Just last month, C.A.R. (California Association of Realtors) placed an open letter advertisement in California’s seven largest daily newspapers, calling on lenders and industry regulators to streamline and improve the short sale process.

To dovetail off that effort, today C.A.R. is launching a California Short Sales website (www.shortsalescalifornia.org) -- a new website to keep realtors and consumers up to date on all the latest news and insider tips regarding the ever-changing short sale process.

With information for both consumers and REALTORS®, the website is full of need-to-know resources about short sales, and provides up-to-the-moment news, legislative information, legal tips, and lender requirements.

The Consumer section, geared for distressed home owners, provides helpful tips if they are on the brink of losing their home.  They can  learn about government-sponsored programs to assist distressed buyers, access a glossary of commonly used distressed real estate terms, and learn how to avoid short sale scams.

If you need more information on the short sale process works and what is involved, give us a call at 626.844.2256.  Keely is a Certified Distressed Property Expert, and we are involved in several short sales in the area.

A client of mine sent this event to us, saying: "I've been working with the student organizing this (she's also working to secure a film screening with a Q&A that would facilitate additional dialogue around these same themes) and one of her primary goals is to create an event that would bridge the Oxy and and Eagle Rock communities. So I'd love to help her get community members there."

Thursday, April 14, 7-9pm in the Morrison Lounge off of the Branca Patio in the Johnson Student Center.

Please join the Occidental InterGroup Dialogue Program for an evening of conversation about faith, personal identity, and its implications in our daily lives.  All perspectives are welcome and encouraged, from both the Occidental community and the surrounding LA area.  Refreshments will be provided.

Please RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please look for more information regarding a panel of religious leaders and a screening of the movie Reel Bad Arabs in conjunction with this program!

Check out our latest newsletter, it's got all kinds of useful articles:

• A Loan Modification Story Edging Towards Success


• Trusts, Wills and Real Estate


• Local Real Estate Market Update


• Presenting Your Home For Sale


• What's So Great About Highland Park? (A Lot!)

Want to get the next issue of the newsletter by email? Click here to sign up.

Here's the PDF: MARCH/APRIL NEWSLETTER

Feel free to forward to anyone you think might want this info.

Have a fantastic Monday!

We’ve talked in the past about the popularity of staging a home for sale, whether done with a professional stager or by the homeowner. This time, let’s just talk about basics that set the stage for whatever staging (or not) comes next.

I visited another agent’s open house today and found myself being rather critical (what, me, a Virgo, being critical?) But we learn our lessons where we can. Mind you, I can tell you absolutely hair-raising stories about homes that I have sold that were way negative on the pristine show-quality staging effort:

* There was the one where the cats had been using the kitchen counter for a bathroom for a long time...really!  We sold that for $175,000 over asking with 43 offers.
* The one that the tenant had used to express himself whenever he got upset by either spraying graffiti or chopping holes in the walls. That one sold for $180,000 over asking with 80 offers! But that's a true “event price” strategy. Would these houses have sold for more if they had been clean and well-maintained? Most assuredly.
* Another had a note on the refrigerator that said “Dave, please remember, NO DRUGS! We really want to sell the house!” I'm not kidding. And the price was too high just at the time that the market started its downward trek. Sigh, I'm afraid that one never sold and eventually ended up in foreclosure.

But even the regular homeseller may overlook some simple dos and don'ts that will help sell the home. They don't necessarily cost any money, either.

Dos:
* Clean your house
* De-clutter your house

Here are some don'ts:

* Don't leave the toilet lid up
* Don't leave dirty dishes anywhere
* Don't leave anything in the path from the car to the door.

These are just a few things to start with when preparing your home for sale.  For more, see our feature on Vern Yip's Design Tips to Sell Homes.

L.A. Times headline reads: Will L.A. home prices ever head up?
Subtitled Yes, but foreclosures, demographics will make it a slow march.

After a wrenching 6-year decline, the good news is that Los Angeles house prices are no longer in a tailspin.

But here’s the bad news: Experts anticipate no roaring rebound - and some worry that further drifting, or even declines, may be in the offing for many neighborhoods.

“People always ask me, ‘When will I see my house worth what it was in 1989?’ I tell them, “It’s going to be a while,” said Fred Sands, president of Brentwood based Fred Sands Realtors.

Yes, folks, we are talking 1996 news in this article. Does that give you any hope? I remember in 2000, being worried about buying a house that cost $325,000 because it was such a big step up from the one we were selling for $250,000. Today, even Zillow says that our house is worth $584,000, and believe me, I would be able to sell it for a lot more than that.

Today, the latest Case Schiller report says that price dipped again in January. That is old history, folks. Do not base your home buying plans on the belief that the market as whole is declining. We have issues, certainly. Some of the biggest issues have to do with getting decent appraisals on good properties that people are willing to pay more for than lenders want to lend on. It’s a constant push-pull: lenders want to make safe investments and be assured that their money will not be lost. Some buyers want good houses that are a cut above the foreclosures and short sales they’ve seen and they understand that they will cost more. And of course we also have buyers who think that they should be able to buy a good house for less than a foreclosure is selling for. And sellers who think that they should get the same price they might have gotten if they had sold in 2007. That’s what makes it such a good idea to work with a knowledgeable Realtor!

