You snooze, You Lose....The House That You Always Wanted

For all of the media attention on the fact that it is a "buyer's market" and there are so many choices, when you get down to it, there might not be as many choices as you anticipate. With just 1,841 home and condo options available as of the end of April (see Long Beach Real Estate Statistics for last month), you need to dig carefully through the Long Beach MLS to find the property that is right for you.

Want a real life example of dissappearing inventory?

If you were looking in the Bixby Village complex just over 4 weeks ago, you had 5 different townhomes to choose from. You could choose from models just over 1,700 sq ft to the largeest ones in the complex that are over 2,000 sq ft. If you searched on May 12th though, you would find that you had 0 to choose from! Now, some of these properties has been on the market over the average days on market of 72, but with fewer choices, buyers have now picked them up. In fact if you searched for townhomes nearby you would find that you could only find them in next door Whaler's Cove.

Don't Miss Out

Although I think a real estate agent would be crazy to say that Long Beach real estate is hot again like it was in 2003 and 2004 it does show you that you need to keep a careful eye on the inventory. With historically low interest rates and inventory that is the best we have seen in years now is the time to keep a careful watch to find the Long Beach home or condo you have been waiting for, just don't wait to long!

Get up to the minute updates on the properties that meet your needs by using the Long Beach MLS.

Long Beach Golfer Has Amazing Day on National TV

For those who aren't into golf this may not be a story for you but if you love hearing about a local Long Beach resident have an amazing day then this may be a post with reading. For those who watch golf the Players Championship was this weekend on Mother's day. Normally you don't get to see a Long Beach Dirtbag hat on TV for 4 hours but that is exactly what happened on Sunday when local Long Beach golfer Paul Goydos was leading the entire PGA on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass.

When he is not on tour he golfs at Virginia Country Club . If anyone gets chance to read about Paul he is just a class act. There is a great article on ESPN about how he finished. He is a true sportsman and did Long Beach proud for sure.

If you want to see homes in and around Virginia Country Club where Paul golfs check out the free MLS link and see the homes that are available. Virginia Country club is located in Bixby Knolls just north of the 405 near Long Beach Blvd.

Postage is going up but do you even care

By now you may have heard that the price of stamps is going up to May 12th to 42 cents for a first class stamp. In care anyone was wondering the price went up to 41 cents last May 14th. Now my point is do you really care? I mean the amount of stamps that I send is next to none! So how does this all affect the Long Beach real estate market? Well it is a sign of the times that costs are rising and the costs of fuel and other necessities are driving costs up even for the post office.

So how do make sure that the price of stamps doesn't affect you or affects you so little that you won't even care? Let's look at a few ways to save the penny because after all pennies add up and you can use the difference to put into Long Beach real estate if you want to!

• Online Bill Pay - I don't know if I even use 1 stamp a month to send bills. I pay them all online and thereby I am not affected at all. Check with your bank to see what services they offer and by the way they should be free!
• E-mail - This has been taking away business from the post office for a long time. Send an e-mail and worry no more about having enough stamps at your home.
• Bloggging - Don't want to spend your time on writing tons of e-mail to family? Set-up a blog for free at wordpress.com or blogger.com and just let your family and friends know that they can check in for the latest updates.

So don't let the increase in the price of stamps get you down just find out ways to use less stamps!

Belmont Shore & Naples Report for April 2008

So the other day we made sure to let you know what was going on in Belmont Heights and Alamitos Beach. Today we thought we would take that look backward and see what is happening in Belmont Shore & Naples.

So let's see what we have in Belmont Heights and Naples as far as inventory and what has happened.

• Active Properties Available - 83 wonderful properties to choose from
• Total Properties in Escrow - 12 ( 5 in Pending, 7 in Backup)
• Properties Expired - 7

This shows again that the markets close to the water continue to have sufficient buyer demand for the sellers that want to sell. There is a total of 6.9 months of inventory available and this isn't much at all to choose from.

If you look further at the price ranges in this area of Long Beach you see the following of what is available on the market:

• Average Price: $1,434,375
• Max Price : $5,000,000
• Most Affordable In the area $399,900

So the high rent district so to speak of Long Beach hasn't been much affected by the overall real estate market. This is something worth watching and looking into if you desire a home in this area. Go ahead and check out the what is available on the MLS by clicking on the icon to the right.

