Happy 4th!

Have a safe and happy holiday.

Wall Street Journal says home prices have risen in California again

This article appeared last week in the Wall Street Journal. Of course, all markets are local, but I would not be surprised to see big statistical spikes for May and June in the L.A. area.

Thinking of buying a condo downtown? You may want to hold off for awhile.

Here's an excellent guest post from Blogdowntown about the future of the condo/loft market in downtown Los Angeles. The author, Fred Cordova of Colliers International, states that there will be deals to be had there -- but not for another 12 to 24 months.

IMO, the market for downtown L.A. condos and lofts has always been naturally limited because downtown is so family-UNfriendly. But, then, maybe that's wrong. After all, being family-unfriendly has not hurt the real estate market or prices in NYC or San Francisco.

Getting the rug yanked out...

Here's another names-and-details-changed-to-protect-bla-bla story. My buyer clients made an offer last week on a home that had been on the market for a few months. It was listed at $699k and hadn't had any takers. We came in with a very intelligent offer in line with the comparables. It went back and forth in counters for a few days. My buyers came up a little, the sellers came down a very little bit, etc.

Then, yesterday, another buyer got all aggressive with an offer, swooped in, and snatched it out from underneath my buyers. Not for much more, apparently, but for enough more to make a difference.

We're bummed, and I'm gnashing my teeth. And I face the undesirable prospect of encouraging all of my buyers to be way more aggressive with their offers than they are comfortable with.

And the biggest lesson here is for me: just because a house hasn't sold yet doesn't mean the interest in it won't suddenly spike in a crazy white-hot market. Like the one we have now.

30 showings in one day; 21 offers in one weekend. I know, I know; this news is getting old.

This is 5523 Strohm in North Hollywood. It's a 3+1 and is almost 1100 square feet. Yes, it's very cute, and many buyers have also thought so. It listed Friday night for $325,000 and had 21, yes, 21 offers on it by Monday night. Apparently, the sellers had over 30 showings on Sunday alone. Although I don't know what the actual sales price is, I think it's safe to say that it is probably considerably over the list price of $325,000. I'll say it again: we need more housing inventory on the market!!

Real estate gods bring multiple offers back. With a vengence.

Twice in the last week, I've submitted offers on properties that were over the asking price. Yes, each home was "priced to entice" -- listed low in hopes of getting a lot of offers quickly. Unfortunately, this strategy seems to be working all too well.

Each offer was from well-qualified buyers and was definitely in line with the comparable sales. One house was in the $750k range and another was in the $500+ range. And each offer was blown out in a multiple offer situation where the prevailing offer was much higher.

Colleagues tell me about 48 offers on a house on Margate, or 18 offers on this or that one in Reseda, 8 on a West Hollywood condo, etc., etc.

This isn't supposed to be happening. Aren't appraisals tightening up? Aren't buyers sitting on their hands? Well, obviously not. The real estate gods have turned this back in to a sellers' market.

This all may change if a lot of foreclosures come on the market soon. That should produce increased inventory, which will have a downward effect on prices.

It sold for HOW much?

What follows is the remains of a post regarding a recently sold home. The listing agent has demanded that I take down the picture and the address as she believed it maligned her client and the house. In the interest of good business relations and honesty, I have omitted the details and left the remainder of the post.


This is [address and photo of property removed at demand of listing agent]. It just sold. It is a tudor-style 3+2, 1748 square feet, 7000+ sf. lot. It was okay. The kitchen was big but needed a lot of work. It was in average condition. It listed for $545,000 which I thought was a good price for the size/condition.





It just reported sold for $585,000. What? Why? And what happened to the appraisal? I am seriously astonished it sold for this much.

