Would you buy income property you could never see?

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How far are you willing to go to sell your property? How far are buyers willing to go?

One Mount Washington property is testing those limits. In the private remarks, the instructions for viewing this for-sale property call out a few things, from the not-so-unusual "drive-by only," to the "do not disturb occupants." But here's the kicker: you can't even stop your car. If you disturb the occupants, you "do so at your own risk."

The property is also a cash-only sale, and since it is being sold as-is there are no inspections and contingencies. No photos and site unseen, would you buy?

Free First-Time Homebuyers Workshop tonight

Homeowners Workshop_March 6

Tonight, the East Los Angeles Community Corporation is hosting a FREE First-Time Homebuyers Workshop in Elysian Valley. The workshop will cover budget and saving tools, government subsidy programs, and credit and mortgage basics.

The workshop takes place tonight, Tuesday March 4, 2014 from 7:00 - 8:00 pm at Dorris Place Elementary School Auditorium (2225 Dorris Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90031).

The mission of the ELACC is to "advocate for economic and social justice in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles by building grassroots leadership, developing affordable housing and neighborhood assets, and providing access to economic development opportunities for low and moderate income families."

Spanish translation will be available.

RSVP by emailing elysianvalleyneighbors@gmail.com or call 323.244.3630

Market report: Waiting for Spring

LosAngeles-Real-Estate-report_3-3-14

In the last few days the number of sold properties skyrocketed in the Northeast Los Angeles area, from 17 to 41 to be exact. There are fewer new listings posted, and as a result overall inventory available is down. With February over and done with, and the Spring season coming up, we may see more activity in line with seasonal trends.

March 3, 2014

• New listings: 28-
• Back on Market: 14+
• Price Reductions: 13-
• Pending/Back up: 34+
• Sold: 41+
• Total inventory available: 204-

Compare past market reports by clicking here.

Urban Hillsides Real Estate: Community and Lifestyle

Often these days our first interactions with new people are not in person - it’s typically through email or a phone call. With this in mind, our video is our way of revealing a little more about who we are and our approach to real estate.

Documenting the philosophy came easy compared to the fear of being in front the camera reciting it. I practiced and told myself to relax, to act natural, but my mind and body did not listen. It was challenging and I was nervous. Thankfully we had a creative team of people who coached me through the process and had excellent editing skills.

I was clearly outside of my comfort zone. I challenged myself to get in front of the camera, and to push my business to new levels this year. I have built a great team to help me grow and deliver the same quality of service as I always strive to deliver. Kelly is a social activist who has dedicated her free time to neighborhood issues through both grassroots organizing and city government. Joe has extensive experience in local media and marketing, and continues to support this vibrant, creative community. Together we have an intimate knowledge of what it’s like to live in, grow and connect to the communities of Northeast Los Angeles.

For those of you who have personally never met me, we hope this gives you an idea of who we are so that when we do finally meet - whether it be by email or a phone call - you know who we are.

Helping clients achieve their goals is what we do, and I hope you can help us achieve ours! Please share this video with your social network and let people know that you recommend our services.

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Rising student debt is affecting the housing market

These days, seven in ten college graduates leave school with some amount of debt - nationally, that totals about $1.1 trillion as of last year. With this kind of debt, it's hard not to imagine that student debt has an affect on the housing market - after all, those are all potential first time home buyers entering the "real world" with a lot of debt.

And the concern is just that - the number of first time home buyers is historically low: fewer than 30% of all home sales in the past six months were first time buyers, compared to the 40-45% that it normally is. Another contributing factor to the overall problem is that wages aren't rising as fast as the student loan burden is.

Additionally, first time home buyers (not just those with student loans) aren't showing up in the numbers because of the overall health problems of the economy, and possibly due to the increases in home prices we saw last year in cities like Los Angeles. We need those first time home buyers; if they aren't coming in at the bottom level (buying those first homes), the market can become stagnant because then there's noone for the "middle" to sell to as they try to move up.