Belmont Heights & Alamitos Beach Report for May 2008

Wondering how we can tell the future and report on May when it isn't even over? Trust me I completely understand. What I thought I would do today is report on what is currently available in Belmont Heights and Alamitos Beach. That way instead of looking back we can look forward and maybe get the information out to a few people who want to take some action in their lives and either buy or sell their Belmont Heights home or Belmont Heights Condo. We are going to be reporting on Alamitos Beach as well because according to how the MLS breaks up the areas Belmont Heights and Alamitos Beach are in the same area. If you want to see what is available you can always check out the free mls by clicking on the icon in the right hand side bar.

So let's see what we what we have going on so you can make a decision about what you want to do.

Belmont Heights & Alamitos Beach Report for May 2008

• Total Active Properties - 119 Active Homes and Condos
• Total Properties in Escrow (Pending & Backup) - 32 (16 in Backup & 16 in Pending)
• Average Price - $702,000
• Most Expensive: $1,799,900
• Most Affordable: $210,000

So what does this all mean? Let's look at the fact that there are 32 properties in escrow. That means that there are only 3.7 months supply of property. That would be the Belmont Heights & Alamitos Beach market in a buyers market. Remember under 6 months is considered a buyers market. Now the great part is you can still get a place to live for $210,000 in a great area. You may not get to wait to make your decision as a buyer and as long as you are pricing your home competitively you will have a chance at a pool of motivated buyers.

Good luck and happy buying and selling in Belmont Heights and Alamitos Beach.

Find your Long Beach Condo by HOA Name!

As you are driving around the city of Long Beach you will find that there are many different condos that are possible. The hard part when you find a few buildings that look nice, is going back to the Long Beach MLS to find those properties. Sometimes you have the address, sometimes you just have the name of the building. We wanted to make it a bit easier for everyone to locate the buildings that you are driving by.

We have put together some of the Long Beach Condos by both address and HOA Name. Some of the Long Beach condos that you will find are:

• International Towers - 700 E. Ocean - learn more about the famous "round building" in Downtown Long Beach.


• Stoney Brook Villas - This is a popular complex next to CSULB where many parents and students purchase for their time at the university. There are 1 and 2 bedroom plans available.
  
• Clark Terrace - This complex is known for having large pine trees and boulders providing a quiet environment. Located near the traffic circle it allows easy access to the freeways and great areas like Los Altos.
  
• Villa Riviera - 800 E. Ocean - This downtown condo with the green roof is a historic complex that complies with the Mills Act so you can save a bit on your taxes.


• Many more! - We are constantly adding to this page so you can have a great resource of information for condos available throughout Long Beach. Every area from Bixby Knolls to Downtown, to Belmont Heights is listed.

Finding the Long Beach condo complex that you have always wanted certainly can be easy. Using our Long Beach Condo by HOA page and the Long Beach MLS you can quickly locate complexes (and individual units) that meet your goals. Take time to read about each complex so you can find the right fit. If you want a short cut to get the help you need you can always call us directly at 562-989-7111 and one of our expert professionals can guide you to the condos that are the best for your needs and budget.

Long Beach Real Estate Statistics for April 2008

The Long Beach Market Report

It is the first of the month and like payroll checks we list the real estate sales statistics for Long Beach. So let's take a look and see what happened the previous month in Long Beach, CA.

The market is moving. Just this week a buyer purchased a very nice condo in downtown for $150,000!

So let's look at the activity in the Long Beach Real Estate market for April 2008.

• Total Active Listings: 1,841
• Total Expired Listings: 189
• Total Listings Sold (Pending & Backup): 240
• New Listings: 428

So the sales are moving up in the right direction. The fact is homes are selling and people are working together to get deals done. The overall inventory in Long Beach is not increasing at a dramatic level. In fact from March to April the Active inventory has actually decreased. So deals are happening you just have to put an offer across.

We will continue to report on the different areas of Long Beach so that everyone can see what their neighborhood is doing in the stat reports.

Related Posts

• Belmont Heights & Alamitos Beach Report
• Belmont Shore & Naples Report