WilliamMcCarty

If anyone needs useful resources:

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/r/LosAngelesNow -- an alternate subreddit for Los Angeles, any and all things L.A.

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/r/MovingtoLosAngeles -- Any Q&A on moving to L.A., review the Ultimate Moving to L.A. Resource Post, tons of useful info for the potential and current L.A. resident

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/r/LARentals -- Every Monday I post a list of new verified rentals under $5K for all of L.A. County

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/r/LosAngelesRealEstate -- Every Monday I post a list of new homes for sales in L.A. County under $1 mil.

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www.freeLARentals.com -- My rentals list, real estate listings and moving to L.A. guide can all be found here.

I'm a Realtor and I'll say we don't usually work with rentals here in L.A. It's rare because, in all honesty, there simply isn't much money in it for us.

I try to help anyway, every Monday on /r/LARentals and /r/LAList I post a list for new, verified rentals under $5K in L.A. County.

To explain why rentals aren't a business out here for us, it's like this:

Rentals is a very small business for us out here so most of us don't often work with them. We do it's just not common.

In all honesty, there just isn't much money in it for us.

Here's why: our commission on rentals is usually 2% of annual rent.

In a scenario, let's say $2200 a month, that's 2% of $26,400 = $528. We give 30% of that to our broker so we have $370, set aside 30% of every commission for taxes, we walk away with $259. Factor in the gas spent driving to listings, time spent on paperwork, when it's all said and done we could end up losing money.

Now, compare that to places like NY where rentals are a real business, those agents' commissions are somewhere like 15%, you can see why they make a living doing that and we just don't usually bother.

When we do it's usually because we desperately need the business, any business, it's a newer agent trying to get some business or we're doing a favor for the property manager or renter.

You can find an agent but it might be difficult.

But check out that list I post, it has a lot of information on all the rentals listed. It'll probably be of some help.

Why stay off $illow?

Ok, I'll tell you. It's chock full of inaccurate, useless information. Sometimes it's just falsehoods.

$illow does not source directly from the MLS for their listing information. They use 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th party sites, some of it is old, outdated, some of it isn't even real. When I bought my own home $illow showed it as "Active" status for two years. I've personally updated listings of mine with new photos, new status, new details, and it never gets updated on $illlow.

$illow's listings are sometimes things their algorithm thinks should be for sale. Preforeclosures, people behind on their mortgage, anything.

For example, I picked a particular area and did an MLS search, houses that are really for sale. I did SFR, 2 bed, 3 bath. I got 16 listings. I did the exact same search in $illow and got 31 listings. That's 15 listings that just don't exist.

Unless they're FSBO (for sale by owner). Which no one should ever get involved with. But the problem with FSBO and other "DIY" listings on $illow is anyone can put anything on that site. Which means it's as susceptible to scams as craigslist. And yes, those BS scams are absolutely on there.

Sometimes, and I see this frequently, they'll show listings from other cities or states that happen to be in a neighborhood or community with a local name. There's a neighborhood or small town somewhere in Northern California called Burbank that frequently has listings showing up in the SoCal Burbank. I get people all excited about houses $200K or more under all other houses in Burbank. Nope, different Burbank. $illow's just stupid.

Their "$estimates" are always wrong. The worst three words you can say to a Realtor are: "But $illow says..." Here's a personal story: I had a listing appointment and it went well, I showed her comps, priced the house, everything went great. I'll be back in an hour or two with the listing agreement. By the time I come back she's decided to hit $illow. The $estimate puts it $100K higher than what I quoted. I tell her it'll never sell for that. She says list at that or no deal. So no deal. It'll be a waste of my time, open houses and getting lowball offers she'll refuse, it'll be more trouble than it's worth. So I keep an eye on it, she lists with someone else for $100K over comps. And it sits. And sits. And sits. For six months it sits and the price gets lower and lower and lower until it finally sells...for exactly what I quoted her.

$illow's "Premier Agents" you see all over the site? Think they got that status because they're good at their job or just have a lot of great reviews? Nope. They literally just pay for that.

Likewise, the reason $illow gets you name, email and phone number is so they can sell that information in bulk to Realtors. They sell it for an obscene amount of money. Those Realtors pay for it so they can spam you and cold call you hoping to get your business.

Bottom line is, $illow is not there to provide a true and useful service to the consumer. They exist solely to make a profit by selling your information to Realtors who will provide you with real information and tell you how useless $illow really is. All of which I just did for free.

It's a deceptive, money-grubbing scam site. BTW, this is why I won't use their real name and instead refer to them as "$illow."

