Here are some things to think about when buying a condo in Santa Monica, Brentwood or another Westside Los Angeles neighborhood

Simon says: "Here are some things to think about when buying a condo in Santa Monica, Brentwood or another Westside Los Angeles neighborhood:”

Things To Think About When Buying A Condo
Condominiums have made homeownership affordable for many people. This is particularly the case on the Westside of Los Angeles, where theprices of single family residences are prohibitive to even the mostwell heeled professionals. There are however many things to considerwhen buying a condo in these areas:

Earthquake Insurance:
Approximately half of all condominium andtownhouse buildings on the Westside have earthquake insurance included in the homeowner's dues.

Pros:
This protects the owners from having to come up with funds to payfor repairs, should an earthquake occur. Price of construction per square foot in Santa Monica, Brentwood and other Westside neighborhoods can be anywhere from $150-300. This makes a complete rebuild on a 1000sf condo at the very least $150,000 up to $300,000. Often the insurance provides funds for replacement housing shouldthe homeowners need to move out during reconstruction.
Some, not many, buildings were completely torn down and rebuiltafter the Northridge Earthquake in 1994. So no matter what thedeductible, these buildings were happy to have had earthquakeinsurance.

Cons:
Earthquake insurance can be very costly. Premiums tend to besignificantly higher for buildings that are looking for new coverageas opposed to buildings who signed on for coverage 20 years ago. The deductibles can be upwards of $250 -500,000, much higher thanwhat most buildings in Santa Monica suffered during the NorthridgeEarthquake in 1994. Personal Assessment Insurance can be had for a maximum of $50,000per condominium. You would be covered in an instance where your 10unit condo building had $500,000 worth of damage.

The federal government often supplies subsidized loans at very lowinterest rates for disaster victims.Many buildings in Santa Monica had to go through years of courtaction before their insurance providers would give them the financialassistance that was owed to them

Earthquake Insurance FAQ's:
All of the units in a condo building need to subscribe to theEarthquake Insurance policy. Coverage cannot be given to units on anindividual basis.

Pet Policy:
Most condominium buildings have a restriction on pet size. Smallerbuilding and townhouse buildings tend to be more liberal while largebuildings are more conservative.
Pet size restrictions tend to be by poundage and number of petlimits. The most common is two dogs or cats under 20lbs each. Otherbuildings have 30 and 40lb limits. The average Labrador is over 40lbs.

If you have a pet or plan on getting one make sure you read theCC&R's on pet restrictions. The CC&R's are the rules that govern theHomeowners Association.

Pet Policy FAQ's:
If a homeowner breaks the rules with regards to pet size or numberthe pet will be mandated to leave the building. If the pet does notleave the HOA can place liens on the property and or force courtaction to have either you or your pet forbidden entry.

Amenities:
Many people enjoy the idea of amenities such as pools, sauna, 24hour guard gated access. For many residents of these buildings theseamenities never become truly valuable. There are thousands ofresidents of local condo buildings who use the building pool aboutonce a year. Additionally, in Santa Monica and Brentwood there aremany local gyms that do a better job of motivating you. So, if you aregoing to buy in a building with amenities, and therefore higherhomeowners dues and purchase prices, make sure you are going to take full advantage of them.

I should also mention that if you are looking to live in a luxurybuilding; say an ocean view condominium on Ocean Avenue, none of the above applies. You are going to have amenities whether you like them or not and enjoy using or not using every minute of them.

Reserves:
After the Homeowners Dues are collected and used to pay debits tothe different vendors the left over money is put into reserves for thebuilding. Funds from the reserves can be used in case the buildingneeds a new roof or upgrades to the hallways and common areas.

Difference between a Condo and a Co-op:
In a condominium, the owner owns the space inside the wallsindividually and the common areas collectively as part of a group. Itis a pure form of homeownership, with the same rights andresponsibilities of a single family home. A co-op is owned by acooperative that issues shares to the building and the right to occupya given unit. As the owner, you own shares in the building not thespace inside the walls. Your right to occupy a particular section ofthe building is usually issued via a lease term that renews everyfifty years or so. About 95% of the multi-unit inventory in LosAngeles (Brentwood) and Santa Monica is condos. In New York City the majority of units are co-ops. The difference between buying a condo or a co-op in Santa Monica and Los Angeles is that buyers of co-ops tend to have less financing options available to them. You also have to be "approved" by the board. Here on the Westside the boards are pretty liberal in contrast to the stories you might have heard about New York City co-op boards.

Difference between a Townhouse and a Condo:
In Santa Monica and the other neighborhoods of the Westside of LosAngeles, people refer to single story residences as condos and double or triple story residences as townhouses. These are both condominiums in the legal sense of the term.

Simon says: " Here are some tips on home remodeling and how to deal with contractors:"

Simon says: " Here are some tips on home remodeling and how to deal with contractors:"
In my last column I went into detail on how to do a quick remodel that would give you a very high return on your dollars spent. This week, I am presenting you with information on how to do a remodel for yourself. One of the wonderful things about owning your own home is that you have the opportunity to express yourself and your unique style.

