2014 Market Forecast

2014 Market Predictions brought to you by CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

 

History Around the Hill: The Point Vicente Lighthouse

THE POINT VICENTE LIGHTHOUSE

Bright Historic Beacon

 

Written by Denise Kano| DIGS Magazine

Before lighthouses were installed along the Pacific Coast, shipmasters took their chances near the coastline, particularly loathing the dangerous stretch of coastal waters along the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

On May 1, 1926, the U.S. Lighthouse Service began operating what was considered “the brightest beacon” in Southern California: the Point Vicente Lighthouse, a cylindrical-style lighthouse. Still in operation as a navigational aid, the 67-foot tall lighthouse marks the northern end of the Catalina Channel on the Pacific Coast, and helps warn mariners of the rocky coast.

Lighthouse Details

The lighthouse was built on plastered, reinforced concrete, and is similar to the one on Anacapa Island in the Channel Islands. Using a 1,000-watt bulb which is focused through a five-foot lens, the lighthouse’s beam is visible over twenty miles. This particular lens was hand-ground by Paris craftsmen in 1886 and was in service in Alaska for forty years prior to installation in the Point Vicente Lighthouse. In the early days, the Keeper, Assistant Keeper, and their families lived in nearby cottages which are still standing nearby.

In 1934, the radio station and the radio navigation beacon were added. For many years, Coast Guard radiomen at Point Vicente monitored the international distress frequencies, ready to help vessels in need. However, the last radioman locked the doors in 1980 when this responsibility was transferred to another station. The radio station buildings of that facility are still here, although the old equipment is long outdated.

During World War Two, the 1000-watt bulb was replaced by a tiny 25-watt bulb, significantly dimming the light source so as not to aid in enemy navigation. After the war, the bright rotating beam became a glaring disturbance to local residents and a hazard to nearby motorists. Lighthouse keepers coated the inside of the inland-facing windows with white paint to end the flash of the beacon on nearby residents’ homes.

Today, the lighthouse keeper has been replaced by electronic sensors and automated controls. The nearby housing facility is home to Coast Guard personnel assigned to nearby ships, stations and offices. The former radio center is now manned by volunteer civilian members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary that track distress calls from boaters in the Catalina Channel.

The Lady of the Light

Through the decades, there have been reports of ghost sightings at the lighthouse. Legend has it that a tall, forlorn-looking woman in a flowing gown slowly paces the tower’s walkway. Some believe the “Lady of the Light” is the ghost of the first lighthouse keeper’s wife who fell from the edge of a cliff one foggy night. Others believe she waits for the return of a lover lost at sea. Yet another tale says that she is the shadow of a heartbroken woman who threw herself from the cliffs when she found herself abandoned by her intended. Explanations that this “phantom” is caused by reflections from the huge lighthouse lens haven’t discouraged those who believe the Lady walks here on a nightly basis.

Fun Facts:

• Captain George Vancouver, an explorer from England, named Point Vicente and Point Fermin.
• The Lighthouse was manned until automated equipment and remote control operators took over in 1971.
• On November 17, 1979, Point Vicente Lighthouse was added to the National Registry of Historic Sites.
• Although the tower is 67 feet tall, the main beam of light marks Point Vicente from a height of 185 feet above the ocean

For More Information:

The Lighthouse is located at 31550 Palos Verdes Drive West in Rancho Palos Verdes. The grounds and lighthouse are normally closed, but the tower and a small museum are open to the public from 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. the second Saturday of every month. Admission is free. In March, the tower and museum are open the first Saturday of the month from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. to coincide with the City’s popular “Whale of a Day” event. Children under 7 are not allowed in the tower and pets are not allowed on the Coast Guard grounds. For recorded information, please call (310) 541-0334.

- See more at: http://www.southbaydigs.com/looking-back-the-point-vicente-lighthouse/#sthash.2ULYGRDs.dpuf

Brewery is on tap for Port of Los Angeles project

A master beer brewer and a popular young chef are set to take over a World War II-era warehouse near Ports O' Call. It's part of an ambitious plan to upgrade the San Pedro waterfront.

By Roger Vincent| LA Times

A long-vacant warehouse at the Port of Los Angeles dating from World War II is soon to get busier than ever with the arrival of a master beer brewer and a popular young chef.

