Los Angeles Real Estate Market - No Inventory?

Question

My realtor states that there is no inventory in the Los Angeles marketplace & that's why the prices are so high. I told him that Zillow says the L.A. area has approx. 11,701 properties for sale, so if there is no inventory why does Zillow have such a large amount? My realtor said that those are the houses no one wants. There's no inventory for good homes in areas buyers want to be in. Meanwhile my hubby & I asked him to bring us all the offers at once , but he refused saying it wasn't 'cricket'. He also pushed heavily for us to take the 1st offer we got. He said the longer we were on the market, the more buyers would think there was something 'wrong' with the house, this after being listed for 2 days. The 1st offer was below our Listing Price by $50K.

How much of the real estate market in L.A. is actually created by our real estate system? I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who know a lot more about this than I do.

How much of the real estate market in L.A. is actually created by our real estate system?  I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who know a lot more about this than I do.

Manolo D. · Answer

@Kris Kahrs After receiving payment, aren't you suing for loss due to conflict of interest or at least morality? The agent is suppose to safeguard YOUR interest, and having one of the company executive buys it just sounds fishy to me. To me, it meant that you got what you want, but then, the agent knows that your property is more valuable than the price being sold, his job was to squeeze all the dimes he could get the buyer for you. He and his company needs a refresher from the court.

Will Barnard · Answer

This is 100% incorrect, wherever you heard it, it is wrong. Listing agents have a fiduciary responsibility to their clients and nothing in the listing agreements or contracts dissolve that responsibility. Based on what you have stated, the agent gave you bad advice to work an inside deal with someone from his agency, this is 100% wrong and you would have a case both in court and against their licenses if you wanted to pursue it. You did state you stuck up for yourself which is good, however, that does not remove what happened and these kinds of agents should not be holding licenses when doing things like this!

Kris Kahrs · Answer

Hi David--  Yes, you are right.  It turned out that an executive in his company bought our property.

Archie Robb · Answer

He's pushing you to accept an offer after 2 days and said offer is 50K below asking? It's hard to give advice without all of the data, the comps, etc. but that sounds like terrible advice.

I'd let the agent know your feelings so you can attempt to fix it.

Nabil Suleiman · Answer

@Kris Kahrs Zillow is good and bad. Zillow has a lot of data that is helpful, but the downside to that data is that it is not often updated. You can find something on there that was sold months ago but still claims its for sale, and/or more commonly, it will be pending or in contract but is never updated. So on that aspect zillow is not the best resource for knowing how many homes are for sale, but it can give you an idea.

The next part when it comes to agents is that there are a million of us.. so if you don't think your agent is living up to your expectations, its pretty easy to find another one who will. Its unfortunate that you have had that experience, and hopefully you reach out to others you know and trust to advise you in the matter.

There are plenty of listing in Los Angeles, but LA is pretty big, so depending on the area, each market will differ and with that so will the demand and in turn the value the market says your home is worth. I am not quite sure what your last question was asking but I hope what I have stated so far helps.

Ed B. · Answer

sorry, you're incorrect! [Edited by moderators]  "a while ago I heard that the realtor always works for the buyer, whether he is the buyer's agent or the seller's agent."  No, that's not how it works, especially not from the listing agent. ARrggghhhhh!!

Account Closed · Answer

Sounds like his buddy is making the offer.

Kris Kahrs · Answer

Hi Manolo-- I don't remember where I heard it, but a while ago I heard that the realtor always works for the buyer, whether he is the buyer's agent or the seller's agent.  It seems to be true.  Also, when signing the seller/agent contract, there are a bunch of disclaimers and no fault clauses in there to prevent just such a thing from happening.  These clauses protect the brokers.  As I say, I can't complain because we persisted in voicing our wants and things turned out well for us.  Thanks!

Kris Kahrs · Answer

Hi Archie-- we did stand our ground and get the 3 offers in.  We also persisted in the deal points we needed for the deal to work for us.  Everything ended well.

Kris Kahrs · Answer

Hi Nabil--my experience with my broker was a good one.  We were just bemused by the statements that weren't supported (or didn't seem to be) in some way.  I can tell Zillow is not that accurate because a property on one page may say it's on the market on another page in Zillow, it may say the property is sold.

By the time, we discovered that we wouldn't be getting the purchase offers all together, we had signed the broker agreement some time prior.  But as I said, things turned out well.  Thanks for the insight.

Los Angeles Real Estate Market - No Inventory?

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