You will recoup much of your remodel dollars when you sell. Real estate is an investment that will almost always be sold and passed on to someone else at some point in time. You may want to temper your own personal taste at times to make sure your remodel is palatable to other people. In other words, if you are into oak, a wood that is out of fashion right now, don't over use it. If you are into dramatic mod graphically black and white design, something that is considered chic right now, you may want to mellow out the contrast a bit. If you like architectural lines, try to avoid letting it get too stark by adding warm tones and natural materials. Generally, the most striking designs today will be considered the most dated and hopelessly trendy within the decade.

A common idea is to wait to do the remodel little by little. Sometimes this makes sense. However, I have a lot of clients that buy a property with big plans to redesign the space and then they do the remodel right before they put their home on the market for sale. If they put up the money early in their stay, they would have been able to enjoy the remodel and still recouped their investment during the sale.

If you are going to do a complete remodel you may want to avoid living through it. The dust alone can be unbearable. If your contractor tells you it will take 4-5 weeks expect it to take 7-10 weeks. Although I just completely remodeled a two bedroom condo in six weeks, most remodels take months and I have experience with over a dozen remodels.

The biggest time drain is the lead time for things like custom manufactured cabinets, which can take three to six months depending on the manufacturer. If you are doing a mid-end property you may want to use Ikea cabinets, you can buy them and have them delivered the next day. They are also highly rated by Consumer Reports for quality. If your taste is compatible with hand built cabinets, you may want to consider a cabinetmaker who should have an entire kitchen done and installed within a few weeks.

There are a lot of pitfalls to avoid while working with contractors. You can hire a General Contractor to make things easier on yourself. Make sure you get one you really trust that has excellent references. This will lower your stress level but it will cost you. And you should note that even with a General Contractor remodeling isn't easy. If you are low on money, you may want to run the remodel yourself and hire sub-contractors. If you take on this position, plan on spending a couple hours a day on the project. When I am working with sub-contractors I feel like I am a high school football coach. Sometimes they won't show up, they'll get in fights with each other and so on. I am sure that people have told you that they have an amazing contractor, unfortunately you need more than one guy to run a job. It is possible to do a job with only the best possible workpeople, however this will take months. Sometimes you can't wait for your favorite electrician. Regardless of who you hire remodeling isn't easy, so be prepared.

One of the golden rules of hiring a contractor is to hire specialists. They all think they can do everything. Additionally, don't fall for the photos of work they have done. Oftentimes these photos are of jobs they were a part of but not the main contractor of. Call their references and ask exactly what they did on the job. You need to respect the work these guys do-- it's not easy to be an excellent tile setter or a plumber-- so hire guys who really know what they're doing.

Never pay workpeople up front. I generally give a 20% deposit at the end of the first day of work unless I've had a previously good experience with someone. If your granite counter top guy needs money for materials pay the vendor directly. Don't give a guy a three thousand dollar check on the first day of work. These contractors generally have other jobs going on at the same time as yours. You need to use your payments to keep them focused on your job. When they are about 80% done you can give them another 50% of the bid. Always make sure that they have done more work than you have paid them for. This may sound a little cheap, but if you're too nice they'll walk away with your money and you'll be chasing them down to finish the job.

This column could be a lot longer, but for now this should get you started. If you are looking for good people who work in Santa Monica, you can visit my web-site santamonicasimon.com and contact me from there-- happy remodeling!!!Click here to learn more about Santa Monica Real Estate

Simon Salloom is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker who specializes in Santa Monica Real Estate.

Simon says: " How to make your local remodel make you money"

Simon says: " How to make your local remodel make you money"If you just bought a new home or will be selling your current residence you may be thinking about doing some remodeling. Regardless of whether you bought or are selling you want to keep in mind getting the best return on the dollars you invest in your remodel. A good Realtor with a lot of experience in your area should be pretty good at advising you which remodel will get you the best return on your investment.

The Quickie, 3-5 days - Sometimes it only makes sense to do a quick clean up of the surfaces in a home, I call this the quickie. It should take only a few days to complete. Paint everything-- if you have old seventies cabinets or anything else that dates the property paint them too. Shampoo the carpets. If you can't get the stains out replace them. If you own a property with bad pet smells you will want to seal the cement or plywood floors. Floors like this are porous. If you replace the carpet without sealing the floor the odors will return. Not too many homes on the westside of Los Angeles have old oak hardwood floors. If they do, you can refinish them or, depending on the cost, replace them or put some throw rugs down. After painting and cleaning up the carpet situation, replace all the old knobs and hinges (don't forget to do the hinges) with brushed nickel/stainless steel and or chrome hardware. Try not to keep any old hardware that has paint on it. It looks cheap and rental-like. And finally, change out all the old wall sockets and switches to new white plastic ones. It will surprise you by just how much better your property will look. About a month ago I listed a condo that was in terrible shape-- really bad. We did a "quickie" and the place sold in the first few days for about 10% ($60,000) more than what a half dozen other Realtors thought it was worth. People remarked on how well the seller had kept the place up. Cost $2,000-6,000 (with exterior painting it will be more).