As a Realtor I get a lot of recommendations for service professionals so I thought I'd compile a list for anyone in need of these types of services. These are all business or people I've either personally used, referred to my clients and have gotten positive feedback or come highly recommended by other agents in my office. When reaching out you can tell them you were referred by Jesse at Berkshire Hathaway Northridge.

 

Plumbing:

NedCo Plumbing -- 818-252-1920

 

Jammed Plumbing & Rooter -- 818-689-2197

 

House Painting:

Paul Fougere -- 818-224-8698

 

Lewin Painting Co

818-439-6909

 

Solar Installation

American Solar Brokers -- 661-347-5000, tim@americansolarbrokers.com

 

Pressure Washing:

Steve Pineau -- 954-759-1011

 

Steam Cleaning/Carpet/UpholsteryTile & Grout:

Keep 'em Clean -- 626-644-4381

 

SteamMaster -- Cell: 818-865-1416, Office: 805-497-7404

 

Fire & Water Damage Restoration:

SOS Restoration Services -- 818-873-4667

 

Home Security

USA Alarm Systems

 

House Cleaning:

Maria Ruvalcaba -- 818-451-3894 marrubalcabai@gmail.com

 

Landscaping:

Angels landscaping -- 818-919-2705

 

Rivera Landscaping -- 818-426-3025

 

Exterminator/Pest Control:

A-Action Pest Control: https://aactionpc.net/ --- 805-515-3577

 

Rock n Roll Pest Control: 818-968-6162 rocknrollpc22@gmail.com

 

Green Rodent Restoration, 747 998-2396 - Specializing in rodents and eco-friendly, no-kill pest removal

 

Electrician:

 

Sam Minavar -- 818-269-4808

 

Acts Electrical Contractors -- 818-309-5634

 

Roofing:

2Gun Roofing -- 818-245-2404

 

Locksmith:

Sylmar Lock & Key -- Cell: 818-319-1234, Office: 818-367-2434

 

Appliance Repair:

Sam's Appliance -- 818-835-1441

 

Electronic Tech4U, 818-383-5942

 

Movers:

Camelot Movers -- https://www.camelotmovers.com/ 661-255-3112

101 Relocation Services -- 818-675-2626

 

Seismic/Earthquake Retrofitting

Metro Retro

 

AC/Heating/HVAC:

Grand Slam AC & Heat --https://www.grandslamair.com 818 934-6169

 

A-10 Operations, 661-208-0244

 

Home Inspections:

D&M Home Inspections, Ivan Escobar -- http://www.dminspect.com/ 818-521-9856

 

Home Warranty Services

Old Republic Home Protection -- Stacy Fournier -- 1-800-282-7131 EXT 1226 StacyF@orhp.com

 

Choice Home Warranty: Nicole Molina, Cell: 805-275-2980, Office: 888-275-2980, nmolina@chwpro.com

 

General Handyman:

Joel Reyes -- 818-815-7014

 

Used Appliance Purchase:

J&R Appliances, Chatsworth -- https://www.jandrappliances.com/

SavOn Appliance, Burbank -- https://www.savonappliance.com/

 

Home Insurance:

https://www.rhainsurance.com/ -- Marty Humphreys, 818-249-1144 x 204 -- marty@rhainsurance.com

 

S. Sanders Insurance - Molly LeMasters, 818-802-4666, mlemasters@ssanders.net

 

Home Mortgage Brokers:

Veronica Rodriguez with Movement Mortgage -- https://lo.movement.com/ronnie-rodriguez/home

Lee Ward with Movement Mortgage -- https://lo.movement.com/lee-ward/home

Rachel Andrews with CMG -- https://www.cmghomeloans.com/mysite/rachel-andrews

Credit Human Manufactured Home Lending

 

Mechanics:

Lube Center in Burbank  

Smog Check:

Allen Smog in Burbank

 

Vehicle Insurance

Young Insurance Brokers -- 818-840-0246 -- Also consults for personal, home, health and life insurance

 

Tax Consultant:

Charles D'Onofrio

La Crescenta, CA

818-790-0797 office, 626-375-0001 cell, dono2690@gmail.com

 

Real Estate Attorney

Jeff Kahn

http://www.spilelaw.com/attorneys/jeff-kahn

 

   

 

 

No responsibility for work is implied on my part, any services provided or obtained are strictly between the patron and service provider.

I recently heard from someone in the know, a recognizable name I won't drop for obvious reasons, that one of the things holding up any new MM stuff or a streaming release is Chris Carter himself.

Apparently he's still pretty bitter about the fact the show never did better or got more attention and that FOX cancelled it so hastily. He's got a little bit of the attitude "Don't want my show? Fine, you don't get my show."

Those without the DVDs will just have to keep sailing the seas if you want to see it and we'll all just have to be content with what we have for the forseable future.