Random thoughts on art, technology, stuff, and occasionally Real Estate: May 2008

There are alot of statistics, reports and graphs dealing with the current real estate market in Los Angeles.  However, sometimes studying one individual case can present a clearer picture than all the combined data.

The home in this case study is an average 2 bedroom, 1 bath structure in the heart of Highland Park.  The original siding has been stuccoed over, which is always a detriment in an historical neighborhood, but the original hardwood floors are still intact.

The property sold in April of 2006 for $425,000. 

It resold in October of 2006 for $499,000.  It was financed with two loans, a first loan of $399,200, and a second loan of $99,800. 

It was put on the market in April of 2007 for $550,000 subject to lender approval of a short sale.  It did not sell. 

It was foreclosed by trustee sale in September of 2007. 

The foreclosing lender put it on the market for $315,000 in September of 2007, immediately after the trustee sale.  It did not sell. 

It was relisted in December of 2007 for $285,000.  It finally sold and closed in April of 2008 for $255,000.

Not another Meme.  Sigh.  I'm only doing this because Maureen Henry tagged me. 

But here goes.

1.  Who is your favorite musical artist?

That one's easy.  Paul Simon.   Here's one of my favorites from the early Simon & Garfunkle days in the 1960s.  Sorry, no visual, only an audio tract.

2.  Who is your favorite visual artist?

If there is indeed a power or deity who created this remarkable planet on which we live, I think I name that entity.  By whatever name you choose to call Him. Or Her.

3.  Who is your favorite blogger?

Another easy one.  Greg Swann.  His best writing creates the effect he discusses in this post.

4.  If you could meet anyone (alive or dead) who would it be and what is the most interesting thing about them?

I'll be glib here.  I'd like to meet some well qualified clients, preferably alive, and the most interesting thing about them would be getting their escrows closed.

5.  What did you want to be when you grew up?

At alternating times, a scientist, a professor, the president of the USA, a hippy, an artist, a poet, a folksinger.

6.  What is the most interesting piece of trivia you know?

Excuse me.   I don't know any trivia, all the stuff I know is ~~really~~ important stuff, you know.  :-)

7.  If you could live in any part of history, what would it be and why?

Now is good, thank you very much.  Although I'd very much like to stick around long enough to learn what happens next.

8.  What is the most interesting job you ever had?

Blogging.

Meme other people:

I think I like Greg's way to doing this:

"Let's try things this way instead: If you want to have been nominated for this meme game, consider that you have been. I don't care if that means eight people do this - or eighty - or none. But if you want to tell the world your answers to these questions, get busy. You can link back to me or not, your choice. Be honest. Be thoughtful. Have fun. Better yet: Do what you want. That's what I'm doing."

Anyone here in the Palmdale, CA area?

I have a seller referral (short sale, unfortunately) 

Thanks!

3rd Annual "Lummis Day: The Festival Of Northeast Los Angeles" Scheduled For Sunday, June 1, 2008, 11am-7pm

Los Angeles- The 3rd annual Lummis Day: The Festival of Northeast Los Angeles event, a free, public celebration of the diverse culture and history of the L.A.'s Arroyo neighborhoods, will take place on Sunday, June 1, featuring musical, visual, culinary and literary artists representing an array of the region's cultural traditions.

This year's Lummis Day event will be presented by the Annenberg Foundation and the Autry National Center, with over a dozen community organizations, neighborhood councils, City Council Districts 1 and 14, the Department of Recreation and Parks, public radio station KPFK 90.7 and KMEX-TV acting as sponsors.

Principal activities for the event will be staged as Sycamore Grove Park at 4900 N. Figueroa Street, where music, art, multi-cultural performances and food service begins at 12:30 pm, and at Lummis Home, 200 E. Avenue 43, where the program will begin with an 11:00 am poetry reading followed by a "trek" led along the route of Arroyo Seco riverbed. The Festival will feature musicians, local restaurants, dancers, performing artists and visual artists representing many cultural traditions of the Southern California region.

