July 24, 2008

Starter Homes Under $550 in Silver Lake, Atwater and Echo Park

I recently had a reader ask about starter homes on the eastside - where are they and are they affordable? Well, as some of the listing below show, you can pick up a home for under $550 that a few years ago was selling in the $700,000 range. The listings below are some of the better ones in this price range. Most are on the small side, between a tight 700 square feet, up to about 1,200. They are also not in the prime areas of Silver Lake or Echo Park, but I picked places that are also not in bad areas. If you’re really in the market for a starter home, these are some good ones to check out just to get an idea of what’s out there. Here you go - next up, I’ll tackle Eagle Rock and Downtown.

• In Atwater, here’s a cute 2/1 Tudor that has languished on the market for 169 days. It’s listed at $549,000.
• This cute Spanish 2/1 is also in Atwater Village, on the other side of Glendale Blvd. (the Los Feliz Blvd. side) It’s listed at $499,000 and been on the market about a month.
• In Silver Lake - Echo Park (on Lemoyne), here’s a 1938 traditional that looks like a short sale. It’s listed at $499,000, but the last sale was for $558,000 and in 2007 it sold for $773,000. No joke.
• Not far away in Echo Park is this charming cabin-y, condo-alternative-type place for $484,500.
• Here’s a “bank says sell!” 2/2 in Silver Lake for $499,900. It last sold in 2007 for $587, 650.

July 24, 2008

Downtown’s Deco Developer

Today’s LA Times has a great profile of developer Wayne Ratkovich, who has redone a number of architecturally-significant buildings downtown, including the Art Deco Wiltern Theater. Here’s a bit:

Ratkovich is regarded as one of the pioneers along with Yellin and Gene Summers, setting the tone for sophisticated restorations of historic buildings in L.A. starting in the 1980s, even when it wasn’t always profitable. Developer Tom Gilmore revved up the market again early in this decade with his successful conversions of old downtown office buildings to apartments……

Many of downtown’s older buildings had already been knocked down when Ratkovich bought the Oviatt Building in 1977 because they were considered obsolete. A similar fate was perhaps in store for the Oviatt, which the Los Angeles Archdiocese wanted to sell after receiving title in a parishioner’s will. Ratkovich acquired the former department store turned office tower for $450,000 and spent about $5 million to restore it before selling it for $13.5 million.

And here’s a bit of movie trivia hidden at the end of the piece:

One of the bigger risks was to put a top-drawer restaurant on the ground floor of the Oviatt. Yet Rex Il Ristorante was a glamorous success that lured limousines to a dodgy stretch of Olive Street. When the wealthy lawyer played by Richard Gere took Julia Roberts to a fancy dinner in 1990’s smash movie “Pretty Woman,” he took her to the Rex. More recently, scenes from the movie “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and the television show “Mad Men” were filmed in the restaurant now known as Cicada.

The area around Cicada is still one of the rougher sections of downtown—it’s the 90014 zip and basically runs between 5th and 9th and Grand and San Pedro. I think its a tough sell right now because it’s not as hip as other parts of downtown, and still has a gritty, “where am I” feel to it. But two loft buildings have a number of lower-priced units for sale right now—part of Santee Village and the Bartlett Building, both renovations of older spaces. Here’s a sample of the listings:

• $379,900 in Santee Village, a corner unit with just under 700 square feet. On the market for 168 days.
• $499,00 in Santee Village (the Textile Building), with just under 900 square feet. On the market 290 days.
• $269,000— a short sale in the Bartlett Building. 736 square feet, and on the market 27 days.
• $399,000 in the Barlett Building. Hating the short seller right now, probably—this one has 650 square feet and has been on the market 244 days.
• $449,000 gets you the Bartlett Building penthouse—1,040 square feet with a giant deck.

July 23, 2008

Cool LA Times Tool

Along with a very depressing story about record foreclosures (which I’m going to let our other bloggers tackle while I remain uncompromisingly optimistic in the face of disaster), the LA Times has linked in their real estate data tool, which lets you search by zip or city to find median sale prices for the year, the amount it’s changed over last year, and current foreclosure data. Here’s an example from the 90027:

Median sale price: $870,000

Change from 2007: -22.7%

June 2008 sales: 15

Q2 Foreclosures: 7

Q2 2007 Foreclosures: 4

Percent change year-over-year: 75%

While I can’t put any kind of good spin on a 75% increase in foreclosures, I do like the tool. It’s a great, quick way to get a snapshot of a zip and see what kind of activity is going on.