Maybe there will be foreclosures on the market this summer after all

Lender extraordinaire Dana Dukelow sent me the following:
CA’s Foreclosure Moratorium a Sham… We’ve Been Lied To By Our State Government
By Mandelman - Last updated: Monday, June 22, 2009
Well, thanks to one of my loyal and eternally vigilant readers, Mandelman Matters has learned that California’s 90-day moratorium on foreclosures, which had the potential to be almost meaningless… well, as it turns out is actually much less than meaningless… it’s a sham.
Apparently, almost all of the lenders and servicers who were ostensibly not to be allowed to foreclose on homes during the 90-day period made possible by the moratorium on foreclosures passed by the legislature about a week ago, were able to get exemptions to the moratorium and did so BEFORE the foreclosure moratorium bill even passed the legislature! The exempted lenders and servicers don’t have to modify or prove they tried to modify a single mortgage before foreclosing on properties in California. In other words, nothing changed… essentially nothing… nada… not a thing.
Of course, what bothers me about this isn’t that the foreclosure moratorium won’t be effective, or that it won’t accomplish what it was supposed to accomplish… it never had a chance to accomplish much of anything anyway, which is why I chose to make fun of it in my article about how it’s purpose was to allow surfers to spend more time surfing summer breaks.
The point that offends me deeply is that our state government… and by state government I mean you, Arnold, flat out lied to us. And although I’ve come to expect that from many politicians, I don’t expect it from the Viennese weightlifter who is running things in Sacramento.
So, just so we’re all on the same page here…
Our state government announced that the legislature had passed a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures, saying that it would give people time to obtain loan modifications and the like. But, they also knew that something like 90% of all lenders and servicers in California had already applied for and received exemptions to the rule, effectively rendering the moratorium moot.
Are you kidding me? Did you guys really do this? Unbelievable. How dare you… Do you have no sense of what people are contending with out here in reality land. No, it’s all too obvious that you do not. You should be ashamed.
Here’s the link to the firms that are exempt from the California Foreclosure Moratorium:
http://www.corp.ca.gov/FSD/CFP/pdf/ExemptList.pdf

Sunday reading: HGTV's "Real Estate Intervention"

Here's a tv show that I can't wait to watch! It's HGtv's "Real Estate Intervention." Read the Salon article about it here.

Yet one more reason that Burbank rocks: the Mayor is your parking valet!

Gary Bric, Burbank's mayor, is also the owner of Gary Bric's Ramp, a workingman's steakhouse and watering hole by the Hollywood Way/5 Fwy off-ramp. (Does this sound like the outline for a sit-com?) If you don't know the Ramp, you should. The non-descript building and paneled dining room have been offering up pretty terrific steaks, etc. at reasonable prices for a few decades now. And on Friday night, was Bric behind the bar, in the kitchen, or counting receipts? No! He was parking patron's cars! For hours! For free! With a smile and wave! (The parking lot is postage stamp-sized.) No, he was not accepting tips. Somehow, I just can't see Villaraigosa or Bloomberg doing this.

Nicest house of the week, so far

I think it's time to be positive about something (for a change; don't get too used to this), so here's the nicest house I've seen so far this week. It's 5124 Daver in La Crescenta, and features 4 beds and 2 baths in 1600+ square feet. The lot is over 8,000, but some of that is upslope. It's on a pretty cul-de-sac in the hills and is listed at $759,000. It's really beautifully decorated and just showing it lifted my spirits. Seriously.

No more foreclosures for awhile

California has put another three-month moritorium on foreclosures. That means that there won't be bunches of REOs on the market until mid- to late Fall. It also means that there probably will be more short sales (banks: get your act together on this) and inventory will be short this summer. I think.

Median So. Cal. home prices rise slightly

Dataquick is reporting that the median home price in So. Cal. rose slightly last month. Here's the story from the L.A. Times. However, before you go getting all excited: experts and economists say that this is because the higher end properties are actually selling for less, not that prices are actually rising.

Still, doesn't that mean that the middle and lower-end properties are holding steady? "May's median price bounce marked the fifth straight month the Southern California price median has held steady at roughly $250,000."

Extreme home makeover, Disney-style

Since Burbank is the home of Disney, it should come as no surprise that the city is also the home of some mighty Disneyesque architecture. For example, here’s 911 Harvard. This house used to look like this:

Then, it sold for $575,000 in 2003.

