Timely Real Estate News…………………………………………………… 1 June 2010 *********************************************************************************
Musings about how to spend your summer!
I was musing about what to share with you for the June 1 issue of The SchifferLine — what’s going on with this time of year? Obviously, Memorial Day is the traditional kickoff for summer, but as a kid, the “official day of summer was when school was over”….and when my parents sent me to camp. My first “sleep over” camping experience was at a great camp in Big Bear. I was around 10 or 11, and while I cannot remember the name of the camp, I do remember the owner and general manger, Uncle Bill. He was a great guy. Ironically, when I first moved to Bel Air Crest, I met Uncle Bill’s daughter, who also lived here and she and I had lots of laughs remembering our experiences at her dad’s camp. Another fun camping experience was at Camp Hess Kramer –which is affiliated with Wilshire Boulevard Temple and is still going strong in Malibu. I went to Hess Kramer for a number of years. Just the other day my sister, Kim, was talking about her memories of us taking her to the train from Union Station for her trip to her camp in Arizona. I know that many of my friends also went to camp. One enjoyed every summer at a YMCA camp on Catalina where he learned to swim, row boats, and spear fish. I’m grown up now and had not thought about going to camp again, but this summer l am headed for Real Estate Boot Camp organized via phone by my real estate coach, the internationally known real estate guru, Tom Ferry.
And speaking of adult camps, there are a bunch of fantasy camps for people with varied interests. For example…..if you’re a Dodger fan and really want to re-live your youth, you can attend the Dodgers Adult Baseball Camp in Vero Beach November 7-13 or later in January. The week-long fantasy camp costs approximately $4,300 plus airfare, but, hey you get to be coached by Dodger Hall of Famers and you get two Dodger baseball uniforms, video record, and you get to play ‘real baseball.’ Sounds like a deal. They say no baseball experience is necessary. Yeah sure.
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June is still the favorite ….but not always for why you think
June has always been the traditional month for weddings. And despite all of the myths you’ve heard about the Medieval tradition of having weddings in June (because it was after the women had their annual bath…which was not true), it was really the month chosen for lots of practical reasons; the first harvest was over, flowers were abundant, the weather was great, and if the bride happened to get pregnant right away, she would be recovered from the birth to help with the Fall harvest the following year. Back in the 1500s, the other more popular months were November through January when the harvests were done and the cold weather allowed for meats to be preserved for the wedding feasts. Today, June remains the most popular month, followed by August and September. 2.4 million Weddings are performed each year in the US, and the average number of invitees is 175. Average first-time bride is 25 years old….grooms are 27.5. I hope you love playing Trivial Pursuit as much as I do, and maybe some of these stories will help you along the way!
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PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) are driving mortgage rates lower….nearing record lows
If you read the Los Angeles Times last Friday, you read mortgage rates were back toward record lows as the debt crisis in Europe has “unhinged the global stock market and also helped push U.S. mortgage rates lower.” Freddie Mac reported that the average rate offered on 30-year fixed rate home loans sank to 4.78% last week, down from 4.84% the previous week. The PIGS? “Just when we thought we were finally experiencing higher loan rates, we got the PIGS,” said Steve Larsen, head of mortgage operations for Bank of the West — using the acronym for Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain — all facing severe debt crises and driving stocks down everywhere, including the US. The savings on a $350,000 loan that goes from 6.25% to 4.75% can save a homeowner approximately $4,000 per year according to the LA Times report.
According to John Ciolino, with First Mortgage Capital, Los Angeles, and a Coldwell Banker mortgage consultant….”the biggest factor is the shift from stocks to bonds. People are really nervous about the world economy, especially in Europe, and this has caused a massive sell off in the equity market.” John noted that almost every time this happens, people are looking for a safe haven to park their assets. “So we have seen the 10-year bond move down drastically and in return, we’re seeing these amazing mortgage rates,” he said. How long will it last? John said it all depends on what is happening now in Europe. Stay tuned.
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Notice something missing on your way to UCLA?
