Timely Real Estate News………………………………………………15 February 2013
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Valentine’s Day Trivia……
I know Valentine’s Day 2013 has come and gone, but I thought I would share some fun trivia with you none the less… Did you know that the Chocolate Manufacturers Association of America says 36 million boxes of chocolate are sold for Valentine’s Day? American women say they’d rather receive chocolates than flowers. Teachers receive the most Valentine’s Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, and sweethearts. During Abraham Lincoln’s campaign for President, a Democrat named Valentine Tapley swore he would never shave again if Abe were elected. He kept his word and his chin whiskers went unshaven from November 1860 until he dies in 1910, attaining a length of 12 feet, 6 inches! The name Valentine comes from the Latin word valor, meaning worthy.
I hope you had a lovely Valentine’s Day!
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2013 starts off with a ‘bang’! Volumes accelerate….momentum carries over from last year
For the past several years, we have been slow in getting out of the starting blocks as far as real estate volumes, but not this year. For the four communities I report on — Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Post Office, Bel-Air, and Brentwood — January 2013 sales exceeded more than $105 million compared with $73 million for January 2012, a 25% increase already on the books for this year. The past year was notable for the push in sales volume during the last quarter because of the ‘rush’ to take advantage of capital gains tax rates for 2012 vs. 2013….and volumes were significantly up in the October — December period. There was some concern that we would be facing a slowdown in early 2013, but it is not happening….even during February as of this date, we continue to see multiple offers on homes everywhere and the strengthening of prices.
Beverly Hills amazes me –– not only because of the depth of neighborhoods and fine homes, but it continued to buck the trend during the past real estate meltdown. In fact, Beverly Hills’ sales volume was $43.520 million for January 2013 compared to $14.050 million in January 2012. But one has to look at the actual sales for BH to understand why: Beverly Hills median sales prices are up 34% at $6.200 million compared to $4.600 million in January 2012. Of the five homes reported to the MLS that sold in Beverly Hills last month, three were over $6 million — and the top two homes went for $10 million and $29 million respectively!
Brentwood continues to also amaze me — but in a different way. 2011 was not a great year for Brentwood — it lagged behind in sales volume and median sales prices for most of the year, but the sales volume started turning around in mid-2012. While Brentwood sales volume was down compared to January 2012, the median sales price was up 23% — with $2.240 million vs. $1.900 in January 2012. I do understand that’s only one month, but when you see a community’s stats — as I do every week — it’s nice to see an area that was struggling with MSP make a strong statement in the first month of the year. And importantly, the average Days on Market (DOM) was only 44 days in Brentwood compared to over a 100 days in the other three communities.
Bel-Air and Beverly Hills Post Office both experienced declines in median sales prices in January 2013 compared to January 2012. BHPO was down 35% in median sales price this past month and Bel-Air was down 40%. Sales volume for Beverly Hills Post Office was $15.472 million for January 2013 compared to $20.870 million for January
2012….Bel-Air, on the other hand, was at $27.380 million for January 2013 compared to $19.063 million for January 2012.
So what does this all mean? It’s too early to tell — and yes, I know, you’ve heard me say that before — but the question is: Are we still seeing the effects of the last 2012 quarter when so many homes closed escrow so buyers could take advantage of 2012 tax rates? Remember, the homes that closed escrow and that you’re seeing in the MLS #s mean only one thing: those sales were made in 2012. So, let’s see how we get through the first quarter 2013 before we see how we’re trending.
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It’s the economy, stupid. But are we different here in California? Two things happened this past week — 1) LA City Mayor Antonio Villaragosa proposed that Los Angeles raise the city’s sales to a total of 9.5% (from 9.0%). If approved by voters on the March 5, 2013, ballot, it will go into effect on July 1. The effect will be an increase of $215 million for the next fiscal year, which could potentially eliminate the city’s deficit of $216 million. 2) Texas Governor Rick Perry is out hustling California businesses to move to Texas — which has no personal income tax and has low corporate tax and his aggressive, in-your-face campaign is to attempt to snatch companies and jobs away from us and take home to his Lone Star state. “You fish where the fish are,” Governor Perry told the Los Angeles Times. And in his strong Texas drawl, he made his point in presentations in the heart of the Westside in Beverly Hills on Monday, February 11. His point: Higher corporate taxes, business-building red tape, and a personal income tax hike that is scaring our wealthiest innovators according to Perry.
