House burned down but it's for sale

Last month, there was an awful house fire at 910 N. Evergreen in Burbank. The house was destroyed and the renter-occupant and her dog died.  Two others were injured.  It was probably one of the worst house fires in Burbank history.

And now, the property is for sale again.  For $350,000 -- land value only.  I know the landord-sellers lost as well, but out of respect for the dead, isn't this a little soon?

News of the week: Tacos, government regulation, 737 N. Catalina, and mortgage lending

Say it ain't so: the much-beloved Henry's Tacos in Studio City/Tujunga Village may have to close! Nooooo! Apparently, the landlord wants to do something else with the property.  There will be a taco eat-in on Sunday to protest and we'll be there.

Seen 737 N. Catalina in Burbank yet? The adorable, unspoiled 2+1 for $425,000? It's not my listing, but I'm taking bets on how many offers it will receive.  I showed it last night, and there were so many other showings around the same time that it was like an open house.

Government regulation or lack thereof: the Department of Real Estate in California is going away next year.  Instead, regulatory matters and law enforcement will be handled by a new branch of the California Consumer Affairs division.  I don't know how this will work, but the DRE was understaffed, so perhaps this will be an improvement.

Learned today: Forget getting credits through escrow for repairs on the house you're buying.  If the house needs repairs, and you're getting a loan, your lender may require the repairs to be made before close of escrow by the seller.  Yup, they're tightening up on that, too.

Lobstatruck comes to Burbank

I've been delighted to see more and more high-end food trucks coming to Burbank.  I was particularly excited when I learned that Lobstatruck was coming to Burbank this past Tuesday.  Michele from my office and I drove to the truck when it parked in front of Yahoo at lunch time.  The line was long.  We waited 45 minutes to order.  Was it worth it?

Absolutely.  The lobster roll was the best I've ever had, and one of the best meals I've had in months.  The lobster pieces were the size of my thumb, the bread was fresh, the portion was generous, and it was only $11 plus tax.  What a welcome treat in the land of chain restaurants!

Upshot on 724 University (pictured below)

See update below!
I listed the house at 724 University, in Burbank, a cosmetic fixer, for $559k.  It received 17 offers within one week.

 

Our seller chose the all cash offer with no contingencies.  That was not the highest purchase price offer, but it was quite a bit over the list price. We have several strong back-up offers, too. Here are some other numbers:

Open house attendees: 130+.  Partner Michele and I couldn't keep track of everybody. 

Offers from extremely financially well-qualified buyers: 16.  I’ve never seen so many high FICO scores (over 775) in my life.

Offers with over 20% down payment: 14.  One was as high as 42% down.

Offers at list price or higher: 14

People disappointed at the outcome: 16.

This process wasn’t fun.  We just really got a sense that the potential buyers had a lot of hopes and dreams riding on this outcome.  Many of the buyers had already put in good offers on other properties and had gotten aced out by other buyers.  Many also have children that they’d like to get into the excellent public school for the neighborhood.  And this gave me the feeling that we were messing up the buyers’ lives who didn’t get the house.  In retrospect, we should have listed it higher, but we believed the asking price was in line with the comps.  Yes, we probably would have still gotten multiple offers, but it wouldn’t quite have been such a carnival of disappointment.  This experience also confirms my belief that underpricing a home for sale isn’t the right thing to do just to draw multiple offers.  My experience lately has been that if a house is priced to sell at or around the asking price, it will sell just as quickly as if it is artificially underpriced.

A couple of other things:  we had virtually no print advertising for the open house.  Our 130+ people came strictly from internet and mls advertising.  I conclude that print advertising really is a thing of the past.

I was surprised when two separate buyer groups showed us proof of funds to close – in other people’s names!  Um, kinda fraudulent, yes?  Did they think we wouldn't actually look at the documentation?
Update April 28, 2010: we're already in escrow with the 1st back up buyers.  What happened: the first buyers were paying all cash and had submitted an offer without any contingencies.  We were dubious about this, but these terms were too good for our seller to pass up. Sure enough, late Monday morning, the buyers' agent called me to say that the buyer wanted $20,000 (!) back based on the physical condition AND wanted to get a loan.  Uh, no.  Here's your deposit back; go in peace.  The buyers in the backup position stepped up (for a higher price, too) and we're now in escrow with them.  (Gossip: the agent who wanted to renegotiate the terms for her buyer the minute we opened escrow is a member of a prominent Glendale real estate family.) Stay tuned!

947 N. Brighton, Burbank - new listing

Here's the exterior of my new listing at 947 N. Brighton in Burbank.  It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1648 square foot home Magnolia Park home that also features an unfinished guest house.  Not to puff, but I think this is a steal at $575,000.  The first open house will be March 7, and more pics and info can be found on my website at http://www.judygraff.com/.  Please call or email me for more info.

