Los Angeles has a nickname and that nickname is "The City of Angels." It is commonly referred to as "LA" and is the largest city in California and in the United States it is the second largest city. The residents are often called "Angelenos" In Forbes Magazine named Los Angels as "The world's eighth most economical powerful city."
Los Angeles airport is the area where many foreign travels arrive for the first time to America and a place where new beginnings start. Los Angeles is a great place to start your beginning also in one of its many beautiful communities. As a former Real Estate Broker from the greater Los Angeles area, I can tell you a great deal about Los Angeles. Los Angels is a huge city with many good areas and many bad. Los Angeles has its slums like all cities and it has its beauty such as Rodeo Drive in Hollywood.
There are many beautiful malls and many very delicious restaurants. To understand Los Angeles the best, you need to see the map of the city. Here is the google map for Los Angeles:
http://www.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&om=1&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=104511996100170886231.00000111d6ec170ebb74e
As you drive into Los Angels on on I-5 you will come in to many lovely areas. You will pass through Glendale and Pasadena, which are extremely beautiful communities just right outside of the city.
Pasadena is extremely expensive, but if you can afford it, a sleepy setting with many Victorian Homes. The lots are huge and yes there are many foreclosures available there. A good short sale seeker's dream.
As you come into downtown Los Angeles, it is full of shops and main districts. There are many cheap areas and Los Angeles has its shares of low price range homes. So the best areas in Los Angeles are in the outlying areas. If your desire is to live in downtown Los Angeles then they have many condos available.
As a local Realtor, I sold many homes in Downey, Tarzana, and areas close to Van Nuys are real nice. All the areas close to the Santa Monica pier and town are very beautiful and lets not leave out Venice. Many want to live in Los Angeles but they have choices of being within a few minutes away and living in beautiful areas.
West Los Angeles is a very nice community and is medium priced. It has a lot of older homes and very quaint. West Los Angeles is a multi-neighborhood with many Asian and Middle Eastern type restaurants. Many people drive to West Los Angeles just for the shopping. It is easily accessible and a nice trip.
All of Los Angeles is extremely busy, as one of the largest cities in California and many travelers from around the world using the air port as a port of entry. The airport is huge and has many terminals. It is easily accessible and is close to many Denny's Restaurants. While at Denny's restaurants, try their famous waffles and ice cream brunch.
Of course Los Angeles is most famous for its neighbors, Hollywood, Brentwood and Beverly Hills. The absolute famous Rodeo Drive with all the million dollar stores for the rich and famous. There are some great misconceptions about Hollywood and Beverly HIlls. There are portions of the cities that are extremely beautiful and there are parts that are slums. So yes, there are streets of the celebrities, but you can also have a zip code in a reasonably priced neighborhood.
Living in Los Angeles is both a privilege and an honor and a place where we hope you come real soon. The money, job opportunity , weather and scenery are all beckoning you to visit us right now.
When anyone decides to place their home for sale, the Broker should guide them in how to stage their garage. Garage staging is just as important as home staging and maybe more. There is nothing worse than a prospective buyer walking into a garage and seeing boxes everywhere and huge oil slicks in the middle of the floor.
The seller spends lots of money on staging the home but when it comes to the garage he says, "Who cares about an old garage." One of the biggest mistakes a seller can make is to forget about the garage. Just as you would pay special attention to the yard and curb appeal, you must care about the looks of the garage.
As a listing agent, I want the entire home in tip top shape. Home staging is not stacking boxes on the ceiling and carpets over oil slicks. It is making the garage look as good as the home and very spacious. When a prospective client walks into the garage from a door off the home, he must feel as happy with the garage as he does the home.
1. Clean and Tidy:
All boxes should be transferred to a storage shed or a rental storage somewhere. Ladders should be folded and hung on the walls along with major tools such as chain saws and shears to cut the shrubs with. There should be some sort of incense hanging in the garage, to give it a wonderful smell and all bad odors eliminated, before anyone shows the home. The garage must be freshly painted as it is a possible room of the house. All holes need to be patched and any cracks sealed.
Nothing worse than walking into a home and seeing many cracks everywhere. The first thing a prospective buyer thinks, is that this is not earthquake safe. A garage should be open and clean but organized. Making a home feel tidy and welcoming.
2. Make it look Spacious and Open:
There should be hanging peg boards for all tools. The tool bench must be painted red as that is the color all buyers expect. There should be a few tricycles on the floor next to the door, as to make the garage and the home look like someone lives there.
3. Make it homey looking and welcoming:
Curtains must be hung on the windows and the curtains should be real home looking and not formal looking.
4. Make it look as though someone lives here:
A empty garage is not garage staging. Giving the impression that no one has ever lived in the home is not a selling point. Try to imagine if you are walking into the garage before seeing the home, how would you feel? Would you be interested in seeing the rest of the home? As anything, this should be a showplace and something that draws the buyer in.
5. Arrange the garage for the garage lover:
How can you make a garage welcoming? A work bench with peg boards and a large step stool next to the work bench. A tall tool box, red of course and some pictures hanging of the Grand Canyon and places that people might long to see. Huge metal shelving with all cans of nuts and screws divided and all winter items, such as sleds on shelves.
Many do not spend enough money on the total presentation, such as having a working garage door opener. If the garage door is old and squeaky, try to replace the opener. The cost is only a few hundred dollars and can make the difference in a low ball figure.
Things for garage staging:
1. Fresh coat of paint and all cracks and holes fixed.
2. Peg hole shelving
3. All boxes removed
4. All ladders and large items hung out of the way
5. Home looking curtains on the window
6. Pictures of pleasant looking areas
7. Tidy and clean and all oil spots removed
8. Fresh smelling room deodorizer or incense
9. A few personal items to make the home lived in
10. All the above applies.
Selling your home for the top price is the goal of any agent and only with the cooperation of the sellers and tenants can this be accomplished. Help your agent, help you.