The pair intend to turn the old redwood structure into an active brewery paired with a full-service restaurant as part of a larger plan by port officials to revive a once-bustling area of San Pedro.
The port district of Los Angeles that was once dominated by the fishing industry is the focus of major redevelopment activity intended to capitalize on the appeal of the busy industrial waterfront. The funky Ports O' Call Village mall is in line for a full makeover, and an old pier is set be turned into a $500-million marine research center.

"Let's celebrate the idea that Los Angeles does have a waterfront," said Los Angeles developer Wayne Ratkovich, who is working to upgrade Ports O' Call.

The port's old Warehouse No. 9 will become the first permanent home of Brouwerij West, a maker of Belgian-style ales sold in more than 30 states and six countries. Joining brewer Brian Mercer in the venture is Brendan Collins, the English-born executive chef of upscale Culver City gastropub Waterloo & City.

Creation of the capacious beer-making facility over the next few months will mark the end of Mercer's days as the "gypsy" brewer of such concoctions as Dog Ate My Homework — noted for its strong notes of blackberry — and hoppy blond beer My First Rodeo.



"Being a gypsy brewer sounds fairly romantic," said Mercer, who has spent the last three years roaming among other people's facilities to make his beer. But he would rather have his own space where he can increase production.

Mercer's plans call for a 27,000-square-foot facility that would be mostly dedicated to the beer-making process, from fermentation to bottling or kegging the brew. There would also be a laboratory for quality control.

About a third of the space will be turned into a restaurant operated by Collins and his partner, Carolos Tomazos, who was born on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus and trained in Vienna. The pair operate Waterloo & City and Larry's casual dining restaurant in Venice.

Mercer hopes to open Brouwerij West by the end of the summer and start producing 6,000 barrels of beer a year, about six times as much as he now makes. The name of his company is an homage to the brand's Belgian influence — "Brouwerij" is the Flemish word for brewery, and is pronounced "brewery."
Mercer signed a 23-year sublease with Wayne Blank and Howard Robinson, the strategists behind Bergamot Station arts complex in Santa Monica. Bergamot Station is a 19-year-old collection of galleries, a museum, theater and cafe.

Blank and Robinson were selected by Port of Los Angeles officials to help upgrade public areas of the busy shipping port on San Pedro Bay. Warehouse No. 9 will join Warehouse No. 10 as a public attraction called Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles. Warehouse No. 10 already hosts a craft fair every weekend populated by makers of art, apparel, jewelry and food.

The warehouses are near Ports O' Call Village, a faux New England fishing village built in the 1960s that houses shops and restaurants. The attraction is considered dated and an underutilization of prime seaside real estate.

Last year the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners approved an agreement with Los Angeles developer the Ratkovich Co. and Jerico Development Inc. of San Pedro to exclusively negotiate the redevelopment of the 30-acre waterfront site that includes the Ports O' Call.

Port officials hope to make the waterfront a more popular destination for tourists and locals looking for recreation. Ports O' Call once attracted 1 million visitors a year, but its appeal has waned with time.
"Aside from Ports O' Call, which was developed 50 years ago, the public waterfront here has not been recognized as a place to explore, dine and shop," Port of Los Angeles spokesman Arley Baker said. "The bigger vision is that we have a world-class waterfront for a world-class city."

The port will spend more than $800 million on infrastructure improvements intended to attract private developers to the waterfront, including roadway realignments and expansion of the 1.5-mile Red Car trolley line serving the waterfront on weekends. A $125-million upgrade of the 700-slip Cabrillo Way Marina was completed in 2011.

In December, the Los Angeles City Council approved a 50-year lease between the port and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors to transform a century-old pier on the waterfront into a marine research center called AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles.

The planned AltaSea campus would have circulating seawater labs, offices, classrooms, lecture halls, support facilities, an interpretive center, a facility for marine-related commercial ventures and perhaps the world's largest seawater wave tank for studying tsunamis and rogue waves.

The anchor tenant of the first phase is to be the Southern California Marine Institute, an alliance of 12 universities in Southern California that have marine science academic and research programs. The entire project is expected to cost more than $500 million and take 15 to 20 years to complete.



San Pedro's waterfront is ripe for redevelopment, said Wayne Ratkovich, who is working on a $150-million plan to revitalize Ports O' Call he has yet to fully unveil. The proposal, which would have to be approved by port officials, calls for the creation of a family-oriented attraction he declined to name and a new selection of shops and restaurants.