The Moderate, 7-12 days - This includes everything I wrote about in the "quickie" with just a few more touches. You keep your cabinets but replace the kitchen counter tops with granite. There are pre-fabricated granite counters that are manufactured in places like China in 8 x 2' pieces with bull-nose edges and six inch back splashes that are very inexpensive. You keep the cabinets in the bathrooms but replace the old outdated tile, linoleum or carpet on the floors with travertine tiles.There was a time when travertine was about $10 a square foot. You can now find very good quality travertine tiles for around $3.50 a square foot. Take the old shower/bath combo doors off and replace with a new frameless door available at home depot for under $400. You can also just use a stylish curtain. Anything is better than an old cruddy 1960's or 70's shower door. Cost $6,000-15,000

The Complete, 1-24 months - If you are doing a complete remodel, it is best not to skimp on quality. In other words, avoid doing any of the things recommended in the Moderate and Quickie. On the westside of Los Angeles you will get a much better return on a complete remodel if it is done high end. This means quality, exclusive finishes like Caesarstone quartz countertops, exotic woods, expensive tile, high end brand name appliances like Viking and working with a designer or using your own well-developed aesthetic. Everything is of course relative, you probably won't put a Viking range in a 600sf condo, but you should certainly put one in a 2500sf house. It's the difference between a polo shirt without the logo and with the logo-- people pay more for the logo. $35,000-200,000

As a real estate agent I have seen a lot of remodeled properties. One person will have spent $150,000 for a remodel that doesn't look as good as another person who spent $60,000. I am not exaggerating. There are ways to do things that will save you a lot of money. In two weeks I will be publishing a column on how to save money, not on how to cut corners, but how to avoid the common mistakes that people make when remodeling. Simon Salloom is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker specializing in Santa Monica and Westside propertiesTo contact him and or to find a list of his local contractors and resources go to SantaMonicaSimon.com

Simon Says: "Should You Continue Renting or Should You Buy?"

Several times a week someone tells me, "My friends say wait to buybecause the market is going to go down this year." I am sure thesesame people were saying the same thing last year when the median salesprice in Los Angeles went up 7.3%. The not so great news was that thenumber of sales went down from 8,269 in 2005 to 6,888 in 2006 in LosAngeles. In 2006 the average days on market went up from 41 to 57days. However, 2005 was a record year for real estate sales. The factthat the pace of sales decreased in 2006 means the market shifted fromgoing a metaphorical 100 miles per hour, a pace that is impossible tomaintain, to a more sustainable 70 miles per hour. Real estate valuesare still going up and the market is still strong.

For an example, let's focus on Santa Monica Condominium sales. Lastyear, when the "bubble" was bursting, median sales prices went up12.3%. Let's say for example that you didn't listen to your friends orthe media and purchased a home last year for $700,000. At the medianincrease in value of 7.3%, you would have enjoyed about .6% or $4,200a month increase in value. If you owned in the right part of SantaMonica, you would have experienced an even greater gain.

Today, many people have the misconception that it is better to rentthan to own. It may be better to rent if you don't plan on being inthe same place for more than a year or two. Additionally, if you justmoved to Los Angeles or Santa Monica and don't know what neighborhoodwill work best for you, renting is a good idea. There are also somepeople who can't come up with the money every month for the mortgage,taxes and home expenses. For all the rest of you, households making acombined income of about $90,000 a year or more, it is a good businessdecision to buy.

Thanks to the media created "bubble" hype, and an ever increasingdemand for shelter in Los Angeles, rents have increased about 12%citywide in the past year. Many rental seekers have said they seecloser to a 15-20% gain in Santa Monica. You can buy a very nice 2brcondo in a great Santa Monica neighborhood for around $700,000. Thissame condo will now rent for around $2,800-3,200 a month. To own it,with a 6.25% interest rate, 1.25% taxes on an annual basis and $300 amonth in dues, it will cost you approximately $4,900 a month. However,after taxes at 30% (many people pay more), your effective cost isabout $3,100 a month.

If you hold onto this same property for the next five years and enjoya modest 3% or $21,000 increase in value per year, you will make over$100,000 in equity. If you sold and paid about 6% in closing costs,clearing $40,000, your effective cost of homeownership is only about$2,400, less than renting and a steal of a deal if you consider thatrents will also be going up over the five years that you own theproperty. It may also be notable to you that a 3% increase in value isvery conservative. The average increase in property values nationwidesince the 1950's is about 6% and even higher in California.

So, barring any great economic calamity that no one can predict, it isless expensive to own than to rent. The sky is not going to fall, andpeople will continue to enjoy the pleasure of owning their own home. Ihope that this column has given you some solid numbers on what willwork best for you.

Simon Salloom is a Realtor who specializes in Santa Monica Real Estatewith Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Brokerage, BrentwoodCourt Office. He is ranked in the top 3% of Coldwell Banker agentsNationwide for sales volume.

All statistics taken from the Multiple Listing Service of the local,Beverly Hills Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors