Tag Archives: Beverly Hills Real Estate

Prime Beverly Hills Penthouse – Private sale $1,349,000

Palm Penthouse

Elegant top floor 3 bedroom view penthouse in prime Beverly Hills! Impressive dimensions at 2,621 sq. ft, extra wide hallways, and tons of skylights make this space feel like a single family home.  Large eat in kitchen with breakfast nook, updated stainless appliances, and a large window allow for plenty of cooking and storage space.  How often do you see a top floor unit that shares no walls at all with its’ neighbors?  Asking price $1,349,000

  • 3 bedrooms
  • 2.5 bathrooms
  • 2,621 sq. ft
  • Skylights throughout
  • Wide hallways, high ceilings
  • Impressive master suite with fireplace, large windows, private patio, tons of closet space, vanity area, double sinks, separate tub and shower
  • Large updated kitchen stainless appliances and eat in nook
  • Oversize open concept living room with short windows
  • Washer and Dryer inside the unit
  • 3 assigned parking spaces side by side
  • Enormous private storage space
  • Secure entry, private elevator
  • Honey hardwood floors, brand new lush carpet in the bedrooms

Please contact me for details and private showings.  Property is located North of Burton Way, West of Doheny Drive in Prime Beverly Hills, CA 90210.

 

Palm1 Palm2 Palm3 Palm Penthouse Beverly Hills for sale

JUST LISTED: Elegant Penthouse in Prime Beverly Hills Location $1,045,000

441 N. Oakhurst Dr #702

441 N. Oakhurst Drive  Penthouse 702  Beverly Hills, CA 90210

3bedrooms, 2.5bath, 2126 sq. ft

Asking Price: $1,045,000

441 N. Oakhurst Dr #702 Beverly Hills CA 90210 002 005 006 008 010 011 012 013 014 014A 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 030 031 032

This elegant three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom Beverly Hills penthouse offers stunning above-it-all views and an unbeatable location. Lounge on the large outdoor patio and soak up the mountain to city views, or walk to all the area has to offer. A Regency-style set of double doors opens into an entry way to the 2,196 sq.ft. unit. The step-down living area is over-sized and has a travertine fireplace. A balcony with sweeping views is at the end of the living area. A dining area is bracketed by corner walls of window that allow for ample light in the day and a carpet of city lights at night.

The large galley-style kitchen (with built-in appliances) is “open-ended” and provides access to the dining and living areas. Under-the-counter laundry machines takes the functionality of the kitchen to new heights. Richly-toned granite counter tops, and plenty of storage augment the kitchen’s offerings.

Bonus alert! It is a rarity in condominium floor plans that a unit have a family room/den area. But this unit has a perfect one. Its den area (with a wet bar) provides space for watching screeners or having an evening cocktail. Rounding out the public rooms is a convenient powder room off of the main entry.

The large master suite has a walk-in closet and double sinks. The two other bedrooms share access to a bathroom.

Pool, residents-only meeting rooms, two parking spaces (tandem) and controlled access make this unit a great value.

Please visit www.441oakhurstdr.com for more details.   OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY 1-4PM

Report: Home Prices Poised for Growth in 2013

In stark contrast to this time last year, the housing market is chugging into 2013 with a head of steam.

Home-listing prices were up 5.1% nationally in December on a year-over-year basis, according to data released Thursday by real-estate listings and data company Trulia. Out of the 100 major metro markets covered by the report, 82 of them saw year-over-year gains. At the end of 2011, asking prices had fallen 4.3%, and only 12 markets had posted positive price changes.

“Prices are going into 2013 with strong tailwinds,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist for Trulia. He cites a general strengthening of the job market, which in turn means more families able to cover a sizeable down payment. An increase in household formation, which is also the product of improving job prospects, and home construction could further bolster demand.

Mr. Kolko notes that the sharpest tightening of inventory is taking place in Western states. Four of the top 10 cities to see the largest asking price recovery were in California, including Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento and Fresno.

Las Vegas, which was hit hard after the bubble burst, came in at the top of the list with a 16.3% year-over-year listing price increase. In the same period in 2011, prices dropped 11.2%.

To be sure, even among the markets with major gains, some are better positioned for a sustained housing recovery than others.

While Las Vegas may have seen the largest asking price turnaround, it remains far below pre-bust levels. The problem, Mr. Kolko says, is that the market remains unstable, with high vacancy rates, lingering foreclosures and subpar job growth.

On the other hand, metros like Seattle, which came in second on the list of cities with the highest asking-price recovery, are on a smoother path to growth because of their strong economic fundamentals, he said.

Meanwhile, rents rose nationally 5.2% in the same period. In 17 of the 25 biggest rental markets, home prices are rising faster than rents, according to Trulia. Whereas ownership was typically more affordable than renting in most markets in recent years, as sales demand rises, that edge is becoming less apparent, Mr. Kolko said.

Top Reasons to Opt for Seller Financing!

Seller Financing

The son of a longtime friend recently caught me at a Friday night high-school game and informed me he and his wife had turned down an older home in the neighborhood they always wanted, for a new home in a subdivision.

They also declined the possibility of no-cost seller financing from the owner of the older home because the builder offered a slightly lower rate on the new home.

“We just felt like we wouldn’t have to do anything on the home for years,” Patrick said. “We couldn’t afford any expensive surprises.”

While I disagreed with him on both topics, I kept my opinions to myself because he had already made his decision and was looking forward to moving into his new home. Here’s why I would have chosen differently.

First and foremost, you can always repair or remodel a home, but you can never single-handedly fix a neighborhood. If you know the schools, churches and streets that are important to you, it’s usually best to buy where you have done your primary research. And, new homeowners often underestimate upkeep.

But just as important are the credit and cash needed to get a loan today. Lenders are being more cautious and are demanding more skin in the game.

Recently, Fair Isaac Co., the developer of FICO scores, revealed that 78.5 percent of all consumers have scores that fall between 300 and 749. The FICO score ranges from 300 to 850. So only about one in five American have a FICO score of 750 or higher.

Ellie Mae Inc., a provider of mortgage origination software to lenders,reports that borrowers approved for mortgages in September had an average FICO score of 750. What message does that send to prospective home buyers?

Besides high credit scores, borrowers are coming in with higher down payments to satisfy lender requirements. According to Ellie Mae, home buyers who used a Fannie or Freddie loan had, on average, a 21 percent down payment. Homeowners who refinanced had average equity in their homes of 30 percent.

Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist, recently said he thought that loan standards will eventually ease as banks reduce some extra risk-based fees that they have added to benchmark quotes since the mortgage meltdown.

But is there a viable plan B? What if you didn’t have to go to a lender for a home loan?

Seller financing is an underestimated benefit not only because of today’s increased lender scrutiny, but also because the buyer dodges most all the fees associated with the loan. For example, in Patrick’s case, he decided on a 3.5 percent loan from a lender rather than a 4 percent loan from the homeowner.

Let’s say the total costs of a $200,000 loan come to 2 percent of the loan amount, or $4,000. The monthly difference between a 3.5 percent loan and 4 percent loan is approximately $57 a month. Not only would Patrick have to borrow more or come out of pocket with the extra funds (in addition to the down payment needed on the house), but he would also need more than seven years to make up the monthly difference.

While many owners make “cash-out, conventional” financing a requirement when selling a home, others are more than willing to negotiate price and terms. Homes are selling quickly in many neighborhoods, but others continue to sit. It’s those owners who can be “all ears” if it means closing a deal and moving on with their lives.

And, some sellers, particularly seniors with no high-rate place to park their cash, are not opposed to accepting a healthy down payment and “carrying the paper” on their real estate as long as they are guaranteed 4 percent interest on their money. In most cases, it’s difficult to get that rate in non-risk accounts.

Buyers and sellers can build in safety features to make carrying the paper palatable for both sides. If you are a buyer, there’s no harm in asking. You could save time, anxiety and a lot of cash — an inexpensive surprise.

If you’re looking to buy, lease, or lease – please contact me at 310.402.8181 or jkryukova@gmail.com

Click here to visit my website

Source: Inman news

Adrienne Maloof Lists Beverly Hills Mansion Amid Divorce!

SELLERS: Adrienne Maloof and Paul Nassif
LOCATION: Beverly Hills, CA
ASKING PRICE: $26,000,000
SIZE: 8 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms

L.A.-based businesswoman Adrienne Maloof of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fame and her Beverly Hills plastic surgeon husband Paul Nassif have listed their humongous, gilt-trimmed Richard Landry-designed faux-French chateau in the guard-gated Beverly Park community on the market with an asking price of $26,000,000.

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Real Estate Tourism: Who’s Really Buying America’s Homes?

Los Angeles Real Estate Expert

Russian billionaires have been making headlines for snapping up some of the most opulent homes in the United States. Yuri Milner ‘overpaid’ by 100% on a $100 million Silicon Valley mansion in 2011. Dmitry Rybolovlev’s daughter bought an $88 million penthouse in New York City (after spending $100 million on Donald Trump’s Palm Beach palace in 2008). This week, an anonymous Russian buyer plunked down $47 million in Miami’s most expensive sale ever.

But Russians certainly aren’t the only foreigners plowing money into American real estate. “The reason the Russians get so much attention is that they buy the highest ticket trophy properties,” says Jacky Teplitzky, a managing director at Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate, who peddles property in New York City and South Florida. “But if you go by number of buyers, you have much more activity coming from places like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.”

To name a few. Since the housing bust, foreign buyers have flooded the U.S. housing market, taking advantage of favorable exchange rates, weaker prices and, in some cases, record-low mortgage rates. Foreign nationals accounted for $82.5 billion, or 8.9%, of the $928 billion spent on U.S. residential real estate from April 2011 through March 2012, according a June survey from the National Association of Realtors. That was up 24% from $66.4 billion the previous year. More than 50% of sales over the past year occurred in just five states: Florida, California, Texas, Arizona and New York.

Chinese are also shopping in the U.S. in growing numbers. Buyers from mainland China and Hong Kong account for over $7 billion in sales annually, or 11% of international sales activity in the year to March, according to NAR, making them the second-largest foreign buyers of U.S. homes. The influx of newly minted millionaires has inspired developers to reserve units on floors with the number ‘eight’ in new condo projects — like Manhattan’s One57 — for Chinese buyers (Chinese consider eight to be a lucky number), and real estate brokers are embarking on overseas marketing trips that have resulted in big-ticket purchases like Beverly Hills’ $34.5 millionWehba Mansion.

If the Chinese are the second-largest foreign buyers of U.S. homes, who’s No. 1? Our neighbors to the north in Canada. Canadians accounted for 24% of sales to foreigners in the year to March, according to NAR.  And it’s not likely to let up: Realtor.com says Canadians account for the most international search activity on the listing site every month in nearly all of major U.S. metro areas.

Canadians have been a dominant purchasing force in hard-hit Sunbelt states like Arizona and Florida. A relatively weak greenback coupled with low home prices represents an opportunity to scoop up a home that could be used for vacations now and retirement later.

Canadians have also been buying in the Midwest, including Chicago. “Close proximity to Canada makes it an easy place for Canadians to invest money,” says Bob Krawitz of RE/MAX Signature in Chicago. He says interest runs along all price points, from distressed properties that can be fixed up and rented out to seven-figure mansions along Lakeshore Drive.

Brazilians are getting attention for their buying sprees in markets like Miami and increasingly, New York City, but Argentineans have been just as active. “The foreign buyer story should be as much about Argentineans as Brazilians,” asserts Philip Spiegelman, a principal at International Sales Group, a marketing and sales organization for real estate developers. “The market in downtown Miami has been principally dominated by Argentineans, then Brazilians, then Venezuelans.”

Increasing numbers of Venezuelans are pouring money into American real estate, seeking a safe haven for their wealth from political and financial uncertainty back home. Teplitzky says many of her South American clients, who also include Colombians and Argentineans, seek out rental units, especially in Miami. “The new landlords in Florida are South Americans and their tenants are Americans,” she adds.

Spiegelman says Europeans, particularly French, have been buying more in southern Florida in recent months as well. “The real attraction here is cheap, cheap, cheap waterfront real estate: these buyers look at this and think it will never be as cheap again.”

Given the uncertainties of the European Union’s fiscal crisis, many wealthy Europeans are desperately trying to shed their euro zone homes and reinvest that money in American real estate. A growing number of brokers, like Italian-born Richard Tayar of Keller Williams NYC, cater to clients looking to do that.

French and Argentineans have become a notable part of the buyer pool in New York City as well. In the luxury condo building Trump SoHo, Argentineans have accounted for the second largest number of sales this year. “Argentina is an unsung element of our demographic base,” says Amy Williamson, vice president of sales for the Prodigy Network. She says Mexicans and Peruvians have been very active also, particularly at the higher price points.

South Koreans have quietly been scooping up investment properties in the New York metro area.  Brokers like Martin Chung, a senior vice president atCorcoran Group, are looking to market to them, printing up property postcards in Korean.

Sang Oh, president of Asia operations for Platinum Properties, just returned from a month in South Korea, where he pitched prospective clients a new development called Sky View Parc in Flushing, Queens. “Korean buyers have come back on very strong in the past year and a half,” notes Oh. He says most buyers he deals with want to be landlords. With rents up 40% from 2002 to 2008 in Flushing, it’s the reason he’s peddling Sky View Parc. “There’s a lot more interest in areas that you wouldn’t have thought of — tertiary markets like Flushing, Long Island City, areas of Brooklyn.”

On the West Coast, Asians have been busy buying homes as well. In addition to the Chinese, Singaporeans, Indonesians and Malaysians have been active, says Christophe Choo, a Los Angeles-area luxury real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Previews International. They typically want new construction, particularly condos, that they can use as pied-a-terres.

Armenians and Croatians – many under the age of 30– are plunking down millions for homes too. “[Armenian nationals] are very similar in ideals and philosophies to Russia,” asserts Choo. “They are on a major spree, buying large properties for family compounds that they buy, tear down and build major homes on.”

If you’re interested in buying, leasing, or selling property please contact me (310)402-8181/jkryukova@gmail.com

www.juliekproperties.com 

Source: FORBES Online

 

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS When applying for a Mortgage!!

When applying for a mortgage, certain rules must be followed so that you are able to secure financing and successfully close escrow:

1) Thou shall not change jobs, become self-employed or quit your job. When applying for a mortgage, job consistency and security are one of the key elements of the approval process. If you change jobs, you have to have worked at least 30 days and provide a paystub verifying at least a 30 day history. If you change the method of employment, wage earner to self employed or commissioned, you may not be able to verify any income because the mortgage guidelines require a minimum of a 2 year history.

2) Thou shall not buy a car, truck or van (or you may be living in it)! This is a big deal. If you are approved for a mortgage loan and then buy a car, the added debt if you finance the car may make your commitment invalid. When qualifying for a mortgage, your income vs. your debt is analyzed, we actually check your credit right before closing and we require you to explain any inquiries on your credit report in writing as to who inquired, why and whether new credit was extended as a result of those inquiries.

3) Thou shall not use charge cards excessively or let your accounts fall behind. Since your credit report is what is used to verify your credit worthiness, your willingness to pay back the mortgage loan, your credit another key component to your mortgage approval. The higher your credit score the more likely you will get approved and the credit score will determine what interest rate you are qualified for.

4) Thou shall not spend money you have set aside for closing. Buying a home is costly, between the down payment and your closing costs. Before you enter into any real estate transaction your mortgage professional should give you a good estimate of how much money you will need to close.

5) Thou shall not omit debts or liabilities from your loan application. Getting a mortgage today is not like it was in the olden days (like prior to 2008), so if you omit debts or liabilities, we will find out about it. We do many background checks and verifications prior to closing a loan.

6) Thou shall not buy furniture or appliances on credit before the close of escrow. Any added debt can affect you qualifying for your loan. If we discover this prior to closing on that last minute credit check your rate and approval can be affected.

7) Thou shall not originate any inquiries into your credit. Same as above, this can cause your credit score to be affected and thus affect your rate and approval.

8) Thou shall not make large deposits without first checking with your loan officer. All Large deposits need to explained and verified. It is not good enough to say that someone returned a loan, or it was cash in the house or someone gave it to you without verification, documentation and written explanations. Banks want to make sure that you are not taking on additional debt, if these deposits were loans. It doesn’t matter how good your credit is, how much money that you have in the bank or how much you earn all large deposits are verified.

9) Thou shall not change bank accounts. If you need to change accounts, discuss it with your loan officer. This creates a paperwork nightmare. We have to verify the withdrawal and deposit into a new account. The most important thing to watch out for is that many banks put a hold the initial deposit, even if it is a certified or bank check for 10 business days and this can affect your ability to get a certified check for your closing and you may have to delay your closing.

10) Thou shall not co-sign a loan for anyone. A cosigned loan is the same as your loan. The debt is on your credit as if it was yours. It affects your borrowing ability. After a year’s time most lenders will accept 12 months canceled checks from the other party and then the debt will not affect you except if it is delinquent.

 

For all of your real estate needs, please contact me at (310)402-8181 or jkryukova@gmail.com

www.juliekproperties.com

Ready to Buy? Five Steps in Getting Ready to Buy a Home!

Image The road to homeownership, AKA securing a mortgage or pre-approval letter, is paved with … paperwork.

First, avoid surprises—especially unpleasant ones—by getting your credit reports/FICO scores before the first sit-down with a banker. You are entitled to a free annual one. Check with any of the big three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian or Transunion).

Proof of employment is next. Advise your boss to expect a verification of employment form. You will also need to submit two weeks’ to a month’s worth of pay stubs.

To prove that you can pay back the loan, banks want to see how much money you earn regularly. That means two years of federal tax returns and W-2s.

What you owe—and yes, lenders will ask—is the flip side of income. Outline your expenses, which most definitely include monthlies for rent, utilities, that new car, credit cards, child support, etc.

Asset verification requires documentation, too. This includes at least three months of bank statements. Investment accounts with bonds, stocks, mutual funds, etc. are also part of this, as are the titles of any cars you own if they are less than five years old. That you have funds for the security deposit is required, too.

The lender will also want a fully executed Purchase & Sale Agreement (signed and initialed by buyer and seller). Make certain the property address is correct.

Don’t forget the obvious: a valid ID and your Social Security number.

Final tip: Never turn in originals, and keep a copy of every piece of paper you send out so when the inevitable call arrives: “I don’t have…”, you will.

Rate on 30-year mortgage falls to record low!

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell this week to a record low for the seventh time in eight weeks.

 

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average on the 30-year loan dropped to 3.66% from 3.71% last week. It’s the lowest rate since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.

The average rate on the 15-year mortgage, a popular refinancing option, declined to 2.95%. That’s down from 2.98% last week and just above the record 2.94% of two weeks ago.

The rate on the 30-year loan has been below 4 % since December.

Low rates could provide some help to the economy if more people refinance. When people refinance at lower rates, they pay less on their loans and have more money to spend.

 

Mortgage rates have been dropping because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Uncertainty about how Europe will resolve its debt crisis has led investors to buy more Treasury securities, which are considered safe investments. As demand for Treasurys increase, the yield falls.

And the yield will likely fall even lower now that the Federal Reserve has said it will continue selling short-term Treasury securities and using the proceeds to buy longer-term Treasurys. That goal of the program is to drive long-term interest rates lower to encourage more borrowing and spending.

 

To calculate average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country Monday through Wednesday each week.

The average does not include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1% of the loan amount.

The average fee for 30-year loans was 0.7 point, unchanged from last week. The fee for 15-year loans was 0.6 point, down from 0.7.

The average rate on one-year adjustable rate mortgages fell to 2.74% from 2.78% last week. The fee for one-year adjustable rate loans was unchanged at 0.5 point.

 

 

The Real Estate Market is on Fire!!

Luxury Homes Spur Bidding Wars in L.A. as Market Rebounds…

Great Article on Bloomberg about the bidding wars happening while the market rebounds!

A week after Christine Lynch listed her house in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles for $3.625 million, she had seven offers. Within 10 days, a deal was reached for the five-bedroom, six-bathroom home — and for $225,000 more than she asked.

“My first reaction was, ‘Wow, I guess we’re really doing this,’” Lynch, 55, said in an interview. The all-cash transaction was completed on April 23. “I was really surprised by this level of interest and how quickly it sold,” she said.

This Brentwood home was listed for $1.55 million and had more than 100 people look at it during three open houses. It received 11 offers and is set to close escrow on May 23 for $1,705,000. Source: Coldwell Banker Previews International via Bloomberg

This Brentood house originally listed for $3,625,000; after seven offers a deal was reached within 10 days for the sale of the five-bedroom, six-bathroom home for $3.85 million. Source: Coldwell Banker Previews International via Bloomberg

This home located in Santa Monica two blocks from the beach, was sold in mid-April for $2.85 million after receiving multiple bids within the first week of having been listed. The agency that sold it to a husband-wife couple with four kids was Beverly Hills-based RodeoRealty Inc. Source: Rodeo Realty Inc. via Bloomberg

Bidding wars are breaking out for luxury homes in such wealthy Los Angeles enclaves as Brentwood, Beverly Hills and Bel Air as an increasing number of buyers bet on rising home prices and investors return to the market. Even properties in need of extensive renovation are being fought over by shoppers who expect to resell them for more after a remodel or rebuild.

“The percentage of people who think prices are only going to go up is the greatest I have ever seen in my career,” said Syd Leibovitch, president of Rodeo Realty Inc. in Beverly Hills.

Sales of Beverly Hills homes priced at $2 million and higher climbed 11 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier to 39, according to DataQuick, a San Diego-based provider of property information. In Brentwood, whose residents include actress and singer Julie Andrews, they increased 56 percent to 25, and in Malibu they gained 64 percent to 23.

Throughout the U.S., residential-property sales of $1 million and higher rose 7.2 percent in March, the most recent month for which figures are available, from a year earlier, according to the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors, whose price categories stop at that amount.

Across U.S.

Demand has been rising for high-end homes in the northeastern U.S., including Boston and New York; on the California coast; and in parts of the southern U.S. amid a recovery in financial markets, according to Paul Bishop, vice president of research at the Realtors group.

In Brentwood and Beverly Hills, homes usually start between $2.8 million and $3.2 million for those on smaller lots in low- lying areas, and can go as high as $20 million for larger plots, according to John Gould, manager of Rodeo Realty’s Beverly Hills office. Properties in hillier areas, which usually are larger and have views, tend to range from $5 million to $75 million.

In the Los Angeles area, multiple offers — as many as a dozen per home — have reduced listing times for the highest- priced houses as bidders worried about losing out act faster than they have in the past two years, according to Stephen Shapiro, cofounder of Westside Estate Agency in Beverly Hills.

Acting Quickly

While luxury properties used to linger on the market for weeks and months as recently as 2011, offers now come in on the day of the first showing, a phenomenon that was common during the 2007 buying frenzy, Shapiro said.

“In recent history, buyers would look at homes and return six months later to find the same home was still on the market,” he said. “Now if buyers hesitate, the house is often sold by the time they come back. And each time one sells, the next one comes on at a higher price.”

Sales remain less than the record reached from 2005 to 2007, said Leibovitch of Rodeo Realty. In Beverly Hills, where celebrities including Sharon Stone have homes, first-quarter transactions for properties priced $2 million and higher were 40 percent below the 65 homes sold in the third quarter of 2005, and in Brentwood the 25 purchased were 49 percent below 2007’s second quarter, according to DataQuick.

Too Few Sellers

Deals are being held back in part by a shortage of willing sellers. Nationwide, about 2.37 million existing homes were listed for sale in March, the fewest for the month since 2005, the year U.S. home sales reached a record 7.08 million, the National Association of Realtors reported April 19.

“We could have twice as many sales if we had more inventory,” Leibovitch said.