The story also has a 16 photo spread of homes in foreclosure from “Glendale to Redondo Beach.” (the pic above is the first in the series, credited to Leo Nordine Realtors). It’s really interesting to take a look at it and get an idea of the breadth of homes that are in foreclosure. I truly feel sorry for people facing losing their home, regardless of the financial decisions that got them to this point. Whether its the banks fault, the borrowers fault, or some combination, it’s a tough place to be and I feel for them.

July 19, 2008

For-Sale-By-Owner in the 90039

There actually aren’t that many FSBO houses in this area right now. I’m going to be optimistic and hope that’s a sign that there are fewer in-trouble owners in this zip than there were a couple months ago. There are also very few foreclosure sales listed right now, so let’s hope…In the meantime, here’s what’s for sale by those intrepid folks who don’t want an agent - not even Redfin!

• This is a cozy 2/1 with 900 square feet on a 4,879 square-foot lot. It’s been remodeled and is on a cul-de-sac. It looks like a nice, well-maintained starter home and is listed for $510,000.
• This listing is pretty scant on details, but it’s a 1/1.5 for $691,000 on Silver Lake Boulevard. It looks like it is probably a condo.
• This is actually in Echo Park - it’s a 2/1 for $390,000. It last sold in 2006 for $435,000, so it looks like the owner may be trying to get out.
• Lastly, this one lies in the triangle between the 2 and 5 freeways. It’s a cute 2/1 built in 1936 and listed for $445,000.

July 18, 2008

Scientologists Singing in Silver Lake

I’ve lived in Los Feliz/Silver Lake a long time, but I never knew that this building on Griffith Park Boulevard just a few doors down from the intersection of Hyperion is a recording studio owned by the Scientologists. Apparently, I am the only person in a 5-mile radius who didn’t know this. The other day as I was trying to regain a semblance of my pre-baby body by doing pilates at the new Pilates Plus Studio, I noticed a half-dozen paparazzi outside—one was even armed with a ladder. It’s apparently called Mad Hatter Studios, and according to its MySpace profile, artists from Scientologist Beck to Paul McCartney have recorded there.

This part of Silver Lake is actually pretty intersting housing-wise. Hyperion was a very industrial stretch up until about 5 years ago, when people started fixing up the scattered houses in between auto repair shops and even building new ones. The street has also seen a few new shops and restaurants open recently. The latest addition are these new condo/loft-type things that were just completed. I’m curious to see if they sell or not—it’s not a traditional residential area, and they are fairly expensive:

• 2508 N. Hyperion - There are 5 total in the complex. This one (unit #1) is a 2/2.5 with 1,406 square feet ($486 per square foot) with a roof deck. It’s listed at $710,000.

For comparison, here are some other condos and houses nearby. They aren’t as new, but they give you an idea….

• 2018 Griffith Park #111 - This 2/2 has 1,179 square feet ($466 per) and offers a pool. It’s been on the market 118 days.
• This FSBO on Rowena is a condo with 2/2.5 and 1,486 square feet. It was build in 1984, and it’s been on the market for 147 days. It just dropped its price more than $100,000 and is now listed at $685,000.
• Over on Silver Lake Boulevard, this 2/1.5 has 1,400 square feet ($456 per) and a price tag of $639,000. It’s been on the market 101 days.

July 18, 2008

Live With Young Hollywood

Cindy Allen reported earlier in the week that Bravo TV house-flipping star Jeff Lewis recently sold this Los Feliz property to Dominic Monaghan, former hobbit and current (or recently deceased?) Lost character Charlie. The house is on Commonwealth, about a half block from a back entrance to Griffith Park. Realestalker had this to say about it:

According to property records, the 1,938 square foot house featured on the current season of the terrifically entertaining television train wreck that is Flipping Out was sold to a bizness entity that MizSpillerguts swears on her mama’s dee-voon collection of vintageBalmain suits belongs to young Mister Monaghan. We can’t verify that, but children, our Miz Spillerguts is neh-vah wrong.