And now it looks like this:

Yup, pardners, there are lots of western touches inside, too. Frontierland, here we come!

That's not all. After the re-do, somebody bought it in either '06 or '07 for $1,375,000. It had originally been listed in ’06 for $1,899,000. You read that right. Now, it’s a short sale (coincidence that the street numbers are 9-1-1?) and has come down to $999,000. Unbelievably, It has been listed for 460 days. It’s hard to show – the seller was furious when I showed it on a recent Saturday (hey, my buyers were only in town for the day! – and they seriously considered making an offer on this! but made an offer on something else instead because, surprisingly, western kitsch is not quite their style). One would think upside-down sellers would be happy to have serious buyers consider their house. But no.

However, in keeping with our Disney architectural theme, I’m hoping that some brave Burbankian will soon turn their modest Burbank bungalow into Adventureland. I think Burbank could use some fake crocodiles and hippos.

My BofA refinance, chapter 732

For those of you following the saga of our personal refinance, Bank of America called us yesterday. They asked for authorization to re-run our credit report. You see, the original report, which they ran in January when they approved the re-fi, has expired. Gee, what a way to bring your "A" game, BofA!

Increased German Shepherd sightings

In the past few days, I've shown three homes that each had German Shepherds. That's a lot of one particular kind of dog breed to encouter in such a short period of time. (They were all nice dogs.) Plus, all of a sudden, I've seen a lot of German Shepherds being walked here in Burbank. WTF? Is this:
- just a coincidence;
- an indication of a rise in a need for guard dogs;
- a message from the cosmos;
- or just ridiculous bs?

Sunday reading from the L.A. Times

Here's a great article about loan limits and how they are affecting the real estate market. Recall that the limit thresholds here in L.A. are $417,000 and $729,000. Any loan above that amount is a "jumbo" loan.

...And client Sheila's take on the La Crescenta showings (below)

Sheila and her husband, Paul, and I are hunting for a house for them. She was with me during the somewhat-odd showings in Montrose/La Crescenta and here is her hilarious take:

" [I] have not had a chance to chat with [Paul] about that Oakdale property with the $20,000 hand carved marble statuary fireplace and the valiumated guard dogs... It certainly has potential...But it is a lovely piece of property that went into the wrong hands, obviously. I really liked that area. I also liked the area over by Oak Circle, where I drove up to a vacant house for $799K after we split. However, the ... comedians were at it again, and placed travertine tiles from top to bottom along the corners of the front of the house, and, of course, a couple of columns (doric or ionic, not sure...) to let you know you are entering the Manse. Seriously though, WTF. These lovely little cottages all around it, all very just so. And here comes the new hybrid: cottage cum eastern european temple. But the travertine wasn't the highlight. No, leave that to the unique, and uniquely placed, brand new outdoor laundry room on the dining deck out in the backyard. Sip your margarita, watch the sunset, and oh - did you spill? - no problem, we'll just toss in the washer and dryer in our OUTDOOR LAUNDRY ROOM! Convenient for parties, because it doesn't have a door to jam your thumb in when you're already too soused to keep your drink in your mouth, which is why it's running down your shirt in the first place. Why, we can even sit here, sip our drinks and listen for the buzzer to tell us when your shirt is dry! I really need to do some kind of life, soon.

Please find me a house soon so I can stop this."

Girl, if you're going to be this hilarious, I might just have to prolong your agony just to keep laughing!

La Crescenta showings, livestock and locked-up models

I showed two homes on Oakendale in La Crescenta early this morning. The area is absolutely beautiful. If you’ve never been there, it has lots of old-growth trees and verdant hillside views. La Crescenta is known for good public schools as well. And you pay for that old growth and decent school system.

We had showing appointments at both homes. The first home had a nice layout. The owner extensively remodeled it and it is now a short sale. The seller owns the quietest Rottweiler and German Shepard that I’ve ever encountered. This home is listed for $729k, has 3 beds & two baths, and is about 1800 sf.

