Condoland

During the San Fernando Valley's secession bid (from the city of Los Angeles) there were regular re-naming contests. The names "Valley City", "Rancho San Fernando", "Mission San Fernando", and "Camelot" were all ballot choices, while "Twenty-nine Malls" was a memorable, comic submission. Here's my own comic entry: "Condoland", after the miles and miles of low rise condominium buildings which line key arterials like Sherman Way, Nordhoff, and Cahuenga. But why I am writing about or even interested in condominium buildings in Valley Glen or Lake Balboa? Because I think it's where many entry buyers are going next (if not already)--not just to the Valley--but to condos. With the median home price in Los Angeles approaching fifty-six gazillion dollars, buyers are increasingly forced to explore (hopefully facilitated by their, ahem, agents) more "affordable" options (among them, condos with a median cost closer to--fifty-four gazillion dollars).

According to information from the California Builder's Industry Association (CBIA), based on current building permit counts, single family starts are down in the Los Angeles area while multi-family starts are up. The most active area actually isn't in the S.F. Valley--it's in downtown Los Angeles where new condo starts and conversions are sprouting like....they once sprouted in the San Fernando Valley! Will all this activity be enough to quench California's home-ownership thirst? California's ownership rate is the nation's second-lowest at 57%, 13% below the national average. Will all this activity be enough to facilitate homeownership for my embattled clients? Will downtown get a Trader Joes? Will the Clippers win a play-off series? Will the San Fernando Valley cease being the butt of jokes? We'll have to stay tuned.

It's Raining Again--Quick Let's Inspect!

I love to see properties and conduct inspections in the rain. It isn't about romance or peeling out on slick driveways, it's about the opportunity to hunt for water--the destroyer of homes. That's right, when better to look for signs of water infiltration, to check around windows, in basements, attics, and crawl spaces. Grading and drainage can even be noted. Is the decomposed granite walk holding up? Is that a blotch on the dining room ceiling? Is the water pooling next to the South side? I want to know!

The climate here, in many respects, is so forgiving that people overlook the weather hardiness of their homes. Who cares about a void in the siding, or if double-hung sashes rattle a bit in the wind, it ain't exactly artic air spilling in. True enough, but if it's water penetrating a poorly knit-together roof line, or gaining entry through an attic fan, or flowing beneath a masonry foundation--there could be expensive consequences.

I know there's a lot of agents who don't like to get their Prada slip-ons dirty, who spend look-see time chatting about flat-screen placement and dried flower arrangements, who prefer the interior of their dark, new model Mercedes with the light-up visor vanity, to an attic covered in fiberglass batts or a damp cellar with a leaky water heater. That ain't me. I'm out there to look at houses and look at 'em I do.

Don't get me a wrong, I'm not down on "fixers". I bought a heavy fixer; and, I've sold a lot of fixers from "heavy" to "light". If you're a buyer looking to get into the bottom middle of this market, you'll likely acquire a property with condition issues. My motto is: the buyer deserves to know. If there's something wrong with a system, if there's structural compromise, the buyer deserves to know. Hey, nobody's got X-ray vision, nobody can see into walls, and you can't necessarily uncover all that's wrong with a property--but you try to, and the agent's eyes should be part of that effort.

More About Animals and Real Estate

One thing the downtown real estate developers have really got right is--the animal option. As in, most buildings allow them. Even our friends' bull mastiff would be permitted, we were told during the recent (and disappointing) Downtown loft tour. Of course some breeds, like Presa canarios, are excepted. (I don't mean to impune Presa canarios. After all, the character of almost any animal is driven in significant part by the breeder and owner.)

A year ago, I listed a studio condo in Koreatown. I had a truckload of agents and buyers, clamoring to see it. Multiple offers were written. Hey that's generally 'all good' if you're a listing agent--only thing is, the offer count would've been even higher if the building allowed pets. One couple was incensed, "If we're the owners, how can they tell us we can't keep our ten-year old house cat." Another asked mockingly, "What're they gonna do--stage a kitty eviction?!"

