Tracy’s LA Real Estate

Why should you buy a house in Eagle Rock, CA? Because you get the best of several worlds in this quiet little corner of the great metropolis of Los Angeles, CA: a home town, neighborly community with access to the jobs, culture, and amenities that a big city offers, as well as minutes away from hiking trails and the Angeles National Forest.

Once its own city, Eagle Rock was annexed to the City of Los Angeles in 1923, in order to secure access to the City’s Owens Valley water resources. Consequently, Eagle Rock has the municipal services that a large city provides like the Department of Water & Power, police, fire, transportation, and public schools. We’ve retained our original City Hall which was built in 1922, and several other architecturally and historically significant buildings including the 1915 Carnegie Library which is now the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, and the Richard Neutra-designed 1954 Eagle Rock Recreation Center.

Eagle Rock is a community that likes to do things together. The Eagle Rock Block Party happens every second Saturday of the month. Created by a local art business owner, Jeff Bughouse, more and more businesses are hanging the special Eagle Rock Block Party light and offering deals, snacks, and fun stuff. It was designed to play off of the NELA Artwalk, a fun way to catch up on local art happenings all over Northeast LA, download the map of the month at www.nelaart.com. You can be a fan of the Eagle Rock Block Party on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eagle-Rock-Block-Party/110194926376#/pages/Eagle-Rock-Block-Party/110194926376?ref=ts

 

TERA, The Eagle Rock Association, is sponsoring a Night Out on October 17 this year, as a fundraiser. You buy a ticket for a dinner prepared and served in the homes of several of our wonderful residents. I’ve heard that the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society may be serving up a special event at one of their meetings this fall as well. And the first Saturday in October is reserved for the Center for the Arts Music Festival, where they close down Colorado Blvd and there is music in the streets. It’s a great event. Check it out at http://www.centerartseaglerock.org/index.php/music_festival

Public schools affect many buyers’ decision to buy a home in Eagle Rock. Although part of the huge LAUSD system, Eagle Rock prides itself on its local schools. Four elementary schools feed into the one junior high and high school campus located in the heart of Eagle Rock. The high school placed 447th in the top 1000 high schools in the U.S. based on Advanced Placement tests given.

More great reasons to buy in Eagle Rock include all the fun restaurants, bars and cafes that populate Colorado and Eagle Rock Blvds, some fun vintage and modern clothing boutiques, a number of kids’ fashion and accessory stores, a large number of established churches, and a very active and committed population dedicated to a number of civic organizations. We have a community garden so popular that there is a waiting list to obtain a plot and not one but two weekly Farmer’s Markets. Every summer there are free concerts at Eagle Rock Park. There is something for everyone here, from the Eagle Rock Rockers car club to the Occidental College theatre program.

Only 26 homes are currently for sale in the 90041 zip code, which comprises most of Eagle Rock. A few more are available in the part of the 90065 zip code that is designated Eagle Rock schools, an area mostly known as Sagamore Park. With so few properties on the market, whenever a good home is listed, it commands immediate attention by the serious buyers. This lack of inventory has helped in part to maintain property values a bit higher than some of the surrounding communities. Where parts of Highland Park and Glassell Park may have seen values drop 30 to 50%, Eagle Rock has gone down 10 to 25% from its peak in most cases. Closed sale prices this year have been reported from $129,000 for a burnt-out shell of a house to $800,000 for a Mediterranean on Hill Drive. In the last five years, several homes have sold for over $1 million, and will again soon if I have my way. I currently have a wonderful Mediterranean with a full guest house on Hill Drive listed for $1,195,000.

And I just have to reblog this wonderful piece about the most holy Buddhist monk in the world who gives us the formula for happiness, the Dalai Lama. http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/the-doctor-is-within/

Here is your chance to clean out all those old computers, monitors, TVs, any electronic waste, and for free! It’s local, too, right in front of the Carrow’s Restaurant on York Blvd. in Highland Park, this Saturday, August 1, 9 am-4 pm. Tell your friends! Print out this flyer and post it! Be green and forward it to everyone you know.
http://www.historichighlandpark.org/modules/agendax/?op=view&cid=11&id=1441

In this market? Are you kidding? I hope you can see that this is a fantasy title—but honest, if you do everything I say, you really will have less stress when you sell or buy a house.

