Hollywood Riviera & South Bay Real Estate Blog

Oh my gosh… they must be kidding!  The new budget is calling for a reduction of the mortgage interest deduction. This reduction in deductible expenses will be for high income earners making more than $250,000 a year.  This group will see the deduction fall to 28 cents per dollar down from the current 35 cents for every dollar of their deductible expense.  In our area, this will effect a vast majority of home-buyers, which will further erode sales.   Please, please call your congressperson, your Senators and tell them no way, no how.  Here is today’s news release we received from the National Association of Realtors, who plan on fighting this all the way, and why they are doing so:

	Dear Fellow REALTOR®,You may have seen news reports about President Obama€™s budget proposal that was released today at 11:30 AM Eastern Time. A small section of the sweeping budget plan has the potential to become a major impediment to a recovery in real estate markets across the nation. NAR is 100% opposed to the provision that modifies the Mortgage Interest Deduction and is prepared to use its formidable array of resources against its enactment.As currently drafted, the plan changes the Mortgage Interest Deduction by reducing the amount of mortgage deductibility on families earning over $250,000. This proposed change in the Mortgage Interest Deduction will result in further erosion of home prices and home values. If this proposal is enacted it will lead to a new round of price depreciation, will cause greater distress on the balance sheets of banks as the collateral value of mortgage backed securities declines. A second credit crisis could emerge before the first one is resolved.As you read this NAR is launching a multiphase plan of action to eliminate this provision from the budget plan. In the next 24 hours, NAR will be expressing our concerns directly to President Obama, to all members of the United States House of Representatives and the Senate, placing advertisements in the publications read by Washington, DC decision makers. Additionally, NAR will be forming a coalition with other groups affected by this proposal. This communication is the first part of our response, we will continue to update you as the situation and events warrant.Sincerely, Charles McMillan, CIPS, GRI 2009 NAR President

What is a Broker’s Open House?  It’s an open house that Realtors host for other Realtors.  We have specific days on which we (Realtors) go out and see the new inventory in geographic areas.  For example, Tuesdays are for Palos Verdes area listings, Thursdays for Redondo Beach, Hollywood Riviera, & Torrance, and Fridays are for Hermosa Beach & Manhattan Beach.  Typically, these broker’s open houses are during the “lunch hour” so often there is food offered.  We find that when there is a little “snackie” agents will linger longer and appreciate the house a bit more….so why not offer a little tidbit to our fellow hungry agents!  (we sure like it and it sometimes helps us better remember certain properties.)  This is what you want to happen.  These Broker’s Open Tours are how we showcase our new listings to each other.  We network and chat it up about what’s happening in the business and in the local areas.   Agents know each other and we know who works what areas so we often discuss what new property is coming on the market or what type of property we are looking for our buyers.  It’s a must for agents who want to know their market.  Broker’s Opens are the most important open house! 

We will be hosting two open houses this Thursday, February 26th from 12-2 in the Hollywood Riviera.   Come join us for some lunch and a view of two wonderful homes!

635 Calle de Arboles – 5 Bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms – 2006 Cape Cod Style – $1,545,000

and

308 Via Anita – 3 Bedrooms, 2 bathrooms – Ocean & Coastal Views – $1,155,000

Mid-February and we’ve got a deal on the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.”  Hopefully, this will get those “pent-up” buyers off their fences.  It will be curious to see how quickly the mortgage lenders can employ the $729,000 which has been reinstated from the “Stimulus Act of 2008.”  These are the kind of numbers we need to see here in our area so this could be good for today’s buyers if they are looking for a good deal on a mortgage!

Currently in the Hollywood Riviera there are 29 homes for sale.  They range in price from $625K to $3.8K.  That is a huge price differential isn’ it?  There is a huge difference in these two homes as well – one is on PCH service street and is in the 1100 sq ft range and the other is right on Paseo de la Playa, overlooks the beach and is brand new beautiful construction!  Let’s not forget the 27 other homes in the “middle.”  There are a few really nice ones too.  One is a “short sale” on Susana for only $775K – it was sold a couple of years ago for $998K, so this is a great deal for a remodeled home here in the Riviera.

