There's no such thing has the middle of nowhere in Los Angeles. But sometimes the crush of competition on the Westside discourages and disgusts me to such an extent that I want to look further and further away. I'm almost tempted to begin looking in the V....but no, not yet. I'm not quite ready for Sherman Oaks and Studio City. I'm only about halfway there, which is why I'm enamored with a house smack in the middle of "the hill," as it is known...just west of Coldwater, a touch west of Beverly Glen, due north of Bel Air. Nobody we know would ever visit us, we'd grow vegetables in the yard, we'd supply ourselves with every possible provision and hunker down in our little cottage. What an odd direction my real estate fantasies have taken lately.

In college, the kids we hung around with (band geeks) liked to use the phrase "Too cute is ugly." Part of me thinks this house is too cute. But it isn't. It isn't too cute. It is just too cute!
Even though it is only 1200sq ft, with only two bedrooms and 1.5 baths, I would love to give up on Culver City and move right in to this cottage. There are a handful of short sales in this normally exquisitely maintained and very posh "rustic" neighborhood. Granted, nobody ever *gets* a short sale, but I can dream, can't I?

My feelings for this house are complicated. Can you have affection for something you're not actually attracted to? I'm not attracted to this house, but on paper, it seems so fetching. And if I want it, I can actually have it.

As previously noted, we've been venturing farther afield. On Sunday, mostly because the husband was so curious, we went to our first open house in ages. The house is located just east of Culver City in an area known variously as Blair Hills/Baldwin Hills/Ladera Heights. Perhaps this property straddles all three. When we arrived at the house, it turned out there was no open house. But just as we pulled up, we noticed a realtor about to show the home to another looker. So we asked if we could tag along.

You might think that my reservations about this home have a lot to do with the location. Surprising even to myself, you'd be wrong. The hilly neighborhood is pristine, the homes are kept up, the views are stunning. This area has been dubbed "the black Beverly Hills." There was even a TV show about it once upon a time. Real Estate message boards like to hint at racial tension and violence in the "flats" below the residential hills. Frankly, however, I think these commentators are trying out scare tactics so that they can keep this reasonably priced and attractive neighborhood to themselves. In the end, this house is only two miles away from where we currently live. It would not add much time to our commutes, though we would have to discover some new sources for basic services.

So, the problem is not the neighborhood. The problem is the house. This is a flip-gone-wrong. The selling history of this house reveals a lot of information. The history is messy. In a nutshell: the home was foreclosed upon after would-be flippers failed to complete their remodel. After the bank took possession, and the house entered REO status, a REO prospector came along and bought the house from the bank on the cheap. That's what it looks like to us, anyhow. So, though the asking price on this house is $539k ($353 per square foot-- what?!), it appears that the prospector (for lack of a better word) bought the home for much less, and did nothing to improve the home's sorry state. Now, the prospector wants to sell the home back to us for a lot more, and why? This home should be gotten for $400k. And when we start thinking about a price like that, all of the blemishes seem fixable. And the good traits emerge: million dollar view of Los Angeles for under half a million dollars, floor to ceiling windows exposing said view in nearly every room, plenty of property--for yard, deck, garden, and even eventual expansion if desired.



Cosmetic blemishes: horribly stained carpets in bedrooms, unfinished bathroom remodels (both bathrooms-- and poorly done tilework), horribly dangerous (yet seductively beautiful) deck jutting off into hillside, hillside filled with trash (including many empty whisky bottles), ugly tiled exterior, ugly poorly-done wall paint and textures, torn up and dry front and back yards. The REO prospector has done nothing to remedy any of these issues.



Endemic disease: third bedroom connects to garage, kitchen is remodeled yet still small, home construction seems shoddy, master bathroom is extremely small, master bedroom is very small.

So, how much fixing should one have to do for a cheap, foreclosed-upon yet privately-owned home? How much can you love something just because it is easy and available--if unattractive? We could have this house tomorrow, with perhaps a pittance left over for piece-by-piece remodeling. OR. We could continue to wait for prices of the homes we wholeheartedly want to fall. Until 2011. This could be our "starter home" today, or we could have our "forever home" in two years. We might pay more in interest rates in the future, but we'll also have saved up more money for a better house. What are good reasons to settle?

