Long Beach's Past: The “Cougar” Countess and Long Beach’s Blackstone ...

Long Beach's Past: The “Cougar” Countess and Long Beach’s Blackstone ...: 

Postcard Long Beach History Collection

Here is the fascinating history of the Blackstone in downtown Long Beach, written by my friend Claudine Burnett, formerly a librarian for the Long Beach Public Library system.  The Blackstone, located at 330. W. Ocean Blvd., was at one time a hotel and is now an apartment building which was granted landmark status.

Built by a woman who had inherited wealth from her first husband, she was one of the many people who came to Long Beach in earlier decades and left her mark on local architecture.

 Excerpt: 

"What did this new property Kate now owned look like inside? 

 "The Blackstone had 70 rooms on the second and third floors and 75 apartments on the other floors. Rooms and apartments were finished either in mahogany or ivory.  On the second floor there was a ballroom (dancing was held there every Saturday afternoon and evening), billiard and card rooms. Each of the 8 floors had a sun parlor. Furnishings included floor lamps and table shades and over-stuffed furniture.   In the basement there was a garage for 75 automobiles, shower and dressing rooms for the use of guests returning from the beach. It was quite a luxury to be able to step from one’s car, catch an elevator and go directly to one’s apartment or hotel room. Single apartments rented from $85 to $150 ($1200-$2,120) per month; double apartments $165-$225 ($2330-$3,180) per month; a room started at $2.00 ($28.30) a day.  It opened for business on July 1, 1922."

 

Long Beach's Past: The “Cougar” Countess and Long Beach’s Blackstone ...: Postcard Long Beach History Collection

A Time to Sell in Long Beach Real Estate

 

Whether you have a condo, house or residential units (1-4) that you use for income property, I can help you with market value, seller disclosures, and capitalization rates and market rental rates on income property.

"It takes all kinds of sellers for all kinds of buyers", and in a city with such diverse housing opportunities, there are buyers for every part of town.  Contact me or look at my website www.juliahuntsman.com.  See more at NewsReal 2017 and Realty Times.

Being a Prepared Buyer in a Seller's Market

I am encountering, over and over, a situation where a buyer contacts me to see properties, but I have no information about this person at all.  Besides some safety issues that could be involved, and precautions I must take, I otherwise have no information about what kind of fit, financially and otherwise, this person actually is for the property he/she is interested in.

It seems that it can never be said enough that in this very tight market, the buyer must be prepared.  How can a Realtor take a buyer to show properties without having information? Very few buyers prepare themselves before contacting me to see a home.  If they contact me because they don't know where to start and are looking for a Realtor's help, then that is exactly what I'll do, which means getting started with loan pre-approval while getting to know their hopes and aspirations about what type of home they would like, and then fitting in their loan scenario with homes available to show.

Here is the mantra, as very well stated by a Realtor in New York:

“Time kills deals,” says Andrew Sandholm of BOND New York Properties in New York. “Dragging your feet means you could wind up paying more in a bidding war situation or missing out on the property altogether.” Buyers need to be ready with their paperwork, such as bank statements, a preapproval letter, and documents supporting proof of funds, from the day they begin house-hunting mode. That way they can pounce quickly with an offer when they do find a home they like.

Yes, folks, time kills deals.  You think you won't find something right away, and that you're not prepared.  So think at a minimum:  LOAN PRE-APPROVAL, PROOF OF FUNDS whether financing or all cash, and PRE-APPROVAL LETTER.  These things should be available at a moment's notice, and please keep in mind that providing this documentation to your Realtor is a normal part of your home search, and next, it's required in the contract.  Realtors do much much more than get the door key out, they make sure that you eventually get the key to the door you want.

You may believe that you have have plenty of time, but I know better. You think you're not ready to buy yet, and you're right if you've done nothing to prepare.  But you may also be wasting your own time.  Your Realtor has the ability to help you find the right home, but you're wasting that Realtor's professional expertise if you don't do these basic things.

This is a multiple offer environment for many homes in multiple cities and states, and while I've never thought it wise for the buyer to waive all their usual contingencies in order to beat out another buyer, it's important for buyers to present a very reasonable offer.  The article about making an offer states very good points to keep in mind for buyers.

How Much Property Information Does An Agent Have?

It's not unusual for members of the public, including a Realtor's client, to think that the listing agent probably knows all there is to know about a property. There are indeed certain obligations an agent has, especially with the sale or lease of residential property such as houses, condominiums, or any property that legally is considered to fall within a 1-4 unit configuration. 

Realtors are required to do a visual inspection of the property, which means walking around and noting conditions that are visually accessible, and this requirement also includes disclosure of defects known to the broker but unobservable to the buyer.  The California Civil Code also says  that the required inspection "does not include or involve an inspection of areas that are reasonably and normally inaccessible . . .".  An agent therefore is not required to go under the house, or into the attic space, or know the condition of walls within a locked closet if there seller has not given access. This also includes personally researching the property, although the agent should be able to point the client to outside resources for a buyer's due diligence during escrow, for example. An agent's duty of inspection also does not include the common area or other units of a homeowner association when the buyer is being provided all relevant HOA information required by the contract with the seller. So the Realtor may have no knowledge about the pool or spa and is not required to go inspect it, but if the agent has done previous transactions in the HOA, then perhaps that agent has some knowledge learned from prior transactions, and should disclose that information.

Both the buyer agent and listing agent are required to do a visual inspection and give a copy of their report, referred to as an AVID (Agent Visual Inspection Disclosure) to both the buyer and seller.  Neither agent is required to interpret the reason or source of a dark stain on the wall, for instance, but only to make a note of its existence in order to advise all parties.  It is up to the buyer to inquire further of the seller or hire a professional to get further opinion on such an issue.  Nothing in the law "relieves a buyer of . . . the duty to exercise reasonable care to protect himself or herself, including those facts which are known to or are within the diligent attention and observation of the buyer...".  So the buyer has the obligation to inspect the property, and all the conditions as spelled out in the contract, to his/her own satisfaction.

If an agent does learn "material facts" about a property, whether or not by visual inspection, ie., or if listing agent makes a disclosure to the buyer's agent, or other information was disclosed in the multiple listing service about lack of permits, then the agent is certainly required to disclose that information to the client.   So sellers, when the listing agent starts walking around your property to take a look, this is because they need to do this to help you get your property sold.

Back to the beginning paragraph -- I have heard some members of the public say that they chose to use the listing agent to represent them as a buyer because the listing agent must know more about the property.  But nothing could be further from the truth, because the listing agent probably hasn't crawled under the house either, and whatever significant information the listing agent does have, is required to be shared with the buyer.