Recently, the question of when to order the appraisal has caused problems for us on two deals, so I thought I would address it here. Just so everyone is clear on what we’re talking about: When you use a loan to buy a building, the bank requires an appraisal be conducted. Depending on the size … Continue reading “When to order the appraisal”
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A great real estate story
One of our agents just bought his first apartment building, it’s an awesome story, and I thought I’d share it with you. When David Brundige came to work with us a few years ago, I knew he was exceptionally smart and entrepreneurial, since we had gone to college together. On the other hand, he knew … Continue reading “A great real estate story”
Some thoughts on the New Year
Just getting back to the office after a wonderful break and thought I’d take the opportunity to offer some thoughts and make some predictions on the LA market in 2015. Here they are, in no particular order: 1. Interest rates will rise, but prices won’t fall. Classic real estate finance math clearly shows that, all … Continue reading “Some thoughts on the New Year”
Why rents in Highland Park are rising so quickly
Obviously there is a bunch of controversy around the renovation of apartment buildings in Highland Park (“HLP”) by our company and others. So far, the reporting on this topic has focused on the human aspect without really getting into the root economic / political issues driving gentrification in HLP. To understand why rents are rising fast … Continue reading “Why rents in Highland Park are rising so quickly”
Seeing the big picture
One of my agents is working with a client on an interesting deal and running into a problem. The building itself is great – big, recently built, non-rent control, in an improving area, fair price. The problem is that the current owners don’t have their act together. Missing leases, conflicting estoppels, deferred maintenance issues. None … Continue reading “Seeing the big picture”
The economics of buying a home in an improving neighborhood
You can now get regular financing on a house under $419,000 for up to 95% of the purchase price. These aren’t FHA loans with high mortgage insurance payments; they’re relatively standard bank loans. Thought I’d run the numbers on a standard, $350k house in an up-and-coming neighborhood to determine if it makes sense for renters to … Continue reading “The economics of buying a home in an improving neighborhood”
Update on Highland Park protest
The Eastsider has a nice summary of the protest NELA Alliance did against gentrification in Highland Park yesterday. I’ve already written about where we come down on this issue. Today, I just want to add that I am grateful to the The Eastsider, the commentors on the Eastsider, and to the protestors themselves for carrying … Continue reading “Update on Highland Park protest”
Some thoughts on rents going up in Highland Park
The last few weeks have seen a ton of interest / debate / protest about the rapid gentrification of Highland Park. We have been receiving media inquiries and I thought I’d take the time to share my thoughts here. We have learned a lot, both from our day-to-day business and also the reaction to our agent’s bike … Continue reading “Some thoughts on rents going up in Highland Park”
Why all us smirking hipsters are wrong about the Palmer fire
Have spoken with a ton of people over the past few days who are sort of happy Geoff Palmer’s partially-built apartment building burned down. Obviously being happy about a fire is kind of weird. But no one got hurt (that I know of) and many people loath Palmer’s buildings because they’re ugly and anti-social (in the … Continue reading “Why all us smirking hipsters are wrong about the Palmer fire”
Paying for Garcetti’s earthquake plan
Today, Mayor Garcetti announced the release of a major report on earthquake safety. The report addresses telecommunication, water systems, office buildings and, most importantly from our perspective, apartment buildings. The issue with apartment buildings is pretty simple. The city has roughly 16,000 soft-story apartment buildings. These are buildings whose ground floor structure can give way … Continue reading “Paying for Garcetti’s earthquake plan”