Just listed for $469,000 - 9076 Willis #16

 Looking for a dream townhouse that's still affordable? 9076 Willis, #16, Panorama City has just listed for $469,000 and will be open Sunday, 8/26, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.  See 9076Willis.com for more pics.  Here are the features: two bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, big bonus room, an unbelievable and rare 1727 sf., two-car attached garage, new paint, new carpet, all appliances included without warranty, patio and 2nd story balcony, two fireplaces, and a proactive HOA with $295/mo dues.  The 28-unit complex features a recently re-plastered pool, spa, new roof, newly painted trim, and plenty of reserves.  Please come see us on Sunday or call me for more details.

I'm thrilled to announce that Victor Agbayani has joined Judy Graff Properties!

Watch us grow again! I'm thrilled to announce that Victor Agbayani has joined Judy Graff Properties as an agent.  I've known Victor for 20 years and even showed him some houses before he got his license.  He's one of the smartest people I know and one of the best agents as well -- he's been extremely successful from the moment he obtained his r.e. license 20 years ago.  That was no surprise to those of us who knew him before. Here's his bio:

Victor Agbayani had been selling residential real estate in Los Angeles full-time since 1998. Knowledgeable in the many complexities of today's real estate transactions, his areas of expertise include the fast appreciating "Eastside" from Eagle Rock to Arcadia, the "Valley" from Burbank to Woodland Hills, and the "Westside" from West Hollywood to Silverlake, the Desert area - Palm Springs tp Palm Desert. Victor always strives to give his clients the best and most service, staying personally involved throughout the entire process. Open communication, mutual trust, respect, and a sense of friendship are important elements of Victor's business life. Having spent his entire career in sales, Victor has developed strong contacts with most of the local real estate professionals and affiliates including, but not limited to, other real estate agents, brokers, lenders, escrow officers, title representatives and appraisers. These positive, interpersonal business relationships help ensure smooth, hassle-free real estate transactions.

Victor can be reached at 323-547-6011 or vagbayani@aol.com.

Thanks for joining us, Victor!

White, gray, wicker: is home-for-sale staging beginning to look all the same?

I love good staging at homes for sale.  Yes, furniture and accessories do help to sell homes.  Lately, though, I've noticed a sameness to the staging at most of the homes for sale that I see here in the L.A. area, regardless of who the staging company is.  Everything is white and gray, with a "pop" of  bright accessory color.  And wicker.  Lots and lots of boxy wicker outdoor furniture. (There's a lot of new home design similarity too, but I'll save that for another time.)  The east side homes aren't quite as guilty of this as the west side and valley, but they're catching up.  For example, this is what I saw during just the last few days. I wish I had invested in this patio furniture company.

Where to find an affordable (?) condo or townhouse in the San Fernando Valley

Disappointed by the lack of affordable condos and townhomes out there? And by affordable I mean a 2+ bedroom under $500,000? (I know; that seems like an outrageous price but this is where prices are now.) I took a look through the mls for the San Fernando Valley and here are the areas with the most units available at that price or less: Woodland Hills, Encino, Sherman Oaks.  Glendale also has a bunch of units at this price, but isn't technically in the SFV. One of the major price-determining factor, as always, is location, location, location. Walkability to Ventura Boulevard is a huge plus and adds dollars, too.  If you are willing to go farther north, or father out, the prices go down.  I'm sure I've missed looking some communities, but this is a start.

Not such great experiences with Beverly Hills agents lately

I've had lots of contact with Beverly Hills agents over the last many months.  Many of their clients are -- gasp! -- coming to the SFV for more affordable real estate and good schools.  And the experiences have not all been pleasant.

I think they think we're rubes and peasants out here.  And courtesy is in short supply.  So is thoroughness and research.  But I guess if you only sell bajillion dollar listings, the more-affordable market here is pretty bush-league for you.  

And buyers, why would you hire a Bev Hills or Westside Realtor if you're looking way outside of Beverly Hills? Did your business manager suggest it? Bad advice, that. But never mind, we welcome you anyway!

Please visit my Examiner.com page

I am now writing short features about San Fernando Valley real estate and the home buying and selling process for Examiner.com.  Please visit my page there at http://www.examiner.com/real-estate-in-los-angeles/judy-graff and subscribe.  Thanks!

It's the beginning of May -- where are the L.A. area houses for sale?

If you are searching for a home in the SFV or elsewhere in the L.A. area, you may be wondering why there aren't more homes for sale.  Or you may be wondering where the homes for sale are.  You're right -- inventory is very, very short, except for condos and townhomes.  And many, many other buyers are looking for a home as well.  Here's what you can do: 1) consider a different area.  I know you want to live in Silverlake or Studio City, but why not consider neighborhoods in Glendale or North Hollywood? Prices will be lower there, too, and most neighborhoods offer lots of attractions that you may like. 2) If you don't have a family, consider a smaller home or a condo.  You can usually always add on to a single family home, and if you need a home office you might be able to convert your dining room or garage space (I bet 95% of garage spaces are used for storage and not for parking.) I know, I know; this is all so easy for me to say.