2400 W. Chandler is finally closing! Yay!

My listing at 2400 W. Chandler, Burbank closes tomorrow for $499,000!  Yes!  We thought it would never happen -- it was supposed to close by December 21.  The buyer and her agent performed like champs as did my sellers and the escrow company.  Bank of America, the buyer's lender, sucked as usual.

Emerging neighborhoods by Los Angeles Magazine

Los Angeles Magazine interviewed me today for an upcoming real estate story about emerging neighborhoods in the area. Unfortunately, much of what I said won't be for attribution. However, here are some of the wheres and whys that we discussed:

• Magnolia Park in Burbank for good price points and excellent schools;


• Porter Ranch for brand new homes and decent prices;


• Shadow Hills for proximity to mountain trails and equestrian property;


• Studio City/Tujunga Village for great housing stock, Carpenter School and easy commutes;


• Arleta for decent housing stock at low prices;


• Adams Hill in Glendale for views; and


• South Pasadena and Linda Vista for all-around lovely neighborhoods.
  

Empty Big Box Store Count [Updated]

Let's list the empty big box stores in Burbank, shall we?

• Mervyns


• Shoe Pavillion


• Linens and Things


• Vons on San Fernando (although I hear that Jon's is going in there)


• Empty grocery on Verdugo/Sparks/Olive intersection [Update 1/22/2009: I'm told Fresh and Easy is going in here.]


• Circuit City (well, not quite empty yet)

And although it's not exactly a store, Black Angus has filed for bankruptcy. If it closes, a Mimi's would be nice in that space. What will be next to close? Great Indoors, perhaps?

Burbank's commitment to environmental sustainability

Burbank Public Works has just sent out a terrific, 8-page brochure on recycling and environmental sustainability projects in Burbank. The brochure includes a profile of the recycle center, info on what's recyclable in Burbank, tips for "greening up" summer parties, the last laws, refund values of bottles and cans, info on city green workshops (call the Burbank Recycle Center for details at 818-238-3900), info on the Sustainability Action Plan, ideas for natural landscaping and more. If you'd like a copy, please phone 818-238-3900. Way to go, Burbank!

L.A. schools, real estate, and Sandra Tsing Loh

If you've read this blog before, you know that I have harped and harped on how much value good public schools can add to a neighborhood's real estate. It's one of the reasons that Burbank real estate continues to be desireable -- the schools are great. Along these lines, my favorite L.A. humorist, Sandra Tsing Loh, has just released a book entitled "Mother on Fire" about her experiences with L.A.'s public schools. While I haven't yet read the book (can't wait!), I know that Loh has been a long-time advocate and source of info about the LAUSD magnet, charter, and plain old public school programs, and Loh's own daughters go to a magnet school in Van Nuys. Loh's website also contains several local school links that you might want to check out, as well.

No Surprise about the Burbank Collection

I posted here several months ago about the new downtown Burbank loft development, The Burbank Collection. It's right across from the AMC theaters and above Ben&Jerry's, the new Barney's Beanery, etc. The complex features almost 200 units ranging from 1 bedrooms to 2-story penthouses and the prices used to be $400,000 to $700,000+. No more.

A BC representative came to our meeting today to talk about the big price reductions the project has just announced -- about 20% across the board. I understood that this due to two reasons. First, the existing units in escrow did not appraise for their sales prices. The buyer of one unit actually received a $200,000 write-down from her original purchase price offer! Second, according to the rep, the lender on the project is breathing down the neck of the developer. No surprise there.

Further, the rep says that the code words for buyers and their offers are "yes," and "Whatever it takes." That's what we like to hear!

Other news from this rep: the development is almost 50% sold. No units can "go" FHA until the 50% mark is reached. And, I asked about a competing development, the lovely and talented Americana. Apparently, Big A is not giving out sales figures. To anybody. Period. No surprise there, either.

934 N. Avon has sold

934 N. Avon, Burbank 91505 has just sold for $665,000. This home features lovely character details plus updates, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and over 1600 square feet. It is on the same street as Roosevelt school and is close to the best Magnolia Park has to offer. It took us about six weeks from the listing date to get it into escrow. The sales price is just what I had told the sellers it would go for when I took the listing.

More on sober living in Burbank

If you've read this blog for awhile, you may remember the post and thread on Burbank's sober living houses. The neighbors close to a home on Clark were upset about its existence.

Sadly, a resident of one of the houses committed suicide in mid-July. According to the Burbank Leader, even that has fueled the neighborhood's ire about the home's existence. Some of the more interesting quotes:

"The news reignited neighbors’ fears about the proximity of the facility to their homes and to John Burroughs High and Walt Disney Elementary schools.“I am not saying this community is perfect and that they don’t belong, I just don’t understand why they have to be on that corner in the heart of America USA,” said one neighborhood resident.

And: "The suicide could have been harmful to local students, [another resident] said. “If school had been in session, kids could have walked right by and seen this happen.”

