Tracy’s LA Real Estate

Coming Attractions From the Arroyo Arts Collective

There is so much to do around here! Luckily, many of these shows run for a few weeks, but if you want to attend the openings, you’ll have to pack most of them into Saturday, March 13!
GERARDO HACER: THE MYTH
PE Lofts Gallery, 610 S. Main St. LA 90017
Reception: Thursday, March 11, 2010 from 12:00 noon to 10:00 PM
Presented by The Avenue 50 Studio, with the support of Los Angeles Trade-Tech College (LATTC) at the Downtown Art Walk in the PE Lofts Gallery (corner of 6th and Main Street).
The work of Los Angeles–based sculptor, Gerardo Hacer, consists of monumental structural, metal, origami animals in bold, flat, solid colors. The centerpiece of the show, Gerardo Hacer: The Myth, is a 2-ton fourteen-foot Pegasus entitled, “Education Gives You Wings To Fly” that will be permanently installed at the gateway of the main entrance to Los Angeles Trade-Tech College’s new $250M campus. A former graduate, Gerardo was selected as the face of their multimedia campaign, “Trade As Art”. His works have received coverage from SoCal News, Huell Howser’s “California Gold”, as well as, featured on public transit DASH buses. Contact: Ashley Lund – 310-405-5285

ART AND ARCHITECTURE: MERGING THE CONTEMPORARY AND THE HISTORICAL
Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, 2225 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles 90041
323.226.1617, www.centerartseaglerock.org
Panel Discussion: March 13, 2010, 4-6 pm
Panelists: Gwynne Pugh (Pugh + Scarpa), Isotta Poggi (Getty Research Institute), John O’Brien, Cielo Pessione
Bruno Bondanelli will be making a brief presentation on behalf of Italian Living Umbria at the end of the round table conversation and offering Baci Perugina for all.
FOLLOWED by NELAart Second Saturday Gallery Night 7-10 pm
The March 13, 2010 panel discussion about “Art and Architecture: Merging the contemporary and the historical” is particularly relevant at CFAER, a historically listed 1914 Carnegie Library Building, that was itself transformed into a multicultural community center for arts and culture.

ASSEMBLAGE & COLLAGE
Howeeduzzit Gallery, 821 S. Raymond #27, Alhambra 91803
626.458.8811, www.howeeduzzitgallery.com
February 21st – March 13th, 2010
Closing Reception March 13th, 2:00-5:00 PM
Featured artists: Kathy Carvalles, Ruth DeNicola, Charles Dickson, Jack Fenn, Clare Graham, Frank Gutierrez, Cookie Hanson, Cidne Hart, Heather Hoggan, Jeffrey Kibbe, Dave Lovejoy, Mavis Leahy, Jaime Sabatte, Richard Sculley, Suzanne Siegel, Joseph Sims, Richard Turner, Howard Swerdloff, LaMonte Westmoreland