If you are thinking about selling your home, you are probably wondering: a) where you're going to go.  The homes you may move into are just as expensive as the house you're selling.  So there goes your profit. And b) you want to stay put for your commute or your kids' school or another good reason.  Selling and moving will be really tough.  I don't have suggestions here, except: home prices have come roaring back.  If you are considering making a life change, this year may present great opportunities for you, at least as far as home profits go.  Will home prices continue to increase? Nobody knows.  If you're thinking about selling, I'm happy to prepare a comparative market analysis for you that will show you what you may gain -- just call me.

Five ways to lose weight while house hunting

Let’s all multi-task and combine our two favorite activities, weight watching and house hunting, shall we? Here goes!   

1.       Run, don’t drive, between Sunday open houses.  It will help to map them first.  Stay hydrated while you do this.

2.       Skip dinner and see a new listing every night instead.  Do NOT stop at a bar on your way home to drown your sorrows.

3.       Skip lunch on days when there are broker caravans (Burbank has theirs on Thursday from 9:30 to noon; the rest of the San Fernando Valley and L.A. have theirs on Tuesdays and Fridays.)

4.       Stop buying food and use that money to pay down your consumer debt, thus raising your FICO score.  High credit score = low scale score.

5.       Get so neurotic about the home-buying process that you can’t keep any food down.  This is called home-buyer bulimia and it’s my favorite.

Depending on your search length, you can lose between five and 40 lbs! Seriously, if you need a new home, call me – I can help.  I can’t really help on the weight loss but you can come to Weight Watchers meetings with me.

L.A. Times discovers the San Fernando Valley! Can L.A. Weekly be far behind?

Today's LA Times' travel section has a long article about attractions in the San Fernando Valley! Yay! Way to go, SFV! Click the title above or click here to read.  Long-time readers of this blog will note that Aroma Cafe and The Federal Bar, posted about here, are featured in the article.

Do-It-Yourself-ers, HGtv wants you!

Ronica Harris, the casting producer of HGtv's "Professional Grade," is looking for do-it-yourself-ers in the San Fernando Valley who are about to begin a home remodeling project.   It could be a kitchen, a bathroom, or maybe a master bedroom suite.  The producers are not limiting the renovation to those rooms in particular; they're looking for people with personality (naturally).

Here's the notice that Ms. Harris sent me: HGTV’s hit new renovation show “Professional Grade” is back for a 3rd season.  In the show, homeowners go toe to toe with the professionals for a chance of having their home renovation paid for by HGTV.  Our last BIG winner from last season took home $40,000. Homeowners act as their own “GC’s” and when the renovation is done, our experts price out the job based on the quality.  If their estimate is higher than what our homeowners spent, the homeowners pocket the cash difference. 

If you are interested, or know somebody who is (I've already contacted two sets of clients), please call Ronica at 303.872.8708 or contact her by email at Rharris@highnoontv.com. For an application, click on:  www.highnoonentertainment.com/casting_apply_new.php?application_id=3.  Good luck! Please let me know if you are selected!

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.

Sellers waiting for prices to rise

The title above links to an article from Wall Street Journal.  It discusses "side-lined" sellers, who want to sell but want to wait for home prices to rise even though they may already have equity.  At this point, since our inventory continues to grow here in the San Fernando Valley, I don't think price rises are likely -- at least not until the beginning of 2011, if then.  Thanks, Kendyl; your "tweet" that alerted me to this article.

Sunday reading from the NY Times

Here's an article from today's New York Times' business section entitled Great Time to Buy (Famous Last Words).  It's not pro-home buying (and not strongly against it either), but it is worth reading.  And by the way, I never tell people it's a great time to buy.  It's only a great time to buy if it's a great time to buy for the particular buyer. 

Of course, all r.e. markets are local, so I disagree with many of the author's points.  Just about all of us have been renters at some point and most of us have nightmare landlord stories.  And the loss of "opportunity costs" of your mortgage downpayment?  What opportunity?  To go gamble your money away in the stock market?  And the evil of property taxes?  Again, that's a very local issue.  But how else to fund local infrastructure? And wouldn't your landlord be passing along his/her property taxes to you in the form of rent anyway?

One important correction to the text.  I originally read this as a hard copy.  When I went on line to get the url, there was this disclaimer at the bottom: An earlier version of this article misstated the additional amount by which Barry Ritholtz believes homes prices need to drop in the short term in order to return to their historical norms. It is 15 percent, not 50.

