Long Beach Real Estate-Long Beach Condos

Long Beach Real Estate News

Long Beach California Real Estate Sales Update

The Long Beach Real Estate Market has been shifting a bit this year. After a very slow start in January, Long Beach home sales are up by over 100% on a monthly basis as of August. Long Beach Condo sales, still very weak, have been increasing on a monthly basis, almost doubling by August.  Downtown Long Beach is home to a great many condominium complexes; clearly 25% of all Long Beach condo sales this year have been in the Downtown area.  This makes sense, Downtown is still very affordable and affordable sells in this market.  The redevelopment in Downtown Long Beach has made living there very desirable. 

While residential real estate sales in Long Beach are down a bit from the same time in 2007; sales of income properties are down substantially. The Long Beach income property sector has been extremely hard hit with large decreases in annual sales 2006 through 2007.  2008 has not offered a reprieve for owners of these investment properties.  Prospective buyers of income properties are learning that large down payments are now necessary to purchase units whether they are owner occupied or not.  The banks, hard pressed to cover these loans, have raised the bar on qualifying.  It is not unusual for a bank to demand a 40% down payment and excellent credit before even considering a loan for apartments. Still, some sellers need to sell and there have been a few very sweet deals that have closed this year, some all cash, the rest with large down payments or seller financing. 

Long Beach stock co-ops and Own Your Owns-OYOs remain difficult to purchase with little financing available and large down payments required.

Prices seem to be stabilizing in some Long Beach neighborhoods, while others are still facing further declines.  Neighborhoods plagued by foreclosures and short sales are feeling the drag down effect on prices as more of these continue to come onto the market. 

Buyers shopping foreclosed homes and condos are finding them to be a highly desirable but difficult purchase.  With prices so attractive the competition for better properties has become fierce with serious investors winning many of these properties with all cash offers. Seller concessions are decreasing as the market begins to stabilize a bit.  If a buyer needs closing costs they are often building all or part of that into their loan to make the purchase where several months ago it was a given that the seller would be making that concession.  While it is still possible to attain seller concessions it is not necessarily the order of the day any longer, which may be a telltale sign of either the homes being priced right or a flattening in the market.  Time will tell.  

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Long Beach Real Estate News

Buying Fixer Upper Homes in Long Beach

Many buyers who are searching for homes in Long Beach express interest in purchasing a "fixer upper".  It is always interesting to hear what their idea of a "fixer upper" is.  There are so many levels of fixer upper it is necessary to clarify what the buyer has in mind.

Quite a few buyers of Long Beach Real Estate think a home that requires paint and carpet is a fixer upper.  These are cosmetic fixers and while they do cost a fair amount of money to update, it is very common to need paint and replace flooring when purchasing Long Beach homes.  This could be called a cosmetic fixer, but then many homes that require extensive work in the kitchen and bath - or even replacement - are often referred to as cosmetic fixers as well.  Costs can start to add up and the buyer isn't going to be thinking "cosmetic fixer" as the price tag begins to reach the stratosphere. 

• Paint interior and exterior
  
• Carpet or sanding/replacing hardwood or tile flooring.
  
• Kitchen Remodel or refacing
  
• Bath full or partial remodel
  

There are many items your home inspector will look at that can add to this already hefty amount of necessary repairs and/or upgrades.  Electric and plumbing replacements can get pricey if added to the already climbing total of necessary upgrades. Here are a few important items to inquire about:

• Has the electric been upgraded - at least partially? When?
• Is the plumbing copper? When was it installed?
  
• Are the upgrades nearing the end of their useful life? 
• Will you need to replace them at some point in the near future?

Lets not forget the roof.  There are many types of roofs, made out of many materials, but roofs do have a life expectancy. Find out how long ago the roof was installed and if the homeowner purchased a 30 year roof.  It will give you an idea of when (not if) you will need to upgrade it once again.  Roof replacements come in several forms.

