Studio City CA Real Estate & Homes

Acronyms – the Final Frontier

runningrealty — Fri, 14 May 2010 19:47:33 +0000

I can’t think of any other industry that utilizes acronyms more than the real estate business. We’ve got an acronym for every detail of work and every program coming down the pike.

Here are but a few acronyms that we use everyday to simplify the real estate transaction.

RESPA,HUD,BOM,COE,RPA,TDS,HAFA,HAMP,BPO,REO,NOD,NOS,LTV,DOM,WPA,AD,MOT,FISBO,SSA,CTNL and about a thousand others.

And you thought that real estate agents were overpaid to sell your home? The fact is, we are constantly being forced to change and modify everything we know every 30 days and we have to do it in shorthand.

If you can’t go thru my list without being stumped, then you need to find yourself an agent who can. Especially if you are an agent.

So remember that agents are people too. With too little time to do so much for too many people. Hence the acronym.

Well I’m off now to TCOB. BFN. OAO.

Mini Trailers- The New Urban Blight!

runningrealty — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:51:40 +0000

I don’t have to ask if you’ve seen these obnoxious mini trailers parked all over our cities and towns. Once again creative marketers have found a way around the bans and restrictions on advertising. City legislators have done little or nothing to stop the proliferation of these unnecessary, distracting and generally obstructive little devils.

As of yet, I have not seen them being used by real estate agents, but I can’t imagine that they are not doing so, or at least contemplating it. I guess the law is vague enough to allow them to park these little trailers without any financial recourse.

I understand the attraction of them. For a modest investment, you can strategically place them in high traffic corridors and get FREE advertising at no cost. Just buy the trailer and off you go.

If we don’t put our collective foot down and ban these little gremlins, I’m afraid they will continue their unrelenting encroachment on legal street parking, such that it is, and multiply like a bunch of mutant tribbles. We need to let our government officials know that we find this affront unacceptable and demand the total ban of these street demons.

Are you with me?

The mysterious disappearance of the Status Quo

runningrealty — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:29:30 +0000

The mainstream media is so quick to point out change that too often issues and actions take a backseat to the now. The market is up today because of a fed announcement. The market is down the next with a bad jobs report. New homes sales increase, feel the updraft. Existing home sales slow, and down we go. Events cannot even take place before we have all the talking heads telling us what we saw. Oftentimes, we are now being told what to expect before the events unfold. “500,000 die in tsunami, wait a minute, that’s 750, no 57.” You get the idea. Or you don’t. If you don’t get it, someone will give it to you. There is no middle ground anymore. The Status Quo as we know it no longer exists. We’ve lost the present to the fleeting past and the onrushing future. We have lost time. Time to live, to enjoy and appreciate.

There’s no time like the present. There’s – no – time - like – the – present. That’s because the present does not exist. All this convenience and speed of information has created mental morass and intellectual gruel.

We are trapped in the between, another dimension on the border of dissatisfaction and disorientation.

I say BRING BACK THE STATUS QUO. Let us relish in the moment, wander among the stars and cherish the next breath we take.

“Ad Hoc, Ad Loc & Quid Pro Quo, so little time, so MUCH to know!”

All Hail the STATUS QUO!

All the way home….

runningrealty — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:17:16 +0000

You have to wonder about the wisdom behind the dismantling of the Colfax Avenue Bridge in order to put up…you guessed it; another bridge! OK so it will be newer and probably stronger, although the old bridge looks like it could have stood for another 50 years or so with maybe some resurfacing every few years.

It’s projected to take around 2 years to complete. The traffic snarl this has created will make commuting around quaint Studio City a real pain in the you know what. Perhaps city planning could have blocked the condification (my word) of our area which has greatly increased population density and vehicular traffic. Take a look at some of the pockmarked roads, the disintegration of asphalt and plain old potholes that now blanket our streets. The bridge will cost several millions of taxpayer dollars and will not improve traffic flow on that North-South corridor. I dare venture to say that those monies could have been better allocated for more pressing projects. Last year I lost one perfectly good tire to a pothole, around $300.00 for those low profile beauties on my car.

I believe there should have been a citywide referendum on an issue as important as this. Someone got a very lucrative contract. Someone went wee wee wee all the way home!

LAUSD to Bury Homeowners in Property Tax Increase!

runningrealty — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:40:51 +0000

As unbelievable as it may seem, the Los Angeles Unified School District is using a financial loophole to raise property taxes on hundreds of thousands of homeowners, all without any vote or public discussion. I’m not talking about a 1% or 2 % rise. The current rate is $123 per hundred thousand. Officials for the LAUSD are talking about rates above $200 per hundred thousand by 2012. I’m no mathematician but it looks to me like an untenable weight on homeowners who are already struggling under a tremendous financial burden. Home many more foreclosures and for how long do the authorities expect us to continue to bend over? I believe that we must bring this issue front and center. Organize with Twitter and Facebook. Only our collective will can stop this action!