Then it was down the street to 2912 Oakendale (pictured), listed at $739k. Nice layout. Nice dog. Nice view of the wash and the Verdugo mountains. That’s it for the nice. The housekeeping was extremely poor and I don’t think the garbage had been taken out recently. This four bed, 3 bath house had one bedroom locked up so we couldn’t see it. We thought somebody might be in that room, which is not exactly an optimal showing situation. The listing agent later told me there indeed was a 20-yr-old model in that locked room. Sorry, but locked-up models do not add value to a home for sale.

None, I repeat none, of the toilets were flushed, which is totally disgusting. People, if my clients and I are going to set our alarms and travel to specifically see your home in order to maybe pay three-quarters of a million dollars for it, can you please flush? But I digress. There was a cloth cord tied to the foot of one of the beds. Hmm. A rifle leaned against an outside patio wall – take that, woodland creatures! The Tiki Hut barbecue is used to hold tools, paint, tackle blocks…There were some cute little kangaroo rats (yes, really; see the picture) playing in the ivy next door.

And the listing agent tells me the sellers will not accept anything less than full price. Good luck.

Interest rates are up and tax credit news

Bad news: interest rates are up. This will likely put the brakes on our local market somewhat. The good news for buyers is that houses will likely be staying on the market longer.

Remember HUD's move to monetize the $8000 first-time buyer tax credit? So a buyer could actually apply it towards down payment or closing costs? Guidelines and details are still not out on that yet. I predict that very few people will actually be able to use the credit this way.

And speaking of: did you know there are income caps on the $8k tax credit? If you are single, and make more than $75,000, the credit is reduced. If you make over $100k, it is eliminated. For couples, the salary threshold is $150,000.

A star-crossed closing on 848 N. Avon

Yes! 848 N. Avon in Burbank closed! I had the pleasure of representing buyer clients Todd and Anika in this deal. We had been in escrow on another property on Lomita in Burbank, but it fell out of escrow because the appraisal came back lower than the purchase price. Imagine our surprise and delight to find this house soon after. There were no appraisal or poor condition problems on this one; it is really nice.

Which is more than I can say for the seller. She is an amateur astrologer, and the planets had to be perfectly aligned for her to contemplate moving. Of course, they didn’t align until after closing and the date for possession in spite of her assurances to her agent that she’d move out on time. Well, she didn’t, so on behalf of my clients, I had to light a fire under her moon-is-in-Aquarius rear end to move the horoscope along. Sometimes, real estate isn’t pretty! But she’s out now; and I’m looking forward to seeing how Todd and Anika will decorate the house.

The past week in real estate and a big DON'T for sellers

This past week brought "more of same" as far as real estate goes. I toured Valley Glen, Valley Village, North Hollywood and Burbank for homes that are 3+ beds, 2+baths, 1200+ square feet, and between $450k and $600k.

You would think that would describe every home on the market in the SFV.

Nope.

I found four homes that were more-or-less decent in that price range. One, on Mariposa in Burbank, faces the back wall of Costco. Another in Burbank was decorated with a highly-developed devotion to knotty pine (as versus the medium-developed devotion so common in the Valley) and a third house had no windows in the master bath.

Which brings me to the fourth house in Valley Village, which is arguably the nicest of the bunch. But: the owners made a 1/2 bath of the master bedroom closet. The master was already small. Sellers, putting toilets where they don't belong is a big turn-off to buyers. Toilets belong in proper bathrooms, not in closets, laundry rooms, garages, or back patios. I've seen them in all those locations in homes for sale, and those homes invariably stay on the market for a long, long time and sell for less than comparable sales. So if you're thinking about adding a "bathroom" in say, the hall closet, for the love of God don't.

Glendale is safer for prostitutes. How fabulous.

The Glendale News Press reports an upswing in prostitution in Glendale. "The ongoing recession is attracting more out-of-town prostitutes to Glendale and Burbank, which reportedly produce higher-paying clients in safer environments, authorities said." Wow, how much better can it get for Glendale -- first Americana, and now a safer place for hookers! The article profiles several prostitutes, and surprisingly, none are former Realtors.