San Fernando Valley diversity and traffic delays, as if you didn't already know

Here's a Burbank Leader article with the title, "Valley residents more diverse, wealthy, delayed."  It contains facts from the U.S. Census Bureau re the demographics of our fair land.  I love that it refers to the SFV as "the nation's largest geographic non-municipal entity."  Other factoids: the SFV has 1.74 million residents (good God, is that all?), we experience longer traffic delays than other local areas (no!), more than half of SFV residents spend 35% or more of their incomes on housing, and Glendale has over 10% unemployment.  But the SFV still has no high-end, gourmet taco trucks.  When will we be worthy?

How to cut your monthly nut by at least one third

Okay, owning a home isn't for everybody. And I know I'll take flak for this. But.

The house in the picture is 9953 Aldea. It just closed. I'd been working with the buyers for quite awhile, and they went through the same thing that all buyers are going through now -- short inventory, rising prices, multiple offers. They finally decided to buy the house that they have been renting and living in for the past three years.

With me so far? Okay, their monthly rent was $3000/mo. Typical for a mid-Valley, 2500+ square foot pool home in good shape. Their mortgage now is $1568/month. Yes, property taxes will add an extra $500+ a month. They paid $565,000 and yes, their down payment was large. But still, thanks to today's low interest rates, they cut their monthly housing expense by about one-third. And that's not even taking into consideration the mortgage tax deduction.

Not bad, if you ask me. Just sayin'.

Since I know you don't believe me, here's...

This is from non-client friend Joselle about her brand new purchase and what she had to go through to get it.

"It's a little 1950 house with some nice period details. Big lot (for L.A.) It's... in a lovely neighborhood in Sherman Oaks. We will be just the third owners! It was the 4th house we bid on. Each had many offers. We lost one even though we went $110,000.00 over asking price! Crazy market here!"

Her purchase price is in the high $400's.

Foreclosures and statistics

For those of you waiting for an increase in home inventory due to foreclosures, and sure that the banks are going to dump a bunch on the market any minute, here's the latest from Realtors who handle many bank-owned properties: it's going to be a trickle, not a flood. One of the reasons: the banks don't want to dump a lot of houses on the market at once because it will depress prices further.

And Market Metrics has come out with this statistic: there is only a month-and-a-half supply of inventory right now in the SFV. No surprise. The supply of houses for sale is as low as I've ever seen it, not counting brand new condos.

FHA buyers out in force

There appear to be lots and lots of first-time buyers out looking for properties now in L.A. and the San Fernando Valley. I attribute that to the ability of buyers to obtain FHA loans -- only 3.5% down! And it can all be a gift!, low interest rates, and the new $8,000 tax credit. As we all know, prices have fallen, too.

Problem: for single family homes, inventory is very short. Once again, half-way decent properties are listing and selling in a few days. No, I haven't seen a price spike, but if everything starts selling with multiple offers, that will follow.

There is a better supply of condos, although not all of them can be approved for an FHA loan, which will be the subject of another post. Many of the condos I've seen lately are new, too, and the developers are still attempting to get top dollar for them. Or they're really old, and need mondo updating. Stay tuned for news about our ever-changing market.

Boots-on-the-ground perspective for the end of February

Here's my perspective on our local market. Inventory is very, very low for single family homes under $600,000. I'm seeing properties go under contract in a short amount of time -- a few days, even -- and often in multiple offers. Of course "under contract" is relative when you're talking about REOs and short sales, but you get the picture.

I attribute this to favorable loan conditions for first-time buyers. FHA loans ask for only 3.5% down (which can be a gift from a relative) and let the seller contribute to closing costs. Interest rates are low. And there's an $8000 tax credit for first time buyers.

L.A. County home price reductions chart and wild -- or not -- prediction

Courtesy of the L.A. Times' LALand, here's a chart of average home price reduction percentages between 2007 and 2008 by neighborhood. This is the same L.A. Times that has been crowing about the 30%-50% price reductions we've seen in the area. Now, as you'll see from the chart, that's just not true in most of the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood Hills. Yes, prices have gone down. But Studio City, for example, is down just over 10% for SFRs and just over 9% for condos. Burbank's worst number is -21% for condos in 91506. Hollywood Hills, zip 90068, is down 15+%.

Just as I've been saying, all real estate markets are local. And I'll make another (safe) prediction: in the areas that I serve, for the remainder of the first and second quarters at least, we are at the bottom of the market for houses listed under $600,000. We may also be at the bottom in the $600,000 to $800,000 range. Lending has loosened up at the same time that inventory has shortened. I'm seeing multiple offers and over-bids again in that category.