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.

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:

Really. It’s amazing what a well-chosen new paint color scheme can do for the exterior of your home. It’s the least expensive major upgrade you can invest in and actually expect to make money on when you sell your home.

Look at these:

1135 Rock View Ave, Eagle Rock

This sold in 2009 as the pale beige seventies house it was. The new owners painted it a tasteful dusty gray-green and really transformed it.

1312 N. Avenue 57, Highland Park

I sold this in 2005 as a major fixer for $475,000. That buyer did little to it and resold it for $575,000. The current buyer has done much more including the really great fence, but you couldn’t see much change until he painted it these nice colors.

1319 Las Flores, Eagle Rock

This is a really good example in terms of showing what effect the paint has on value. When this house was white, it was towards the beginning of the major slide in prices. I sold it in 2007 for around $489,000. It just sold again at the end of 2009 for $470,000. Considering that the average price in Eagle Rock went down about 32%, this property held its value incredibly well. I credit the paint job for a major influence.

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?

90042 2-Year Table

Let me emphasize how we need to look at these graphs and charts in terms of your own property: if you bought a house in Highland Park 2 years ago, just because the average price went down 44% doesn’t necessarily mean that your own house went down that much. These Trendgraphix tables and charts are just that, trends. The most accurate sense we can take from this information is that in the last couple of years, prices took a steep downward trend because of the large number of properties that were sold as distressed sales. If you didn’t have a really good reason to sell your property in the last 2 years, you didn’t do it, so the averages and median prices are skewed downward where the bulk of the sales actually happened. Therefore, good houses that were not distressed sales tended to sell much higher than the general trends would lead you to believe, though still for less than they might have sold for at the peak.

The 9-year trend information shows that over time, real estate prices have tended to go up, evening out the longest run-up in prices we’ve seen with the worst economic downturn we’ve had since the Great Depression.

So if you are a buyer in today’s market, what do these numbers mean to you? If you are thinking about buying a home today, you are going to get a really good deal if you put it into the context of the past peak in prices and the potential of appreciation over time. It’s that simple.

90042 - 9-Year Graph

90042 9-Year Table

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.

Just listed this week: 329 Vista Place, Highland Park, 90042, $399,000.
Here is a hidden gem in the hills of the Garvanza neighborhood of Highland Park. For more information about this historic neighborhood, check out the Neighborhood Project from LAist at http://laist.com/2007/08/06/the_neighborhoo_2.php. From the wide front porch to the patio in the back, enjoy the outdoor spaces perfect for dining al fresco with views of your own private gardens.
Built in 1903, this 2 bedroom, 1 bath Craftsman cottage has wood floors, central air and heat, updated electrical and plumbing, and a finished attic that offers a great spot for storage or perhaps office space. Freshly painted inside and out, this is move-in ready. Located on a walk street north of Meridian, the lot goes street to street. Auto access and parking is off Fisher. There is a driveway long enough to park 2 cars plus a 1-car garage that houses the laundry. The lot is completely fenced and private. This is a regular sale and if you move really fast, you could still qualify for the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit which expires November 30, 2009.
Open today, Thursday, from 10-2. Also open Saturday and Sunday, 1-4 pm. We’ll have cookies!

Market Update for Eagle Rock, 90041 and Highland Park, 90042

If you are looking today for property to buy in our little corner of Los Angeles, you know the pickings are getting pretty slim. What’s going on? The light finally switched on for those who qualify for the first time buyer tax credit and it shone on the November 30 deadline looming ahead. Whoops! If escrows take 30-60 days to close, it’s time! Well, folks, the sellers are not interested in your tax credit. They are beginning to have hopes that prices will go up. The inventory has dropped, prices appear to be firming up a bit, and there is nothing much to buy. In the last couple of weeks, many of the relatively inexpensive properties have gone into escrow.

Many fence-sitting buyers are still convinced that the floodgates are about to open and foreclosures are going to be dumped on the market.  We all have been talking down the intelligence of the banks and the people who work in them, but actually a few of them have some sense. My theory is that the banks are going to feed these cheap foreclosures out to us a bit at a time and let them get snapped up with all-cash-over-asking-price bids clear into the recovery. And we are seeing some recovery.

Look at this graph showing sales over the last 4 years through August 09 in Eagle Rock (90041)

Eagle Rock 2005-2009

The Average Sold Price for 8/09 was $429,000 (14 sold) and the average for 9/09 was $573,000 (7 sold. Thanks in part to my $1.1 million sale).

And for Highland Park (90042):

Highland Park

The average price for Highland Park in 8/09 was $319,000 (14 sold) and 9/09 was 306,000 (32 sold).

The bottom feeders have sucked up the debris here. What to do? Be patient, don’t have your heart set on the tax credit, and really get your priorities in order about buying property.

And, hey, sellers! Call me! I have some good buyers!

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

The Loft Hair Lounge

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.

Frozen yogurt and Acai bowl

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

Eagle Rock Block Party

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