Labels: Aladdin, Blair Hills, fixer, flip

I'm no huge fan of the Bluebird Cafe on National Blvd just south of Washington (first of all, their cupcake frosting involves lots of food-coloring to distinguish between "flavors," and their service isn't very good. Sometimes nonexistent. One Saturday morning for breakfast that had none of their menu breakfast items available.), but I did notice some crops growing next to the restaurant a few weeks back.

Turns out, the owner was trying to start up a little Culver City "pocket farm." But now the city might shut him down if he attempts to sell his produce. That's very encouraging coming from a city with a great farmers' market and numerous restaurants that cook with only local ingredients.

Labels: arts district, Bluebird Cafe, farm

The Dr. Housing Bubble blog takes a look at Culver City, and calls it, "the next prime candidate area to take a major hit in the next cycle of the bursting bubble." Rather than focusing on Carlson Park/Park East, however, the post targets Studio Estates--that tiny strip of real estate north of Culver and west of Overland that apparently used to be an MGM backlot.

No doubt it is a nice area, though I've never personally checked out a home there. Perhaps that's because most of them are listed in the million dollar range. As Dr. Housing Bubble notes, the only home for sale there right now was recently listed (4021 Lamarr) at $1.1 million and frankly, it does not appeal to me at all (pool, lots of wall-to-wall carpeting). The home the blog post describes, however, is one that is in pre-foreclosure (defaulted April 09). I don't have the exact street address, but RealtyTrac provides most of the details.

This is most likely the home in question:



While it is obvious that the owner paid too much for that home, and even more obvious that 4021 Lamarr is priced far too high, what's not obvious to me is why this particular micro-'hood is a more shocking example than some of the obscenties I see all the time in other parts of Culver City. What about these two Vinton behemoths?

Anyhow, I was amused by some of the comments made in the blog post and in the comments section. Says Dr. Housing Bubble:

The median family income in Culver City is $82,000. I dug deeper in the data and searched for this specific zip code and found that for 2006 some 8,035 tax returns were filed with an average adjusted gross income level of $73,694. However you slice the data, you will have a tiny number of buyers for this home depending on the price. If the price were set at $900,000 you would need a household income of over $200,000 and this is only a 3 bedroom home. This isn’t your prime Beverly Hills location or some home in Rancho Palos Verdes. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to realize that prices are going to fall and fall hard in these areas.

Choice reader comments:

I live in Culver City. I can tell you, over the last 5-8 years, TONS of homes have been bought in the $880K - $1.15M range that should really be in the $400K-$600K range.

And most of them were bought by middle-class 20-somethings or 30-somethings with an average household income of around $100-$120K based on what I know of my friends and neighbors. Not $250K. Plus many of them have recently gone from DINKs (Dual-Income, No Kids) to Single-Income w/ Kid(s) — instant HUGE financial strain.

There is going to be a wave of foreclosures & housing turnover on the westside like we’ve never seen in the history of this country.

Grab a seat, buckle up, get your bag of popcorn, the best fireworks of 2009 are yet to come.

And...

If the zip is 90232 on those houses in the pictures, you could say they're all in JEOPARDY! with a Wheel of Missfortune. LOL

And...

One aspect that it seems like people are forgetting or ignoring… a 3 bd 3 ba house in Culver City (at least in this section) is not a “starter home” or even likely to be anyone’s first home. Most likely the buyers will come with money they made off a previous home and put down $300-400k to bring the payment to a much more reasonable level.

Certainly doesn’t mean that this house is not overpriced or that home prices won’t continue to decline… just that the math is not always that of a 10-20% down, first time buyer situation. “Starter homes” in CC in decent neighborhoods can be had for $500k-$750k.

Oh yeah? I think that last commenter's range is a bit off. Show me any decent (aka not a tear-down) home in a decent CC city neighborhood for under $600k. We want them to exist, but they just don't exist yet.