THE VIRGIN MARY CHAINSMOKING AT THE BEACH AND A COUPLE OTHER REALLY AWFUL THINGS I SAW WHEN I DITCHED SCHOOL THAT DAY
Future Studio Gallery, 5558 N. Figueroa St., LA 90042
futurestudiogallery.com
Opening Saturday March 13, 7 to 10 pm, part of NELAart.com Second Saturday Gallery Night
Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta: Drawings, Piñatas, Videos, Prints, Collages, and Photographs
(Don’t forget to pick up your free Tati artist trading card at the gallery during the opening)
March’s Chicken Boy Trading Card #6, also available Second Saturday. (It’s CB, a guy’s guy, repairing his cycle)
CUENTOS DE HADAS
Avenue 50 Studio, 131 North Avenue 50, Highland Park 90042
323.258.1435, www.avenue50studio.com
Mercedes Gertz and Esau Andrade reinterpret fairy tales with photographs by Elizabeth Beristain
Opening Night Reception: Saturday, March 13, 2010 from 7-10 pm
The Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present “Cuentos de Hadas” (Fairy Tales), an exhibition of works by two contemporary Mexican artists. Through a narrative language, Gertz and Andrade portray the female vs. male versions of fairy tales. The exhibit opens with an artists’ reception on Saturday evening, March 13, 2010 from 7 to 10 p.m. and closes on Sunday, April 4, 2010.
Mercedes Gertz. Using humor and sensuality, Gertz’s fairy tale series asks us to consider where women are in the 21st century. Her heroines are unapologetic symbols of female confidence. We sense in them a comfort with the body, with play and decoration. They confidently own the sensual, and relish in being a woman in charge. “These … fairy or folk tales … recur over and over through millennia in the guise of innocent stories telling us time and again that the docile, young body gets the prince, that the girl brave enough to venture into the woods—the space of men–meets her fate at the hands of the big bad wolf. Peter Pan lives forever as a boy, Wendy must grow up–it is her calling, her duty, her essential nature.” — Marlena Doktorczyk-Donohue, Art Critic, Essayist, Poet
Esau Andrade. Following in the footsteps of the Latin American surrealists, Esau Andrade twists reality, creating canvases bursting with color that are pop in nature. He instills a childlike exuberance into his delightful paintings. Andrade comes from a folk art background, as both his mother Guadalupe Valencia and brother Raymundo Andrade are also artists. He is mainly a self-taught painter, although attended La Escuela de Artes Plasticas de la Universidad de Guadalajara. “Unlike the candy colored confections of his more stylized folk art paintings, these other works by Andrade place him firmly in the surrealist tradition shared by many Latin masters. He retains a naiveté and originality with quirky images that are both charming and serious, and also remain indebted to his rich culture for visual symbols that are vivid and intense.” — Kathy Zimmerer, Artscene 11/2004
Elizabeth Beristain. Elizabeth was born in Mexico City. A graduate of the Escuela Activa de Fotografia and staff photographer for “El Reforma,” one of the top national daily newspapers in Mexico, she moved to Los Angeles as a freelance photographer and later became Photography Editor for the cultural publication Latino Weekly Review. A product of her Mexican mother’s artistic sensitivity and her Portuguese father’s decidedly more adventurous side, this subtle mixture of Old and the New World influences are germinal elements of Elizabeth’s artistry. Additionally, in devising the art direction of her own work, a wider range of crucial creative features shine through, from the world of opera, painting, music, and cinema, in a vision where a unique sense of artistry never intrudes with a boundless appreciation of our common humanity. Elizabeth has participated in various collective and solo shows, both in Mexico and Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband, cinematographer Gabriel Beristain ASC, BSC, and their two children Max and Victoria. She is currently at work on her new series, entitled Crowned Nuns.

And the Annex Presents:
A PRAYER FOR JUAREZ, A CURSE ON THE KILLERS
March 13 through April 4, 2010
Opening Night Reception: Saturday, March 13, 2010 from 7-10 pm
Alfonso Aceves, Ismael de Anda, Antonio Escalante, Judithe Hernandez, Cindy Suriyani, vincentmayakovsky

DECKED OUT – ART ON RECYCLED SKATE DECKS
Cactus Gallery, 4534 Eagle Rock Blvd. Eagle Rock 90041
323-256-6117, http://www.eclecticcactus.com
w/ Featured Artist Michael Pukac plus group show
March 13th – April 7th 2010, Gallery Hours: Weds-Sun 12-6pm
Opening Saturday, March 13, 2010 – 7-10pm
Group Show Artists: Amanda Sage, Motion One, Hans Haveron, L. Croskey, John Park, Spectr, Tommii Lim, Stix and Jones, Yuki Miyazaki, Nick Wildermuth, Ted Von Heiland, Anna Chung, Shahid Brown, Patrick Haemmerlein, Max Neutra, Jacob E. Roanhaus, Jose Carabes, Elle Seven, Liz Brizzi, Jonathan Bueno, Kelly Thompson, Carlos Ramsey, Dicapria, Mikolaj Wyszynski, Walt Hall, Art Martinez, Douglas Alvarez, Julie B., Delphia, Mike Russek, Amy Bernays, Krystle Smith, Alfie Numeric, and more.
Beats by Mr. Numberwonderful
Curated by The Imaginary Light Bulb Factory
10% of proceeds will go to Greenizm: a 501.3c rehabilitating neglected urban landscape into green skate parks in LA County while promoting the arts to skate culture.
More info: ArtSlant Event Page – http://www.artslant.com/la/events/show/92985-decked-out,
Facebook Event Page – http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=301594547342&ref=ts

