Author Archives: admin

Off Market For Sale: Value Add Retail Strip Center Listing in the Heart of Garden Grove Koreatown

9252 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove, CA

This value add retail strip center is ripe for an owner to properly manage the property as the tenant mix can be improved, rents are under market, and the owner is not collecting CAM expense. The property consists of 4 buildings and tenants totaling 21,368 SF on a large 1.87 acre lot which would allow for development opportunity. There are 3 restaurant/café tenants that drive traffic to the property. There is great upside potential with increased rent and CAM reimbursement as the tenants were mostly leased up during the pandemic. Property is 100% leased with some tenant leases expired or expiring soon.

Offering Memorandum here

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

For Sale: Off Market 4 Unit Apartment in Hollywood – 5.56% Cap Rate

For Sale: Off Market 4 unit apartment in Hollywood. Pro forma cap rate of 5.56%. 8 parking spots. $1,500,000.

Seller plans to deliver 3 units vacant. The remaining unit generates market rent of $2,300/month, which the other vacant units should get in rent. Freshly painted 4 unit building with mirror image 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom units located on a nice block of Hollywood just around the block from public transportation, shops, and restaurants on Western Avenue and Melrose Boulevard. Great investor opportunity to own in great neighborhood. Has 4 covered and 4 uncovered parking spots in the back. Recent upgrades include fresh exterior paint and a new roof. Building sold as is, buyer to do their own due diligence.

This property will go on the MLS in 2017 so act fast!  Please inquire for set up sheep and more information.

2flyer_001

 

For Sale: Beautiful Split Level Home in Chevy Chase Canyon – Glendale, CA

Below is a flyer for my new listing, 2588 East Chevy Chase Drive, Los Angeles, CA 91206, a beautiful split level home nestled within Chevy Chase Canyon.  The home boasts 1,513 sq. ft. of living area and has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms per the seller’s appraisal.

The inside of the home boasts an open floor plan with lots of light and access. On the main level, there is a large living room with fireplace, an updated kitchen, bonus room, bathroom and dining room area that accesses a large deck/patio and vast,lush, and woody backyard. Two bedrooms, including the master bedroom, are located on the top floor and another bedroom and bathroom on the lower floor that can be accessed through a spiral staircase from the inside and through a door from the outside. The upper level master bathroom has its own separate access to the patio/deck and backyard. The home sits on a large and lush lot of almost 11,000 square feet that offers lots of open space and shade, and with the tall oak trees, it feels like you are in an enchanted forest. There is a lot of additional usable lot space for further development if that interests the buyer. The freeway is just a few minutes drive from this home. Buyer is to investigate and satisfy themselves with the permitting of the lower bedroom and bathroom as it does not reflect on the assessor’s records. The assessor’s records reflect a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom home with 1,434 square feet.

More details can be found here: http://mrmlsmatrix.com/matrix/shared/9sGJqh3Q3zFd/2588ChevyChaseDriveE

Flyer

SOLD ABOVE LIST PRICE! Class A Office Building in Jeffrey Office Park (1150 Roosevelt Avenue, Irvine, CA)

Those looking to purchase an office building in Irvine know that there is not a lot of supply out there.  I recently helped a client sell their 4,960 square foot office building for above list price to an investor!  The transaction highlights include a 1031 exchange component, negotiation of a leaseback from the buyer, and facilitating the release of rights of first refusal held by an existing tenant and the Irvine Company.  Given my legal background, these tasks were not difficult to accomplish for the client.

Do not hesitate to call me with any questions about buying or selling a similar property!

1150 Roosevelt Just Sold Flyer v2

 

 

 

SOLD IN 1 WEEKEND: 12722 Milbank Street, Studio City, CA 91604

I just sold this single family home in Studio City last week!  I represented the seller and was able to secure a significantly above asking price offer from a buyer client within the first weekend of being on the market.  Both the seller and buyer are happy with the outcome!

Contact me for all of your real estate needs, brokerage and/or legal!


12722Milbank-front-1000px12722Milbank-back-1000px

 

 

New For Sale Listing: Fixer Bungalow in Silver Lake

Below is a flyer for my new listing, 651 Imogen Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90026, a 1,385 sq. ft. bungalow with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  The home seems larger than 1,385 sq. ft. after walking downstairs to another large room adjoining an even larger storage area.  In addition, there are two storage sheds and a detached two car garage and a long driveway for parking.  Located on a large 7,497 sq. ft. lot and zoned R-2, there are many opportunities to customize and increase the value of home as the home could be restored, updated, remodeled and/or expanded (i) to single family use consistent with the existing use or (ii) in a manner consistent with its original layout for two families as the home is equipped with two kitchens and 3 entrances/exits.  The home could use some work so please be prepared to bring your contractor.

Priced at $619,000, this home presents an opportunity to own in Silver Lake below the median sales price and to customize a home to your liking.  Please contact me for a showing or if you have any questions.

More details can be found here: http://mrmlsmatrix.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?ID=33609430138

Curbed recently noted that Silver Lake was the hottest real estate neighborhood in 2014 (http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/12/silver_lake_was_las_hottest_real_estate_neighborhood_in_2014.php) with the median home sales price being $822,000, 56% of homes sold over asking prices, and homes  in the neighborhood lasting a short 15 days on the market.

Flyer

For Sale: New Corner Penthouse Condo Listing in Culver City

For Sale: Lofty Corner Penthouse in Palms/Culver City

Local news report Summer doldrums in the residential market for some areas in Los Angeles.