There are currently 7 homes priced between $1 million and $1.3 million dollars.  Several of them are very nice and have some great qualities!  And for those of you in that higher price range, there really are some beautiful choices.  Let’s hope those mortgage lenders can get this “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009″ working soon!

NAR (National Association of Realtors) Working for Us – this is a good thing as we just paid our dues (which are not cheap by the way.)  It’s good to know they are going to good use.  Here is the latest scoop on the Stimulus Package of 2009!

Here’s the NAR article for you to read.
 

	Dear Fellow REALTOR®, Here’s our take on the Stimulis Bill and Treasury announcements made this week. We look at the Stimulis package AND the Treasury’s package holistically, in compliment with each other – mostly because that’s how the Obama team is looking at it. Your representatives, the NAR Board of Directors, asked us in November to do 4 things (with an unspoken but clearly understood mandate to PRESERVE what we already have). Here they are: 1) get loan limits raised for high cost areas, 2) make the $7,500 tax credit NOT a loan, 3) try to find ways to push interest rates down (which are higher than they should be due to systemic risk right now) by 200 basis points, and 4) help provide solutions to the foreclosure/short sale problem.So here’s what we have achieved: 1) the loan limits will be raised to $727,000 in high cost areas, 2) the tax credit will be raised to $8,000 with NO payback [a true credit], 3) interest rates have come down 125-150 basis points, and 4) the bill has over $50 billion in it for foreclosure mitigation, with Geitners Treasury plan signaling that the second half of TARP and TALF will be used to mitigate foreclosures through a government guarantee, drive down interest rates by buying another $200-300 billion of mortgage paper from the GSES’s thereby freeing them up to do the same with new mortgages, and Fannie has just agreed to lift the cap of 4 investment properties eligible for loans and raise it to 10. In addition, we preserved what we have – which some tend to forget is always on the table when these negotiations start up again – mortgage interest deductability, real estate tax deductability, and the $250,000/$500,000 cap gains exclusion (an overall package worth more than $100 billion and for some a very attractive funding source for their pet projects). We did make a run at the $15,000 credit — and we would have loved to have gotten that or the Homebuilders $22,000 credit idea as well as their 5 year loss carryback deal, but they were considered too rich for this program. What it did do though is totally take the debate off of whether a tax credit should be reinstated at all (it expired last year) and whether it was a true credit or a repayable loan, and kept the conversation on how much it should be. It also kept the debate off of ‘what we are willing to give up to get a $15,000 tax credit’ and kept the debate again, on how much it should be. It’s pretty hard to complain when they give you what you ask for and you lose something you never had. While we study the Treasury specifics on their major role in providing the rest of the housing solution — there is much more to come and we are working diligently with the Administration to help ‘unclog the pipeline’ and get capital flowing into housing again. Sincerely, Charles McMillan, CIPS, GRI 2009 NAR President

Kelly & Laura take notice!  People pay us to take notice!  It’s one of our biggest assets.  Laura and I notice things – sometimes we wish we didn’t notice, but we do.  We see all the little things, and today it’s the little things that buyers see too.  Today, marketing your home must take the form of ”tip top condition.”  We did some “photo shoots” today for a couple new listings.  We work together with the photographer….we don’t just sit idly by.  We move rugs, little nick-nacks that “stand out” in a photo, turn on lights, move random “in the way” furniture, set blinds/shutters so they are all “the same direction.”  It’s little stuff like that we notice and that the camera notices.  A camera notices much more than our human eyes.  Our eyes are very good at fooling our brains.  The question is:  if we removed the items for the photographs, should the items be removed for the showings?  I’m pretty sure that’s a rhetorical question – yes, of course - it would look much better in real life if it looked better for the photograph! 