MICK & FRIENDS: A COLLECTION OF ROCK & ROLL PHOTOGRAPHY
drkrm/gallery, 2121 San Fernando Road Suite 3, Los Angele 90065
323.223.6867, drkrmgallery@gmail.com
March 13th- April 3rd, 2010, Tue-Sat 11-5 Sun 1-4
Opening Reception Saturday March 13th 7-10pm
drkrm/gallery announces it first show of 2010, a group show retrospective of fine art Rock & Roll photographs. Featuring Ethan Russell’s 1968 portrait of John and Yoko, Cecil Beaton’s portraits of Mick Jagger on the set of the film Performance and Travis Shinn’s recent photographs of Morrissey and Marilyn Manson. The Exhibition will run though April 3rd. There will be an opening reception Saturday March 12 from 7-10 pm with several of the artists in attendance.
Also featured are images of Bob Marley from the 1980’s by Neville Garrick, Paul Zone’s photos of KISS playing a small Queens NY club in 1973 and a 1969 Grateful Dead concert in San Francisco photographed by Ryan Herz plus many more.
The Land of Odd Gallery, 4690 Eagle Rock Blvd. Los Angeles 90041
March 13, 2010 – March 27, 2010
Opening Reception: March 13, 2010 from 6pm to 12am
Come to The Land of Odd Gallery’s 5×7″ Group Show, opening on the evening of March 13, 2010 from 6pm to 12am. We will also be continuing our $100 and Under Art Show so if you missed getting to see it, now is your chance to come by and check it out. This event will be held in conjunction with the NELA 2nd Saturday art walk. As always refreshments will be served and the event is FREE!
We are proud to have the following artists participating in the 5×7″ show: Chito Arellano, Christie Bastet, Jeff Bertrand, Julie Bossinger, Deryke Cardenaz, Jennifer Cuellar, Brad Davis, Jolly de Guzman, Diane Harrelson, Chuck Hodi, Edith Ben Horin, Jinx, Bruce Kaplan, Patrick Quinn, Pablo Ramos, Monica Roache, Annalise Sullivan, Jason Sullivan, Melissa Sullivan, and Christopher Umana. Most of these works have been created especially for this event and have never been exhibited before, so come by and show your support.
We will also be continuing our $100 and Under Art Show, featuring the artwork of; Douglas Alvarez, Christie Bastet, Edith Ben-Horin, Charles Bennett, Terri Berman, Jeff Bertrand, Deborah Blanco-Flores, Chris Bonno, Heidi K. Born, Deryke Cardenaz, Bryan Collins, Emma Cooper, Josh Cooper, Creep Creepersin, David Daniel, Brett Gilbert, Jolly de Guzman, Brad Davis, William Reynolds Green, Joe B. Hall, Benjamin Harmon, Santiago Heredia, Nicholas Hernandez, John Hicks, Chuck Hodi, K. Howell, Chris Isner, Jinx, Bruce Kaplan, Amelia Lewis, Cynthia Llanes, Vivian Nguyen, Sean Madden, Demi Pietchell, Patrick Quinn, Pablo Ramos, Monica Roache, Glenda Rolle, Lisa Rosso, Therese Solone, Evil Paul Springer, Melissa Sullivan, Jason Sullivan, and Ckay Walker.
Mention the phrase — “The greatest FREE print on Earth” — and you may choose a FREE 5×7″ linoleum print. You might want to mention it to someone who works at the gallery. Otherwise people will just think you are weird.

MOSTLY SCULPTURE SHOW
Sea and Space Explorations, 4744 York Boulevard, Los Angeles 90042
March 13-28, 2010, Gallery Hours Friday/Saturday 1-6 pm, Sunday 1-5 pm
Opening Saturday March 13, 7-10 pm
This is a show of work that centers on material exploration. The six artists’ works are unified by their emphasis on process and innovation. Each artist engages in a pas-de-deux with specific materials in a poetry of making. In the tradition of Schwitters, Tuttle, Franz West, Kippenberger, and Genzkin, this work is strongly formal and has to do with specific methods of making. Encompassing materials from draped fabric to dyed carrara marble to sheetrock to newspaper to fireproof canvas to human stand-ins and fake flowers, the show is made up of work that is sculptural and mostly sculpture.
Artists: Kathryn Andrews, Alice Clements, Heather Cook, Patrick Hill, Alice Konitz, Brett Lund