Many are marrying later--if at all, and having kids later--if at all. Perhaps for these reasons (and others), the companion animal is becomingly increasingly present in contemporary, urban, American life.

Point is, whether you like animals or not, if you're living in a community bound by C.C. & R.'s (covenants, conditions, and restrictions) and animals aren't on the welcome mat, you're courting a smaller buyer's pool. Smaller buyer's pool, less demand, hey you don't need an Econ degree to figure where I'm going.

Dogs deserve better

When you're on the real estate "junket", going to a different micro neighborhood each day, looking from yard to yard, block to block, you sometimes spy the uncaring treatment of dogs.

Look, I'm probably the first guy to admit I don't walk my dog often enough. But at least mine isn't chained by day, left to sleep in the cold and wet by night, in constant proximity to fecal matter, and without fresh water.

Yeah it's a big city and there are crooks, lugs, and loons; but a dog has to function as more than just theft deterance. If a dog helps you feel more secure--great; but, dog ownership shouldn't only be about utility.

Real Estate Snipers

Frequently I'm asked by clients whether they can bring a friend or family members to see a house they're considering for purchase; often, during the escrow period. To which I always respond in the affirmative. The support and approval of friends and family is an important thing, sometimes a necessary thing--particularly when la suegra's footing the closing costs. Everybody's going to spend time in the new house right?

Still, there are those friends that act as snipers. Mostly they fit into three categories.

A) The DINC's: double income, no clue. They've got ample means of support, a swank hillside pad, and a frayed connection with the real estate realities of common folk. They think themselves well-meaning: they want good for their friends. Only their idea of good comes in a zip code or a price range that just isn't accessible without a bank heist.

B) Retired hound: a recent home buyer, only not too recent, who's idea of the market is frozen in time. They're sure your client can do better, if only they look longer. After all, their Venice casita was only $415K--in year 2001!

C)The BB's: better than their britches. Frequently renters, who cling to some ill-deserved self-worth based on their entrenched presence in a neighborhood in which they could not afford to buy, generally made possible by mama rent control. They resent the intrepidity of their homie, trolling the buyer's beat, and the sorts of latte-less neighborhoods in which they'd never consort. Maybe they're afraid of losing their friends to the home-buying cabal. Maybe they resent their own meager stakeholding being laid so bare. Either way, if you're a block too far south, if a car three blocks away is parked on a lawn, or if a newsstand with European dailies isn't within walking distance, the ruling is thumbs down.

So Who the Heck am I

I'm an urbanist, in love with cities. I'm also a real estate agent, with City Living Realty in Los Angeles. I'm active throughout the West Adams area, South Los Angeles, East L.A., up-and-down downtown, and in the Northeast part of the city. My "beat" is shaped like the number six, with downtown in the hollow. This includes most of L.A.'s oldest neighborhoods, and some of its least expensive.

Is it easy to work with buyers? No, it's frustrating, hard work; and, the market is practically impenetrable. The thing that's easy is developing empathy for your clients--because it's damned hard to buy a house in L.A.. I dare say, if you can't get passionate about helping your buyers in this climate as an agent--you oughtn't be in the service industry--any service industry.

The World's Most Overrated Tree

There are some--midwesterners to a fault--from verdant, leafy suburbs--troubled by the treeless, sensory-deprivation grey-wash that is much of the Los Angeles metro landscape. I ain't from the midwest, but count me among 'em.

Should the crooked finger point at our city fathers? Rampaging developers? The climate?

Ok, let's all share the blame and consider for a sec the fascination/obsession with the Palm tree. What if overnight, the city's palms were replaced by strident oak trees? Or powerful Sycamores? Or,....?

Sure, the palms look good at a distance, like towering sentinels; and, there's some kooky glamour association thing. Forget about it, they're a terrible street tree. Like having a telephone pole in your parkway: messy date and seed droppings that are staggeringly tenacious, razor sharp fronds dropping at a high wind's calling. Anothing thing: zero shade, little green mass, and as my son determined--you can't climb 'em!