Happy May Day!

Mariachis, margaritas….America celebrates Cinco de Mayo and the Battle of Puebla

The perception many Americans have is that we are celebrating Mexico’s independence on May 5.   You see we Americans love to celebrate other country’s holidays too such as St. Patrick’s Day, Chinese New Year, or the weeks-long Octoberfest.  But Cinco de Mayo is not the celebration of Mexico’s Independence Day as many believe (actually, it is September 16).  What Cinco de Mayo commemorates is Mexico’s army surprising victory over the French on May 5, 1862, after the French landed a large force on the shores of Veracruz in the State of Puebla in late 1861.  France’s purpose for the invasion was to conquer Mexico and make it a Second Empire.  They also wanted to collect monies owed them by the Mexican government.  At the time, this victory symbolized unity and pride for what seemed like a “Mexican David defeating a French Goliath”.  And while the French were vanquished at this battle, they returned with 30,000 troops a year later and deposed the Mexican army, capturing Mexico City, and established Emperor Maximilian as ruler of Mexico, which only lasted three years.  Still, the Battle of Puebla, as it is called, remains a historic victory for our south-of-the-border friends, and we, too, take pride in celebrating with our friends from Mexico on Cinco de Mayo.

Olvera Street — the centerpiece of Cinco de Mayo in historic downtown Los Angeles

If you’ve never been to Mexico, it’s not far away.  I’ve been coming to Olvera Street since my childhood when my parents brought me to this very historic part of old Los Angeles.  Olvera Street started out as a short lane called Wine Street. In 1877 the street was extended and its name changed to Olvera Street in honor of Agustin Olvera, who owned a home at the end of the street across from the Plaza. He was the first county judge of Los Angeles. Several historic buildings line the street, including the Avila Adobe, built around 1818 by former mayor Francisco Avila, the Pelanconi House, oldest brick house in the city, dating from 1855, and the Sepulveda House, built in 1887 as an Eastlake Victorian business and residential building.

When socialite Christine Sterling walked through the Plaza and Olvera Street in 1926 she was shocked by the dilapidated condition of the oldest part of the city, and started a campaign to save it.   Mrs. Sterling envisioned a colorful Mexican marketplace and cultural center. With funding provided by six influential men and publicity from the Los Angeles Times, she started a corporation to revitalize Olvera Street.

One well-known business that moved to Olvera Street in 1930 was La Golondrina Cafe, the first restaurant in the city to serve authentic Mexican food With the City’s roots firmly established by early settlers from Mexico in the late 1700s and early 1800s, Olvera Street’s cobblestone street and buildings remain much the same as they did over two centuries ago.  Today, some 3.5 million visitors come to the area to dine in authentic, old Mexican restaurants and shop amongst the many vendors with stores and carts in this lively slice of old Mexico.

***********************************************************************************************
The birth of the California-Mexican Cook Book.    Olvera Street was also the inspiration for a famous lecturer and author, Bertha Haffner-Ginger, who discovered Mexican food when she visited Olvera Street area in the early 1900s.  Having just started as a writer for the Los Angeles Times in 1913, Haffner-Ginger took a stroll through nearby “old Los Angeles” and sampled some of the area’s delicious foods, and she was hooked.  Lecturing and writing about “domestic harmony” and focusing on unique, primitive foods, Haffner-Ginger published her 96-page “California Mexican-Spanish Cook Book in 1914, which included a glossary of food terms and the first documented recipe and photo for tacos in the United States.

***********************************************************************************************
Whom do you trust?  You find “trust” in the trenches…..

Like you, I find it frustrating to read about these real estate articles that come streaming from everywhere.  The real estate market is up, down.  The market is bottoming out.  Los Angeles home prices are up by this percentage or that percentage.  And after all is said and done, I look out the window at my home and think?  “What are they talking about”?

Certainly, I have respect for many national reports — because they are reporting on a “national situation”, not just what is happening in Bel-Air, or Brentwood, or Beverly Hills — the communities I specifically report on.  These are national and regional statistics that they are batting about.  And as a reader, you only see the headlines and perhaps read the stories that carry the sweeping overview of our city, region, or state.  But in the real estate trenches — where I work every day — I see a more intimate, more relevant picture of what is really happening in your neighborhood.

Yes, all of these reports affect the national real estate state of mind, and it does impact attitudes of buyers and sellers.  So when I sit on an open house and see the enthusiasm, the intensity and recently, the competition for really great listings, I see a lot of energy out there.

Statistics don’t tell the whole story — and while I rely to some degree on the Multiple Listing Service, I have grown skeptical of MLS monthly stats and take with a dose of reality any statistics that cover Los Angeles.  What counts is what is happening in your neighborhood, in your community, on your street; these stories do not cover your community do they?

For example, we have seen the local MLS allowing agents to double post a sale which really screws up the median sales prices and sales volumes. I have stated enumerable times that the median sales prices for your community are the best reflection of the ‘trend’ in evaluating how your community is doing with home prices.  However, that’s really too broad too.  For months I have been filtering out all of the double-posted sales to give you the most accurate information I can in the SchifferLine.