In Los Angeles, if you bought your house in 1989, by 1999, it was worth a bit more than what you had paid. If you bought your house in 2000, by 2010, it was worth 1.5 to 2 times as much as you had paid. I’m just saying that real estate is a long term investment which means a long time. Like sometimes 8 to 10 years.

As part of the Realtor's Home Affordability Fund, the Energy Audit Program provides up to a $250 rebate on a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) home energy audit conducted by a certified HERS rater. You can find out how your new home rates in energy efficiency and find out how to upgrade your home with money-saving energy improvements.

Click here to find out how to qualify:

http://www.car.org/members/hafmainpage/reap/Also, visit the Energy Upgrade California website to plan upgrade projects, locate participating contractors, and find rebates and incentives.

WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT HIGHLAND PARK, 90042? Lots of things!

• It was the City of Los Angeles’ first suburb. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Park,_Los_Angeles

 

• It contains the city’s largest HPOZ. http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/highland-park which recently incorporated the Garvanza area to make it even bigger.

 

• It’s an easy commute to Downtown LA or downtown Pasadena by car, bus or the Gold Line. http://www.metro.net/

 

• The art scene is amazing. http://www.arroyoartscollective.org/. Best event is the annual Arroyo Arts Discovery Tour held the 3rd Sunday of November.

 

• There is an Artwalk the second Saturday of every month. http://www.nelaart.org/

 

• Chicken Boy lives here. 5558 N. Figueroa St. http://www.chickenboy.com/

 

• Great food! Lots of Latin foods from tacos to menudo, but there is more. Check out my Restaurant Guide. www.LADigs.com for names and addresses, but here are some highlights:

Cafe de Leche
The York
My Taco
Chico’s
Johnny’s
Schodorf’s Luncheonette
Folliero’s
La Abeja

 

• Super A Foods has handmade tortillas and much, much more. 5250 York Blvd. 90042. http://www.superafoods.com/

 

• Figueroa Produce has a real meat market, organic produce, a wide variety of ethnic foods--all at great prices! http://figueroaproduce.com/

 

• Galco’s Old World Market and Soda Pop Stop. 5702 York Blvd. Long for some orange Nehi or curious about Grapette? Over 400 kinds of soda here. Plus good deli sandwiches. http://www.sodapopstop.com/

What are your favorite parts of Highland Park?

Have you signed up for our all new weekly email update on real estate and Northeast LA?  We've switched email providers to improve the way we send you new listings, real estate news, open houses, and community info.

Here's a sample of the new and improved weekly email.

To get on the new list, sign up here.

We look forward to staying in touch with you!

Thanks,

Tracy King and Keely Myres

How is 90042 doing this year over last year at this time?

What looks like bad news is that the number of listings is up while the number of pending and closed sales is down:

But wait! Look at the average price per square foot!


And look at the average sales price vs. list price!


What is a buyer or seller to do?

If you listen to the news, you will be so confused. One day it’s a good market and housing is a good buy, the next day there is more trouble to come.


Right now, interest rates are back under the 5% range, sellers who are realistic and motivated are eager to sell, and buyers who have the courage to take advantage of this market can find good quality homes to buy.  So all of you, call me!  If you are motivated, I can help you realize your real estate goals.

When it comes to planning and organizing our “stuff” and making arrangements for our eventual demise, we act like we think we will live forever. The stories range from “my kids will get to deal with this” to “oh, we have a will and everything is set.” My guess is, 1 out of maybe 50 or even 100 people actually have sensible and useful arrangements made for what happens to themselves, their stuff, and their heirs after they pass on.

Without naming names, let me just share that there are people near and dear to me that  are among the majority of people unwilling to address the details of what to do with what they leave behind. Members of my family have had to play guessing games about “what would she have wanted us to do with ?” that cover a range of subjects from cremation or burial to who’s name is the house in? I’m not really pointing fingers, I know I should address some subjects like this for myself as well. I understand the reluctance to come to grips with the fact that none of us get out of here alive. But my husband and I did have wills and a trust drawn up a number of years ago.

Scenario 1: These days, many people live together without benefit of formal marriage. Yet, if one person owns a property separately and there is no will, the “partner” may have no legal standing to claim the property.

Scenario 2: A married couple have no children and no will. Let’s say the wife inherits property from a deceased parent in co-ownership with her brother. What happens if she passes away with no will? The probate laws will govern who inherits her share and very likely her husband will have a claim on the property even if she wanted it to go to her brother’s family. Or the property will have to be sold to settle the estate.

Scenario 3: An elderly couple have a will but no trust. The will was drawn up 40 years earlier and the laws have changed since then. One of the couple has a stroke and is no longer able to sign or understand a legal document. The other spouse no longer wants to live in the house and decides to sell it. He has to go to court and be declared his wife’s conservator in order to sign the deed on her behalf.

A very important fact that few people understand is that even if you have a will, your estate will have to be probated. This is an expensive, time consuming and cumbersome process. The best way you can escape probate court if you have property is to have a properly drawn up trust. Many people have thought that the joint tenancy method of holding property will take care of any issues and often that is true, but again you have the question of who eventually inherits and the state’s view may be different than what you really want.

A very simple and complete description of everything you need to have in place and why is here: http://www.amerilawyer.com/living_trust.htm. I don’t know anything about the law firm, but their website is very easy to understand and use.