This won’t even cost you any money! Unless of course you decide to buy some great Patagonia clothes…

This month, AFC is competing with two other nonprofits for a grant through Patagonia Pasadena’s “Voice Your Choice” program.

If you’re in Old Town Pasadena during March, you might swing by the Patagonia store at Fair Oaks Avenue and Union Street to cast a vote for AFC. We’ll receive $2,500 if we get the most in-store votes — money that would fund our search for new open space to acquire and preserve.

AFC board members will be in the store between noon and 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 19, and Sunday, March 20, talking to Patagonia customers about AFC.  Drop in and say hello! Or, if you’d like to join us at the table and help spread the word about local land conservation, reply to this e-mail and let us know when you’re available.

Best,

Nancy L.C. Steele

President, Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy

Posted via email from Tracy’s LA Real Estate

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

Here is the first in a series of fun/interesting/useful things to do as you begin the year on a healthy note:
Have you wanted to explore the surrounding foothills here in Northeast LA/Altadena/Glendale, but you don’t know where to go? Want a guide? These hikes are free, but you should join or at least make a donation to the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy (formerly Altadena Foothills Conservancy) and support their good work – http://www.altadenafoothills.org.

Here’s the notice:
Dear Friends of the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy:
HAPPY NEW YEAR! What better way to start off the New Year than with guided hikes on our newly acquired historic Rubio Canyon parcel. Please join us for one or more of the following hikes. RSVPS ARE REQUIRED. SPACE IS LIMITED.
Saturday, January 16th: Hike the historic trails of Rubio Canyon with guide/interpreter Paul Ayers. See our new acquisition up close and personal with commentary by one of the foothills’ leading trail experts.
Saturday, January 23th: Hike through AFC’s Rubio Canyon parcel to the waterfalls with guide/interpreter Paul Ayers. Paul will point out important highlights of the parcel on the way to and from the Rubio Canyon waterfalls.
Saturday, February 13th (President’s Day Weekend): Hike AFC’s Rubio Canyon parcel with Altadena writer/historian Michele Zack. Learn about the history of the Mt. Lowe Railway and related cultural facts to understand why AFC’s acquisition of this parcel is so vital to preserving Altadena’s heritage.
All hikes start at 9am and finish by noon. Wear comfortable walking shoes and sunscreen. Bring water. Rain or snow cancels. All hikes are moderate in difficulty with sections of narrow uphill and downhill trailways.
YOU WILL BE NOTIFIED OF TRAILHEAD GATHERING LOCATION UPON YOUR RSVP.
We hope to see you on the trails with us!
Contact for RSVP: Meredith McKenzie
Administrative & Development Coordinator
Cell: 323-230-9749 Email: arroyolover@gmail.com
Note from Tracy: My husband and I joined a hike led by Paul Ayers a number of years ago when he gave a tour of the devastation from the landslide in the Rubio Canyon waterfall area. He is extremely knowledgeable about the terrain and history there but also very interesting and fun. We look forward to seeing how it all looks now as I’ve heard that recent rains have washed away the debris. I hope to see you on one of the hikes!

Every now and then in this hilly, older part of Los Angeles, we see a property that has settling to the point of obvious house/land movement. Several homes were red- or yellow-tagged after the 100-Year Rains of 2004/2005. A couple of them are still for sale as foreclosures with their asking prices continuing to drop as the houses edge closer to the abyss over the Arroyo. About 30 years ago and a couple of miles away, there were a few houses that did slip down a hill and were eventually torn down. A few here and there didn’t survive the 1987 or the 1994 earthquakes.
These are dramatic, expensive issues when the problem is obvious. But what if it’s not so obvious? What if it’s a little slippage, but nothing major? How do you decide what to disclose? What to do?
First rule: if the question “Should I disclose this?” occurs to you regarding a property you plan to sell, the answer is “Yes.”
Now we see before us a sea of gray. Ok, so you say the floor isn’t level. What does that mean? Almost any house experiences a little settling over the years. How much is normal? How much is acceptable?
“If I disclose that the floor isn’t level, will that scare buyers away?” It can. It’s a red flag. So what are you going to do about it? And, would you rather have this deter timid buyers before or after you accept an offer and take it off the market?
Some people at this point firmly decide that they don’t want to know anything they would have to disclose and would rather do nothing. This is certainly a fair choice. I have known attorneys who decided this about their own homes. Everyone has a different tolerance for each consequence. Most foreclosures and probates are sold with no pre-sale inspections as well. With a fixer, this path can lead to the property falling out of escrow a time or two or more, and it can lead to a much lower eventual sales price.
Second rule: You can have 5 different professionals give you an honest assessment of what they think should be done and you will get 5 different opinions costing 5 different amounts.
I once had 7 different floor guys give me 7 different estimates that went all the way from $1000 to refinish my hardwood floors to $15,000 to replace them. I had 5 different estimates to install copper plumbing that ranged from $1500 to $9,000 and they each specified exactly the same work!
So do you get the work done? Can you afford to? Do you want to? Here is how I would structure my decision-making process if I had this problem in my house and I was thinking of selling it:
1. Assume I’m going to live here for the rest of my life: what would I do about it? Would I feel safe and comfortable if I did nothing? How would I feel if I did the cheapest fix—or the most expensive one?
2. Assume I’m going to sell in the next couple of years:
a. What will it do to my property’s value if I do nothing and hope for the best?
b. What if I were buying this property? What would I expect the seller to disclose to me?
c. What if I bought this property and found out that there was a big problem afterwards, how would I feel? Would I call my attorney?
d. Who can I talk to about what to do next?
One comment I have heard countless times during inspections over the years is that drainage and water management can have a huge effect on foundations and on hillsides. One of the least expensive repairs can simply include installing gutters and diverting water away from the house. So don’t immediately expect you have a very expensive repair in front of you. Get the facts.