What?

First, Burbank is now America USA? Please define America for me. The America I live in contains addicts that need help. And kids could have seen it? I don't know if the backyard, where the suicide happened, is somehow exposed to the street, but that's really unlikely. And, school isn't in session. Also, most of the high school kids I have met recently are pretty sophisticated, and I doubt this would have warped their little minds.

But more importantly, suicides happen in every community, in every socio-economic group, and in every kind of home, not just sober living facilities. If the residents of the community want to fight sober living facilities in their neighborhoods, I suggest they come up with a real reason to do so. So far, they haven't.

Misquoted in Burbank Leader

I just sent this letter to the editor of the Burbank Leader:

"I am a local Realtor, and it is a privilege to be quoted by Jeremy Oberstein in the July 26 article "Local Housing Market Flailing." However, in the paragraph about foreclosures in zipcode 91505, I was quoted as saying there were 19 foreclosures out of 4,000 homes in this year's second quarter. The number should read 14,000 homes. I think you will agree that this is a very significant difference. Also, I believe I cited statistics from the first quarter only, when there were just 6 foreclosures in that zipcode. The source of my information, obtained in May, was the Los Angeles Times' own "search foreclosures by zipcode" widget available on the L.A. Times' (your parent company's) website."

Okay, I'm finally beginning to believe that "the media" is blowing this issue out of proportion, at least for our area.

Update: Jeremy sent me this return email yesterday:

Judy,

My mistake. I will change 4,000 to 14,000. The stats cited were not from the 1st quarter but from the second; That is why we were doing the article this week. It was an honest mistake and one I regret making, but not a case of "the media blowing this out of proportion" as you mention on your website.It will be fixed on the Leader website ASAP.Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Jeremy

Avon, the local r.e. board, IndyMac and the beach

Here's 934 N. Avon. It was listed for $699,000. Not that you care, but due to a clerical mls reporting error, it was reported as sold yesterday for $547,900. Not hardly. It is in escrow and is set to close on August 5 for much more than that. And for those of you that think the local r.e. boards are useless (now, who thinks that?), it has taken me a cumulative two hours and several faxes just to get the info corrected -- and the list price is still wrong. This has been so frustrating that it's making standing in line at IndyMac look as pleasant as a day at the beach.

Play banned in Burbank

Burroughs High in Burbank banned the production of a play about the murder of gay teenager Matthew Shepard (pictured, right). The critically-aclaimed play is called “The Laramie Project” and it was produced in 2002 at The Colony Theater here in Burbank – I saw it and remember it well. However, the students who proposed the play to the school in the first place have found a new venue for production – again at Burbank’s Colony Theater. Read the L.A. Times link here. Way to go, students.

The Burroughs principal was quoted as saying this production “would tear this community apart.” (He has subsequently supported the students’ off-campus production.) But Burbank, what’s going on? Are we living in Mayberry R.F.D.? Here’s the irony: the play is just as much about small-town narrow mindedness as it is about the actual crime – sound like anybody you know, Burbank?

C'mon, Burbank, get over it and enter the 21st Century. Theater was my major in college and I still believe it’s a vitally important form of artistic expression in our culture. I really believe that if you want students to learn, and love, this form of expression, don’t just give them big musicals to perform. Give them big ideas, too.

Rim of the Valley is Safe for Now

A bill that may begin preserving open space in the mountains that ring the Valley was signed into law this past week. Actually, it calls for a study by the Department of the Interior on expanding the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Click here for an article about this from the Burbank Leader.

Return of the 10% Loans

10% loans are back for conforming loans (up to $417,000) and for some jumbo-conforming (up to $729,000) and jumbo (over $729,000) loans. Most programs, however, do require full documentation and good credit scores, and very few allow "stated income" documentation. I'm told that Countrywide has a 10% program without mortgage insurance. That's the first I've ever heard of that, although I'm also told the rate is higher. While we're on the subject, here's a clarification: although in recent months many people have referred to "stated income" loans as "liar" loans, that's not necessarily the truth. Most people who are w-2'd by their employers can easily get full documentation loans. Most folks (like me) who are independent contractors, have their own businesses, and/or receive 1099s instead of w-2s are "stated income" buyers as their income can change year to year.

Jacarandas are back in bloom

Ah, the Jacarandas are in bloom again. To me, the lavender blossoms are the first sign of spring...no, summer, no, June gloom season here in the Southland. For great vistas of lots of Jacarandas, drive down Glenoaks towards Glendale or up Kenneth to Burbank.

Taste Burbank, er, Chicago

I was thrilled to note that today's L.A. Times' food section listed Burbank's own Taste Chicago in their list of the most excellent hot dog stands in the L.A. area. The deep-dish pizza is pretty excellent, too. LAT says, "The excellent balance of elements makes this the most satisfying Chicago dog around."