Party Palace

by Jim the Realtor | Nov 18, 2016 | Jim's Take on the Market, Market Buzz | 1 comment

http://la.curbed.com/2016/11/18/13680508/mansion-rentals-house-parties-ordinance-airbnb

There are a lot of headaches that come with homeownership in Los Angeles, property values, repairs, whether or not your neighbors are a German millionaire couple who have made it their stated goal to show LA “what it means to make party.” (It involves bikinis and caged lions).

Extravagant parties in once quiet (and wealthy) neighborhoods are becoming a lot more popular now that party planners and real estate agents have short-term rental websites such as Airbnb at their disposal. BizBash, an online resource for party and event planning professionals, has seen a 60 percent increase in searches for private homes and mansions on its venue directory, according to The Real Deal.

The real estate news website says party hosts shelling out sums ranging from $20,000 to $500,000 to throw weekend soirées in some of LA’s most lavish houses.

The problem is apparently so widespread, the Los Angeles City Council is weighing in. It has asked the City Attorney to draft an ordinance that would punish partying tenants and homeowners. The Real Deal says impending ordinance has some homeowners, event planners, and realtors concerned.

Along with this increased demand for party rentals, companies such as Along Came Mary have sprouted up to assist in event production. For a fee, it will find a willing homeowner and negotiate a rental price, set the menu, take care of all the small details, and clean up the place when it’s done. One recent Along Came Mary event for the Hallmark Channel came with a price tag of $45,000 for three days.

Yes, corporate entities are also using private homes as branding opportunities.

And, it’s not just brand awareness that party hosts are after. Sometimes parties are thrown for the house itself. Instead of a boring open house, big bashes are thrown to show off newly listed homes.

Luxury realtor Michelle Oliver tells The Real Deal that for some clients, she’ll “hold a special invitation-only event at a mansion I am selling, with catering and valet parking.” To get even more exposure for the home, Oliver will even “partner with a high-end magazine and media for targeted coverage.”

The City Council’s new party ordinance was probably aimed at preventing neighborhoods from having to look at “strippers dancing on kitchen countertops,” but they may have picked a fight with big business instead.

Chinese Demand Accelerating?

by Jim the Realtor | Nov 15, 2016 | Jim's Take on the Market, Market Buzz | 3 comments

More optimism about Chinese buyers purchasing overseas:

Welcome to ground zero for the world’s largest cross-border residential property boom. Motivated by a weakening yuan, surging domestic housing costs and the desire to secure offshore footholds, Chinese citizens are snapping up overseas homes at an accelerating pace. They’re also venturing further afield than ever before, spreading beyond the likes of Sydney and Vancouver to lower-priced markets including Houston, Thailand’s Pattaya Beach and Malaysia’s Johor Bahru.

The buying spree has defied Chinese government efforts to restrict capital outflows and shows little sign of slowing after an estimated $15 billion of overseas real estate purchases in the first half. For cities in the cross-hairs, the challenge is to balance the economic benefits of Chinese demand against the risk that rising home prices spur a public backlash.

“The Chinese have managed to accumulate very large amounts of wealth, and the opportunities to deploy that capital in their own market are somewhat restricted,” said Richard Barkham, the London-based chief global economist at CBRE Group Inc., the world’s largest commercial property brokerage. “China has more than a billion people. Personally, I think we have just seen a trickle.”

“Properties in Shanghai are ridiculously expensive,” Chen Feng, 38, said as he evaluated prospects at a property fair in Shanghai in September, lured by television commercials for the event the night before. “With the amount of money it takes to buy a small apartment here, I can buy a building of apartments in many places in the world.”

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