Hector My Realtor Blog Page

  Perhaps it didn’t have the cultural impact of “new phone, who dis?” but the search phrase “new listings near me” flipped the way buyers search for homes on its… well, its roof. It’s a direct example of the effectiveness of location-based searching, a far cry from the newspaper ads and weekend open houses of yore. By typing “new listings near me” in a search engine from a phone or laptop, a seemingly inexhaustible list of options is produced for the busy buyer, giving an instant idea of what to expect from the local housing market.  Location Matters in More Ways Than Ever Photo credit: Envato Location, location, location. It’s as relevant as ever, but for more reasons than one. That’s because with the rise of GPS-augmented mobile apps, the search for homes (among other things) has become hyperlocalized. Say you’re meeting a friend at a trendy cafe in Los Feliz, and you’re so taken with the neighborhood that you’d consider moving there. Simply type “new ...

  If you’re in the market for a home in California, you’re at least passingly familiar with homeowners’ insurance. But home title insurance? That’s another story. And the fact that it’s another story may be news to you. A surprising number of people confuse homeowners’ insurance with home title insurance, mistaking them as synonymous. However, both of these insurance types protect you from wildly different risks. And in California’s fast-paced housing market, settling for just one may not be enough!  Let’s Get Physical… with Homeowner’s Insurance Photo credit: Envato Let’s start by making sure everyone fully understands the role of homeowners’ insurance. It’s an insurance type that specifically protects against physical damage to your home, often including your personal belongings as well. However, depending on your coverage, it could also stretch to offer liability coverage as well, accommodating the costs of an individual being injured on your property...

  You might even find a few mechanical bulls mixed in. Featured image credit: Sassafras Saloon Let’s be honest: we don’t get a lot of people looking for an authentic hoedown in LA. It’s a place where the city slickers are extra slick; where the palm tree is greater than the prairie rose; where the emphasis is firmly on the boogie instead of the boot-scootin’. But we also like variety here, so you can bet that you can still find venues that pass as country bars in Los Angeles. Sure, you’re not going to think you’re in Kansas, no matter how many times you click your heels. But you can still get a line dance in, take a tumble on a mechanical bull, and maybe even mosey away feeling like you got enough twang for your buck. So sit back while we lasso up 11 of the best country western bars in LA.  The Cowboy Palace Saloon  21635 Devonshire St, Chatsworth, CA 91311 Photo credit: The Cowboy Palace Saloon Chatsworth is a bit of a trek for the ave...

  Featured image credit: Sansculotte When it comes to houses for rent Los Angeles architecture buffs would adore, the supply can be pretty tight. That’s not to say we lack architectural wonders. Few other American cities can give you Spanish Colonial Revival bungalows across the street from a historically significant Craftsman home neighboring a modern brutalist masterpiece. If you don’t have the money (or commitment) to buy, then these structural studies in art are often out of your reach. But every once in a while, we’ll come across architecturally significant houses for rent Los Angeles patrons of the arts would appreciate (to say the least). And lately, throughout LA, homes designed by legendary architect Richard Neutra have been hitting the rental market.  What’s So Special About a Neutra Home? Photo credit: Los Angeles Times We covered Neutra recently in our home spotlight, focusing on his experimental Neutra VDL House . But for the click-adver...

  Featured image credit: Tedder Don’t call it a ghost town. Although, admittedly, California City is a ghost of what its creators intended. If we’re looking at it purely from the perspective of land area, it’s the third-largest city in California (bigger than San Francisco and Sacramento) and the 43rd biggest city in the country, measuring in at just under 204 square miles. So, why have you never heard of it? Because fewer than 15,000 people live there. So, yeah, not a ghost town. But there’s also never a very long wait at the McDonald’s drive-thru.  Building Cities from Dust Image credit: Plotlist You’ll find California City about 100 miles north of Los Angeles in the Antelope Valley, not too far from Lancaster. But that still puts it pretty far from virtually anything else. Who would think it would be a good idea to try to build a thriving metropolis from scratch in the middle of the Mojave Desert? To understand that, you must first understand the...

  t’s that time again – but who needs a written warning when you already have the alarm percussively blowing up outside your window? You’ve no doubt heard the fireworks already, even though Independence Day is still weeks away. It almost seems like they’ve just kept going straight through from last year. But LA doesn’t wait for an excuse to indulge in some light pyromania. The Dodgers won? Light some fireworks. The Dodgers lost? Light some fireworks. And the closer we get to the 4th, the more frequent (and bombastic) these amateur displays become. Now, a disturbing revelation regarding January’s nightmarish wildfires is bringing heightened tension to the fireworks Los Angeles citizens so adore. Fireworks at the Root of the Palisades Fire Photo credit: Adam Berman Will we ever definitively know what sparked the Palisades Fire at the beginning of January? It’s inspired plenty of speculation, with one of the more popular theories being that it all started with a...