It's also common knowledge that one of the big bakeries on Glenoaks Boulevard was recently busted for running a prostitution ring from its second floor. Apparently, "I'd like some baklava, please" had a different meaning at the establishment.

Gorgeous redone Mission-style in, yes, Burbank

I saw this splendid listing at 1004 Sherlock in Burbank today. It made me so giddy that I just have to blog about it. Yes, it is listed at $1,298,000 but would probably go out around $1.6mil in, say, Studio City or Los Feliz. Secluded and private, the house features 3 beds, 5 baths, a view and 2754 square feet. It was originally built in 1921, but every inch of the inside has been beautifully restored -- see more pics on my site at www.JudyGraff.com. The park-like backyard has a man-made creek and art studio. And, it even has a natural bedrock cave for the family bear! Sorry for gushing, but it's just that nice.

Observations and universal truths of the week

I saw a lot of homes this week and, as usual, I experienced several surprises.

Most unpleasant surprise of the week: A home on Fremont in South Pasadena. This $900k house seemed under-priced, but it’s on a busy street. Nope. Although no indication was given that the house wasn’t just perfect, we arrived to find poor maintenance, rotting windows and a green, algae-filled pool. Yes, it had a gorgeous kitchen (see below) but it also had a teenage boy problem (see below). All in all, just plain gross and I don’t know why anybody would pay almost a million for it.

Trend observation of the week: almost every house I saw had a nice, recently-redone kitchen. Unfortunately, that’s as far as the sellers’ efforts went. Sellers, if you want that all-singing, all-dancing great kitchen, fine. But please spare some money and effort maintaining the rest of the house. Like maybe fix the roof. Or paint. Or replace old windows. Or clean the place.

Little house of teenage boy horrors: Teenage boys are the scourge of the earth where real estate is concerned. What did we see in these boys when we were teenage girls? Their rooms are invariably not just messy, they can be scary and disgusting. They leave them for showings under duress, if they leave them at all. And if the teenage boy has his own bathroom, DON’T GO IN THERE. If you must, wear a hazmat suit and blinders. Sellers, please ship your teenage sons off to military school while the house is listed. You’ll be glad you did.

Why is it so hard to show homes? Alas, lockboxes seem to be disappearing. Instead, to preview homes, I had to make at least three calls per house to the listing agent, listing office, seller, what have you, and then come at a narrowly-appointed time. Okay, I can deal with that. But then I got to a house on Zelzah in Encino at my appointed time and the seller wouldn’t let me in. She said nobody had called her. And the three calls made to a listing agent for a house on Miranda in Valley Village went unreturned for about 36 hours. When she finally called me back, she upbraided me for not coming to the six previous open houses or caravans. Whatever. But if I can’t show it, my buyer clients can't buy it.

Nicest surprise of the week: the Sparr Heights neighborhood in Montrose. Still lovely, still well-maintained, and very few homes have been bigified beyond all reason. Not inexpensive, though.

$8000 1st-time buyer tax credit can now be used for a downpayment

As we all know, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 offers homebuyers a tax credit of up to $8,000 for purchasing their first home. Now, according to this HUD press release, first-time buyers can now use their $8000 tax credit towards their down payment or closing costs. While I don't quite get the mechanics of how this will work, it's good news.

Here's a quote: "Home buyers using FHA-approved lenders can apply the tax credit to their down payment in excess of 3.5 percent of appraised value or their closing costs, which can help achieve a lower interest rate." Here's what that means. Often, a buyer's interest rate is a little higher for a government-backed loan, like FHA. This will enable a buyer to "buy down" their interest rate and therefore have a lower monthly payment.

Interest rates went up today

I don't think there will be any more loans under 5% for the time being. Some buyers may decide to wait awhile longer before purchasing. Stay tuned...

