Tracy’s LA Real Estate

With the LATimes.com “Foodie Nirvana” article clutched in our hands, we boarded at the Highland Park station on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for our adventure in Eastside dining. It was a crystal clear, warm, stunning autumn day that reminds us Midwestern transplants just why we live here in Los Angeles.

The Gold Line ran exactly as advertised and we stayed in our same seats all the way to the end of the line, the Atlantic stop. All along the way there were Metro staff in their orange and white vests loaded with smiles, maps, brochures and coupons to give us.
Backtracking to the East LA Civic Center stop, we launched off to the intriguing Moles La Tia, which was tantalizingly described as having the widest selection of traditional and experimental moles in town. Mole sauce comes from Mexico and dates back to the Aztecs. It contains ground spices and chiles, and historically also has chocolate. But we were starving, and after we discovered that the restaurant was almost a mile from the station, we hopped back on the train and went on to Tamales Lilianas, located just a couple of blocks from the Indiana stop. 

Indiana Station

This is a popular place—the line ran out the door. It was worth the short wait, though. The chile verde and pork tamales had a fluffy, soft masa filled with mild green chiles and lots of shredded pork. The menu has a great variety of dishes, but everyone we asked said the tamales and the posole were the ones to order. We did, and were not disappointed. Everyone we encountered was friendly and warm towards us, from fellow customers to the wait staff.

Primera Taza Coffee House

Restored and fortified, we went on to the spacious Mariachi Plaza, where we tracked down the Primera Taza Coffee House for a Fair Trade latte. This tiny coffee house is located within steps of three of the recommended restaurants: La Serenata de Garibaldi, La Placita del D.F., and Birrieria Jalisco. I imagine that a bit later in the day with the Mariachi bands playing and people out enjoying Saturday night, this is quite a lively scene. But we were off to see all that we could see before sundown. 

Mariachi Plaza Underground Station

Next stop, Pico/Aliso, and Purgatory Pizza was right across the street from the station. Let me just say that the pizza by the slice was tasty with a nice, thin crust–but Carmela’s ice cream, made on the premises, was life-changing. We tried strawberry sorbet, cranberry-orange with thyme ice cream and cardamom ice cream. Wow. You have to go. The flavors are based on what’s available from local farmer’s markets, so every day is a surprise. The flavors are clean, intense, and even a standard like the strawberry sorbet was a fresh experience here.

Purgatory Pizza Interior

These fall days end so soon! The light was slanting down and we were up for one last stop. It had to be Union Station, the centerpiece of public transportation in Los Angeles, of course. The 30-foot-high Christmas tree just inside the main entrance was fully decorated—the first holiday tree I’ve seen this year! A celebratory drink at Traxx bar and we were ready for the short trip back to Highland Park.

We were impressed by so many things on our little tour: the clean and attractive stations each one unique, the friendly Gold Line staff—in fact, the friendly people we met everywhere. The food was great, the adventure was a lot of fun. And we barely scratched the surface of the wealth of food and sightseeing to be accessed just a short walk from each station stop.

According to RentBits, a rental search engine for apartments and rental homes, the average rental rates for Los Angeles have seen a slight increase October over September this year. Collectively, across all bedrooms, the average rental rate has risen from $1994 in September to $2020 in October.
“As demand for rentals begins to increase, and supply remains constant, average rental rates will continue to climb.” says Dan Daugherty, CEO of rentBits. “In Los Angeles, our data shows an increase in rental rates for both Apartments and Single Family Homes.”

In most other cities across the US, rental rates for apartments are seeing a slight decrease for the year. Much of this is due to a decrease in demand. Many renters for apartments are either moving into a single-family-home rental, moving back in with family or sharing rooms with friends. This transitional period has put downward pressure on most apartment rental rates.

Do you believe this? I’m not sure, myself, but then I don’t deal with rentals very much. Check out the listings for yourself at www.RentBits.com. Other online resources for rental listings and information include www.Rent.com, www.Craigslist.com, and www.WestsideRentals.com.

