Ben Lee Properties — January 2019 Newsletter

Issue: January 2019  |  Cheviot Hills & Beverlywood, Los Angeles

This Month's Article

I hope you had an enjoyable holiday season and that you are gearing up for a great new year.

I received a rather surly note in response to my article in last month’s issue.

I wrote (what I thought was a nice) wrap-up of a few of my experiences in 2018 with a mention of people and things I was lucky enough to count among my blessings.

This particular individual found the piece boastful, egotistical and nothing he had any interest in reading about.

We had a few polite back-and-forth email exchanges resulting in his request that I keep my thoughts/feelings/familial anecdotes to myself and out of his mailbox.

I responded by explaining that it would be impossible to extricate one address out of the ten thousand or so residents to whom this newsletter is mailed and then wished him well (which I sincerely meant).

Obviously he is entitled to his opinion and has every right to throw this paper away before ever opening its pages.

I was mostly disappointed in myself for taking it personally.

Why is it that out of the many compliments I’ve received, I seem to only dwell on the one or two criticisms?

But what really struck me as bothersome was that he said he preferred another mailer over mine because it focused solely on neighborhood real estate market statistics.

I didn’t address this during our email communications because in my experience, nothing would have changed his mind or really have had much of an impact.

If I had pursued the conversation, though, I would have told him that he can prefer the other agent’s mailer but, truth be told: anyone can download and share statistics.

Any other realtor on the planet can cull the Multiple Listing Service and tell you the homes currently on the market, the ones that have sold, their asking prices and what the final sales prices were.

If my irritated reader prefers the cut and dried approach to marketing it’s his absolute prerogative.

But what I’ve tried to do over the last six years of writing and mailing these 71 monthly newsletters is to show that I’m different.

I’m the first to admit that getting a real estate license isn’t rocket science.

But to be the number one producing agent in the number one office of the largest brokerage house in the world takes skill and is not achieved by accident or coincidence.

I know numbers and stats probably better than anyone but do I want to write about it month after month?

No. Am I boastful of being number one? Maybe just a little.

But I’m also proud of the ranking and if I were Joe Homeowner looking to sell or Jane Renter looking to buy, I’d want to know I was hiring the best.

When I meet with potential clients for the first time, I go over my extensive marketing plan that goes beyond the confines of this publication.

It is heavily researched, it is wholly my own and it is a proven commodity.

Maybe not every subject of every newsletter is to everyone’s liking but there’s no escaping the fact that ours is a family business and we all play a part in its production.

Whether it’s my father in law’s historical articles, activities my sons are involved with, raffles highlighting neighborhood mom/pop businesses or ways to get involved with our community, this paper strives to be better than an average marketing piece.

However, when we highlight your home on the properties page, you can bet that roughly 10,000 neighbors/ residents/potential buyers are seeing it.

Thousands more are thinking about buying it after we post it to my website.

When you meet me at an Open House or a casual party and ask me anything about what’s happening regarding real estate in our neighborhood, I can pretty much guarantee that I know the answer and can tell you precisely why a house sold for its number, for how long it was on the market and what it means for you as a homeowner in the area.

Because what statistics printed off the Multiple Listing Service don’t tell you are all the off-market, pocket sales that slip under the radar but don’t escape my attention.

Not every ex-lawyer who gets a real estate license is a bona fide neighborhood expert but the fact that I am does make me proud and helps separate me from the rest of the realtors out there.

So, if the gentleman who wrote me is still reading this, I hope you now understand a bit better how my approach to real estate marketing is different than my competitors.

Not sure if we will ever have the chance to work together in the future but if we do, I promise you will not be disappointed in my services.

Or in my vegetable peelers, pie cutters or ice cream scoopers.

I also hope you have a very happy New Year.

Featured Listings

Community & More

By Michael Harris T he Los Angeles Union Station is located at 800 N Alameda Street in downtown Los Angeles.

It was built in 1939 after much civic angst as to what form and location would be suitable.

It was designed by the same architects responsible for the Los Angeles City Hall, John and Donald Parkinson.

Its style is a combination of Art Deco, Mission Revival, and Streamline Moderne.

It is the place where many a movie star and mogul took off for the East on the Super Chief and other trains of the day.

It originally contained a Fred Harvey restaurant but that facility is now closed.

However the main concourse lounge and its 62 foot high ceiling and comfortable imperial waiting chairs are still part of the experience so enjoy.

The movies that have benefited from this location include, Bugsy, True Confessions, the Fabulous Baker Boys, Pearl Harbor and the Italian Job.

Since the original eating facilities have left, one should take advantage of the short walk to the historic Phillipe’s French Dip restaurant at 1000 N.

Alameda. This fixture of old Los Angeles dates from 1908 although the location was moved when the Freeway intersected its original home.

If one is in the mood for the signature french dip sandwich then it would be a handy and enjoyable addition to a day of historic exploration.

Beverlywood happenings Westside Places By Ben Lee L ooks like in the near future, Amazon will be coming to our front steps every day.

The iconic Culver Studios in Culver City (where Gone With the Wind, King Kong and Citizen Kane among others were produced) is getting a massive makeover and tech giant Amazon will be the major new tenant of the space, renting out about 530,000 sq. ft. of office space on the 720,850 sq. ft. campus.

The familiar colonial structure will be preserved as well as a handful of smaller, historic buildings but the rest of the land will be rebuilt and developed to accommodate Amazon as well as new sound stages and production offices.

Amazon will also take up space in the new complex across the street (“Culver Steps”), specifically 75,000 sq. ft. otherwise known as the entire amount of office space currently being made available to be rented.

With tech giant Apple slotted to rent space in a building down the road, Culver City is poised to join Santa Monica as Silicon Valley South.

While residents may be nervous about an influx of population and traffic, I am excited about the real estate opportunities that will likely come as a result of all this construction and the inevitable increase of current property values.

Not to mention the ensuing creation of new jobs, restaurants and shops that will follow when these companies start to call Culver City home.

Construction of the new Culver Studios is slated to be finished by 2021.

Silicon Valley comes to Culver City If you enjoy reading these vignettes each month, you may want to check out my father-in-law’s book, Westside Stories.

It’s a memoir/history of growing up on the Westside of Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s with great photos, anecdotes and stories.

Perfect for the history buff/enthusiast in your family!

It’s available for purchase on Amazon, search Westside Stories by Michael Harris.

By Ben Lee S peaking of Culver City and its current renaissance, let’s start the new year off right with a raffle to one of the neighborhood’s most delicious restaurants.

Have you tried AR Cucina yet on Culver Boulevard?

If not, you are missing out! Offering a delightful assortment of homemade Italian delicacies in a beautiful, intimate setting, we’d like to raffle off a $50 gift card so you can try this lovely restaurant for yourself.

All you have to do to enter is email me: ben@benleeproperties.com and write ‘CUCINA’ in the subject line.

That’s it! We will draw a name at random at the end of the month and let you know you’ve won.

raffling off a gift card to your establishment, please let me know: ben@benleeproperties.com.

We’d be happy to include your business in an upcoming newsletter.