A total of 19,284 houses and condominiums sold in Los Angeles and five other Southern California counties in April, DataQuick reported yesterday. That was down 3.4 percent from March, and 21 percent below the average for April since 1988.

Jack Massopust listed his 92-year-old father’s Brentwood home, which boasts views of the city, the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island, on April 3 for $1.55 million. Within about a week, more than 100 shoppers had come to three open houses, and the 3,200-square-foot (300-square-meter) house, which Massopust’s father bought new in 1960, had received 11 offers. Eight were at or higher than the asking price.

‘Very Surprised’

The property, listed through Mary Lu Tuthill of Coldwell Banker Previews International in Brentwood, is in escrow, expected to close May 23, for about $1.705 million. The purchasers agreed to a “buy as is” condition, Massopust said.

“I have always appreciated the location and the view,” said Massopust, 64, a retired transportation engineer for the city of Los Angeles. “That’s in my opinion what sold the house for that price. But I was still very surprised.”

Sales volume for homes priced $5 million and higher at all of Coldwell’s West Los Angeles offices was up 35 percent this year through May 8 from a year earlier, according to Joyce Rey, the Beverly Hills-based head of the estates division at Coldwell Banker Previews International.

“There’s an added degree of confidence in the future and that prices are likely going to go up,” Rey said. “There is a definite change in consumer attitude.”

Tuthill, who also brokered the sale of Lynch’s house, said an increasing number of homes sell within a week of being listed. One 6,000-square-foot property on Tower Road in Beverly Hills, in escrow and scheduled to close by the end of the month, came on the market at $7.295 million and within a week received five offers, the highest of which was for more than $2 million greater than the asking price, Tuthill said.

Speculators Back

The increase in demand for high-end properties is being driven in part by investors looking to make a profit, a buyer pool that’s been almost nonexistent the past couple years, according to Rey. She said investors have grown to about 20 percent of the shoppers she represents since the beginning of the year.

Throughout Southern California, the portion of investor purchases was close to a record last month, and the share of buyers paying cash was double the historical average, according to DataQuick.

“The speculative buyer is back,” Rey said. “This is the first time since 2007 that I have investor clients again.”

That’s buoying an increase in bids for homes that need major work, she said.

Bidding War

One house on a 25,000-square-foot lot in Brentwood hadn’t been on the market in more than 50 years and was considered a “borderline tear-down,” according to Tuthill. The home, with original 1930s kitchen and bathrooms, was listed at $5.495 million at the beginning of March and received five offers, the highest of which was $5.6 million. After the seller countered at $5.695 million, two bidders upped their offers to $5.7 million and one jumped to $5.75 million, the eventual selling price.

“We were always joking that we were holding it together with bubble gum and paper clips,” Tuthill said. “The initial reaction was that this property was priced too high for recent comparables. But what brokers underestimated is the pent-up demand.”

A home on Bel Air Road in Bel Air came on the market in mid-March at $10.25 million and the final purchase agreement was signed for $1 million more. Escrow is scheduled to close next week.

Major Renovation

The mid-century house, once owned by the late television host Art Linkletter, hadn’t been on the market in 40 years. The buyer is considering a major renovation or tearing it down, Tuthill said.

“Those types of properties are more in demand than ever,” said Leibovitch of Rodeo Realty. “With interest rates as low as they are, investors can really get a good deal.”

Competition is so fierce that one couple looking to buy in Santa Monica had their daughters, ages 8 and 10, write a letter and draw a picture of the home to try to persuade the elderly seller to choose them over other bidders.

The neurologist and his wife, who asked not to be named because they don’t want his patients to know details of the purchase, agreed in mid-April to pay $155,000 more than the $2.695 million asking price for the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house, located two blocks from the beach.

Lynch and her husband, who’d owned their Brentwood home for 18 years, bought a smaller, three-bedroom house in the West Los Angeles neighborhood of Rancho Park, because they now spend about 40 percent of the year on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. They’re relieved they decided to act now, she said.

“We didn’t really have to sell,” Lynch said. “It was more of a lifestyle choice, a question of where do we want to be 10 years from now. But with this type of response, it seemed like it was meant to be.”