Big Bear Lakefront Properties - A Different Kind Of Animal
October 28th, 2008 categories: Big Bear Neighborhoods, Big Bear Property Q&A, Big Bear Real Estate News, Video
Lakefront properties in Big Bear are the most sought after type of property in our area. Understandably, there is something inherently desirable, albeit romantic, about have a home on the water, not too mention a vacation cabin or second home.
The tough part is that there are less that 600 homes on the lake in Big Bear, and less than 5-10% of those that are typically on the market for sale. As you can imagine, this creates quit a bit of demand and thus puts lakefront properties on the top end of the pricing scale for real estate in Big Bear.
The prices for a lakefront home in Big Bear range from $400,000’s on the lower end to over $4,000,000 for the very best locations on the water, though the highest closed sale was $3,500,000 nearly two years. There is one lakefront property currently pending escrow closing that was on the market for over $4,500,000.
You might ask what makes one lakefront property more desirable than another or why is this one worth so much more than this other one?
Obviously each house is going to be different and that can have a major effect on the value.
But, the lakefronts in Big Bear are a unique animal. More times than not, the value of a lakefront will be determined a lot by the 4 following characteristics:
- lake level (deep water vs. shallow water)
- lake frontage (how many feet on the water does the property)
- lake views (open water or lagoon or inlet view)
- wind protection (facing east, west, south or north)
Check out the video below for some of my thoughts on these aspects and the effect they have on values of lakefront properties.
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Viddler video.If you are looking to buy a lakefront home in Big Bear, be sure to check out a previous post I wrote about the 6 things that every Big Bear lakefront buyer should know as well as some other related lakefront articles below.
Any questions or comments? Let me know.
Related Articles
Big Bear Lake Levels - Where To Find It & How It Is Relates To Property Values In Big Bear
Why Relying On Zillow To Price Your Big Bear Home Could Cost You More Than $800,000!
Big Bear Lakefront Properties - Up & Down The Past 12 Months
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Who Pays The Buyer’s Agent In A Real Estate Transaction?
October 27th, 2008 categories: Big Bear Buyers, Big Bear Property Q&A, Big Bear Real Estate News, Big Bear Sellers, Video
The real estate business is very complex. There are a lot of documents to go over, countless time frames & legalities to maneuver around, and various issues & unique personalities to deal with in every real estate transaction. While I work in this business every day, it is no wonder that buyers & sellers have a lot of questions about how our business works.
One of the questions that comes up often is the title of this post, “Who pays the buyer’s agent commission?”
Check out the video below for my response to this question.
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Viddler video.Be sure to check out other real estate related videos that I have made dealing with topics such as bank owned properties, lake front properties, pricing your home and others.
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Short Sales, Foreclosures, & Bank Owned / REO Properties - What’s The Difference?
October 23rd, 2008 categories: Big Bear Property Q&A, Big Bear Real Estate News
I received a question last week on Trulia.com asking about the difference between a bank owned property and a foreclosure. These terms can be confusing to those who are not in the business, and even for some of us in the business.
Here’s a short video explanation of the differences between bank owned properties, foreclosures, and short sales and how they are all related in the end. Feel free to add comments or ask me any questions.
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Sales Up, Prices Down In Big Bear Lake
October 21st, 2008 categories: Big Bear Buyers, Big Bear Market Conditions, Big Bear Real Estate News, Big Bear Sellers
There was some surprising news to come out yesterday regarding home sales in the Southern CA area. Sales were up quite a bit in September 2008 though prices were down. I guess some news is better than no news at all but I think this report needs to be looked at in the proper perspective.
I had a couple thoughts about it, check out the video below.
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Viddler video.Mr. Mortgage, as always, also has some good points on this article.
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Big Bear Bank Owned Buyers - Be Ready!
