L.A. homes for sale in great high school districts

Most home buyers who are looking for great schools are focused on elementary schools.  But what about buyers with older kids? Recently, a client asked me to research public L.A. high schools with stellar ratings.  Here's the list, with ratings between eight and ten by GreatSchools.com.  Caveat: this is by no means an all-inclusive list.  Many areas with terrific schools are not here because I concentrated on a specific geographic "core" (roughly, with a Silverlake bulls-eye). I also left out magnet schools with super-specific focuses. 

Renaissance Arts Academy – Eagle Rock

Great Schools rating: 9

Alliance College Ready Academy – Silverlake & Echo Park

Great Schools rating: 8

Larchmont Charter – Hollywood & Larchmont

Great Schools rating: 8

Camino Nuevo High School – East Hollywood & Hancock Park

Great Schools rating: 8

Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet – East of Downtown

Great Schools rating: 9

Los Angeles County High School for the Arts – Eastside and South Pasadena

Great Schools rating: 8

South Pasadena Senior High School

Great Schools rating: 10

Alliance Media Arts and Entertainment Design High School – Boyle Heights & East L.A.

Great Schools rating: 8

Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies – Westside but east of 405

Great Schools rating: 8

Culver City High School

Great Schools rating: 9

Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies – Reseda

Great Schools rating: 8

La Canada High School

Great Schools rating: 10

Anderson Clark Magnet School – La Crescenta

Great Schools rating: 10

Crescenta Valley High School – La Crescenta

Great Schools rating: 10

North Hollywood Senior High

Great Schools rating: 8

Burbank High & Burroughs High – Burbank

Great Schools rating: 8

High Tech LA – Van Nuys

Great Schools rating: 9

What the new tax plan means for Los Angeles area home buyers and sellers

Unless you've been doing last-minute holiday shopping 24/7, you know that the U.S. Congress passed a new bill that governs the federal taxes that you pay.  Without getting deep in the weeds about the details, here are the major issues that you should know about if you are searching for a home or selling a home in the Los Angeles area.

Re the mortgage interest deduction: it has been lowered from $1 million to $750,000.  That's the amount of the mortgage loan, not the total cost of the home.  Mercifully, it will not hurt affordability for most people who buy a home in the $400,000-$900,000 range -- and most properties in L.A. County are in that range -- so your MID is safe.  What does it mean for sellers? Not much. Your pool of qualified buyers will not shrink for median-priced homes and townhomes/condos.  And, if you are selling a very expensive property, your buyers are probably not as concerned as they already (presumably) have ample means to pay the mortgage and don't require a big yearly deduction.

Re the capital gains on home sales exclusion:  This is unchanged.  If you are a single person who has lived in your home two out of the last five years, you can still exclude up to $250,000 in profit from capital gains taxes.  If you are married, you can exclude up to $500,000 in profit.  For buyers, no concerns here.

Stay tuned, though.  I have a feeling that the U.S. Congress is not done tinkering with this tax plan yet.

New price heights for L.A. area homes

I know, I know -- this blog is getting to be just a news clipping service.  But bear with me for yet another article from yesterday's L.A. Times by Andrew Khouri.  Here's the link.  The title is "Home prices in Southern California reach bubble-era highs." Among the other data points is this: L.A. County home prices have risen 9.5% this year to $505,000, which is $25,000 higher than the highest 2007 pre-recession price.  The article also states that economists aren't as worried this time around, since the rise is not driven by risky loans.  Instead, it is driven by an improving economy, historically low interest rates and a shortage of homes for sale.

Do I see prices getting soft and perhaps even dropping a little? Not in the foreseeable future.  I predict another rise in prices in the Spring.  I wish I could foresee more affordability instead.
Photo courtesy of  Brian Chan/Los Angeles Times

LA home prices up 19.6% last year -- but wait, there's more

Alejandro Lazo at L.A. Times has a great article today about year-over-year housing trends in the L.A. area.  Yes, prices were up in December 19.6% compared to December 2011.  Click here for the article, but read past the headlines -- there's some pretty significant info here (the emphasis throughout is mine):

The strong performance last month indicates that 2013 will also continue to bring home price gains, analysts said.

 

The gains came as foreclosures declined, housing inventory plummeted, mortgage interest rates hit record lows and demand from investors spiked.

In California, buyers can anticipate little new inventory on the market. A supply of only about 2 1/2 months' worth of single-family homes for sale was available statewide at the end of December, the California Assn. of Realtors reported Tuesday. A supply of six or seven months is considered healthy by most economists. Cash buyers and investors are also playing a big part in snapping up home inventory. Cash buyers bought up 33.8% of all resale homes last month, while absentee buyers purchased 29.1% of Southland homes in December.

Oh, those pesky cash buyers! But here's my take-away.  Prices aren't coming down any time soon.  The house you want for $700k will cost you $725k by the summer.  So you may want to think about getting in the game now...

 

 

Psst! Look to the right

You can finally search the multiple listing service for available L.A. County properties right from this page -- just click on the link at the right.  This search covers not just Burbank homes for sale, but all real estate in the San Fernando Valley and L.A. City, too!  Have fun and please contact me if you notice any glitches.