News of the week and house of the week in Valley Village

Whew! Coming up for air here, and bringing you news of the week.

First, the house of the week: 5501 Morella, Valley Village, $499,994, 3+1.5, 1334 sf, pictured above.  I showed this last night and it's in a cool little pocket.  The house needs decorating, but it's clean and has been expertly maintained by the sellers.  I wish my carpet looked as good, and I wish my kitchen was as spacious.  If you are looking for a decorating project, this would be a great buy.

What did I tell you about L.A.'s "eastside"? You'll see my take on Highland Park, et al, below -- I toured the area recently and was really impressed.  Now, Alejandro Lazo of the L.A. Times has a front page article entitled Investors flip over Highland Park.  That's just what I saw when I was there a few weeks back.

And now for the really big news: I have two listings coming up in Burbank. One is a (rare) architectural home designed by a noted architect, and the other is close to the Chandler bike path.  More news soon!

Finally, 1585 Knollwood, Pasadena is in escrow, after less than a week on the market.  We're still showing for backups. I'll miss going to this house; the setting is just so serene.

LAT reviews San Fernando Valley retro watering holes!

As you may know, in the interest of public service, this blog occassionally reviews local bars.  Now, the LAT has done so for you, too!  Check out Friday's "The Enabler" feature by Jessica Gelt, entitled Soaking up retro vibe at the Valley's classic bars.  As the Enabler states, "the Valley is home to a number of blissfully unmolested lounges from the 1940s, '50s and '60s." 

Gretchen Morgenson and Michael Hiltzik explain the foreclosure settlement

I was so excited.  I thought the almost-nationwide foreclosure settlement between the five big banks and the states would provide relief for underwater homeowners.  I thought it might be an end to short sales as we've come to know and love them.  But no. 

New York Times business columnist Gretchen Morgenson bursts the bubble here. (BTW, Gretchen is really readable -- she makes even the most arcane, convoluted financial stuff very easy to understand. Really.)  Here are a few quotes:

"There’s no doubt that the banks are happy with this deal. You would be, too, if your bill for lying to courts and end-running the law came to less than $2,000 per loan file."

And "For most homeowners, it will barely move the needle. Forgiving $17 billion in principal “is a drop in the ocean ... given that close to 11 million borrowers are underwater on their loans to the tune of $700 billion in total.”

Michael Hitlzik from the Los Angeles Times is my other favorite financial columnist (along with David Lazarus) and his column from today's LAT is here. Some quotes:

"I believe the technical term for all this is "big whoop." The provisions mostly require mortgage lenders and servicers to comply with what I would have thought was already the law, which prohibits, you know, criminal fraud. The rest is pretty much out of the best-practices manual of customer service, which benefits both the customer and the institution."

And "In the words of business consultant...Yves Smith, "We've now set a price for forgeries and fabricating documents. It's $2,000 per loan." She observes, quite properly, that the payoff is a minuscule fraction of the costs these practices have imposed on borrowers, the court system and the economy."

Whew. So much for thinking that things were going to change -- silly me.  Thanks, Gretchen and Michael.

From today's L.A. Times: What it's like to lose your house

L.A. Times runs a regular "Postcards from the Recession" column.  Today, the column has a terrific, first-person article about what it's like to lose your home to foreclosure/short sale.  The title should link; if not, click here.  The writer, Kathy Gosnell Seiler, is a copy editor at the LAT.

Universal City expansion: necessary for growth or traffic nightmare?

Update 11/10/10: the terrific Burbank, CA blog has a great post about this. As you may know, Universal City plans to expand by adding more buildings to its lot.  This includes almost 3,000 housing units.  Here's the article about the environmental impact report from today's L.A. Times.  Some of the more interesting items in the article with my comments in color:

"The 39,000-page report identified noise and solid waste removal during the construction process as the primary negative effects of the development. " Hmm, since construction is slated to go on for twenty years...

"Our principal concern continues to be traffic," said Daniel Savage, president of the local residents group Hollywood Knolls Community Club. "Especially traffic driven by the apartments on the back lot." I'm with you, Daniel.  Traffic comes to a standstill on Barham on a regular basis.

"About half the $100 million would be spent on improving traffic flow on nearby streets and intersections, which would have to handle an additional 2,750 car trips each afternoon.  That's similar to the traffic generated by a regional shopping center (italics mine), said Patrick Gibson, a traffic consultant for NBC Universal. Mitigation measures such as street widening would ease the flow at most intersections, though Lankershim would remain a bottleneck where it is flanked by the subway on one side and an office tower on the other." Yes, that's similar to a regional shopping center -- especially on those days when all 2,750 cars try to get into the Costco lot between 6:05 pm and 6:15 pm.

I just don't see that traffic won't be a nightmare.  I also don't see that the area needs another 3,000 housing units.