Labels: Dr. Housing Bubble, RealtyTrac, Studio Estates, Vinton

As promised, on Sunday we checked out 5379 Blanco Way. It very well may turn into a Wagner--we encountered plenty of gushing lookie-loos. But because much of the listing evaporated in a puff of misleading agent-inspired omissions, I'm no longer interested in this house. Oh, and the fact that listing agent Suzy Frank told everyone within earshot that several offers had already been made, and all offers are due this week, definitely made me cringe. I'm all for honesty, but if telling us about supposed other offers is supposed to make me feel pressure and want the house more, it definitely did not work. I'm sure her selling tactics will work on some potential buyers, and inspire a pretty bidding war a la Wagner.

This is really a 2BD, 1BA priced at $640k. The listing says 3BD, 2BA, but doesn't make clear that the third bedroom and second bathroom are part of a detached, unpermitted addition. The listing also omits the square footage of the home. If that info isn't available at the time of the listing, I think the listing simply shouldn't go up. The unpermitted addition would obviously require work to get it up to 2009 code, and would also require work to attach it to the rest of the house via a new door placed near the kitchen.


The addition is a converted garage, but so as not to arouse suspicion of unpermitted work, the exterior of the garage was left intact. That's all fine and well, but the fact remains that a detached addition is useless for most people. I'd rather have a real garage than a fake garage exterior plus office with bathroom. What I'd really rather have is a permitted addition with an extra bathroom and bedroom, but that's too much to ask for at $640k, right?


Oh, and the kitchen "may or may not" have asbestos tile flooring. Suzy Frank said the home was pre-inspected, and the inspector didn't mention the asbestos issue.



All of this might be a great fit for some families...after all, the outdoor space behind the home is lovely, wrapping around both sides and the back. There is a classy built-in cabinet in the small living room that caught my eye (for a moment I thought the media/entertainment unit was also built in, but alas, it is not).


The Sunkist Park neighborhood is nice enough, and technically is part of Culver City, which is a plus, but it just doesn't compare to 90232, where the few new listings are priced above $1 mil. I'm not sure I have anything to say about those homes.

Good luck and godspeed to Blanco...I'm sure that basket full of offers will make things easy for you.

Labels: 90230, Blanco, unpermitted, Wagner Street

We've been on hiatus from the house hunt for the last six weeks for several reasons:

-Family time, work, and travel have eaten up our weekends.
-We have no intention to buy in the traditionally overpriced summer selling season.
-We have a hunch that we're nowhere near bottom: Westside defaults and foreclosures due to the resetting of Alt-A and Option ARM mortgage loans will likely continue through the end of the year, if not longer. (This doesn't mean we want to buy an REO, but this trend will push West side housing prices down in general).

However, we're still keeping a close watch on the market in the meantime. Here's what the picture looks like to us today: there's mostly junk on the market, and nobody is buying it. Even if asking prices are starting to look a little more earthbound (just a little), the quality of the homes we are seeing on the market in Culver City and other neighborhoods is distinctly spotty. Everyone else is just trying to wait it out (many sellers continue to float trial balloon listings for a month, then yank the listing when nobody bites).

Here's an example of the refuse on offer: one agent tries to spin this trifecta of wood-paneling, 70s-era stone fireplace and dark brown lineoleum as "adorable."



Another warns would-be buyers, "DO NOT DISTURB OCCUPANTS, DO NOT WALK AROUND PROPERTY NOR LOOK THROUGH WINDOWS WITHOUT SETTING AND APPOINTMENT ONLY." Holy crap, who lives in there? That's a great attitude for selling this monstrosity.



Of course, every so often we come across a charming listing like this one. Great yard, nice curb appeal, and a decent price ($640k for 3BD 2BA), but, wouldn't you know it: it is currently rated as the most popular listing in all of Culver City on Redfin within six days of showing up online.



It appears we're not the only vultures constantly scanning the horizon for fresh meat. We'll try to go see 5379 Blanco Way this weekend, but don't act shocked if it turns into another Wagner Street (that's a euphemism we've been employing at our house lately--it means "reasonably priced Culver City home with a selling price 20% over asking due to buyers pissing all over themselves in excitement and causing a bidding war").

