Market Improvement: How Will We Know?

I was disappointed that more attention wasn’t given to foreclosure realities and rebuilding the housing market in the President’s State of the Union address. The President’s proposals for refinancing underwater mortgages and investigating abusive lending practices focus on the fallout from the current crisis. But they don’t have any influence toward making the market better.

So the question everyone seems to be asking: How will we know when the market is better?

To me, it will be when homeowners quit buying down as a means to save money or stave off foreclosure. When most sellers are again choosing to sell their homes as a means to purchase something more valuable, it will be a true sign of market strength.

At WEA, we have a unique perspective on market strength because so many of our buyers and sellers are repeat customers. We have long-term close relationships with clients, as well as the properties themselves. We see the same people and the same estates over and over. As a result, we have insights into the reasons a property is being sold and where both buyer and seller are headed next. When both are moving on to bigger and better things, I become quite optimistic. When they continue to buy down or out, the light at the end of the tunnel is much more distant.

In the meantime, luxury realtors have a responsibility to address the realities that exist in our market. At WEA, we place a high premium on working with sellers to balance their needs with the realities that exist in the marketplace. Through appropriate pricing and focusing on each luxury homeowner’s long-term needs, we reinforce ourselves and our industry.

That’s the WEA WAY.

WEA's unique Bel Air listing captures the attention of the Hollywood Reporter

From the Hollywood Reporter's coverage of our use of drone technology to provide unique views of luxury real estate listings:


"It is like watching a scene from Avatar when you are flying above a river -- it is just so cool," says Westside Estate Agency chairman Stephen Shapiro, who has used the drones to take imagery of a Bel-Air house being sold by former Architectural Digest owner Bud Knapp and his wife, Betsy, for $23.95 million and of Paramount CEO Brad Grey's Holmby Hills residence, listed at $23.5 million.

NBC4: WEA Uses Drones To Sell Luxury Real Estate

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

CBS2: WEA Uses DronesTo Sell Luxury Homes

WEA has been using drone technology to bring a unique point of view for luxury buyers. Our efforts in Holmby Hills caught the attention of CBS2:
Drones Now Being Used To Sell Pricey Southern California Real Estate « CBS Los Angeles