October 20th, 2008 categories: Big Bear Buyers, Big Bear Market Conditions, Big Bear Real Estate News
Bank owned properties in Big Bear are continuing to come on the market for sale at a steady pace. Don’t expect that to change anytime soon. In the month of September 2008, there were 41 properties that went back to the bank. And there have already been 10 so far this month.
While a few of these properties are already on the market for sale, the majority of them are still “in the listing process” with the banks and should be on the market in the coming weeks/months.
What do the banks do between the time they take the property back and then list it for sale?
One of the first things they will do is make sure the property is vacant. If not, there are certain hoops they have to go through in order to properly evict the occupant and or the occupant’s belongings. A lot of times the previous owner will leave items behind that they does not have any value to them.
Assuming the property is vacant, banks will generally get an appraisal on the property along with a broker price opinion to help them decide how much they want to list the property for. A lot of buyers think the bank price is really negotiable when it normally is not, especially if they have this proof to substantiate the price.
Banks will also do some title work on the property during this time to make sure they can transfer clear title.
Some banks will start doing misc. repairs (paint and carpet) and clean up work on the property during this time frame, prior to getting the property on the market for sale. Banks are motivated to get the property sold and will do the things necessary to accomplish that.
After the property has gone through this process is typically when the bank will put the property on the market for sale. Even when it goes on the market, some banks will wait 48 to 72 hours before they will respond to any offers.
Not all banks act the same. Some follow this process and some don’t. There are many other things to consider as well if you are looking at a bank owned property. Take a look at a couple of my previous articles about buying a bank owned property in Big Bear for more details.
Buying an REO or Bank Owned Property? Make Sure You Read The Fine Print
What You Must Know Prior to Buying A Bank Owned Property In Big Bear
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What Time Is It? Time To Winterize Your Big Bear Home!
October 19th, 2008 categories: Big Bear Buyers, Big Bear Real Estate News, Big Bear Sellers, Owning A Home In Big Bear
It is getting to be that time of year again when the weather in Big Bear is turning colder. It is pretty common these days that the temperatures during the night hover near the freeze mark. This will only increase as we head into winter.
Given that most of the people who own property in Big Bear do not actually live in Big Bear and are only able to make it up from time to time, winterizing your home now is very important. Trust me, you do not want to take the chance of frozen pipes. The resulting damage can be in the ten’s to hundred’s of thousands of dollars, not too mention future disclosure of water damage and/or mold.
Why take the risk?
Here are several links from the local water departments that talk about the proper way to winterize your Big Bear home.
City of Big Bear Lake DWP (PDF)
Nearly every home in Big Bear is equipped with a stop & waste, or stop & drain valve. The primary purpose of this valve is to drain the water from the pipes of the house. Just turning the water off at the meter is not enough. Not only do the water companies not want you messing around with “their” meter, it will not drain the lines. If a pipe were to burst, whatever water was still in the lines could still create damage inside the house.
If you are buying or selling a home in Big Bear, make sure the property has an operable stop & waste valve. A local home inspection will normal check to make sure it is working properly. They are not cheap, about $400-$500 to install or replace given they have to be installed below the frost line, but they are critical.
I know of a lot home owners that think just leaving the heat at 55 degrees inside the house is enough to winterize it. Not true. Again, this is skating on thin ice (pardon the pun). If the heating system shuts down for some unknown reason, or if the power goes off for an extended period of time, then you are sitting with “live water wire” inside your house and chances are it will eventually flood.
What’s even more damaging is that a frozen water pipe can go unnoticed for quite some time before someone knows about it, especially for out of area owners.
So, you can see, it always makes sense to winterize your Big Bear home prior to leaving for an extended period of time. It is very easy to do and very easy not to do. Just like anything, after you have done it a couple times, it is a piece of cake.
There’s a lot more to know about home winterization, make sure to read the links above.
If you live out of the area, your Big Bear home is not winterized, and you cannot make it up here anytime soon, feel free to give me a call and we can talk about the best way to get it taken care of in your absence. There are several qualified plumbers that, with access to the home, would be able to winterize it in no time.
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