Whether you are a Buyer or a Seller: choose a full-time professional Realtor who has a lot of experience, have an open and honest conversation about what you want to (or have to) accomplish, and then—if you decide to work with that person, follow her advice. If you don’t agree with something she suggests, talk about it in an open, collaborative way. Selling your house is a team effort and while you may be the owner, your Realtor is your coach, and if she doesn’t know about your trick knee, she won’t know that you can’t do 350 squats a day. And if you’re not willing to do what she says, why did you hire her?

As A Seller:

Nuts and Bolts

Have every kind of inspection you can think of done by a qualified professional including:

General / Sewer / Chimney / Termite

Plus any additional inspections suggested by the previous ones.

Make a punch list from what they recommend and then get all those things done—and with permits, if needed. Keep all the reports and receipts from the work you did and make a copy for your Realtor to pass on to prospective buyers and their Realtors.

Or: Are you willing to have the inspections done, provide them to the buyers & Realtors, and price your house to reflect the work that is called for?

Or: Are you willing to take your chances with whatever the buyers’ inspections turn up and adjust your price accordingly?

Good Looks 

Questions to ask yourself:

1.       Does my house look like it could have been pictured in (pick your style) American Bungalow, House Beautiful, Atomic Ranch, Architectural Digest, Sunset, or Dwell? Or does it look a little more like Grey Gardens?

2.       Can I actually see my house, or do I just see my stuff?

3.       Do I have the time and talent to make my house look great?

Pricing

More questions for you:

1.       Would I pay this much for this house if I were buying it in today’s market?

2.       Does the price suggested by my Realtor make me want to throw up?

3.       In a declining or bottoming market, do I understand that the longer I wait, the lower the price can be?

4.       Can I let go of how much money I might have gotten 2-3 years ago?

5.       Can I let go of how much money/effort/love I’ve put into this property? Paid for this property? What I ought to get for this property?

 

Showing Off:

1.       Can I keep this house in Showtime condition? If not, can I move out?

2.       Is the house tenant-occupied? Can I move them out? Note: You will make more on the sale of your house than you will lose in rent if you move your tenants out, 99 out of 100 times. And you will sell quicker with less headache. I know, you think you can’t afford to have it be vacant with no rent coming in, but I’m just saying…

 

Here ends Part 1. Next stop, being a successful Buyer.

 

 

 

 

Let’s start off with an interesting sign noted at The Loft, a cool hair salon at 5112 Townsend Avenue, right up from Colorado Blvd in Eagle Rock. You know, the corner where Pollen, the Botanical Studio (great orchids, special floral arrangements, soy candles, honey and more) is.  In case you can’t make it out, the sign at Loft says: “Bare Hair Jen, waxing Brazilian, Manzillian what?” Go check it out, then tell me what a Manzillian is, ok?

Right next door, the long-awaited Blue Dot at 5110 Townsend is open at last and serving very refreshing frozen yogurt with various fresh and tasty toppings, as well as Acai (ah-sigh-ee) berry bowls. Acai is the new Superfood, the flyer says, and you will lose weight, become (appear? feel?) younger, be more energetic, sleep better, and improve your sex life if you have some. Hm. How could you go wrong?
I tried some yogurt with fresh peaches and it was really yummy. The Acai was interesting, not real sweet, very berry. Blue Dot is having their grand opening next Saturday, July 11, and is serving free yogurt and half-price Acai bowls at the Eagle Rock Block Party 7-9 pm.

If you are on Facebook, you can become a fan of the Eagle Rock Block Party. Or google it and find updates there. Here is what the Fan Page says about what it is: “The Eagle Rock Block Party is about creating local stimulus and reinforcing community spirit so

that small town walking areas remain a part of the Los Angeles experience.”
That’s very cool, don’t you think? I went last month and made it down a couple of blocks each direction from the corner of Eagle Rock and Colorado Blvds. I had a lot of fun, some free snacks, ran into friends, and bought some really good deals. The participating stores all offer various discounts or deals or snacks and it’s in conjunction with the NELA Second Saturday Art Walk. You can go to the NELA website for a downloadable map, links to the bike tour (yes, you can bicycle with other people to the various art galleries), find links to participating galleries, shops, restaurants and bars.
While the Artwalk goes from 7 till 10, the Block Party goes from 3 till 9 pm. Have fun! Buy local! Be healthy!

Go to the source:

www.thelofthairlounge.com/

www.bughouse.com (why is this website here when it’s not mentioned in the article? Because Jeff Bughouse invented the Eagle Rock Block Party. Check it out, Jeff and Rebecca have cool stuff.

www.bluedotacai.com

http://pollenstudio.com/

www.nelaart.com