One of the most difficult aspects of selling your property is figuring out where and how you are going to move next. Most people want to buy another house, but it can be a frustrating desire in so many ways, unless you have at least 20% down for the new house and can qualify for mortgages on both your new and your old house together. Sellers today don’t want to accept an offer that includes a contingency that the buyer’s house has to sell and close escrow in order to complete the purchase. The most desirable properties go in multiple offers, often to the highest all-cash offer. Certainly those prime properties don’t sell to a contingent offer. So what to do? Sell, close escrow, and rent until you can purchase a home with no such contingency. I know, no one wants to have to move twice. No one wants to sell with no idea what’s next. If you want to move to a specific neighborhood, finding the right place can be a long term proposition. In this situation, you might be renting for quite some time. But sometimes you need to sell and just rent for awhile, and it might be comforting to see that it’s quite possible.

What have you seen out there in the home rental market? Do you have any insights you’d like to share?

Or, why would anyone get up at 4 am to go stand in line in the cold?

Answer: Beats the heck out of me! I’m a child of the 60’s. I truly thought that Black Friday was all about not buying anything the day after Thanksgiving to protest the commercialism of the holidays. I’ve been co-opted!

How did this new Black Friday shopping extravaganza happen to me? I read a Fry’s Electronics ad and it had a netbook that looked perfect for my husband for about $75 less than I had seen anywhere else. Is a possible $75 savings enough to do this?

The short story is “No.”

Fry's Black Friday 6:30 am

But I don’t know if that’s really true. I really did get up at 4 am, I left home in time to get a little lost and still arrive at Fry’s in Burbank at 5 am, where I was able to park in the furthest corner of the packed parking lot. The lost part included driving past all those big stores at the Empire Center along Victory there like Target, Best Buy, Old Navy, The Great Indoors. Most of them had huge lines and parking lots full of cars! I’m telling you! At 5 am! Who knew?
The Fry’s staff was like an army. They were lined up about 20 feet apart all around the huge building, because the line to get in went that far. Along the way, there were empty soda bottles, cans, a to-go plate of pancakes, candy wrappers, even blankets. Then, once inside, you had to line up in the department where you wanted to buy your particular hot item, like the netbook. There were hundreds and hundreds of shoppers and in some spots it looked like one staff for every 5 shoppers. I got within about 20 people of the cage where they were handing out the boxes of laptops before they totally sold out of what I was after. Sigh. You would never know there was a recession on, there were shoppers with full carts of TVs, computers, printers everywhere.

But I learned some things chatting with some of my fellow would-be shoppers. I’m afraid this will expose to you just how not a shopper I am, but so be it. One guy had driven down from Mohave to stand in line at the Old Navy store beginning at 1 am. He tired of that, but did a little online shopping at Best Buy at 3 am when a cheap netbook came up for sale. He snagged one of those, just before they sold out at 3:30 am. Then he found out that the first 70 people in line at Old Navy had gotten free Xbox somethings, and he wished he had stayed there. So why was he at Fry’s at 6 am? His girlfriend had expressed an interest in having a netbook, too, and he wasn’t about to pay more than $200 for one. I think this was true love. At 6 am.

The announcement over the store-wide system was “The checkout line begins at aisle 78.” So forget about just shopping for some little things that might be an acceptable deal. I left. I was home before 7 am, empty-handed, but inspired. Gee, maybe I could go online and find some Black Friday deals. Long story short, I bought Christmas presents for almost all my family today for at least a “free shipping” discount. Plus, I was so inspired and in the shopping mode that I actually did buy something for almost everyone on my list. Thank you, Black Friday, I’m practically done with Christmas shopping! Now I can spend my time getting into the spiritual side of the holidays.