If you think there's nothing to buy out there...you're right

Yesterday, I searched the mls for all "active" single family homes in North Hollywood under $300,000. I found 34 homes. Virtually every one, every single one, was a short sale, foreclosure or probate -- and they all had offers on them already.

The way it works is this: for a short sale, the property can't be listed as "pending" until the bank signs off on an offer. But before that happens, the seller has to sign off -- and the seller may have several acceptable offers that they've already sent to the bank. They may not actually look at other offers if they've already done that, even if the property is still listed as active. The bank may just be taking their sweet time -- it usually takes them two months or more to approve a short sale. To recap, even though the property is listed as active, it's really "pending."

For foreclosures, the process is similar but faster. And recall that if the property is listed by a mega-lister foreclosure agent, they've been putting feelers out to investors -- and maybe even getting offers -- before the property even comes on the market.

Questions from a recent transaction

Question 1: should non-profit, city government-funded housing entities sell houses that are unsafe?
Question 2: should non-profit, city government-funded housing entities sell houses to investor groups?

These questions have to do with a recent client transaction. Some names have been changed to protect the innocent (and me!).

My clients, Mr. and Mrs. Buyer, are approved for an FHA loan. We have been looking for a home for them since February. They found a home in Glendale that seemed to perfectly fit their needs.

The house was owned by Verdugo Housing Corporation, a non-profit organization that, I’m told, is chartered by the City of Glendale. I understand that Verdugo Housing was formed as a non-profit city partnership to increase affordable home ownership in Glendale.

Verdugo Housing had recently purchased the property for somewhere in the $200,000’s and had done a cosmetic rehab (carpet and paint). The home was for sale in the very high $400,000s and Mr. and Mrs. Buyer made a full-price offer just before it went on the market. Escrow was opened in April.

We repeatedly asked for legally-required physical inspection disclosures, but VHC never furnished them to us. And the house inspection did not go well. At all. (Recall that FHA will not fund loans on substandard houses.) The roof was crumbling. A couple of rooms that were added on were not attached to the foundation. The a/c and the stove didn’t work. The electrical work was substandard in places. Those were the major issues; there were many minor issues as well.
The buyers asked the sellers to fix the major issues; after all, a non-profit housing corporation would not want to sell substandard homes, right? To our surprise, the VHC declined to do so. My broken-hearted clients cancelled the escrow. We heard through the grapevine that the day after escrow was cancelled, Verdugo Housing Corporation sold the house on an all-cash deal to a group of local investors, who intend to rent it out.

Wednesday morning reading from LAT and Burbank Leader

The Burbank Leader reports today that several big condo projects have reduced their prices significantly. These include the Burbank Lofts and the Excelsior project at Glendale's Americana. Well, good. It's high time the prices on these came down. I think they're running at about $400k+ now -- which, in the case of the Excelsior units, is down from $800k! Remember, though, that many banks will not fund loans unless a condo project is at least 50% sold and the builder/developer has turned over to the actual home owner association funds to the actual home owners association.

Next is an article from today's LA Times about home prices and activity in the Southland. Just as I bin sayin' "But Los Angeles County's median home price actually held steady in April for the fourth month in a row..."[emphasis mine]. Is that not a sign that the bottom is here, and has been here for awhile? But here's another significant quote: "The worst may be yet to come for wealthier areas because "we still face two big threats to price stability: layoffs, which can cause foreclosures across the home price spectrum, and possibly a new round of foreclosures triggered by defaults on 'option ARM' and 'stated income' loans used in mid- to high-end markets," DataQuick President John Walsh said."

Remember flippers? They're baaack...only now they're called investors

Remember house flippers? Those folks who would buy beaten-up houses, fix them up sorta (or try), and put them back on the market? That didn't work out too well for everybody that did it. Yes, some people made money, but some overestimated their ability -- and the cost -- to fix homes up, and some people lost their shirts.

Well, flippers are back. Now they're called investors. And all of a sudden, I've seen several investor-owned properties on the local market. These investors have bought foreclosed homes at an auction for a couple dollars more than the mortgage, then hired a cleaning lady and a gardener, and then put the houses back on the market. For, oh, about $100k to $150k more than they bought them for last week. Okay, it's not that easy -- the investors usually have to pay all cash.