MIRROR TO A WORLD
José Vera Fine Art & Antiques, 2012 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles 90041
323.258.5050, www.joseveragallery.com
Gallery Hours: Wed.-Sun. 11am-6pm
Opening Reception on Saturday, March 13th, from 6 – 9
José Vera Fine Art & Antiques invites you to join us for our upcoming exhibit, featuring the work of Irene Carranza in her solo show “Mirror To A World”. We are pleased to showcase her work from March 3 – April 11, 2010, with an Opening Reception on Saturday, March 13th, from 6 – 9 pm, in conjunction with the NELA ArtWalk. Please join us for wine, appetizers and a meet-and-greet with the artist herself.
Artist Statement: On the surface, Carranza’s work is about women; that is the subject matter. At a deeper level, however, the works are about issues that women face, and they pay tribute to the resilient female spirit. Some of the images explore challenges of identity that we confront as women as we attempt to reconcile modern life with traditional Latino culture. Thus the art can be viewed as affirmations of strength and celebrations of a complex yet incredibly diverse presence as female human beings. She also explores themes of beauty, nature, solitude, death and rebirth. Feminism is expressed in many forms-virgins, mothers, mermaids, maidens, field workers, musicians and prostitutes, reflecting on the tender aspects of mankind. Carranza prefers to work with organic and richly layered oil pastels, using mineral spirits to blend, achieving painterly results. She also works with acrylic and oil paints, and occasionally some printmaking, such as aquatints, etchings and collographs. The artist’s recent explorations of color are done with acrylic paintings on black-gessoed surfaces of canvas and wood, and oil pastels and oil bars on black museum board. She considers these pieces as transformations of darkness into light, or darkness and lightvying with one another. This fascination may come from early childhood memories of the Mexican paintings on black velvet she saw everywhere during visits across the border. It may also stem from her immersion in Catholicism growing up in religious schools and a deeply religious home, where the concepts of good vs. evil and light coming out of darkness were pervasive.

HOW OLD DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO BE AN ARTIST?
The Judson Studios Gallery, 200 So. Avenue 66, Los Angeles 90042
Saturday,March 13th , 6:00PM~9:00PM
Students of ROOM 13, an international network of student-operated art studios will show work at The Judson Studios Gallery as part of NELA Art Night. Three ROOM 13 studios, including James Foshay Learning Center in South Los Angeles, Eliot Middle School in Altadena, and Marjorie Street in South Bay, will showcase paintings, drawings, sculptures, mixed media, assemblage, muralart and animation at this collaborative art installation. The Judson Studios, an internationally known stained glass maker run by five generations of family members, was also the first home to the USC School of Fine Arts until 1920.
Room13 originated in Caol, Scotland in1994 and has grown into an international network of student-designed and operated creative studios. It now provides learning and business enterprise skills to students in Scotland, Britain, Nepal, India and South Africa, and is currently expanding to Mexico, Turkey, China and Austria. The director of theTate Galleries has called Room 13 “the most important model for artistic teaching in school that we have in the UK.”
In 2008, Light Bringer Project, a nonprofit arts provider, engaged with the program’s international trustees and decided to take advantage of this opportunity for our own public school children. Partnering with Project Design Studio, the organization launched the first ROOM 13 in America at James Foshay Learning Center in South Los Angeles. They proceeded to found ROOM 13 at Eliot Middle School in Altadena. The third, an dmost recent model, ROOM 13 at Marjorie Street, was formed early this year in the South Bay vicinity. Like its peers, each creative studio operates as a physical space flourishing within a public school or community setting and is solely managed by the students.ROOM 13 is dedicated to provingthe worth of the individual with with the support and mentorship of schoolstaff and community members. Facilitated by an artist-in-residence, also from the community, students work in teams, as partners or alone, determining the scope and content of their own creative projects. ROOM 13 artists also learn self-reliance by designing a business model that will sustain their own studio operation. TBWAChiatDay advertising has also provided support of the ROOM 13 network through the contributed help of its creative professionals.
Proceeds from the sale of artworks will benefit ROOM 13 studios.