• Adding an additional layer of shingle. (moderately expensive)
  
• Adding an additional layer of shingle and replacing the wood underneath it. (more expensive)
  
• Entire roof replacement including roof frame and ridge-board.  (quite pricey)
  

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Long Beach Community News

Long Beach Parking Solutions

Last month the Long Beach Real Estate Home Blog published an article on Downtown Long Beach Parking.  The article discussed the escalating parking problems caused by the re-development in the Downtown Long Beach area.  One of the potential parking solutions addressed was Vertical Parking.  The article went on and examined an assortment of related potential issues and raised a whole bunch of questions for which there were no immediate solutions.  

Shortly after publishing this article I was contacted by the owner of Apex Skypark.  They are a Robotic Parking Solution company located right here in Anaheim.  He took the time to address the concerns and informed me that they are currently working with the City of Long Beach in an attempt to bring these solutions to the Downtown Long Beach and Belmont Shore neighborhoods.  Well, both communities can certainly use more parking - he piqued my interest. 

An invitation to contribute to the Long Beach Real Estate Home Blog was extended to Apex in an effort to better explain this to Long Beach residents.  We are pleased to welcome Harold W Ashworth, a Long Beach Peninsula resident and Vice President of Apex Skypark.

By:  Harold W Ashworth

I have become intimately involved with The City of Long Beach and their Parking Issues. Working with the Long Beach Re-Development Agency has shown me just how critical parking is in the Downtown Long Beach area. As a Long Beach Resident (The Peninsula) I have experienced many of the same issues everyone else faces as they try and Park on 2^nd Street in Belmont Shore for dinner in the evenings and or dinner on the water at Shoreline Village. Whether it is waiting for the Valet to bring your car or running out to re-fill the meter has become quite the challenge.

That being said - The Automated Robotic Car Garages hits close to home for me as I am involved with a local company right here in our own backyard. Apex Skypark®, Inc., located in Anaheim, builds the Robotics and Systems for this new Technology - New to the USA only. Presently there are only 4-5 Garages operating in the USA but many are either under construction or they are in the design phases. We are currently working with Developers and the City of Long Beach on a couple of locations for this very thing. Long Beach will become the first on the West Coast for an Automated Robotic Garage.

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Long Beach Community News

Naples Island - Long Beach California

Life and Fun on the Naples Italianesque Canals

Saturday afternoon, August 30, 2008

Another glorious day in Long Beach California.  Does this ever get boring?  Not!  Today I showed duplexes in Belmont Shore and Seal Beach, dropped my client off and cruised around Naples Island taking pictures on the canals. 

I met 2 lovely young ladies, Sophia and Sylvia, who were sunning themselves on one of the bridges.  They were kind enough to agree to let me photograph their sunny faces, so cute!  Imagine my surprise when they asked me "Do you want to see us jump off of the bridge?"  Well, they didn't wait for an answer, they just went ahead and jumped off of the bridge!  Then dragged themselves out of the canal at a convenient dock. 

The 2 adorable little river rats were having a ball.  I cracked up laughing.  Just had to get pictures of this to share. 2 little hams, didn't mind, they wanted to make sure I got them mid air.  So, here they are, mid-air...  They are looking forward to seeing their pictures here.  Girls I hope you like them. 

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Long Beach Community News

Back to School Resources

The lazy, hazy days of summer are just about over.  September is closing in on us and the beginning of the new school year is just around the corner.  Are you ready? 

The CBS Early Show put together this great segment on cool back to school gadgets:

• Crammer Study & Sound System - Cool Tool!
• Lightweight laptops -EEE PC 900 (only 2.18 lbs., runs Windows XP and plenty of space, it even has a webcam and it is somewhat shockproof) See the video below to view the many features this neat little gadget provides.
• Digital lunch pail/printer - unlikely duo, but it works
• Cheap MP3, only $39 - not a favorite with kids though
• Back friendly back packs with air lifts to lift the weight off your child - those books are heavy! 

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