Good thing or bad thing? Right now, I'm happy for any real estate inventory to show. However, I'm worried about price escalation. And also, buyers obtaining FHA loans can only obtain loans on investor-owned properties if the last sale is at least 90 days old. Which cuts most FHA buyers out, at least for now.

Picture of a pet-friendly home for lease in Burbank

Is this cute or what? It's located at 841 N. Screenland in Burbank and will be available for lease mid-June. More details are on my 5/8 post.

Easier loan modifications and short sales. Are you listening, banks?

Regardless of what the banks would like you to believe, loan modifications and short sales should be getting easier to accomplish, thanks to the U.S. government. Here's a link to an article from today's L.A. Times.

A Burbank foreclosure for only $294,030!?

1913 Niagra (also spelled Niagara) has just listed in Burbank. It's a 3+2, 1150+ sf and is a foreclosure. It needs to sell all-cash, as one bathroom's fixtures have been removed and that makes it extra-hard, if not impossible, to get a loan. It is listed for $294,030, which must be the lowest per-square-foot price in Burbank. The listing agent's assistant tells me that there is already one offer in, and clients of mine want to make an offer early next week. Do I think that it will sell for $294,030? Nope. I predict it will sell in the mid-$300's.

Burbank Leader on bidding wars

Today, the Burbank Leader picked up the story about artificially-low listing prices and the bidding wars they generate. Here's a quote from the article: "Markets are most tight with moderate- to low-priced homes, or about $500,000, with some agents luring multiple shoppers with artificially low postings and forcing bidding wars that can drive up totals by tens of thousands of dollars, Realtors said." See my previous posts on this subject.

Prediction: While I think we've hit the bottom for most San Fernando Valley real estate, I don't see that we'll have a real acceleration in prices. I do think we may have more inventory, or at least properties staying on the market longer, in July and August.

Opting out of a Zestimate

Correction to the following: Spencer from Zillow has commented below, and here's what he has said: What you're referring to is the DoJ ruling with respect to Virtual Office Websites. The settlement allows sellers (via their listing agents) to opt out of having their listings on websites with valuations. But VOWs are password protected broker websites. Zillow is not a VOW and is not affected by this policy at all. If the seller or the listing agent puts a listing onto Zillow -- either manually, or through their broker sending Zillow a feed, or in some cases through their MLS sending a feed to Zillow -- it will have a Zestimate. In fact, all homes on Zillow have a Zestimate, whether it's listed for sale or not. If you ever see a for sale home on Zillow without a Zestimate, that's because for some reason we couldn't match the address for that listing, not because we removed the Zestimate.Here's a great video for real estate professionals about the Zestimate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuloq6S6MLM

Original post: If your home is listed for sale on a multiple listing service, you can now opt out of having a Zestimate (Zillow's estimate of value) on Zillow.com, or on any other site such as Redfin or Trulia that has home value estimates and allows comments. This is accomplished through a simple key stroke when your Realtor adds your listing to the multiple listing service.

This is a good thing as we've never known just how these sites' algorythms calculate value data. Their dollar values for specific properties are often quite different -- lower -- from comparable sales data, and of course, Zillow hasn't actually seen the house nor driven through the neighborhood. And who needs somebody's snide comments about your house (unless they're Judy Graff's snide comments) when you're trying to sell it?

*@!#% 116 N. Valley, Toluca Lake is already in escrow

116 N. Valley in Toluca Lake listed on the MLS Sunday night for $521,730. It's a 3+3 with 1900+ square feet. As you can see from the picture, it's a "completer" and it's a foreclosure. Somebody obviously ran out of money in the middle of re-doing this.

It's already in escrow. How can that be after it has only been on the market one day? I'm not sure, but I'll bet the listing agent, another REO mega-lister, has been courting offers on their own and just listed it to appease the bank/seller. It seemed too good to be true, and it was...