John Lautner's LA Buildings

The Hammer Museum's celebrated exhibition of Frank Lloyd Wright's most notable protege, Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner, is currently on tour, stopping in Glasgow and Miami Beach before returning to SoCal in 2010 at the Palm Springs Art Museum.

But you can still check out selected exteriors for free on this do-it-yourself driving tour.

Westwood

Sheats Apartments (1949). Futuristic and modern-looking, even after 60 years. 10901 W. Strathmore Dr.

Beverly Hills

Familian House (1971). Wooden house with pyramid and walls made of boulders. 1011 Cove WaySheats/Goldstein Residence (1963).

Jackie Treehorn's place in The Big Lebowski. 10104 Angelo View Dr.

Hollywood Hills

Carling House (1950). Looks like a quonset hut, perched precariously on a cliff. Pacific View Dr. and Hockey Trail Dr.

Bell House (1940). Redwood home on a private road. Better viewing from a couple of blocks east. 7714 Woodrow Wilson Dr.Malin House "Chemosphere" (1960, pictured).

Flying saucer-like house from Body Double, inspiration for Sam Rockwell's pad in Charlie's Angels. 7776 Torreyson Dr.

Garcia House (1962). Dome home floating above hillside. A mockup was blown up in Lethal Weapon 2. 7436 Mulholland Dr.

Los Feliz

Mauer House (1947). Inspired by Wright's Usonian house experiment. 932 Rome Dr.Midtown School (1960).

Lautner’s only schoolhouse, now Lycee International. Unusual geometric shapes grouped in clusters. 4155 Russell Ave.

Silver Lake

Reiner/Burchill Residence "Silvertop" (1963). Featured in Less Than Zero. Ivy hill is all you can see from the front. Best seen from the rear near 2134 Redcliff St., or by binoculars across lake on E. Silver Lake Blvd. 2138 Micheltorena St.

Lautner House (1939). The architect's own home. A jumbo carport and wooden fence are visible from street. 2007 Micheltorena St.

Sherman Oaks

Foster House (1950). Made famous by a Julius Shulman photo, now surrounded by celebrity homes. 4235 Las Cruces Rd.

Paulson Denies Rumored 4.5 % Mortgage Rate Plan

From Housing Wire:

The U.S. Treasury Department secretary Henry Paulson spoke out Tuesday denying the rumor that he and the Treasury are contemplating a plan to initiate a 4.5 percent mortgage rate for new home loans issued through Fannie Mae (FNM: 0.71 -2.74%) and Freddie Mac (FRE: 0.7044 -3.51%), according to a MarketWatch bulletin. “We didn’t float any plan,” Paulson said. “I am always looking at new ideas and I have said from day one that the key thing to get us through this period is getting housing prices down.”

Great Article On Short Sales

From the LA Times:

How to unload your home through a short sale

This is helpful information not only for sellers, but for buyers, too. Buyers need to know where the seller is in the process. If the seller has not taken the proper steps, and is not working with an agent that knows how to handle a short sale, then writing an offer is likely a waste of time for the buyer--there's no guarantee that the bank will even approve a short sale depending on the financial circumstances of the seller. It could take months to sort it out.

I have seen many of these "short sale" listings not sell, and then become foreclosures.

Free Holiday Open House-Pasadena Museum of History

Sunday, December 14, 1:00 to 4:00 pm


Enjoy the opulence of the 100-year-old Fenyes Mansion decked out in Edwardian-style holiday splendor. This festive family event features live musical entertainment, children's storytime, hands-on crafts for all ages, and a visit and photos with Santa Claus.
Visitors can also tour the History Center Galleries, featuring two acclaimed exhibitions: "The Art & Craft of Textile Design, 1860-1920" and " Living Beautifully: Greene & Greene in Pasadena."

For event information, please call 626.577.1660, ext. 10.

The Future For Home Prices

Home prices in some areas of the country have declined by as much as 35 percent, but most housing industry experts agree that the long-term trend of home price appreciation will continue.

MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY

· According to several recent surveys, the majority of American homeowners believe that real estate still provides the best opportunity for increasing their wealth and net worth, and that home prices will rebound. However, most housing experts predict that home prices will not reach bottom until at least the second half of 2009.

· Historically, home prices tend to increase on average at an inflation-adjusted rate of 2.5 to 3 percent each year. Karl Case, co-creator of the S&P Case-Shiller home-prices indices, believes the same long-run pattern will continue, despite recent events in the market. Others speculate home prices will increase at a rate roughly 1 percentage point higher than inflation or at an average of 4 percent a year over the next two decades.

· Home prices often are driven by immigration, birth rates, the size and nature of households, and incomes – all of which are difficult to predict. Forecasting where jobs and income growth will be stronger and where immigrants and others will want to live is key. Areas with lower housing costs, modern industries, leisure businesses, well-diversified regional economies, mild climates, and other attractions likely will attract future homeowners and drive demand for housing.

· Coastal areas tend to be more volatile, and often have home prices that rise and fall much faster during booms and busts than do inland areas. Land shortages and building restrictions, which often are the case in crowded coastal areas, make it difficult for builders to respond quickly to sudden rises in housing demand. Inland areas tend to provide more vacant land, enabling builders to meet housing demands more quickly, minimizing sudden movements in prices.

· Some housing experts believe that baby boomers will be much less likely to settle in traditional retirement areas, such as Fort Lauderdale , Fla. , after they retire and may prefer urban settings with cultural activities, friends, and family in close proximity. This could increase the housing demand and drive up home prices in urban neighborhoods. Additionally, the retirement of baby boomers over the next two decades – approximately 78 million boomers – may depress home prices in some areas, as more boomers sell their homes.

For the full story, click here.

Fed Chairman Bernanke on Housing, Mortgage Markets, and Foreclosures

Today's Federal Reserve Speech:

The housing market remains central to the economic and financial challenges that we face. Because housing and mortgage markets are tightly interlinked with the rest of the economy, actions to strengthen financial markets and the broader economy are important ways to address housing issues. By the same token, steps that stabilize the housing market will help stabilize the economy as well.

In this regard, reducing the number of preventable foreclosures would not only help families stay in their homes, it would confer much wider benefits. Significant efforts have been taken in this direction, but more can be done.

Holiday TV Viewing Guide

Read the full guide here from the OC Register

Treasury Considers Plan to Stem Home-Price Decline

From the WSJ:

The Treasury Department is considering a plan to revitalize the U.S. housing market by reducing mortgage rates for new home loans, according to people familiar with the matter.

The plan, which is in the development stages, would use mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to bring loan rates down as low as 4.5%, a full percentage point lower than the prevailing rates for 30-year fixed mortgages.

The Foreclosure Moratorium Debate

From the LA Times:

For the next four years, Schwarzenegger's initiative
would require lenders to wait an additional 90 days before selling a defaulting borrower's home. The moratorium would give lenders and borrowers more time to avert foreclosures by negotiating more-affordable mortgages. To eliminate the 90-day delay -- which would be particularly costly to mortgage servicing companies --lenders and servicers would have to adopt temporary interest-rate cuts or other techniques that reduce monthly payments to a standard level of affordability.

Read story here

From Housing Wire:

Industry insiders clearly think that an industry-wide and legislator-led push to halt foreclosures is likely to do much more harm than good, according to the results of a recent poll of residential construction, mortgage origination, servicing, real estate sales, REO management, capital markets and investor/hedge fund managers. The informal survey, conducted by New York and Dallas-based National Asset Direct Inc., a principal buyer of performing, sub-performing and non-performing residential assets, asks key market participants for thoughts on hot-burner issues each month.
A whopping 65 percent of those surveyed in November said that a national moratorium on foreclosures would have a negative or a minimal effect on the nation’s housing crisis, with only 14.5 percent suggesting such a nationwide halt to foreclosure activity would be a “significant” positive. A sampling of responses from participants, whose identities are kept anonymous, is telling.

Read story here.