These two initiatives, by themselves, are not new to us in California. We have seen practically every state in the Union at our doorstep pitching our most favored companies and some have listened and have left.
In response to Perry and others….Gov. Jerry Brown has publicly dismissed both Perry and the idea of firms fleeing California. In a statement, his Office of Business and Economic Development noted that 257,000 private-sector jobs were added last year and that firms such as Samsung and Amazon were expanding in the state. “No state has ever poached their way to long-term prosperity,” the statement said. “This is something so many governors have done before and with the same ineffective results.”
Our economy is driven by the entertainment and tourist business in Los Angeles County — and just yesterday, Microsoft announced opening a major new office for their entertainment division that will focus on programming for their X Box — and not just software for computers. And it’s important to step back and look at the “real story” on companies leaving our state.
According to the Los Angeles Times, many economists, say companies griping over higher taxes or new regulations is nothing new in California, and we have lost relatively few jobs that can be blamed on businesses moving out of state. From 1992 to 2006, for example, only 2% of job losses were because of firm relocations according to the Public Policy Institute of California, fewer than 1% of the states jobs leave annually, and that has remained constant in times of boom or bust.
What do know is that our real estate market is slowing trending upward with higher volumes and stronger prices. Foreign buyers are still flowing into our market — with cash offers, which translates to firmer home prices and stronger offers. I am seeing multiple offers every week in our office. The lack of quality inventory, of course, is causing much of this, but as prices move and firm up, sellers will be coming back into the market and we’ll eventually see more inventory.
That being said, there is another component to this… and as I have said many times, even with the lack of inventory that we are experiencing today, if the property is overpriced for its condition, location, whatever, it is still sitting until a correction is made. Last Sunday, I was waiting for a client to meet me at an open house for a condo in Santa Monica.
The potential buyers were streaming in and out, mostly coming out very quickly. So I did a little information poll (I had not yet been inside), “how was it”;. most of the answers I got were “too expensive, needs too much work, etc”.
When my client & I got inside, I immediately saw what they were talking about.. I will be tracking this property to see what it eventually sells for and how much in proximity to the asking price.. it will be interesting to see.
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A jewel is a jewel….especially if it’s the Hammer
Thousands drive by it every day and not a wonder. Without a thought about stopping or coming back when traffic is a little more sane. This is an area of town most noted for being the busiest intersection in America (Westwood Blvd. and Wilshire)….it’s not noted as also the home of the almost-famous “Hammer Museum”, as it is commonly referred to.
This Carrara marble coated, three-story museum was completed in 1990 by philanthropist and art collector Armand Hammer, houses some of America’s premier art collections — renown throughout the art world for its premier collections of artwork on paper. While the museum, operated by UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture, contains fine art from the impressionist and post-impressionist art periods, the Museum continues to attract some of the rarest collections of American and European drawings — including works by Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger and California painter, Richard Diebenkorn. In addition, the museum received a collection of drawings and other works on paper by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, and other major figures of the post World War II ear.
Today, the Hammer manages a complex group of art holdings, and conducts regular programs in the Billy Wilder Theater, which opened in late 2006. The venue houses the Hammer’s provocative public programs and is also the new home of the UCLA Film and Television Archive’s well-known “cinematheque”.
Having visited the Hammer many times for exhibitions and community events, I realize that it is such a community treasure. In our very hurried lives, buzzing about our commutes between office and home and dining out, we sometimes just ignore and forget about the treasures right under our collective noses
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If you ever wanted to be in the wine business, now’s your chance.
You could not ask for a more perfect setting…more perfect vineyard…and a more perfect place to live out yourdreamsas a vintner. If you’re in the mood and have the $$, then you have come to the right place: World famous Moraga Vineyards is now for sale. They are asking $27.5 million for 16 of the most beautiful and successful wine-growing acreage in the United States.
Moraga Vineyards was the fantasy-come-true for Tom and Ruth Jones, who have lived on the 16-acre property since 1959 when they purchased the property, which was then a small horse ranch carved out of Moraga Canyon by Victor Fleming, director of Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz.