The street seems to be becoming a Young Hollywood Mecca—just down the road from Monaghan, star stalkers could find the Spanish abode of Entourage hottie Vinnie Chase, a.k.a. Adrian Grenier. And the end of the road, where it hits the park, it’s a big draw for film crews—at least once a week, the area is taken over by filming, the latest being a crew from Universal. So what’s all this mean for you? We’ll here’s a few places you could scoop up if you want to count the young and famous among your neighbors:

• This 4/2 Tudor is just around the corner and boasts great views over the city. It’s listed at $1,297,000 and has been on the market a little over two months.
• Up the hill on Amesbury is this 4/4 that no one is going to call shabby. It’s got 4,040 square feet of English Norman style, and even boasts a koi pond. Listed at $2,197,000.
• Also up the hill on Farmouth is this 3/2.5 for $2,195,000. It’s a “dramatic Spanish” and that ain’t no hype.

July 12, 2008

Echo Park Open Houses

It’s Sunday—and despite the heat and the strange threat of rain, there are open houses to see. I’m zeroing in on Echo Park (90026) today, where the Lotus Festival is going on, sans the lotus part. This year has apparently been especially bad for the flowers, and they may not make a comeback. But here are some other sites to see:

• 1873 Lake Shore. Billed as a “fixer,” this 2/2 has slightly under 1,000 square feet and a price tag of $399,000. Hmm, maybe you want to keep driving and see some of the lofts downtown for that price, which comes in at $404 per square foot.
• 1318 Benton Way. This 3/1.75 bills itself as redone with all the granite-counter-style extras. It’s fresh on the market (1 day) and has just over 1,500 square feet. Yours for $869,000.
• 2226 Avon St. A 3/2 Spanish “nestled next to North Elysian Park,” it promises all the amenities. It’s been on the market 146 days, and the google earth photo shows a construction site next to it. I lived next to a house under construction once. It was rough. This one is listed at $689,000.
• 2230 N. Avon St. This Spanish is brand new, and the listing looks very similar to the one above on Avon, so maybe this is the under construction one….listed for $899,000.
• 1321 Carroll Ave. This one is worth going by just to look at—it’s an Angelino Heights Victorian from about 1885, complete with a 1/1 carriage house out back. It’s a historical monument (#176 to be exact), and is listed for $1.576 million.
• 2339 Effie. Effie is the street that never seems to end—it pops up everywhere in Silver Lake. This 3/3 is on hilly part of it with views, and bills itself as a “Caribbean hideaway” on a 14,000 square foot lot. Asking price is $925,000 and its been on the market 35 days.

So there you have it, from affordable to enviable in Echo Park. A few things to note about the area:

• There are currently 108 single family homes listed for sale in the area.
• The average listing price comes out at $535,263.
• The average price per square foot is $443.
• There are 79 sales of single family homes listed in the last 3 months.
• The average sale price was $500,000—coming in at $404 per square foot.

July 12, 2008

Downtown Breakdown

This month’s Los Angeles magazine devotes it’s cover story to what’s happening downtown. It has a great round-up, including a map of “Downtown’s Best Drinking Holes.” Many of the top spots are in loft buildings or new hotels. Bluevelvet, for example, is in the Flat Apartments, on the edge of downtown near Good Sam hospital. The map works east from there, listing hip spots like the Golden Gopher and Seven Grand Whiskey Bar, dives like Hank’s, and business-friendly spots like Kendall’s Brasserie.

The issue also has a great article on Santee Alley by Dave Gardetta - truly a fascinating piece on the history of the counterfeit-goods shopping mecca that traces the origins of the retail district back to one enterprising shop keeper.

Later on in the magazine, two downtown bloggers (Stephen Friday from angelenic.com and Shannon Simonds of shainla.typepad.com) weigh in on favorite downtown haunts, like the new O Bar & Kitchen in the Orchid Hotel and Colori Kitchen. For anyone considering a move downtown—or questioning how anyone can live downtown in LA–it’s a must-read piece. They go through a bunch of the lofts giving their opinion on the pros and cons, and the best rooftops.