Last year's event drew over 3,500 people to events at Sycamore Grove Park and Lummis Home. Over 25 community groups, a dozen galleries and half dozen restaurants participated.

Lummis Day takes its name from Charles Fletcher Lummis, who served as the L.A. Times' first city
editor in 1876. Lummis was also one of the city's first librarians, founded the Southwest Museum and helped introduce the concept of multi-culturalism to Southern California. The Lummis Day Community Foundation--composed of a broad cross-section of community activists--hopes the third annual event will again serve to celebrate the diverse culture and history of the Arroyo neighborhoods, strengthen linkages among cultural, commercial and community resources and create a framework for future civic, creative and commercial growth in Northeast Los Angeles.

"Lummis Day" is presented by the Annenberg Foundation and the Autry National Center and sponsored by the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council, the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council, the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council, the Greater Cypress Park Neighborhood Council, the Department of Recreation and Parks, public radio station KPFK 90.7, SIPA (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans) and the North Figueroa Association with the support of Los Angeles City Council Districts 1 and 14, the Mount Washington Association, the Heritage Square Museum, the Highland Park Heritage Trust, the Eagle Rock Arts Center, the L.A. Poetry Festival and other community organizations.

Established in 1989 by Walter H. Annenberg, the Annenberg Foundation provides funding and support to nonprofit organizations in the United States and globally through its headquarters in Radnor, Pennsylvania and offices in Los Angeles, California. Its major program areas are education and youth development; arts, culture and humanities; civic and community life; health and human services; and animal services and the environment. In addition, the Foundation operates a number of initiatives which expand and complement these program areas. The nnenberg Foundation exists to advance the public well-being through improved communication. As the principal means of achieving this goal, the Foundation encourages the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge.

The Autry National Center was established in March 2003 following the merger of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, the Women of the West Museum, and the Autry Museum of Western Heritage. Leveraging the resources and talents of these three institutions, the Center's mission is to explore the experiences and perceptions of the diverse people of the American West, connecting the past with the present to inform our shared future.

Lummis Day information and updates are available at http://www.lummisday.org. Lummis Day: The Festival of Northeast L.A. is organized by the Lummis Day Community Foundation, Inc.

Tax Rebate Checks ... To stimulate the economy... Yeah, right.

So here's my informal survey...

How many people reading this own rental property?

How many of your tenants are really struggling to keep their rent payments current?

How many of your tenants have said to you something like "Please, just hold on until my tax rebate check comes in, and then I can catch up".

I'd certainly rather they use that check to pay rent .... even though our government intended it for people to go out and buy stuff to "stimulate" the economy.  Sorry, Mr. Bush.

Back in the day, a couple years ago, I suppose you coulda called me a "purist".  The thought of duplicate content (or gawd-forbid, messy code) could send me into shock.

But, OK.  Fast forward to mid-2008.  Everyone belongs to several social networks.  It ain't easy to create unique content for each different social network.

What is the current webmaster/SEO expert thinking on publishing the same article on several different social networks?

Let's say you belong to Active Rain, MyAgentBook, Zolve, RealSeekr, Gather, Facebook and MySpace.

Anyone see any issue with posting the same article on each of those social networks?  Maybe on different days?

What about posting it on each of those networks, plus one's own outside blog, plus as a Zillow article?

A few years ago I think I remember reading that each social platform, and each comment stream, would be sufficiently different that search engines would not consider it duplicate content.  Or did I dream that?

Answers, anyone?

UPDATE   Here's a link to Mary McKnight's article on RSS Pieces back in June, 2007  She's talking about duplicating content on Active Rain and a personal blog ... So, Mary, does this still hold true if you duplicate the content on Active Rain, PLUS MyAgentBook, Zolve, RealSeekr, Gather, Zillow, Facebook, MySpace (and whatever other networks I've joined and can't remember right now......)

UPDATE 2  Here's another link to information about this

Well, new to me at any rate.  We advertise properties weekly on Craigslist and other onliine classified sites. 