This Moraga Canyon site is really ideal for growing grapes — it has the perfect soil for growing superior grapes that are processed for Moraga’s blended reds and whites. But interestingly, this relatively small hillside patch of land gets an average of 25 inches of annual rainfall compared to 15 for downtown Los Angeles, and the property’s soil has been compared to that of Bordeaux and the hills of Tuscany.
Tom Jones is the former CEO of Northrup Grumman Corporation for 30 years, and it wasn’t until 1978 that theystarted experimenting with several varietals, clones and rootstocks to find the best match for Moraga’s terroir (vineyard soils). By 1985, wine made from its Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot proved to be encouraging, and in 1989, the first Moraga Red Table Wine was produced and released in 1992. The first white blend was produced in 1998 and released in 2000.
If you have never been to the vineyard, you’re in for a true, surprising “treat” — the vineyards have been terraced gracefully on the hillsides — and in every direction, you have a picture-perfect photo of what a vineyard should look like.
Perhaps, if you’re feeling that now is the time to become that gentleman farmer (and it is farming in the truest sense)….consider buying Moraga Vineyards. Please call me….310-442-1384. I love wine, too.
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Join the Walk for Warriors –
Co sponsored by New Directions and the West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, the 5K Walk is scheduled for Memorial Day, May 28.I encourage all of you to join the Walk for Warriors — to help our returning veterans who are dealing with the transitions of coming home. We have approximately another 34,000 coming back this year, many to Los Angeles. The Walk takes place on Memorial Day, May 28, 2013 — at the VA grounds. Here is the link for you to sign up and get more information. www.walkforwarriors.kintera.org/
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Green Cleaning Tips: using denatured alcohol (methylated spirits)
Supermarket cleaning aisles are crammed with all sorts of fancy cleaners claiming to do this, that or the other. Some of these
cleaners contain highly toxic chemicals that are not only unnecessary, but quite damaging to the environment .Our cleaning tasks don’t really need such complex chemical cocktails. Thankfully, many green cleaners have become available as commercial preparations in recent years. Some of these products are based on materials commonly found around the home such as baking soda, borax, vinegar and eucalyptus oil.
Here’s another – methylated spirits. What is methylated spirits? Also known as denatured alcohol, methylated spirits is for the most part just plain alcohol (ethyl alcohol). Yes, the alcohol that is in your favorite cocktail! Around 90% of methylated spirits is ethanol; so it’s incredibly strong. But before anyone gets ideas, read on…The main additive is 10% methanol, which is highly toxic, but it may also include isopropyl alcohol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone or other substances. These substances are added specifically to deter people from drinking it. Without it, you can imagine the social implications of having such inexpensive alchol readily available to all ages. The difference between the two alcohols is ethanol is made from grains, fruits and vegetables and methanol usually from wood stock.
WARNING: Do not attempt to drink methylated spirits. Methanol can cause blindness, brain damage and death. While some people do drink it regularly, they are usually severely impaired after a while and others have died after their first try. Drinking as little as 10 ml of methanol (two teaspoons) can cause blindness.
Uses for methylated spirits.
It’s great as a glass cleaner! If you’re going to use it in hot conditions, dilute it with water. Methylated spirits can be used to remove ink stains from upholstery or clothes, remove permanent marker from pvc plastics., as a solvent for thinning paint; as a general metal cleaner;. for removing stickers and sticker residue from car windshields; to clean bike disc brakes.;cleaning electronics;cleaning CD/DVD laser lenses (use a cotton bud/q- tip)
Note: always spot test when using methylated spirits/denatured alcohol on fabrics and plastics and take particular care when using on lacquered surfaces. Avoid using on wood items.
Here’s an interesting fact I picked up on Wikipedia: In the United States, small amounts of denatured alcohol are used in many consumer products – and not just cleaning items. It will be listed as “SD alcohol XX”, where SD stands for “specifically denatured” and XX is the formula used in the denaturing process.
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So what is happening in my real estate world? A lot….. I have a wonderful new listing of a fabulous, exciting unit in the most prestigious building on the Wilshire Corridor, The Wilshire! It is a sleek, exciting 2/2.5 with some views that has been extensively remodeled with great attention to detail! I am also getting another unit on the Wilshire Corridor, and have some properties coming up in Bel Air Crest, Mountaingate and Bel Air Park. Please give me a call for more information and be sure to check out my web site caroleschiffer.com
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