The leases of current tenants at Ports O' Call expire at the end of this year, and work on a new version of the waterfront center could begin in 2015, he said.

"The time has come for San Pedro to be a participant in the urban revitalization that has touched so many other communities in Southern California," Ratkovich said. "Developing Ports O' Call is part of that."

Twitter: @rogervincent

Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-property-report-20140123,0,7862099.story#ixzz2rGgiHazT

Foreclosure filings plummet amid higher home prices

By Andrew Khouri| LA Times

 

A report released Tuesday has found that new California foreclosure filings plunged at the end of last year, as a rebounding economy and higher home prices further healed the housing market.

Notices of default -- the first formal step in the state's foreclosure process -- dropped 10.8% in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared with the prior quarter, and tumbled 52.6% from the same period a year earlier, research firm DataQuick said. The 18,120 default notices filed against home owners was the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2005.
   
“Most of the drop is because of the improving economy and the increase in home values. Fewer people are behind on their mortgage payments. And of those who do get into trouble, many, if not most, can sell and pay off what they owe,” DataQuick President John Walsh said in a statement.

The median home price across the state rose 22.1% from a year earlier, to $364,000, in the fourth quarter of 2013, a steep rise driven in large part by investors and families fighting over a shortage of homes for sale. For homeowners who are nearing foreclosure and underwater (meaning they owe more on their mortgage than the house is worth), that appreciation means they are less likely to walk away, Walsh said.

“There’s a strong incentive to hang on,” he said.
The 18,120 default notices accounted for 17,773 homes, because some homeowners had entered default on more than one loan.

Completed foreclosures continued to drop over the year as well.  Californians lost 8,205 homes to foreclosure last quarter, down 61.2% from a year earlier and the second-lowest level in seven years. Completed foreclosures rose 2.2% from the third quarter of 2013.

Foreclosures remain more pronounced in relatively affordable communities, where many homeowners, despite recent price gains, remain underwater.
QUIZ: How much do you know about mortgages?
ZIP Codes with an annual median sales price below $200,000 saw two homes per 1,000 lost to foreclosure in the fourth quarter, DataQuick said. Comparatively, ZIP Codes with a median price from $200,000 to $800,000 experienced 0.8 foreclosures per 1,000 homes.

Of all loans entering default, the median origination quarter was the third quarter of 2006, extending a more than four-year trend and indicating the peak of risky mortgage lending.

Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-foreclosures-california-20140121,0,3704573.story#ixzz2rGF47CeY

Southern California home prices surge in December

The median home price in Southern California hit $395,000 last month, a 2.6% gain from November and 22.3% over the same month a year earlier.

By Andrew Khouri| LA TIMES

Southern California home prices jumped in December, the first significant increase since June.

The median sale price in the six-county region hit $395,000 last month, a 2.6% gain from November and 22.3% over the same month a year earlier, research firm DataQuick reported Tuesday. The firm attributed the rise to fewer distressed sales and demand that has outstripped tight supply.

It's too soon to tell if the monthly increase signals the return of aggressive price appreciation. The spring home buying season will provide a better look into the market's health.
"The problem with one month of data is it could just be noise," said Richard Green, director of USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate.

But if the sharp gains continue through this year, it could renew concerns of a bubble.
"A pop from here would be a problem," Green said.
What's clear is that sales continue to decline, signaling a persistent shortage of homes. Buyers scooped up 18,415 new and resale houses and condos last month, the lowest level for December in six years. Sales tumbled 9.2% from December 2012.

"The pitifully low inventory is the main culprit," DataQuick President John Walsh said. "The jump in home values over the last year suggests we'll eventually see a lot more people interested in selling their homes, which would help ease the inventory crunch."

The December data cap a whirlwind year for Southern California real estate. Home prices rose swiftly through the first half of the year, as investors and families battled over a meager supply of homes.
The market then cooled through the summer and fall as higher prices and mortgage

rates damped demand, and the market entered a typically slower period. Most experts predict prices will rise again this year, but at a measured pace. The spring home buying season will provide insight into whether those predictions will hold.
"This is the dead season. What happens in March matters," said Bill McBride, who writes the financial blog Calculated Risk.

Still, experts said the housing recovery continued to normalize. Sales of foreclosed homes and short sales have declined dramatically over the last year. Another positive sign is strong new home sales and housing starts nationally, McBride said.