Labels: Blanco, Wagner Street

Don't be too cheered by this summery collage of homes. Here's how we spent our Sunday, in order of least offensive, to most.

1. 3597 Albright Ave

We went a little out of our way to Mar Vista to check this one out, and good thing we did, otherwise we might have ended the day with no faith in humanity. This house, once viewed online, became known as the "wall of books" house. Any house that has a wall of built-in book shelving has lots of charm in my view. Goodness knows we'd fill that wall right up if it were ours. Besides that detail, we liked the back yard with its trellis, path, and twisted prickly cactus trees. A decent-sized dining room and newish master-bath left a good impression. But an outdated kitchen and useless half-bath had us knocking down walls (in our imaginations) before we walked out. Also, I'm not a fan of the fake stone patterns etched into the entire external stucco-work. It just looks cheesy. That's fixable, I suppose. With an asking price at $748k for 1,576, we didn't retch. Just shrugged.

2. 1919 S. Crescent Heights Blvd.

The shadiness of the previous $70,000 last sale price not withstanding, this is a fine house. But the location stinks. Sandwiched between La Cienega, Kaiser Permanente, Venice Blvd and a snarl of freeways, there's nothing calming anywhere in sight, and nothing to do or eat, either. It isn't an awful neighborhood, just a blah one. Highlights include: a living room suitable for surround sound, two great bathrooms, a newish (if overly ornate) kitchen, and three good-sized bedrooms, two of which have french doors leading to the yard, which is acceptably sized. Downers? Virtually no dining room, a too-high price ($789k for 1,638 sq ft), and that lame, lame location on a wide, busy street. We should just stay in Culver City.

3. 4218 Vinton Ave.

Back on home turf, we began our descent into fairyland (or, perhaps, the underworld). We knew not to expect much when the listing described this Carlson Park-adjacent home as a "magical cottage." This two-bedroom, one-bath home is 885 square feet, and priced at $699k. The home feels as if it is designed in miniature--a tiny living room, shallow tiny sinks, a cramped condo-style kitchen, and a tiny "mother in-law unit" that eats up half the back yard! That little surprise wasn't on the listing, but included a bathroom. Why so secretive? Also, why did the realtor blast us with, "Now is a great time to buy!!" the second we walked into the house? Such a turn-off. Please don't do that anymore. Nobody is encouraged by it. It just makes us mad.

4. 6121 Hargis Street

Sometimes, we can be very naive. We had high hopes for this 2BD, 1.5BA $549k house house located in Culver City's "arts district." You know, the area with all the galleries and boutiques and restaurants on Washington between La Cienega and Trader Joes? Well, the neighborhood is just fine, but the house wasn't. Where to begin? Perhaps with the floors. The realtor mentioned immediately that they might need some work. But I'm not even sure they're salvageable. Made from old-style thin planks, some were torn up, others splintering. Everybody likes to see hardwood, but what a shame this was. The livingroom and dining room were tiny, but that's to be expected. What I wasn't expecting was grimy, filthy walls and paint in the bedrooms. *Shudder* Flooring was a problem in the backyard, too, where uneven cement tiles took up most of the space and invited people to stub toes and trip forward. Liability waiting to happen. The worst part, though, was the absence of the half bath. The listing says 1.5. We hunted and we couldn't find it. Then, it ocurred to me that the laundry area with washer and dryer could house plumbing to support a toilet. But there was no toilet. Enough said.

5. 3396 McLaughlin Ave.

We definitely should've known better. The map told us everything we needed to know: This $749k 3BD 2BA house is located at the intersection of a busy street and a giant park with a community swimming pool. Soccer players can see into the kitchen. There were other oddities to this home (two front doors, a bidet) but they're hardly worth discussing. It was just too damn loud in that house to ever consider living in it.

6. 4155 Lincoln Ave.

The sellers of this home are delusional. A thousand square feet, two bedrooms, one bath, all for $825k! You'll get a decrepit, miniscule kitchen with ancient appliances, a tiny and old bathroom, and a bedroom with ratty carpeting. The house also reeks of smoke and pets. The living room has its built-in charms, and the backyard is somewhat sizable. But I'm insulted by the asking price. Seeing homes like that discourages buyers into thinking that we are nowhere near the right time to buy.