If you are 55 or older, you can qualify for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to take your current property tax base and transfer it to your next home purchase. The purpose is to help make it possible for a senior citizen to move down from his/her large home to a more manageable one without incurring a raise in the property tax.
These two California Propositions, 60 and 90, comprise the Senior Citizen’s Replacement Dwelling Benefit. For all the details, go to the Los Angeles County Tax Assessor’s website, http://assessor.lacounty.gov/extranet/guides/prop6090.aspx.
The latest information about which counties participate in the reciprocal Proposition 90 is now current as of February 15, 2010. The counties are: Alameda, Orange, San Mateo, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara, and El Dorado. These can change, so always check before you make the move.
High points of the rules are:
• This has to be your principal residence.
• The replacement property has to be of equal or lower price. There are some exceptions, all described on the website.
• The property must be purchased within 2 years (before or after) of selling your property, but you have 3 years to file the claim.
• You can’t give the house to your son or daughter and get the tax benefit.
• Only one person can take the tax benefit. If there are multiple owners, only one gets the benefit. If you divorce after selling the house, only one of you gets the benefit.
This can be a huge savings to the people who qualify. Combine this with the long-term owner $6500 tax credit if you buy the replacement property by April 30, and you could double-dip your tax savings!

Today we have 27 single-family homes, 1 condo, and 5 income properties on the market in the 90041 zip code, ranging in price from $249,500 to $1,395,000. Since January 1, we have had 26 SFR, 0 condo, and 4 income properties either go into or close escrow ranging in price from $339,000 to $699,000.
In Highland Park and the 90042 zip code we have 54 active single-family home, 35 condo and 31 income property listings ranging from $129,999 to $1,590,000. Since January 1, we have had 54 SFR, 9 condo and 8 income properties either go into or close escrow, ranging from $145,000 to $599,000.
These numbers indicate an active market where, in general, almost as many properties are selling as fast as there are properties coming onto the market. According to TrendGraphics from Itech Multiple Listing Service, the prices in Eagle Rock have trended up a bit over the last year and in Highland Park they have continued to decline. In my opinion, this is because there were more distress (foreclosure and short) sales in Highland Park than in Eagle Rock. If you look at individual sales, you will see that for good homes in good neighborhoods, there were many cases of multiple offers and houses that sold for over-asking in both communities.

Notice on the tables below the percentage of list price/sales price. In Eagle Rock the median sales price was a little higher than the list, in Highland Park it was right at or below the list price. This supports the old saying, when it’s priced right, it sells. Also notice how the number of homes for sale on the market has dropped dramatically in both zip codes. Supply and demand is at work here.
What does this mean? First time buyers in the under $450,000 range have a very short window of opportunity to get into the market. It is very difficult to get into Eagle Rock in that price range and much easier to buy in Highland Park. With the first-time and long-time buyer credit deadline of April 30, this is a great time to put your home on the market—if you can accept what the market brings you. No, we are not back to 2007 prices. Will we ever be? Eventually, probably, but who knows how many years it might be. In general, at the current rate of increase, it will be quite a few years. Individual homes will vary.

If you need to sell your house in the next few months, that is, you are financially in a situation where you are afraid you might not be able to make your mortgage payments soon, don’t wait any longer before talking to professionals about your options. That means talk to your lender, your family, find out the truth about your situation. If you are wondering whether the best thing is for you to sell the house, please give me a call. I’m happy to meet with you, direct you to the appropriate professional to help, or at least to help you explore your options.
Eagle Rock:

Highland Park:

Dan Koeppel created this fascinating hike through the urban landscape of Los Angeles from the heart of downtown at Angel’s Flight to the Hollywood Sign. The complete 42-mile hike includes 111 public stairways and was carried out as a 2-day community event in the summer of 2009. Check out his blog at http://bigparadela.com/wordpress/.  You can download and print out all the maps and information they used plus more. Dan is a writer with some interesting credits like his book on the troubled banana called “Banana” and another one on his father’s obsession with birdwatching, “To See Every Bird on Earth.” and he was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2003 for his journalism work.  He says he has an obsession with “route geeking” which he describes as “DIY events, trips, and contests that take advantage of the urban landscape.”

A friend had told me about Dan’s route she had seen in an LA Times article, http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/14/health/he-nustairs14 and thought a geek like me might find it interesting. I’m training to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu later this year and the stair steps sounded like a great idea, plus the thought of such a unique “hidden LA” hike was irresistible. So I launched off this morning with my friend Kendyl to see what we could see.

We were not on a strict time table and were not trying for any speed records, but the fact that we hiked for 3 hours and covered maybe 5 miles doesn’t sound very strenuous, does it? But we did 11 staircases from Dan’s hike plus took all the stairs on the Gold Line and Red Line route that we encountered from Highland Park, plus up and down at the Chinatown Station where we stopped for lunch, so I figure we did over 1000 stair steps up and about that many back down again. 