Being in the trenches every day gives one the “birds eye view “that reflects how buyers and sellers truly feel.  It’s one thing to read about prices in the newspaper, it’s another to sit before a seller and talk about how much they want for their home….or to negotiate for a buyer what they should pay for a home.  The intimacy and sensitivities of buyers and sellers experience is the “true reality”:  This is what I see in the trenches every day.

What you see from the trenches is the true reality of the market.  Flying at 30,000 feet cannot give you the pulse of the market down on the ground.  We live in a magnificent market — the Westside of Los Angeles is truly unique, and so when you see these stories, please understand that you are getting only a partial picture.

*********************************************************************************************
And, the $64,000,000 question:  Are we bottoming out?

I can only speak for the trenches I work in  which is primarily West Los Angeles, although I just referred a client to an agent in Dallas Texas and another one in Hyde Park in Illinois.  I would say to any of this current national talk about bottoming out: “It’s too early to tell.”  From your standpoint as a seller or a buyer, national trends don’t count much when you are negotiating to sell or purchase a home: It’s the deal in front of you — what’s on the table?  Yes, we are definitely seeing an uptick in sales volume over 2011 as I reported in the SchifferLine.  But sales volume is not the most important story — it’s what homes are selling for — the price one is willing to accept and offer.  Let’s wait a few months to see what is happening in our communities — not what is happening in Colorado, New York, or Florida.  I will keep you posted on how the trenches are doing, and I must admit we have pretty nice trenches in Bel-Air, Brentwood and Beverly Hills!

Challenges on the home front.

The biggest challenge I see for home buyers is the lack of quality inventory in our market.  We are seeing very aggressive buyers who are anxious to close a deal.  Many buyers have come late into the market, selected their dream home, and discovered that they’re too late — multiple offers have already been made and the competition is intense.   Many homes are sold before they even hit the market, because our Westside communities remain so attractive and popular, not only with local buyers but with foreigners as well who know they can count on making a sound real estate investment.

Another issue is getting an accurate read on “price”  — either from the buyer’s or seller’s perspective.  Just how valuable is this home?  That’s the question we real estate agents deal with constantly — trying to set a realistic price that is fair to both the seller and the buyer.  One of the problems I have encountered is that the local statistics you might see on some of the online price evaluation sites just don’t take into consideration all of the factors of a home’s true value.  So where do you get the price evaluation?  I always state that the best person to ask is real estate professional, like me.  What do we use?  Simple:  We use comps: Pure and simple!  Comparable final home sales data are what is real.  They tell the story.  And it doesn’t make any difference if a seller believes his home is worth $2, 000,000 when the market/comps clearly show that the home should be priced at $1,750,000.  The longer a home sits on the market, the lower the price is when it is sold.  That’s a proven fact. I am always getting phone calls from appraisers asking for help in making up with a number that works and is fair.

If you would like a no-obligation review of your home’s value, please contact me, at 310-442-1384…..day or night.

Be A Rainmaker…..an inspiration

There’s a group of people on this Earth who have made a bold decision: They have decided to take on a career that promises them no paycheck on a daily basis until they deliver the goods. It delivers an abundance of challenges and problems to solve along the way in order to earn that paycheck.

It’s a job that is built entirely on competence and character mixed with the ability to create rapport, while maintaining ethics and truth even when it costs you. It’s advanced entrepreneurship…you have to want it because it’s going to put up a fight.  It says “You want it? Come and take it if you can, ’cause we ain’t giving it away here!”  Well, it sure feels that way doesn’t it?

This is a group who wakes up every morning with fire in their belly….creativity in their brain and a passion in their heart for the possibilities the day holds.  For what they can accomplish and build, they never, ever, ever quit.

The time they offer you is, oh, so precious, because it’s time not spent with their families, with their hobbies nor with their personal dreams. They offer you that precious time with the generosity of a mother and will defend how it’s spent with the watchful eye of a father. They are happy to be in service to you, to help you reach your goals and defend your right to pursue them. They are having fun, serving people, making money.
They are your Realtor, they are your Lender; they are The Salesmen or Saleswomen and they are in the most honorable profession on this planet; because nothing happens on this planet, until a sale happens: no economy, no employment, no wealth happens without sales.

This is my mantra.. to be of service to my clients and to have fun  and enjoy my life along the way.

*********************************************************************************************
What is going on in my life you ask?

My wonderful Mother is celebrating her 90th birthday this month, so we are all going to Seattle for a weekend long party to celebrate her!  We are also planning a family cruise later this year when we can coordinate our busy schedules. She is fabulous, still lives alone, drives and I consider her as one of the many gifts I have in my life!!!

As for my business, I am very, very busy and enjoying every bit of it… I currently have a number of listings in Mountaingate, a lease listing in Bel Air Crest, and am negotiating a number of purchase agreements for a various clients in different areas, including Brentwood, and Westwood.

I also want to thank all of you who attended our Emergency Preparedness Fair in Bel Air Crest last weekend.  It was most successful and very informative for everyone who attended.