Labels: Albright, arts district, Crescent Heights, Hargis, Lincoln, McLaughlin, Vinton

On the drive back from visiting the ancestral homeland (Santa Monica) for brunch this morning, we rode along Dewey to get to Walgrove when we caught sight of some fresh, brazen graffiti on the concrete slab of a fence belonging to a ginormous remodel.

This was no ordinary house, and this was no ordinary graffiti:

Damn. That's the poetry of our times. It truly speaks to me and inspires me. Part of me thinks the choice spellings were the work of an ironic mind--surely nobody could attempt angry, economic graffiti in complete sentences without first considering spelling?--but perhaps it is the work of a long-suffering neighbor sick of this eyesore (it seems this house has been under construction for nearly 2.5 years), or a bitter contractor.

Let this be a cautionary tale. Do not buy a $750,000 lot and try to flip it to sell at $2.85 million with ugly design and faux modern materials. Here's what the house looked like before it was torn down:
Keller Williams' A.K. Karasek needs to chip in to buy his seller some gray paint. If he acts quickly, the damage will be minimal. Because, you know, its not like this house has been languishing on the market or anything.

I drove by the house yesterday and didn't notice any graffiti, so it must have happened in the wee hours of the morning, today. Santa Monican natives are getting restless and won't stand for this crap anymore! I'd love to see this happen to the enormous uninhabited condo buildings on Lincoln between Culver and Braddock. Seriously--this building sucks. Banrupsy you diserve. Si.

Labels: banrupsy you diserve, Dewey, Santa Monica

***Update 3***
This house sold for $834k. The asking price was $715k. What planet are we living on?

***Update 2**
Poof, it is gone. After less than two weeks on the market, this home is no longer active. And rather than changing the status to "contingent" or "looking for backup offers," this one is really off the market. Mazel tov to the bidder, looking forward to seeing what you ended up paying when it finally closes and the data bubbles up through the public records. Was there perhaps a bidding war?

**Update 1**
Greetings, Curbites! I thought you might want to know that 10858 Wagner is now the #1 most popular home in all of Culver City, according to Redfin.com's stats. These are desperate times...
**

In the few months that we've been looking, we've seen a lot of ugly, dirty houses, and a lot of pristine, gussied-up houses. Not one of them has inspired our imagination or seemed based in reality. On Sunday, we finally saw a house that we could afford in our lifetime, and imagine ourselves owning.

10858 Wagner isn't in Park East/90232, but it is just on the other side of the tracks (aka Overland Blvd.). We'd been avoiding "Park West" because it simply isn't quite as charming as the Carlson Park area, and isn't--even at a stretch--walking distance to downtown Culver City. Beggars can't be choosers.

The Wagner house is walking distance to a few restaurants on Washington Blvd that we frequent. It is also just down the block from Veterans Park, which isn't quite as protected and residential as Carlson Park, but it is bigger and has more amenities (fields and diamonds, a public pool).

A 3BD, 2BA home at 1453 square feet, this is just about the right size for us. The lot, however, is tiny, so were we to own this house, we couldn't expand very much. The $715,000 asking price is still too high, but not too high that it can't come down to reality (at least it is under $500 per square foot).

Our favorite details include: 1) a tiny entryway (better than no entryway and direct entry to living room), 2) remodeled kitchen with double oven, countertop burners, industrial hood and wine fridge, 3) bonus open den area with little built-ins everywhere (bedrooms have them too), and 4) a completely private (if tiny) backyard with trellis (no picture). Curb appeal would be much improved (imho) with the shutters painted white. Oh, oh, and there's a tankless water heater!


Biggest bummers: the bathrooms. There are two, but they are both tiny. On first glance it would seem tough to ever expand them since the lot is so small and we wouldn't want to filch from the already miniscule yard.