To start at Angels Flight is symbolic of the history of change, progress, preservation and tragedy in Los Angeles. One of these days I hope they have the funicular running again, but for now you can read the history at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_Flight. You can follow the progress of making the cars Sinai and Olivet run again on Twitter @Angels_Flight. And take the hike up the stairs. Whew! They are steep. 

The next stunning view is of the Central Library, which is another historic treasure on the US National Register of Historic Places and a Los Angeles Cultural Monument.  Then we walked to the elevated  pedestrian walkways above Figueroa Street named after Calvin Hamilton. Who? Thanks to Dan Koeppel, I learned something very interesting about Los Angeles in stark contrast to what most of us  believe about the lack of urban planning in our fair city. Check out http://www.planetizen.com/node/23535 and learn about Concept: Los Angeles.

Kendyl and I both were most impressed with the Vista Hermosa Park in the Temple-Beaudry neighborhood. This new public park is the first to be installed in this area in over 100 years!  It is a project by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA). This 10.5 acre park has it all, fragrant drought-tolerant plantings, amazing views of the city and surrounding mountains, unique and modern play equipment, picnic grounds, a soccer field, and a community focus with activities and programs. It’s worth the trip just to go there. Look up the details at http://www.lamountains.com/parks.asp?parkid=672. 

Nearby, we walked through the Spiraling Orchard, which is a tiny community garden complete with meditation spiral, brightly painted stairs and benches, even a small altar. This was the end of the downtown portion of the staircase route, so we decided we’d earned some dim sum and retraced our steps to take Metro to Chinatown and the Empress Pavilion, which is just a short walk from the station at 988 N. Hill St, 90012.

We look forward to exploring the next leg of the route which goes from Angelino Heights through Echo Park to the Music Box Stairs, where Dan became inspired to do the stair route. Check out the Laurel and Hardy short film The Music Box, which memorialized these steps.

For all the photos I took, here’s the link http://picasaweb.google.com/tracyking23/StairstepHikeDowntownLA#

Have you heard about the 3/50 Project? It started in 2009 when a woman in Minneapolis wrote a blog post asking people to think of three “mom and pop” businesses they didn’t want to see disappear, then to commit $50 of their monthly spending to those or others like them. She called her idea the 3/50 Project, and you can find out more about it at www.the350project.net. You can also become a fan and a member in Facebook.

In honor of the shop local movement, I ventured out into Eagle Rock and assembled some places where you can shop for your Valentine gifts this year and keep your hard-earned money in our town!
I found a number of unique and inexpensive gifts made by local artists at Cactus Gallery. This independent gallery sells wonderful jewelry, paintings, crafts, and you will find something for everyone here.
There are several shops along Eagle Rock Blvd just below Colorado that have unique treasures that may have been gently used before: Twerp’s or Owl Talk for clothing. The Sniveling Sibling for furniture. Read Books for books. You can even go in there and sell them some books to help finance your shopping trip!

Solve your two left feet issues at Ballroom Blitz with some dance lessons. 

Toro’s Pottery has wonderful ceramics, practical or artistic and usually both. For something truly different, Bughouse has great prints and furniture with their particularly insightful and often humorous slant on the world. Around the corner a few blocks down on Colorado Blvd, Jose Vera Fine Art & Antiques offers exceptional and unusual ideas for art, furniture, design.

For a great Valentine’s bouquet, check out Eufloria, nestled between Trader Joe’s and Cacao Delicatessen.
You must go to Pollen and experience the romance of the senses there. Botanical chocolate, jade bracelets, scented soy candles, stunning floral arrangements, chocolate-scented orchids—I want it all!

Camille’s Lady is such a cool place for stylish gift items for the woman in your life. Check out the website or go to the store quickly before that fabulous one-of-a-kind item is sold!

How about a great gift basket from Heather’s Store? You can go in there or call her. She’ll put together a great gift for you. Hurry, I’m sure she’s busy! And stop in right next door at Daybreak Health Foods for some healthy snacks, vitamins or gifts as well.

