NELA Live

These zip codes include the Northeast Los Angeles communities of Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Mount Washington, Glassell Park, Sycamore Grove, Garvanza, Montecito Heights, Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, Monterey Hills, and Hermon.

Posted by Cheryl Johnson
April 26, 2009

OPEN HOUSES FOR SUNDAY APRIL 26

Listing of Sunday's Open Houses from Combined L.A. Westside MLS

Featuring Open Houses in the Los Angeles communities of Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Mount Washington, Glassell Park, Sycamore Grove, Garvanza, Montecito Heights, Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, Monterey Hills, and Hermon.

Posted by Cheryl Johnson
April 20, 2009

NORTHEAST LOS ANGELES REAL ESTATE MARKET STATS 04/12 - 04/19

These zip codes include the Northeast Los Angeles communities of Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Mount Washington, Glassell Park, Sycamore Grove, Garvanza, Montecito Heights, Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, Monterey Hills, and Hermon.

Posted by Cheryl Johnson
April 19, 2009

OPEN HOUSES FOR SUNDAY APRIL 19

Listing of Sunday's Open Houses from Combined L.A. Westside MLS

Featuring Open Houses in the Los Angeles communities of Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Mount Washington, Glassell Park, Sycamore Grove, Garvanza, Montecito Heights, Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, Monterey Hills, and Hermon.

Posted by Brian Brady
April 17, 2009

FHA Mortgages Can Be Assumed By The Buyer

One overlooked benefit of FHA financing is that the buyer can assume a current FHA loan from the seller. Essentially, this means that the existing mortgage payments can be "taken over". I explained how an assumable FHA loan could help a seller sell a home, in the future:

Today, a FHA loan rate will be around 5%. I believe that inflation will kick in, sometime in the next 6-18 months, causing mortgage rates to skyrocket to 6.5% or higher. Left unchecked, inflation could drive mortgage rates into double digits by 2012. The good news is that home prices will probably jump up, too (if runaway inflation is present).

How hard will it be to sell a house in five years, with mortgage rates at 10% ?

Pretty tough...unless you can offer the buyer a below market interest rate. Let's assume a Los Angeleno buys a $300,000 home today and finances $290,000 with a 5% FHA loan. His payment will be $1,556

That same person looks to sell that home, in 2014, for $400,000 but FHA loan rates are at 10%. The new buyer, looking to finance $385,000 at the market rate of 10%, would have a payment of $3378; that's over twice the original payment.

What would happen if the seller, held a $100,000 second mortgage, for 25 years, at 12%, and allowed the buyer to assume his 5% FHA loan?

The payment on the second mortgage would be $1,053. Add the (now) 25-year, original FHA loan, at 5% payment of $1,556 and you have a financing package that is about $900 cheaper than a $385,000 FHA loan.

Pretty slick, huh? There are risks involved, I outlined them further:

Even with a formal assumption, the seller is still responsible for the original loan payments for the first five years. You had better be certain that the buyer is credit-worthy.

The seller is stuck with a note, not cash. That note could be sold on the secondary market but prices are typically about 70 cents on the dollar; that could cost the seller some $30,000 in profit.

On balance, the FHA loan assumable feature could benefit today's buyer, looking to have "a little something extra to offer" when selling his/her home, in the future.

Posted by Cheryl Johnson
April 13, 2009

NORTHEAST LOS ANGELES REAL ESTATE MARKET STATS 04/05 - 04/12

These zip codes include the Northeast Los Angeles communities of Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Mount Washington, Glassell Park, Sycamore Grove, Garvanza, Montecito Heights, Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, Monterey Hills, and Hermon.

Posted by Cheryl Johnson
April 12, 2009

OPEN HOUSES FOR SUNDAY APRIL 12

Listing of Sunday's Open Houses from Combined L.A. Westside MLS

Featuring Open Houses in the Los Angeles communities of Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Mount Washington, Glassell Park, Sycamore Grove, Garvanza, Montecito Heights, Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, Monterey Hills, and Hermon.