If reading the piece makes you curious about making the move to the urban core, here are a few below $400,000 places currently on the market:

• In the Toy Factory lofts, you could pick up this 831-square-foot spot that has been on the market for 104 days. The listing says it sold for $525,000 in 2005. Ouch. Now on the market for $369,000.
• This arts-district spot is also about 800 square feet, with the requisite rooftop spa (no pool!) and gym—listed for $389,000.
• In the Market Lofts, you can have Ralph’s grocery store right below you, along with a view of the courtyard pool for $399,000.

July 12, 2008

Does Style Have Value?

A reader recently asked me if the style of a house impacts its value when the market is in decline. The question came up because a friend of the reader owns a beautiful Spanish house in an area where there have been dramatic price drops over the past year—so if the friend sells, is she going to have to take a bargain basement price for her casa, or does it have more price-power than its neighbors based on its condition and vintage?

Well, there’s no perfect answer to that question — but here’s what I’ve got. Style does matter. Certain types of homes (a 1920’s Spanish, or a Craftsman, for example) are going to be desirable in any kind of market. These are the homes with emotional appeal, the ones you walk in and envision the long dinner parties you’ll throw in the enclosed courtyard, or the cosy nights by the fireplace in the mahogany-paneled library. These are the kinds of houses that are still selling fast, even in this market. They may not be selling for the price they would have a year or two ago, but you can bet they are selling for more than the 1970’s square box-house down the street. But having said that, location is always going to be the key factor. Pick up a Glassell Park Spanish and put it in Beverly Hills, and obviously you have a different price, even for the exact same home. So homes with emotional appeal in more established and desirable areas are retaining their value better than beautiful homes in lesser areas. Here’s an example:

• In the Moreno Highlands (arguably one of the best parts of Silver Lake, and on one of the best streets), here’s a Spanish colonial 5/5 with a pool, listed at $1.9 million. Other similar houses nearby aren’t as much, but they don’t have the same appeal (or the pool). Here’s a really stunning “gated chalet” in the same neighborhood with similar square footage, but it’s listed for $1.199. And here’s a completely-redone traditional with views of the reservoir and it’s in the Ivanhoe School District—for $1.395. So while this one may not get its full asking price, I will be surprised if its doesn’t sell for more than other nearby properties based on its combination of location and style. But…..
• Over in Eagle Rock, here’s an amazing Craftsman farmhouse that I’ve looked at a long while ago when it went on the market. It needs work, but the house is gracious and spacious. It’s listed at $895,00, based on its emotional appeal (and its 2,800 square feet). But here’s an example where in my opinion location is going to trump style. It’s not on a great street, and other nearby for-sale houses aren’t in the same price range. Here’s a similar-sized one up the hill (arguably a better location) listed for $785,000. And here’s one that recently sold for $777, 750 (short sale? Foreclosure?). I’m guessing this one will have to come down a lot in price before a buyer will overlook where it is for what it is.

July 5, 2008

Property Shark’s Q2 Foreclosure Report: Part 2

My last post looked at the overall outlook for LA in terms of foreclosures, courtesy of Property Shark’s 2nd Quarter report. The news does not look good. 

•  The number of newly-scheduled trustee sales in Los Angeles County surged 63% this quarter when compared to the first quarter of 2008 and 282% compared to the same quarter in 2007, setting a new record with 14,505 new trustee sales. 

But a deeper read of the report shows what we have all heard before - most of that damage is still coming from outlying areas like Palmdale and Lancaster. The top 5 zip codes in terms of foreclosures were:

1. 93550 (Palmdale) with 565 new trustee sales and $265, 262 the average owed.
2. 93535 (Lancaster) with 514 new trustee sales and $249,078 the average owed. 
3. 91342 (LA - Sylmar in the SF Valley) with 295 new trustee sales and $390, 054 the average owed. 
4. 93534 (Lancaster) with 277 new trustee sales and $239,203 the average owed. 
5. 93551 (Palmdale) with 265 new trustee sales and $360,768 the average owed.

So while I’m not saying it’s rosy days ahead for the real estate market, I’m standing by my personal opinion that the drops are almost at bottom in certain desirable areas. For brave and financially-stable buyers, the coming months are going to offer some good deals for those who are buying within their means and plan on staying put for awhile.