We have so many great cafes and restaurants here you’ll have to look at my Restaurant Guide for the list. http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ATgtVF9dWpLbZG13a3N4a18yMDdmY3JiaDRocQ&hl=en. If you have any trouble accessing the guide here, I’m posting an updated copy on my blog in the next day or so. I’m happy to email or snailmail you a copy, also. Just ask.

And then there is Colorado Wine Company for all your wine needs. Plus, they’ve teamed up with Auntie Em’s for a pick up your Valentine dinner with fabulous wine pairings. Wow. I’ll be working all Sunday and too tired to go out. I want this one for sure! Are you reading this, sweetheart? From their website:
Anyway, here’s how it works — read the menu, choose your dinner, call Auntie Em’s (323-660-0681) or email to reserve your food, then pick up your food @ Auntie Em’s on the 14th and swing by Colorado Wine Company for your wines. Dinner $28/person, menu and wine prices on the web at www.cowineco.com.

 As I wrote this article, more and more shop local ideas came to me. Highland Park has a growing and vibrant shopping scene along both York and Figueroa streets. How about an updated article on therapeutic massage providers? This is a huge subject as there are many really talented and gifted healing massage therapists in our area. Of course, in the interest of investigative reporting, I’ll have to visit them all so I can be sure everyone is of the quality I can vouch for…Your ideas are welcome, too!

All these shops are in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, 90041.
Ballroom Blitz, 4878 Eagle Rock Blvd, 323-258-0029. www.ballroomblitz.org
Bughouse, 5046 Eagle Rock Blvd, 323-640-0234, www.bughouse.com
Cactus Gallery, 4534 Eagle Rock Blvd, 323-256-6117. www.eclecticcactus.com
Colorado Wine Company, 2114 Colorado Blvd, 323-478-1985. www.cowineco.com                                                                      
Daybreak Health Food, 1565 #a Colorado Blvd,323-258-3881.                                                                                                   Eufloria, 1576 Colorado Blvd, 323-257-5997.
Heather’s Store, 1565 B Colorado Blvd, 323-550-1625. www.heathersstore.com
Jose Vera Fine Art and Antiques, 2012 Colorado Blvd,323.258.5050. www.joseveragallery.com
Lady. 4974 Eagle Rock Blvd, 90041, 323-254-6500. www.ladyeaglerock.com
Owl Talk, 5060-B Eagle Rock Bl. Los Angeles 323-258-2465. www.owltalk.com
Pollen Botanical Design. 1583 Colorado Blvd. 323-550-1555. www.pollenstudio.com
Read Books, 4972 Eagle Rock Blvd, 323-259-9068. www.readbookseaglerock.com
The Sniveling Sibling, 5028 Eagle Rock Blvd.
Toro’s Pottery, 4962 Eagle Rock Blvd. 323-344-8330. www.torospottery.com
Twerp’s, 5060 Eagle Rock Blvd, 323-256-7608

It seems like I’m always saying that here at last is the straight story on the real estate market, but it’s always true! Last year, 2009, there were 121 sales in Eagle Rock, zip code 90041. Here’s the interesting part: 60% of the sales were “distress sales,” that is, either short sales or bank-owned properties. Now, in 2010, we had 9 sales in the first month and 55% of those were short sales or REOs (bank-owned). While the foreclosures were scattered out fairly evenly over the last year, I noticed that the short sales that actually closed escrow tended to happen later in the year, and in January, 5 of the 6 distress sales were short sales. This is in line with the government’s efforts to help people avoid foreclosure, modify their loans and then approve a short sale if the loan modification didn’t work out.
What you can’t tell from the Multiple Listing Service is that a lot of the “normal” sales were under duress as well. I know personally of several divorce sales and a few properties that had to be sold quickly before the owners were unable to make any more payments due to job losses or failed businesses.

In other words, very few people who didn’t have to sell did sell. But look at the graph and table for the year from 12/08 through 12/09: it’s obvious that we did reach a bottom in the first quarter.  I think the dip in November was not another bottom, just an example of my point about distress sales. Notice on the table how few properties were selling at the end of the year–because of holidays, because of perception of the market. If you take the dip in November out, the market was steadily higher than earlier in the year. And note that the year over year prices were up, which is much more meaningful than the dramatic 1-month changes around November.