Posted by Avenue 50
April 8, 2009

Los Inbetweens: Artists Sin Barrios

Curated by Armando H. Torres

“Hard to Swallow –Rigo Maldonado

Opening Night Reception: April 11, 7:00-11:00 PM

Nena Amsler
Alix Gonzales
Marvin Jordana
Rigo Maldonado
Stephanie Mercado
Albert Reyes
Guadalupe Rodriguez
Sandy Rodriguez
Shizu Saldamando
Rainbow Underhill
Angel Villanueva

With a spoken word performance on opening night by Reina Alejandra Prado Saldivar

The Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present an exhibition of 11 local artists in an exhibition curated by Armando H. Torres. Los Inbetweens: Artists Sin Barrios is a survey of creative individuals who have had t deal with being in-between worlds whether due to issues regarding nationality, community, race, gender o sexuality, and how these issues have filtered into their Art.

Los Inbetweens: Artists Sin Barrios examines the tradition of the artist’s self-portrait as a means to acess their particular concerns expressed within the work, and thus provides a systematic study of cntemporary art, and its process by Latino/Latinas in 21st Century Los Angeles.

Los Inbetweens: Artists Sin Barrios is a direct reflection of the artist and of a defining moment within the period, and or reality, in which they currently live.

*A Catalog of the exhibition will be available for purchase on opening night.

Where: Avenue 50 Studio, Inc., 131 N. Avenue 50, Highland Park, CA 90042.
When: Saturday, April 11, 2009 from 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm

Gallery hours: Tuesday-Thursday 10 am – 12 noon, Saturday and Sunday 10 am – 4 pm

April 11 - May 3, 2009

www.avenue50studio.com/ave50studio@sbcglobal.net

Posted by Cheryl Johnson
April 7, 2009

NORTHEAST LOS ANGELES REAL ESTATE MARKET STATS 03/29 - 04/05

These zip codes include the Northeast Los Angeles communities of Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Mount Washington, Glassell Park, Sycamore Grove, Garvanza, Montecito Heights, Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, Monterey Hills, and Hermon.

Posted by Brian Brady
April 6, 2009

Dreaded, Hated Dodgers Start 2009 Season Off With A Win

Maybe the first two words of the title show my bias. I told you two years ago that I hated the Dodgers. Growing up in Philly, the 70's Dodgers wreaked havoc on the Phillies. When I lived in Phoenix, the Dodgers always presented problems for the Diamondbacks. This decade, Dodger fans take great delight when they roll into Petco Park and beat up on the Friars;

Why should it be any different tonight? The Dodgers won the Season against the Padres 4-1:

Joe Torre’s trust in Hiroki Kuroda paid off with an opening-day win for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Kuroda outpitched San Diego Padres ace Jake Peavy, leading the defending NL West champions to a 4-1 victory Monday without a hit from Manny Ramirez.

The enigmatic slugger went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run on his first opening day with the Dodgers. Matt Kemp drove a 418-foot homer to straightaway center field off Peavy, and James Loney had three hits, including a two-run single.

The crowd of 45,496 was the largest in Petco Park’s six-year history.

The Dodgers franchise should be poised to win the NL West this year. Adding Joe Torre to the skipper's role was brilliant. Torre knows how to handle egos and he did a pretty good job with "Manny" last year. Their offense is explosive but their pitching seems to be the wild-card this year. A young staff could be hard-throwing or it could be wild:

"We've obviously come into spring training knowing we needed to upgrade our pitching, and we either had to do it by virtue of some of the veterans we signed to minor league deals or having some of our younger players graduate," Colletti said Sunday morning. "We've seen a little bit of both, but it's still a concern. It's my greatest concern as we sit here today, looking at our staff."

Offense wins you ball games but pitching keeps you from losing them. If Torre can mature those young arms quickly, the dreaded, hated Dodgers will cause me a season of angst once again. Look for Coletti to be aggressively looking to trade for some seasoned-hurlers to mature his young staff.

My Prediction: Dodgers win the NL West with 98 wins

Posted by Cheryl Johnson
April 5, 2009

OPEN HOUSES FOR SUNDAY APRIL 5