In Southern California, new home sales rose 7.3% compared with December 2012. In pricey Orange County, new home sales more than doubled.
Homes in the typical move-up range — an important link in a healthy housing market — increased slightly. Sales of homes priced from $300,000 to $799,999 increased by nearly 2% last month compared with a year earlier.

The December increase in the median home price reflects, in part, more sales in costlier neighborhoods, according to DataQuick. The median is influenced not only by a general rise in values but also by a change in the mix of homes selling. The median is the point at which half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

Meanwhile, sales of lower-cost homes plunged as inventory in those neighborhoods remains extremely tight. Many homeowners there still owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth, limiting their ability to sell, and investors have scooped up many homes in affordable communities to flip or rent out.

As the housing recovery continues, Green said, it will be more robust along the coast, where the economic recovery is healthier — a disparity that has raised concerns among economists.
"The fundamentals of the Inland Empire are bad," Green said. "It's a very different economy than Playa Vista, Santa Monica or Huntington Beach."

Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-home-prices-20140115,0,4139174.story#ixzz2qbMLPrKW

Steps to Buying a Home

Step 1: Decide to Buy

The decision to purchase your first home is one of the biggest and best decisions you could ever make. After all, a home is the largest (and most emotional) investment most people will ever make. So, how do you know if it's the right time for you to buy your first home?

• There is never a wrong time to buy the right home. The key is finding a good buy and taking the time to carefully evaluate your finances.
• A home purchase is an important step in the path to long-term wealth. Purchasing your own home is a great investment that provides specific financial advantages, including equity buildup, value appreciation potential and tax benefits. It's also an automatic savings plan that you cannot get from renting!
• Here's the most important rule for keeping your stress to a minimum: you don't have to know everything. Your Keller Williams agent is ready to help you through every step of the process.

Step 2: Hire Your Agent

When you're looking for a real estate professional to help you, know that above all else, good agents put their clients first. This is your dream, and your agent is your advocate to help you make your dream come true.

A great real estate agent will:

1. Educate you about the current conditions of the market.
2. Analyze what you want and what you need in your next home.
3. Guide you to homes that fit your criteria.
4. Coordinate the work of other needed professionals throughout the process.
5. Negotiate with the seller on your behalf.
6. Check and double-check paperwork and deadlines.
7. Solve any problems that may arise.

Step 3: Secure Financing

Ultimately, your lender will pre-approve you for a certain amount, but YOU will decide what you're comfortable paying every month. Remember, your lender only sees your finances on paper. It's up to you to decide how much you're willing to stretch your budget in order to get into your dream home.

Be sure to follow these six steps to financing your home:

1. Choose a loan officer.
2. Make a loan application and get preapproved.
3. Determine what you want to pay and select a loan option.
4. Submit to the lender an accepted purchase offer contract.
5. Get an appraisal and title commitment.
6. Obtain funding at closing.

Step 4: Find Your Home

So you are preapproved and ready to begin your search. But how or where do you begin? There are a lot of homes out there and diving in without a guide can become overwhelming and confusing. A great agent will help you more accurately pinpoint homes that fit your criteria. The right home will meet all your important needs, and as many of your additional wants as possible. Some questions you might ask yourself include:

• What do I want my home to be close to?
• How much space do I need and why?
• Which is more critical: location or size?
• Would I be interested in a fixer-upper?
• How important is home value appreciation?
• Is neighborhood stability a priority?
• Would I be interested in a condo?
• What features and amenities do I want? Which do I really need?

You'll learn as you look at homes, your priorities will probably adjust along the way.

Step 5: Make an Offer

Once you've found a home you love, the next step is making a compelling offer. While emotions are probably in high gear once you've found a home you love, it's important to remember that a home is an investment. Your agent will research similar properties in the neighborhood to help you determine the market value, and fair price, for your home. Look to your agent to explain and guide you through the offer process.

• The three basic components of your purchase offer are price, terms and contingencies.
• Price is the dollar amount you are approved for, willing and able to pay.
• Terms cover the other financial and timing factors that will be included in the offer.
• Contingencies are clauses that let you out of the deal if the house has a problem that didn't exist or which you weren't aware of when you went under contract. They specify any event that will need to take place in order for you to fulfill the contract.