There were people milling about on the front lawn from 2pm-5pm on Sunday--it is as though they didn't want to leave (we know because we drove back to the house to take another look later in the day and the mob scene was the same). Clearly, this house is popular. We're not in a position to make an offer immediately, but we assume that *someone* is. We won't be surprised if the status on this home is changed from "active" to "contingent" within a week. If there is a bidding war, well, that would be disappointing, because as I said, the price is still too high. Only patient, smart buyers (not desperate, pregnant buyers) can bring this market down to a place where we can all play.

That said, the mere existence of this home is enough to buoy our spirits a bit. I'm certain there will be more like this.

Labels: Park West, Veterans Park, Wagner Street

If you've got nothing better to do on Saturday (March 7) at 10 a.m., take a walking tour of the Palms neighborhood and downtown Culver City.

Highlights include:

The mansion of the former Selznik Studios, used as a backdrop for the credits of the movie Gone With the Wind.
* The rejuvenated Culver City downtown, with its unusual streetscapes, art deco buildings and flatiron-shaped Culver Hotel. Where the cast of the movie Freaks stayed in 1931. Murals portray Laurel and Hardy and Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. (Ed. note: Also, the munchkins from the Wizard of Oz also slept here, three to a bed, according to the hotel's site.)
* St. Augustine Catholic Church, the “offspring” of Santa Monica.
* The Colonnade gate to the MGM Studios.
* The quirky Museum of Jurassic Technology and its neighbor, the Center for Land Use Interpretation.
* The Palms temple of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, with its Indian-themed shop and vegetarian restaurant, where we’ll end our tour.

Me? I'll be busy, uh, washing my hair.

Labels: Culver Hotel, Downtown Culver City, Palms

Since virtually no homes in our price range, with our size requirements, have gone on the market in 90232 in the last couple months, we have naturally begun looking outside our little haven.

We visited an open house at 2861 Corning a couple of weeks ago. The Redfin listing had charmed me: notably, the Craftsman style with siding, porch, deck, bay window, giant dining room. The house was only about a mile away from the Carlson Park neighborhood--just east, on the north side of Venice Blvd. The $725,000 listing price, and description of the neighborhood as "Beverlywood Adjacent," did their jobs and we were on our way for a look on the same week that the home listing was posted.



We were misled. This is what venturing outside of our cute little 'hood gets us. As we drove up Cattaraugus from Venice Blvd we saw lots of graffiti, lots of run-down apartment buildings and cars, bars on every window, and general blight. Yes, I know I live in Los Angeles and believe me, it isn't that I find working class neighborhoods frightening--the surprise factor here had to do with the way the listing was worded. Fine--I don't expect the realtor to describe the neighborhood of the home as depressed. But perhaps at least one of the photos of the house could've been more of a pulled-back shot so I could see the surrounding block.



And the home itself? Well, it wasn't nearly in "move in condition" as the listing described. It was dirty. Flies swarmed, paint chipped, dust collected. It had barely been updated at all. Now, the $775k asking price was beginning to seem absurd--especially in that location. Frankly, there's no price at which I would buy this home.

Meanwhile, we've been collecting homes via Redfin's "favorite listings" feature. Their locations span from Westchester to Miracle Mile and everything in between. If no more new homes show up anytime soon in 90232, we will be forced to give up on this neighborhood.

Nearly all of the 90232 homes we visited between October and January have sold, eventually. Their prices, while surely disappointing to the sellers because they are nearly all below the asking price by a good $50k, are sickening to me--1300sq/ft homes with 3 BR and 1.5 BA selling for between $820k-$900k. Yes, prices have dropped a bit, but we'll never find out by how much since nobody is selling anymore.

The neurotic obssessive in me has come out in full force, needing to know just how it is possible, in the current economic climate, for people to spend that kind of money on these small starter homes in 90232. This all-consuming curiousity has driven me to use my prodigious investigative powers for evil, and I have begun tracking down some of these buyers via the Web tools at my disposal. No, I am not going to post their names and addresses here on this blog, but I will say that I am shocked by what I have found: veteran partners at Los Angeles law firms are buying tiny homes in 90232. Can't they do better? And if they can't, how will we ever? Other new owners in the neighborhood include film/online marketing geniuses and even mural painters and poet/activists. Old money, new money, and no money.

We'll continue to wait it out.

Labels: Fire department, Madison Avenue