Here are some options that seem reasonable to me:
1. Have a physical inspection done and see what a generalist thinks of what they see. And go a step further, tell them what you know so they know what to look for.
2. Depending on what you hear, you might want to consult various professionals including:
a. A geological inspector
b. A foundation inspector
c. A drainage expert
d. A landscape designer
3. After you have inspections, see where they point you and get some estimates.
a. If the general consensus is to repair, you can choose to fix it or leave it alone. Depending on the size of the expense and your pocketbook, you can make the best decision for your particular situation.
b. Remember, you have to disclose the issue whether you fix it or not.
c. If you decide not to fix it, make your information known to the buyer and price the house accordingly.
d. If you fix it, disclose to the buyer what you did.
If you haven’t been involved in a real estate transaction for many years, the laws and paperwork regarding the seller’s obligations to disclose have changed a lot. Every year we have a new form to complete, new questions to answer. Did you know that you are supposed to provide every report that you have on the property since you bought it? If you’ve owned a place for 20 years, that can be a lot of paperwork.
Oh, that’s overwhelming! Upsetting! Unfair! I’m selling “as-is! “ Fine, it’s already in the contract that all transactions are sold in their current condition subject to the buyer’s inspection rights. And “as-is” does not mean you can choose not to make disclosures. And no, a buyer can’t expect perfection in a 50-year old house. But again, put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. What’s fair now? Which leads us to:
Rule Number 3: Price cures all problems.
So maybe the eventual price is not what you want, but every house will sell at some price. Will you make back all the cost of your repairs? Maybe, maybe not. But here’s the final rule for today:
Rule Number 4: The houses that sell for the most money are the ones that offer the best condition, location, amenities and style for the price in the current marketplace.
It doesn’t matter what you paid, it doesn’t matter what you want to net, what matters is the perceived value in the eyes of the buyer. Which would be worth more in your eyes: a house that has a serious slant in the floor, maybe some signs of water intrusion or cracks around the foundation–or a house that doesn’t?

Altadena 91001 Nine Year Graph

 

Altadena 91001 Nine Year Table 2000-2009

 

Here is the similar story to what we’ve seen in the last several blogposts–over the last 9 years, prices went up a large amount, in general, more than doubling the median and average prices.

Altadena 91001 Two-Year Graph

 

And over the last couple of years, we have seen average prices drop by about one-third. Keep in mind that Altadena had a large area of more or less starter-type homes that were very hard hit by the subprime lending debacle and saw prices plummet a shocking amount–even higher than the 32% noted here. But Altadena also has a very large area of custom homes in lovely neighborhoods where there have been very few sales since homeowners who didn’t have a compelling reason to sell have not gone on the market.

One issue these numbers don’t show is the unrealistic appraisals buyers and sellers have been battling as this market has begun to recover. Even back in the spring, deals fell apart because buyers were willing to pay more than recent sales would support. When you had nothing but trashed foreclosures to compare to and the house for sale was a regular sale in decent condition, it was not realistic to think the homeowner should sell at the low appraisal price.  But obtaining a loan for any more than that was almost impossible. This is part of a huge problem that shows no signs of a solution as the lending industry continues to adopt badly conceived regulations like the HVCC (Home Valuation Code of Conduct). Now we have asset managers for foreclosure properties selling at lower prices to investors who pay cash or waive loan and appraisal contingencies so they won’t have appraisal problems.