Step 6: Perform Due Diligence

Just because you love a particular property doesn't mean that it's perfect. In fact, this is where reason has to trump emotion. You'll need to have a property inspection (which we highly recommend you attend) that will expose hidden issues. This way you'll know what you are getting into before you sign closing papers.

• Your main concern is the possibility of structural damage. This can come from water damage, shifting ground, or poor construction when the house was built.
• Don't sweat the small stuff. It's the inspector's job to mark everything discovered no matter how large or small. The inspectors report may be long, but, things that are easily fixed can be overlooked for the time being.
• If you have a big problem show up in your inspection report, you should bring in a specialist and if the worst-case scenario turns out to be true, you might want to walk away from the purchase.
• Even if your home passes inspection, you'll still need to buy a home owner's insurance policy that protects you against loss or damage to the property itself and against liability in case someone sustains an injury while on your property.

Step 7: Close

Once you've made your offer and have completed the inspection process, you're in the "home" stretch! But, in order to ensure that you don't put your closing date, or your mortgage at risk, you have a few pre-closing responsibilities that you'll need to be mindful of. These include:

• Staying in control of your credit and finances. If you are tempted to make any large purchases during this time, it's best to talk to your lender first.
• Keeping in touch with your agent and lender, returning all phone calls and completing paperwork promptly.
• Communicating with your agent at least once or twice a week, and verifying with your lender that all mortgage funding steps are completed.
• Conducting a final walk-through of the home with your agent.
• Confirming with your agent, home insurance professional, and lender that you have the settlement statement, certified funds, and evidence of insurance lined up prior to closing.

Step 8: Protect Your Investment

Congratulations, and welcome home! The home-buying process is complete, but just like any big process, there's a maintenance plan! It's now your responsibility, and in your best financial interest, to protect your investment for years to come. Performing routine maintenance on your home's systems is always more affordable than having to fix big problems later. Be sure to watch for signs of leaks, damage, and wear.

And remember, just because the sale is complete, your relationship with your agent doesn't need to end! After closing, your agent can still help you - providing information for your tax returns, finding contractors and repair services, and even tracking your home's current market value.

Why choose a Keller Williams Agent?

What’s different about a Keller Williams agent?

Knowledge: Keller Williams agents stay ahead of trends, tools and topics in the real estate industry through their access to Keller Williams University.  The comprehensive industry-leading training curriculum prepares our agents to serve you at the highest level. 

Teamwork: Unlike other real estate companies, Keller Williams Realty was designed to reward agents for working together. At our core, we believe that we are all more successful if we strive towards a common goal, rather than our individual interests. And, that goal is to serve you, our client, at the highest level possible. 

Reliability: Keller Williams Realty was founded on the principles of trust and honesty, emphasizing the importance of having the integrity to do the right thing and always putting your needs first. Our agents realize that their success is ultimately determined by the legacy we leave with each client we serve.

Speed: Leading-edge technology solutions accelerate our associates’ efficiency and productivity.

4 More PV Schools Nominated for Distinguished Schools Honor

California Distinguished School honorees will be announced in late March.

Posted by Nicole Mooradian (Editor)|Palos Verdes Patch

Four more schools in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District have been invited to apply for the California Distinguished Schools honor, according to a notice on the PVPUSD website.

Lunada Bay, Mira Catalina, Montemalaga and Rancho Vista elementary schools are all eligible for the honor awarded by the California Department of Education, according to the school district.

Previously, the district announced that Cornerstone at Pedregal, Pointe Vicente, Silver Spur and Vista Grande elementary schools were nominees.

Schools "invited to apply for the Distinguished School honors must meet a variety of eligibility criteria, including designated federal and state accountability measures based on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the state's Academic Performance Index requirements," according to the news release.

The honorees will be announced in late March.

Elementary and secondary schools are honored as Distinguished Schools in alternate years.

http://palosverdes.patch.com/groups/schools/p/4-more-palos-verdes-schools-nominated-for-distinguished-schools-honor

This Month in Real Estate- January

Hilarious Real Estate Photos

Here are some HORRIBLE Real Estate Photos

These are actual listing photos posted on the MLS and other Real Estate sites. Take a look & have a good laugh

Follow @BadRealtyPhotos on twitter to see more!

What are closing costs?

With little vacant land left, developers and wealthy buyers are razing small, older houses in sought-after Southern California neighborhoods to build modern mansions.