The National Association of Realtors sponsors first Tournament of Roses Parade Float

Based on the story of the Swiss Family Robinson, NAR’s float highlights the importance of family pulling together to build a home representing strength and solace.

We'll be volunteering alongside our family and friends to help decorate our float....can't wait to see it coming down Colorado Blvd!

Wisdom

view the link:

Wisdom

Make sure the volume is turned on.

C.A.R. reports sales increased 117.1 percent in October

For release:Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008

Home sales increased 117.1 percent in October in
California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of
an existing home fell 39.9 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
(C.A.R.) reported today.

Two things to note here: First, the huge increase in statewide sales is due to increased volume of sales in regions with a high concentration of distressed properties. Second, the sharp decline in the median price of homes does not mean that home values have dropped by that percentage. It is reflecting that, overall, more lower priced homes (distressed properties) than higher priced homes are selling, and are therefore skewing the median price lower. Conversely, in areas where the composition of housing demand was for more higher priced properties than last year, the median price has increased. One local example is the city of Alhambra, were the median price for Oct. '08 is 13.4% higher than the same period a year ago.

Read the full article here.

And from HousingWire:

Home prices continued to fall in local markets across the nation in
September, according to a monthly Housing Market Report released Monday by New York-based Radar Logic Inc., a member of the First American Corp. family.
Seasonal trends, distressed-sale discounts and a generally weak market were said
to have driven the declines in 23 of the 25 Metropolitan Statistical Areas
(MSAs) Radar Logic tracks.

__

The key to understanding the overall monthly price trends, however, is in motivated transactions — or foreclosure sales — as a percent of total transactions. Motivated sales increased in all 25 MSAs relative to September 2007. Motivated sales versus other sales increased 631.4 percent over last year in the Los Angeles market, 321.2 percent in the Miami market and 723 percent in the Phoenix housing market. With so many foreclosure sales weighing in on the numbers, it’s easy to account for the year-over-year price-per-square-foot declines in Los Angeles (-27.4 percent), Miami (-23.9 percent) and Phoenix (-29.3 percent).

“Within MSAs, motivated sales tended to be concentrated in low-price zip codes, while ‘other’ sales, those not classified as motivated, tended to be more evenly distributed across zip codes,” Radar Logic reported, based on its findings. But if motivated sales in these areas should taper off in coming years due to the Hope for Homeowners program rolling out in October, increased state intervention in foreclosure proceedings and a move by the GSEs and financial institutions to start modifying mortgages and keep people in their homes, the path of pricing and transactions count may turn in a different direction.

Read the full article here.

Gilded Age Holiday in the Fenyes Mansion - Tour and Tea

Thursdays, December 4, 11 & 18, 12:15 pm

One of our favorite Pasadena treasures is the 100 year-old Fenyes Mansion, home of the Pasadena Museum of History. Located on Orange Grove Boulevard, which at one time was lined with stately mansions and was known as “Millionaire’s Row”, the Fenyes Mansion has been well preserved and offers visitors a peek into early Pasadena life.

The holidays are a beautiful time to visit, as the mansion is decked out in festive Victorian/Edwardian-style décor. For this series of tours, docents will take guests back in time with stories of early 20th century decorating styles. The tour at the mansion is followed by a special tea at the Raymond Restaurant.

For more information on this event, as well as other PMH programs and events, visit the Pasadena Museum of History website.

Tickets: Tour: Members $4; Non-Members $8. Tea: $25 (payable at restaurant; 20% of your restaurant bill will be donated to PMH). Reservations for the Holiday Tour and Tea Package must be made through the Museum. Please call 626.577.1660, ext. 15.

We've Entered The Blogosphere!

...but unlike the Space Shuttle's sonic boom entry into the atmosphere yesterday, we are beginning with a much smaller bang. For us, however, it is just as exciting!

After a year of following several economy and housing blogs, we have decided to start our own San Gabriel Valley area real estate blog. Here we will feature articles on local history, places of interest, SGV real estate market trends, overall economic trends, and featured listings.

Our goal is to educate, inform, and entertain you, and we hope you will stop by often. Feel free to contact us with any ideas or suggestions along the way.