Over 100 artists in 51 locations all over Highland Park, Eagle Rock, and Mt. Washington opened their homes and studios to hundreds of ticketholders on a beautiful, sunny Sunday, November 22, this year. No one can possibly do the whole tour—it’s that big! So we go back, year after year—this was the 17th year—finding new treasures, new artists, new studios. There’s always a discovery of one kind or another.
My discovery this year was The Recording Kitchen, a music recording studio in the former Ray’s Market at the corner of Avenue 50 and El Paso in Highland Park. This is hidden LA, folks. The security gates across the front were open just enough to allow us to pass through the doorway, but inside was a whole new world. Friendly, smiling Roxy Sosa, her family, and Chris, the art restoration specialist, welcomed me, offered me refreshments, and showed me through the whole facility. Who knew this was here? Go to http://www.RecordingKitchen.com for details about their facilities and the variety of classes and services they offer.

I took one of the 4 shuttle busses in the afternoon which was a wonderful way to see several studios. But it’s not just the art and the studios, it’s the homes, the surprising variety of people, many of whom have lived in northeast Los Angeles for decades, that offer the treasures of discovery.

Some buyers have been waiting for the “shadow inventory,” the foreclosed homes the banks are reputedly holding back from the market. They hope and pray that this flood will be unleashed, prices will drop even further, and they will at last find their dream home at, say, year 2000 prices. More buyers have been actively competing in the market, but also praying for the shadow inventory floodgates to burst so they can finally get into a home. Unfortunately, they are all waiting for something that isn’t there. Well, that’s not just my opinion, folks, even the CEO of Foreclosure Radar, Sean O’Toole, believes the shadow inventory is a myth. Check out his blog, www.ForeclosureTruth.com. Here’s an excerpt:
First, let’s be clear about what shadow inventory is. These are homes that the bank has already foreclosed on, but which, for no apparent reason, aren’t listed. The implication is that banks are holding REO properties back from the market to restrict supply and prop up prices. This actually seemed like a distinct possibility a year ago when the banks were clearly holding more inventory than they were listing. But that is no longer the case. In the past year, they have resold far more than they’ve taken back, eliminating any possibility that a shadow remains.
Some observers, who earlier this year warned that this shadow inventory would deluge the market with REO listings, have now redefined shadow inventory to include properties that should be foreclosed on. They continue with misguided warnings of a deluge of REO listings any moment now.
These properties aren’t grinding through the pipeline to foreclosure and into the shadow inventory. They’re not moving at all because we as a society lack the political will to foreclose. Because the national focus is targeted on keeping homeowners in their homes, the drain is bigger than the spigot – REO properties are selling faster than distressed properties are being foreclosed on.

And that is the big issue. All properties are selling faster than people are putting them on the market , because it looks like the pendulum is swinging back towards up, so people who want or need to sell their homes are holding out for better prices. I mean, wouldn’t you if you could? Today in Eagle Rock, 90041 zip code, there are 22 listings active on the MLS. 10 are short sales, 2 are REOS, 2 have been on the market over 1 year. That leaves 8 regular sales. When you consider that good properties are selling in multiple offers of from 3 to 20 at a time, you can see that we are truly in a very hot seller’s market.

So, if you are thinking of selling your house, why shouldn’t you wait?
1. Interest rates are low now.
2. Prices are pretty good now compared to where they were earlier this year. I think we actually hit bottom the first quarter of 2009.
3. Unemployment is still high and rising.
4. Lending guidelines are unpredictable—every time banks seem to adjust to new regulatory systems, more new rules come down the pipeline. Some people who could qualify for a loan last year now can’t because of rule changes.
5. Again, the buyers are here now. Do you really want to chance waiting till next year? They could all lose their jobs and move to San Bernardino for all we know.

In other words, if you have a good reason to move now, waiting a few more months may not make you any more money. Especially if you are going into debt today to stay where you are. Any of the above items can change quickly for the worse and stymie the market once again. As Niels Bohr said, Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.

The 17th annual Arroyo Arts Collective Recovery Discovery Tour takes place this coming Sunday, November 22,

Peter Hess - Intersection

2009. This is a unique event—a self-driving tour that takes place all over northeast Los Angeles and features the work of over 100 artists. To find out more or to buy tickets online, go to www.ArroyoArtsCollective.org or buy tickets in person for $10 each at Galco’s Old World Grocery, 5702 York Boulevard, Highland Park. Tickets at the door are $15, still quite a deal. This year, they are giving $10 “Arroyo Bucks” coupons with each ticket when you check in, good towards an art purchase that day of $100 or more. You get $20 if you can prove that you arrived via Metro. The start for the Tour is the Charles Lummis Home at 200 E. Avenue 43, Highland Park, at 9:30 am. There will be shuttles driving the route all day, or you can drive yourself.