Homebuyers should be aware of the extra payments that accompany a home mortgage.

By Rick Grant, Zillow

 Shopping for the best mortgage involves more than just checking interest rates and loan terms. Many borrowers are surprised by the many additional costs involved in closing the loan.

Almost all closing costs relate to fees that the mortgage lender is charged by a third-party company and then passes on to the borrower. Some of the fees are additional costs the lender levies. Because these fees are all settled at the closing table, they are commonly referred to as closing costs.

Breaking down closing costs

Closing costs usually account for 2 percent to 5 percent of a home's sale price, although they may be more or less in some cases. These costs typically cover:

• Obtaining a credit report
• Processing paperwork for the loan (loan-origination fees)
• Legal fees
• Home inspections
• Appraisals
• Surveys
• Title insurance
• Title searches
• An escrow deposit
• Recording the transaction in the city or county's records
• Underwriting the mortgage (evaluating the borrower and the property)

In addition to these fees, homebuyers may elect to increase their closing costs through discount points, which lower the mortgage's interest rate and saves the borrower money over the life of the loan.

• How closings work

Who pays closing costs?

In most cases, the buyer pays the bulk of the closing costs. In some cases, however, other parties may absorb a portion or all of these costs. For instance, if a home is purchased using a Veterans Affairs (VA) loan, then the seller will pay some of the closing costs, and the buyer will pay the remaining costs.

Some mortgage lenders advertise mortgages without closing costs. These may or may not be a good choice, depending on the specifics of the mortgage. Homebuyers, however, should realize that any bank offering mortgages without closing costs will likely build those fees into the structure of the mortgage. Buyers or sellers will probably pay the fees associated with purchasing a house, one way or another.

Saving for closing costs

Homebuyers should be aware of the closing costs they will be expected to pay because these fees can significantly increase the amount of money needed at closing. The good news is that lenders must provide agood-faith estimate (GFE) of these costs shortly after the borrower applies for the loan. The law now states that the final settlement of the loan must not deviate from this estimate by more than 105 percent — and for some loan products not at all.

But, borrowers can still be surprised by the GFE if they are not already planning to pay at least some closing costs.

Consider the following example: A home is sold for $100,000, and the buyer will make an initial down payment of $10,000 (10 percent). But that's not all the money the buyer will need to bring to the closing table. The closing costs can be expected to be around 5 percent, or $5,000. The buyer actually needs to have $15,000, not $10,000 at closing. The fees increase how much the home buyer needs at closing by 50 percent, in this case.

http://realestate.msn.com/blogs/post--what-are-closing-costs

Investors buy parking lot across from Staples Center

The three local buyers plan to build a large-scale residential and retail complex, perhaps including a hotel.

By Roger Vincent| LA TIMES

A parking lot across the street from Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, above, has been sold to local investors. (Ben Cohen / Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images / May 22, 2013)

A sprawling parking lot across the street from Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles has been sold to local investors who plan to build a large-scale residential and retail complex — perhaps including a hotel.

It was the second sale of a parking lot in the area around Staples and the L.A. Live entertainment complex in recent weeks as real estate development in the neighborhood south of downtown's financial district picks up speed.

The latest sale was a 2.7-acre parcel at 12th and Figueroa streets that has city approval for construction of apartment or condominium towers above stores and restaurants, real estate broker Adam Tischer of Colliers International said.

Tischer is an advisor to the seller, L&R Group, which is the parent company of Joe's Auto Park. The broker declined to name the three buyers, but other downtown property experts not authorized to talk about the deal identified one of the new owners as David Y. Lee.

Lee's Los Angeles company, Jamison Services Inc., is one of the largest office landlords in Southern California.

L&R paid $31 million for the property in 2010 and hadn't planned to sell it, but a trio of local buyers offered to pay substantially more than twice that amount, Tischer said. He declined to reveal the exact price.

The parcel, which was once owned by condominium developer South Group, has preliminary approvals for two high-rise towers of about 35 and 27 stories housing 648 residential units. About 40,000 square feet of space for stores and restaurants would be available for rent at street level.

The new owners may seek a variance from the city that would allow them to use some of the approved 863,000 square feet of development space as a hotel and perhaps accommodate more retail space, Tischer said.

"They are eager to get started and hope to be under construction this year," he said.