Seller’s – take notice – Selling is a lot of work and moving is even more work.  When you are the seller, you are so used to seeing these items every day that they don’t seem “cluttered” or “in the way” to you.  That is why you hire someone who takes notice!  Someone who sees things like the buyer.  We represent buyers and sellers – the good news for sellers is that when we work with buyers we hear exactly what they have to say about the sellers’ houses.   Buyers are not kind in most regards…they see everything too and want a discount for what they see out of place or scuffed or for what they can’t see as well.  Buyers need to see your house and not your stuff!  I’ve been with buyers who just stop and stare at your photos…they can’t help themselves.  It’s human nature – that is why you need to get rid of the family photos….you are not selling those.  The buyers need to imagine “their” family photos on the walls.  Buyers look in your closets, your cabinets, your pantries – they look at it all and you want them to.  The  more they look the more they most likely want to buy your house.  Take notice sellers – if you have fabulous hardwood floors don’t cover them up w/ lots of small area rugs….and don’t fill up rooms full of furniture that doesn’t belong in there.  Store it – let the buyers see your wonderful rooms! 

Take notice – and start packing now!

Enter to win Re/Max’s annual cruise giveaway.  Simply click here and enter your information for your chance to win.  Simply scroll down to referring agent and enter either Kelly Evans or Laura Medina and it is that simple.  The drawing for a winner is in April.  Good Luck!!!  Maybe you will be saying…  “Uno Mas Cervaza por favor!”

http://cruise.pvexecs.com/register.asp

Buying your dream house – now that is glamorous!  Moving into it – not so glamorous!

Help is here….Home Sweet Home is a professional packing and organizing service!

This is taken right off their website – http://www.UnPackMe.com 

I personally used them about 4 years ago for “unpacking” - they were great.   They were so attentive to our needs.  The moving truck leaked due to the large amount of rain that week.  My baby’s crib mattress was soaked and actually dripping wet – it got full of water.  They ran out and got me a new mattress so we could all go to bed that night.   They had a great sense of organization – they unpacked my whole kitchen without me being there and to this day I’ve left everything where they put it.  It was all in a very logical and thought out place!  Can’t ask for much more.  It was so nice to wake up the next morning in our new house and be able to fix breakfast and not have to worry about the boxes everywhere! 

There are still people out there looking for their “Home Sweet Home!”  Many people – we are in a normal real estate market here in our area – the South Bay of Los Angeles which includes cities such as Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Hermosa & Manhattan Beaches, Torrance, etc.  It’s an area bordered by the Pacific Ocean – we call it the South Bay because the beaches curve around from Palos Verdes to Santa Monica and create a bay like shape.  The views from Palos Verdes looking north view the Santa Monica Mountains and vice versa.  The views from Santa Monica looking south see the hills of Palos Verdes…the views are really beautiful!    

Back to our “normal” market – that the  media would prefer not refer to.  The media likes to glom onto the ill effects of the banking industry malfunctions and the foreclosure rate which is through the roof in some cities throughout the country.  It’s depressing to read the paper, so I usually just give it a pass. 

People still have many reasons to buy and sell homes.  Growing families, job transfers, downsizing, opting for a different neighborhood/school system, etc.  Typically these are normal working people (who still have jobs) and can still obtain a mortgage since they have not borrowed every cent against their previous home and/or maxed out all their credit cards.  These people have been reasonable about their finances all along and will continue to be reasonable as time goes on.  Buying a home is still an investment for many people.  Most people I ask, “Do you think this home will be worth more or less in 5-10 years?” answer with “More.”  And I would agree with that sentiment.

Yes…most markets – including our “normal” market have taken a hit in prices – which were highly inflated from our “over-active” market of the past 5 years.  It’s been about a year now since we started seeing the decline here…not even a full year yet…it’s started about mid-year 2008 – from what I could tell.  Things were still rocking and rolling this time last year here in the South Bay.  Brakes went on around June 2008. 

Bottom-line for buyers – right now is a great time to buy into a great South Bay neighborhood and save quite a bit over last year’s prices.  And interest rates – which this time last year were sure to increase – have come down as well.  The Economic Stimulus Package of 2008 ended, but the Feds have new Stimulus Packages in the works that should benefit us all as we move forward!