Please contact me if you can help me join in opposition!

It wasn’t enough to be Sherman Oaks adjacent?!

runningrealty — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:12:31 +0000

Incredible! A rather large area of Van Nuys is about to become; ta!da! Sherman Oaks! Yes sports fans, in an effort to reduce the lower valued area, they’ve now created many more higher value homes. What’s in a name? Obviously money. I’m sure the reviewers of this decision will split equally. Those Sherman Oaks agents who now see a dilution of their higher valued homes and those Van Nuys agents who are looking at property movin’ on up.

The city is the true broker here. They’ll get their share no matter how this actually plays out.

It wasn’t enough to be Sherman Oaks adjacent?!

The Power of an Idea!

runningrealty — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:44:56 +0000

And the beat goes on..and so do the layoffs. Yes, predictions are that it will get worse before it gets better. OK, I’ll buy that. So times are tough and people are out of work, or at least paid work.

Does anyone else see the silver lining out there? All across the economic spectrum there are a great many talented, self motivated people out there with a lot of free time on their hands. Sure, a lot of them will wait it out, send out a few resumes and collect their unemployment.

But wait! In garages, workshops and at computers all across this great land, there’s a discernible buzz. Wheels are turning, lights are flashing and innovation is, well innovating. These are smart people, talented people who didn’t have the time or motivation to do something about something. Now they can, now they will!

I believe that in the next year, we will begin to see more innovation and creativity than we have in the last decade. Oh the power of an idea! It’s always been about small business. That’s where it always begins; it will be no different this time.

So, don’t expect our country, with so many talented people, to just float along with the breeze.

We have set sail on a new tomorrow, full of promise and excitement. Raise the anchor and full speed ahead!

“Is this a dagger I see before me?”

runningrealty — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:53:19 +0000

Anyone else out there experiencing the “revenge of the appraisers”; sucking the lifeblood out of home values, all at a time when we can least afford to donate. Have you heard about HVCC? it ain’t no heating or air conditioning system. Rather, what we have here is a now over-regulated system that ties the hands of our dear friends, the appraiser and yields withered values that frequently scuttle our hard fought escrows/contracts. It appears that the New York State Deputy Attorney-General’s office helped craft this travesty that usurps our core belief that the buyer and seller have agreed on the price for a home. Here comes the Spanish Inquisition that now has the power to give a thumbs up or down to any deal based on such restricted guidelines that it sacrifices price accuracy for political expediency. How can we expect a broad base recovery if only one side of the market is working. I’m referring to foreclosures, reo and short sales. I know many agents are making out like bandits (excuse the expression) while the vast majority of us who work on more traditional sales are being staked though the heart like a dagger. The pendulum has now swung to its extreme again from too easy to too hard. I’m just looking for the middle of the road. Is that stage left or right? I’m just looking for a new direction!

Tsunami Warning!!

runningrealty — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:48:50 +0000

Greetings Fellow Surfers!

I had the opportunity to rise with the sun this morning; and looked out to sea to see what I could see. There, just out on the horizon, I saw the formation of what appears to be a wave, but just not any wave.

Based on the groundswell, shape and direction, I believe that this baby will become a tsunami. For the last few months, all the elements of a perfect storm have been gathering.

Have you seen the lowest home prices in a decade? How about the 50 year lows in interest rates? Did you think this eruption would not make waves?

While you’ve been standing on the beach with your pail and shovel building sand castles with an Open House sign in front of them, or scanning with your metal detector for buried treasure, the slow steady churn has begun.

I feel it my civic duty as both a Realtor and a concerned fellow citizen to sound the alarm. Look up! look out there, it’s coming baby! Prepare for the ride of your life or the mother of all wipe-outs!

I’ve got my board waxed, my sunblock on and my listing contract in a watertight container.
Ready or not here it comes!

Go Get The Cheese!!

runningrealty — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:34:11 +0000

You can’t pick up a newspaper or surf on-line without being barraged by an avalanche of bad news about the economy, real estate or Brad & Jen. Come on people, did you really expect that as soon as Barack Obama took office that everything would just spring back to the way it was? Happily, I am not one of those people.

You see Desperaux (the mouse) had it right! While all the other mice scurried off and cowered when the light came on, Desperaux remained steadfast, eyes wide open.

So, are you a man or a mouse? I vote with the mouse.

When the world is illuminated, we can see all the abundance that it has to offer. When you cower and head for the hills, you fail to see the beauty and opportunity that is out there.

In my 14 years of real estate experience, I have never witnessed such a promising market. Really! Buyers and Sellers alike. Don’t live in fear. Desperaux was right! Go get the cheese!