The other Staples area parking lot to be sold recently was a 4.6-acre site just to the north at 11th and Figueroa streets. Chinese property developer Oceanwide Real Estate Group acquired the land now used as a parking lot from New York landlord Moinian Group.

Oceanwide said it hopes to develop a five-star hotel, apartments and retail space.

roger.vincent@latimes.com
Twitter: @rogervincent

Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0111-development-site-sale-20140111,0,7644705.story#ixzz2qJwi0QjC

San Pedro streetscape to see some changes in 2014

by Donna Littlejohn, The Daily Breeze

POSTED: 01/04/14

The new year will see some physical changes throughout San Pedro, including the opening this summer of the port’s inlet and downtown plaza just in time to welcome a tall ships festival.

The water cut is part of the ongoing waterfront project and a new harbor for vessel docking and a “modern town square,” featuring landscaping, lighting and promenades just north of the Los Angeles Maritime Museum at Sixth Street and Harbor Boulevard.

The tall ships festival — the Port of Los Angeles is an official stop of the Tall Ships Challenge on Aug. 20-24 — is expected to attract as many as 12 national and international tall ships along with 250,000 visitors to the area over the four-day period.

The plaza being built next to the water is expected to hold 10,000 people for outdoor events and performances.

Costing nearly $40 million, the Downtown Harbor Project is viewed as one of the waterfront’s key connector pieces as designers attempt to better link the historic downtown shopping district to the water just a few blocks east.

The new harbor inlet was among early recommendations made a decade ago by waterfront developers who said the focus should be to bring the water closer to residents and shoppers.

Among other physical changes coming this year:

• An $800,000 skate plaza now under construction is tentatively slated to open around summer in Peck Park, 560 N. Western Ave. The opening is timed to a temporary closure of the Channel Street skate park on the other side of town. That facility has to close for about a year for freeway overpass improvements.
The new 7,600-square-foot outdoor skate plaza is undergoing construction along the western border of the park, across the street from Rancho Palos Verdes, and will include elements that skateboarders enjoy using on the streets, such as banks, ledges and railings, along with a swimming pool-style bowl.

• If the Los Angeles City Council gives a downsized Ponte Vista housing plan the go-ahead in coming weeks, demolition on the long-vacant Navy houses along Western Avenue could finally begin in 2014.
Late last year, the plan received unanimous approvals from the Los Angeles City Planning Commission and the council’s Planning, Land Use and Management Committee. If the full council follows suit, it will end what has been nearly a decade of controversy over plans to redevelop the 61.5-acre former Navy property at 26900 S. Western Ave.

The latest proposal calls for building no more than 700 for-sale homes, down from the original proposal of 2,300 homes initially presented by a previous developer in 2005.
Along with demolition of the vacant Navy homes, early work on the project, if approved, will include building infrastructure on the site.



• San Pedro’s newly restored Korean Friendship Bell will be unveiled at a ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Friday. The 17-ton bronze bell, protected by a decorative concrete pavilion overlooking the ocean in Angels Gate Park, 3601 S. Gaffey St., was a gift to the people of America 38 years ago, marking the United States’ bicentennial year.

But the harsh elements of its location has created maintenance challenges, leading to the $365,000 project — provided through private funds raised by the Korean Friendship Bell Preservation Committee — that has included a number of phases in restoring the gift to its original luster.

The final phase included resurfacing the bell and repairing and repainting the pavilion, with work that began in September. Bell masters from South Korea traveled to San Pedro to do much of the detailed work through the fall months, ensuring it would be authentic.
Removal of the scaffolding is expected to begin Monday.

• Hope Chapel San Pedro has sold its 27,951-square-foot building at 461 W. Ninth St., with escrow expected to close by mid-January. The asking price was $3.4 million and the name of the buyer has not been made public. Among those who had looked at the property was a developer interested in putting in a grocery store.

Hope Chapel bought the 1923 building in 1996, restored it to its original facade with the help of Community Redevelopment funds and used the indoor space for worship services.
The building began as the home of the Clark Cook Lincoln Ford car dealership, where a young salesman named Frank Smolar reportedly sold the first Model A on the West Coast. Smolar, who died in 2002, sold the building to Hope Chapel.

After the car dealership, the structure became home to DiCarlo’s Bakery, with family members adding living quarters upstairs in the 1940s.
In the late 1950s, it became the San Pedro Bowling and Recreation Center, which closed in 1991.
Hope Chapel now meets at Rolling Hills Preparatory School, 1 Rolling Hills Prep Way, San Pedro.