DSCF9763Normally the summer is high season for residential real estate market.  The summer of 2014 is different than expected and might signal a normalizing residential real estate market: http://www.sgvtribune.com/business/20140726/southern-california-housing-market-comeback-stalls http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-home-prices-20140716-story.html

Downtown LA: New Wilshire Grand Design Released

Keep your eyes out for the new Wilshire Grand appearing in the downtown Los Angeles skyline.  The tower is expected to be approximately 1,100 feet tall (100 feet taller than downtown Los Angeles’ current tallest building, the US Bank tower) and to be completed in 2017 (looks like I have a few years before I have to update my website photos).  The new Wilshire Grand is expected to add 900 hotel rooms and 400,000 square feet of office space to downtown Los Angeles.  For comparison, the JW Marriot Hotel and Ritz Carleton, the first skyscraper built in downtown in two decades, added approximately 1,000 hotel rooms in 2010.

Check out their website for more information: http://www.wilshiregrandcenter.com/the-new-wilshire-grand

Tagged

Los Angeles Housing Market: 2012 Ends Positively; Continued Upswing in 2013 Predicted

By: Stephen K. Shiu, Esq., real estate attorney and broker

The residential real estate market has been an extremely popular topic among investors and first time home buyers. As noted in my earlier post (http://sksreal.com/la-real-estate-hits-bottom/), residential real estate prices bottomed out in early 2012. Taking a look back at 2012, Southern California’s housing market ended last year on a positive note with sharp home-price gains and the highest sales for a December in three years. The region’s median home price (which is the point at which half the homes in the region sold for more and half for less) rose 19.6% in December over the same month last year to hit $323,000, real estate firm DataQuick reported. An estimated total of 20,274 new and previously owned homes and condominiums sold throughout the six-county region. That was a 5.1% increase from November and up 5.3% from December 2011.

Sales of foreclosed homes made up just 14.8% of the market last month, down from 15.4% the month before and 32.4% in December 2011. That compares with a high of 56.7% of the market in February 2009.

Market Economics: Low Inventory/High Demand
Increased home prices are a result of low supply and high demand. Much of this demand comes from a record level of cash buyers and investors that include institutional investors, “mom and pop” investors, and foreign investors (e.g., from China) who have had, in the recession, few viable real estate product types to invest in. Cash buyers bought up 33.8% of all resale homes last month, while absentee buyers purchased 29.1% of Southland homes in December, DataQuick said. In addition, low interest rates (3.42% for a 30-year fixed mortgage as of last week per Freddie Mac) motivate buyers without “all cash” to finance their home purchases. In California, buyers can anticipate little new inventory on the market. A supply of only about 2 1/2 months’ worth of single-family homes for sale was available statewide at the end of December, based on a report from the California Association of Realtors. To the dismay of the average homebuyer, inventory is especially tight for homes below $500,000. However, this could mean for less competition for homes above $500,000.

Housing Inventory for Los Angeles, California

Data from www.deptofnumbers.com

The housing supply should improve. Increasing consumer confidence and increasing home prices will encourage home owners to sell their homes and potentially purchase a move-up home.  As home prices increase, the number of underwater borrowers (those homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth) will decrease and the tight for-sale inventory will begin to ease. “Consistent price increases throughout 2012 have started the process of lifting households out of negative equity, which will support home sales and refinancing volumes,” Paul Diggle, an economist for Capital Economics, wrote in an emailed analysis. “Lower levels of negative equity is good news for housing market activity and sets up a virtuous circle of rising activity leading to rising prices and pushing negative equity down further.”

Inventory may also increase due to shadow inventory (homes that will enter the market through bank sale, short sale or foreclosure) hitting the market. First, banks are shortening the time it takes to approve short sales and foreclosures. Second, Fannie and Freddie may give into pressure to stop or slow bulk property sales to investors and to release their inventory of homes for sale to the general market. However, “[t]he size of the shadow inventory continues to shrink from peak levels in terms of numbers of units and the dollars they represent,” says CoreLogic Chief Executive Anand Nallathambi. “We expect a gradual and progressive contraction in the shadow inventory in 2013 as investors continue to snap up foreclosed and REO properties and the broader recovery in housing market fundamentals takes hold.”

Conclusion
Last year was the first year of solid improvement since housing crashed in 2007. Data indicates that 2013 will also continue to bring home price gains. Therefore, now is the time to act while homes prices remain low and interest rates are at a historical low if you are in the market for a home. This makes even more sense if the home will be owner occupied as the rent to mortgage ratio (based on adjusted rent for Los Angeles against a 100% loan-to-value mortgage (30-year fixed) for the median price home using Realtor home sales statistics) for the Los Angeles area is at a buyer friendly .76 in September 2012 , and this does not include any applicable mortgage tax deduction.

Contact
The author, Stephen K. Shiu, Esq., is a real estate attorney and broker (CA DRE # 1921212) who offers clients real estate legal and brokerage services. For more information about these services, please visit www.sksreal.com. Stephen can be reached at (213) 359-8389 or via email at: sshiu@sksreal.com.

Sources
http://www.deptofnumbers.com/asking-prices/california/los-angeles/ http://www.deptofnumbers.com/affordability/california/los-angeles/#price-to-rent http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-home-prices-20130115,0,934836.story http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-mortgage-rates–20130124,0,774963.story?track=rss
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-shadow-inventory-20130102,0,5839732.story

Tagged ,