $1,000 of work to be done.

Sellers of property will be required to make all disclosures on their Transfer Disclosure Statement concerning the status of smoke alarms.  See the full article.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, between 2007-2011, the leading cause of  non-fatal home fires was cooking equipment.  The leading cause of home deaths by fire were smoking materials.  One-quarter of all fire deaths were caused by fires started in the bedroom. See full article.

Are Flipped Properties Always a Good Deal?

While many buyers these days have gained more knowledge about obtaining disclosures when buying a property, they don't always know what to ask for.

Walking in to a clean, newly painted home with brand new flooring and granite counters in the kitchen and bathrooms is often a time of easy decision-making, largely because of the assumptions made by buyers and oftentimes their agents. 

The buyer is urged however, to look more closely, because many flipped properties were bought out o foreclosure by an investor.  Investors are just that--they are looking for ways to maximize profit by buying homes they can realize a profit on, so if they buy a "fixer", they are usually experienced in knowing how much money to spend in that local market in order to come away with cash after the sale.

In some cases, property enhancements are reasonably good quality, after all, no one can expect an investor to fix up a property with the most expensive custom  features available.  However, buyers need to still take a careful look, and ask for as much information as possible from the seller.  Just because it's an investor doesn't mean he/she is exempt from disclosure.  One of the fastest ways to find the prior condition of the property is to look for the previous listing's photographs (but many times there is only one exterior photograph, the required minimum for the MLS) and property remarks, which may be revealing.

There is not necessarily a horror story behind every foreclosed property, but more commonly there may be prior deferred maintenance because the prior owner could not keep up a property due to long-term financial problems which led to the foreclosure.  And, the prior owner may have blown his/her budget and spent a lot of money upgrading the house, and then ran out of money.  Either way, the current buyer should go to some effort to find out as much history as possible on a flipped property.

Barbara Nichols, owner of a general contracting firm in Beverly Hills and an expert witness for real estate lawsuits, advises buyers to ask such questions as:

• What was the property's condition when it was taken back in foreclosure?
• Are there receipts from licensed contractors for work performed by seller?
• Is there written documentation on what was done to correct defective conditions?
• Were there unrepaired defects?
• What work was done by a handyman? 
• What work was done with permits, and what work was done without permits?

Finding out if work was done by a licensed contractor is significant, because if the seller is claiming that thousands of dollars of improvements were made, it should be done with permits and not by a handyman.

Will all flippers be able to answer these questions to the buyer's satisfaction? The buyer will have the chance to find out, and then decide if he/she wishes to go forward with the sale by the time their contract contingencies are acted upon.



See the story here.