Someone evidently picked out a few of our for-sale properties out from ads we posted in kijiji and reposted their own version of the ads in Craigslist as for-rent -- with a low rent amount -- and the statement they decided to rent the home out, and to contact them directly in the U K for "documents and keys" ... and no doubt, wiring instructions to send them your money.... :-O 

Reply to: XXXXXXXXXX@XXXXXX
Date: 2008-05-20, 2:19PM PDT


Thanks for your mail. I own the house located at 41027 San Pascual Avenue, Highland Park, 92880 .Location:San Pascual Valley. The house was placed on sale but i was advised by my wife not to sell it, so i decided to place it on rent. So you can go and view and get back to me.
Details:

This handsome traditional home is located in the San Pascual Valley, adjacent to South Pasadena. Close to parks, golf course, and the beautiful hiking/riding trails of the Arroyo Seco. 2 bedrooms, plus sunroom. Central heat and air. Hardwood floors throughout. 2 car attached garage, plus plenty of additional driveway parking. Easy care garden lush with fruit trees and roses borders a private patio.

I am on a 5years Contract Work to the United Kingdom.So all documents and keys are with me since i could not get an agent to put it on Rent.So i will like to know how many Months/Years you want to rent. This are my direct phone number: +44.7XX.5XX.9XX6 /You can call me anytime you feel free.
Regards...

TO VIEW PICS,PLEASE REFER TO THE LINK BELOW..

This happen to anyone else?

I figure I'd better start searching Craigslist daily to make sure more of our listings don't get reposted by scammers.

P.S.  I contacted Craigslist, and they've zapped the phoney ads already.  So, kudos to Craigslist for being responsive..

Ardell's post and some of the comments here got me thinking.....

Here's my theory .....  A tightening in UNSECURED credit is a factor in dragging down the housing market....

Let's be real ... for most people a monthly mortgage payment of $3,000 or $4,000 is just simply a lot of money.  Even for folks with "good jobs". 

But many people signed on the dotted line, agreeing to make those mortgage payments, because UNSECURED credit was also easy to get.  If you ran a little short at the end of the month, there was always a new credit card in the mail ... and you could juggle balances from one card to another ...

Then as the mortgage market changed, so did the credit card market ....

New credit cards became harder to get.  People received notices that their credit limits were lowered.  Suddenly ... no more credit card cushion to make ends meet at the end of the month.

That monthly mortage payment of $3,000 started looking a whole lot different....

Have you seen this in your area?  With your clients?

I used to enjoy Twitter conversations immensely.  I backed off earlier this year as it seemed more and more people were just "broadcasting" instead of "conversing".  Kind of like being in a room with 85 radios all turned on, each to a different station.  :-0

However, with all the talk about Twitter the last few days http://activerain.com/blogs/transparentre  I felt I should probably dive back in.

The trick would be reducing the "sound" level down to a managable conversation.

First I unfollowed all the tech people.  I mean ALL of them.  Sorry, Guy Kawasaki.  Sorry, Seth Godin.  Unfollowing Dave Taylor brought a lump to my throat.  OMG -- What AM I doing???!!!  But, hey, if I want to know what they're saying, I can always go read their blogs.

Then I unfollowed some of the real estate people.  Folks that are probably very nice and clever and all that, but I just can't remember who the heck they are.

I am going to wait a bit before tackling the next round of cuts.... Real estate people that I know who they are, but they just kindasorta annoy me ... you know grate on the old nerves....

Has anyone else come to this point in their Twitter-Life?  If you have, and if you unfollow me for any of the above reasons, I promise not to take it personally.

Can anyone help me with this? 

Several months ago -- heck it could be over a year ago --- I had the URL of a real estate agent in Texas (I think Texas) that wrote particularly long almost story-narrative-style descriptions for his listings.

In the process of updating computers, etc. etc.,   I have misplaced the link, and competely forgotten his name.  Pretty hard to Google for something if you don't even know the name.  Darryl Something?  Darin Something?   Oh good grief.

I'm putting together a notebook with examples of particularly well done listing remarks, and I'd like to be able to remember who he is and check out his work again.

Can anyone help??  And if you point me at other examples of really well written listing remarks, I'd like that, too.

Thanks!!!!