What’s going to happen this year? My crystal ball is still on backorder, but so far this year I have talked to a lot of people who want to sell and many who want to buy. From the energy I’m feeling, I’d say the first quarter of the year should be very active. In most years past, the first quarter is sluggish with sellers talking a lot about going on the market in the spring, but not getting around to going on the market until May or June. Buyers want to take advantage of the federal tax credit programs with their April 30 deadlines, and more and more sellers are saying they are ready to sell even if they can’t make what they might have in 2007. This promises good things to come.

Making Home Affordable – Web Tools for Troubled Homeowners
It seems like every other person I meet is applying for a loan modification on their mortgage. The general feeling seems to be, “Why not? It might work.” Well, check out http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/pr_01192010.html. In this article, the government says there are 3-4 million homeowners who may be eligible for the Home Affordable Modification Program. That’s millions. And all of 110,000 (that’s thousands) have been approved, and of that, 66,000 have been signed. That’s for permanent modifications. They also say that 850,000 modifications in excess of $500 (that’s hundreds) has been approved. If you live in LA County and you are offered a temporary $500 modification, what will that do for you? Not a whole lot, is my guess.

Because the document submission process can be a challenge for many borrowers, the Administration has created
new resources on www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov to simplify and streamline this step.
New resources include:
• Links to all of the required documents and an income verification checklist to help borrowers request a
modification in four easy steps;
• Comprehensive information about how the trial phase works, what borrower responsibilities are to convert
to a permanent modification, and a new instructional video which provides step by step instruction for
borrowers;
• A toolkit for partner organizations to directly assist their constituents;
• New web banners and tools for outreach partners to drive more borrowers to the site and Homeowner’s
HOPETM Hotline (888-995-HOPE).
• Homeowners do not have to pay for loan modification services

If you are considering doing a short sale, where you sell your house for less than you owe on it, you pretty much have to attempt a loan modification first. You can go on the website above in the privacy of your own living room and see where it takes you. Once that’s done and you still feel a short sale is in your future, there are a number of online resources that you should read through (I can help you find them), plus you should consult your tax preparer, accountant, and attorney. After all that, call me back and we’ll talk about selling your home.

Posted via email from tracyslarealestate’s posterous

This is probably the most common question I am asked as we launch into an exciting new year in real estate. Everyone is happy to be done with 2009 and to look forward with hope to a much better year. The most common answer I hear from various experts is that, in general, don’t expect much different from last year. I think it’s better than that in our special corner of the LA area.

Here is my personal experience so far since the beginning of this year, a bit over 3 weeks.

I’ve taken two listings, one of which hasn’t come on the market yet. Sellers are seeing that the prices aren’t necessarily as dismal as this time last year, so it might be a good time to sell and figure out a good next step. I’ve been on about 9 listing appointments and several of them may decide to move forward in the next month or two. I also opened escrow with some people who have been looking hard for many months.

Of the two listings in Eagle Rock that I have on the market now, we are having a good turnout at our open houses. That means over 30-40 people at the $699,000 listing at 5320 Rock View Terrace at each the last 3 open houses. Yesterday was the first open house for 4902 Wiota, listed for $429,000, and we had over 60 people! 

5320 Rock View Terrace, Eagle Rock

So the first-time buyer crowd is out in force for the under $500,000 price range, with good interest for higher price ranges as well. And we don’t have just looky-loos walking through (though you are always welcome at my open houses), we have serious talk of offers at both properties.

The First-Time Buyer Tax Credit deadline of April 30, 2010, is having a positive effect both on buyers and on sellers. I think there is a real urgency to take advantage of that opportunity, so buyers are about to have a better choice of interesting properties to consider. The inventory is extremely low right now as properties are being snapped up. 

4902 Wiota Street, Eagle Rock

For you homeowners who have been in your primary residence 5 of the last 8 years, you have a very brief opportunity for a tax credit as well.  Check out my previous blogpost at http://www.tracyslarealestate.com/federal-tax-credit-for-home-buyers-expanded-and-approved-for-eagle-rock-home-buyers. You can also go to www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com for the complete information.

But whether or not you qualify for tax credits, this year is starting off with an active real estate market fueled by relatively low interest rates and prices higher than last year, but lower than the peak. Opportunity is everywhere!

Can you believe this kitchen is in a townhome that’s listed for $1,600,000? One of 12 limited edition residences at 633 South Lake Avenue.

 These last two photos are from 309 Grand, South Pasadena. This very special Spanish estate is on a half acre and is listed for $1,995,000.

Posted via email from tracyslarealestate’s posterous