• A long-vacant parcel at 1490 W. Seventh St. — on the northeast corner of Weymouth Avenue and Seventh Street, next door to Trinity Lutheran Church — is finally being developed. It will be the new office for San Pedro dentist Nicholas Jaksic, whose offices are now on Sixth Street. The new building should be completed and open sometime this summer. After the gas station that was on the corner was closed, the property sat vacant for the past few years.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/government-and-politics/20140104/san-pedro-streetscape-to-see-some-changes-in-2014

U.S. regulator asks consumers about home deal closing issues

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to know whether there are common problems with real estate settlements that need to be fixed.

By Kenneth R. Harney| LA TIMES

WASHINGTON — The federal government has a real estate question for consumers who have bought or refinanced homes that's certain to generate more than an earful: Were there any problems when you went to close the deal?

Any last-minute glitches or surprises that delayed the settlement, required unexpected negotiations or, worst of all, blew up the sale or refinancing? Did you get your settlement sheet in advance so that you could review the documents intelligently? Were there any errors or discrepancies that popped up — charges that were considerably higher than you had expected, loan-related fees or an interest rate that differed from what you thought you had signed up for? Was the whole process pleasant? Was it "empowering"?

Wow. Talk about stirring up hornets. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has broad regulatory powers in the real estate settlement arena, wants to know whether there are common problems that need to be fixed. If so, it may make what it euphemistically calls "interventions" to right what seems to be wrong.

The bureau also wants to hear from realty professionals, lenders, title insurance and escrow agents, attorneys and others who play roles in closings on homes — the people who produce, bless and witness the signings of mounds and pounds of paper associated with the settling of America's home transactions.

From industry accounts, the vast majority of closings are successful. The National Assn. of Realtors estimates that roughly 10% to 12% of pending sales don't close for various reasons. But conversations with agents suggest that a much higher percentage of settlements experience problems that arise just before or during the event that either delay or complicate the process.

Though eleventh-hour delays can occur because of title insurance-related issues and various others, a disproportionate percentage appear to be related to the mortgage. Late in the game, the lender might inform the borrower: Sorry, but we've encountered some underwriting red flags in your application that you'll need to resolve before we can proceed. Or oops, we didn't get all the loan documents to the closing agent in time. Or worst of all, we've changed our mind. We simply cannot do this loan and we sincerely regret that we're telling you this on the day before your scheduled closing.

Gary Kassan, an agent with Pinnacle Estate Properties Inc. in Valencia, says he routinely gets buyers pre-approved by lenders, but in at least 20% of purchases, problems pop up after the pre-approval that threaten to delay or disrupt closings. In early January, Kassan was waiting for a lender to agree to close on a deal that was originally scheduled for late December. The problem: underwriters' questions that arose late in the process about the borrower's income.

"I want to ask all these [loan officers] — why didn't you bring this up earlier, before you gave [my client] a pre-approval letter?" Kassan said.

Cindy Westfall, an agent with Premiere Property Group in the Portland, Ore., area, has had two recent sales knocked off track by underwriting issues just before the closing, one of which caused the entire sale to blow up, forcing her buyers to start their home search all over again. "My clients were very stressed" by the entire experience, she said.

Rhonda Masotta, an agent with Bright Realty in Sarasota, Fla., almost found herself in the same situation: Last year she was sitting at a table for her buyer's closing on a $1.25-million home. The only thing missing was confirmation that the bank committed to do the loan had wired the money needed to complete the transaction.

"We all waited for hours," but there was no word from the bank, Masotta said. The closing was rescheduled for the following day, but then came the bad news: The bank had decided to back out of the deal. That's usually a death sentence on a home sale, but Masotta and her colleagues on both sides of the transaction opted for an emergency rescue attempt and found a bank willing to underwrite and fund the loan on an expedited basis later the same day.

That's not the way closings are supposed to work, but stuff happens.

If you want to share your experiences with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, email your information by Feb. 7. Detailed instructions for submitting comments — and postings of comments made to date — are online in the Jan. 3 Federal Register, at http://www.federalregister.gov.

kenharney@earthlink.net

Distributed by Washington Post Writers Group.

Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-harney-20140112,0,7194089.story#ixzz2qJrg9SRU