I won’t say it was one of my favorite landmarks in West Los Angeles, but half of the Sunset Boulevard Bridge over the 405 is down. It’s all part of Caltrans’s 405 widening project that is now getting into full swing. Caltrans’s rather ambitious undertaking is causing for some interesting driving patters, but if you’re a night owl or work the grave-yard shift, you will be seeing more heavy-duty destruction as we enter the next phases. The state’s “demolition crew” were busy these past few weeks — the east-bound portion of the Sunset Blvd. lanes, the southbound on-ramp to 405….as well as the south of Sunset portion of Church Lane were all demolished while construction crews installed new sewer lines. The new replacement lanes and on-ramp will be finished in approximately 6-8 months and then the west-bound lanes side will be taken down. They will also soon begin working on both the Mulholland and Skirball bridges and on-ramps. All of the construction time tables and projects seem to keep changing, and so once again, I urge you to please check http://twitter.com/I_405. This seems to be the most update postings on the construction projects.
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Emergency Preparedness Festival
For those of you who receive The SchifferLine via e-mail, it is still not too late to join us at the Emergency Preparedness Festival we are having in Bel Air Crest on Sunday, June 6, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We are being told that in the event of a catastrophic event, such as a BIG earthquake, we will not be able to depend on City officials, fire, police, etc. for help and will need to take care of ourselves for at least five days. At our festival in Bel Air Crest, we will have some vendors selling earthquake kits, or if you have some and need to update any of your supplies, you will be able to do that also. We will also have some plumbers on hand for you to make arrangements for the installation of those all so important gas shut off valves. In addition we will have food and fun and games for the kids, and hopefully a fire engine rig and other emergency equipment, videos), and perhaps a fly over by a helicopter or two for the kids of all ages to play on. If you want to join us, we will need to know by Friday June 4. Please shoot me an e-mail @ceschiffer@aol.com or call the Bel Air Crest management office 310 471-3755. This is open to all of you, but we will need to have your name at the guard gate if you do not live in Bel Air Crest.
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Baking soda isn’t just for deodorizing your fridge or for cooking
How can baking soda be good for cleaning, baking, deodorizing — and even weeding — all at the same time? Vicki Lansky’s book, Baking Soda: Over 500 Fabulous, Fun, and Frugal Uses You’ve Probably Never Thought Of, explains it all. The book was a runaway hit in 2003, and it still is today, because frugal times call for frugal ingredients that get the job done as well as store-bought formulas.
1. Washing food
– Make a paste of baking soda on a clean sponge, and then wash toxins off the skin of fruits and vegetables. Rinse well before eating.
2. Drain cleaner
– Okay, baking soda it isn’t as powerful as commercial de-cloggers, but it costs virtually pennies to make and is a great first line of defense. Take a half cup of baking soda; pour down drain followed by half cup of white vinegar. Place a glass bowl over the top of the drain for two hours, and then rinse with hot water. This should remove grease and dirt build-up through the pipes.
3. Vacuum odors
– Sprinkle baking soda on the floor, and then vacuum it up to kill odors in your vacuum.
4. Musty books
– Do you have some old and musty books that you can’t bear to throw out? Sprinkle some baking soda between the pages, and brush it out a few days later for a fresh scent.
5. Oil and grease
– Sprinkle soda on the garage or basement floor to soak up oil and grease.
6. Canvas cleaner
– To clean anything canvas, rub on a paste of baking soda, then rub off.
7. Burnt pots
– To eliminate seriously burnt-on food, pour in a thick cushion of baking soda, add an inch or so of water, and put the pot on the stove to boil. After boiling for a minute, try scrubbing again. The burned-on mess should come right off.
If you have any Green Tips that you would like to share. Please give me a shout or shot me an email.
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Please don’t forget my two beautiful Custom homes in Bel Air Crest. I also have some listings coming up in Mountaingate as well as a new listing of a newly constructed home off of Bundy, north of Sunset, as well as a sweet little home on a lovely lot on Bundy. If you or anyone you know might have an interest in any of these properties as well as any other real estate, please let me know.