Lummis Home -- photo by Cidne Hart/Kevin Hass

 

What I love about this tour is the chance to meet working artists in their studios and see a part of the community that you never get to see otherwise. As a tourist driving through, say, the top of Avenue 53 off Montezuma, would you ever think there were probably a dozen artists living within a few blocks of each other? Or along Marmion Way at the base of Mt. Washington? Plan to spend the whole day if you can, and you still won’t see everything. This is a rare glimpse of a vibrant community of creative souls, many of whom have lived in these communities all their lives. This is the real LA.

The Gold Line Eastside Extension opens this Sunday, November 15. For all the official details, check out: http://www.metro.net/projects_studies/eastside/default.htm. One nice feature is that you can ride the entire Gold Line from Sierra Madre Villa to East Los Angeles without having to change trains, even at Union Station.
The LA Times had an informative article detailing eateries along the 8 stops which go from Little Tokyo to East LA—from sushi to tortas, as they say. Here’s the link to the full story: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-goldline11b-2009nov11,0,4084038.story. Did you know there’s a place called Purgatory Pizza http://theguide.latimes.com/restaurants/purgatory-pizza-venue near the 1St Street bridge at the Pico Alisa stop? They include vegan pizzas with toppings like goat cheese with pesto, or non-veg like Black Forest ham.  See their website at www.eatatpurgatorypizza.com.

Plus, they serve ice cream by Carmela, who makes amazing sounding flavors culled from farmers market seasonal ingredients like lavender and honey, basil and lemon. I can’t wait to check it out. 
My first thought when I looked at the Little Tokyo/Arts District stop location was “how far to the Edison?” Well, folks, if you are stout of heart, you can walk about 3 blocks from the stop to The Edison http://www.edisondowntown.com/main.htm. If you haven’t been to this very fabulous upbeat and unique venue, you have to check it out. It’s in the city’s original private power plant at 108 W. 2nd St, 90012. They have kept much of the original electrical equipment plus made an exotic art deco lounge with interesting events like every Wednesday night’s Incandescence: The Dark Side of Light.
Here’s the route to walk from the Little Tokyo Gold Line stop: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=S+Alameda+St+%26+E+1st+St,+Los+Angeles,+CA+90012&daddr=108+W+2nd+St,+Los+Angeles,+CA+90012&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&dirflg=w&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=35.547176,78.837891&ie=UTF8&z=17.

 Be sane and safe—if you drink, walk and go public transit! Be green, be more carbon neutral! And it’s our responsibility as good citizens to participate in what our great city has to offer, don’t you agree? We can improve our economy by having more fun, I say.

Federal Tax Credit Extended and Expanded!
The best way to find out all the details is to go to this website: www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com. It’s a simple, clear, comprehensive website from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) that answers most questions you might have about the new law.
Highlights include:
• You must enter escrow by April 30, 2010, and close by June 30, 2010.
• The income limits have been expanded to $125,000 Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) for singles, $225,000 MAGI for married couples filing jointly.
• Some move-up buyers now qualify for up to a $6500 tax credit, if you have owned and lived in your principal residence for 5 of the last 8 years. Your new home does not have to cost more than your old home. I don’t see any discussion of what you have to do with your old home, either, so you might be able to keep it and rent it out if you want. The new home cannot cost more than $800,000.

Of course, for tax and legal advice, you must consult your own appropriate professional.

If you have been thinking about selling and you can accept what the market brings you today, this is a great time to sell. The pent-up demand from first time buyers is terrific, but this new law opens up a whole new market of long-time home owners who now have a new incentive to make a move. If you want to find out more about your own housing situation, please contact me.