Cover Me in Sunshine ☀️ – TBG Update 3/5/2023
I’m over-the-moon excited for our new listing at 6650 Colgate, right in between The Grove and The Beverly Center! The house is a sunshine-filled Beverly Grove Spanish with crisp white walls, so many windows that pour in natural light, and a nice neat + easy floor plan with all the right spaces. The living room has a big arched window to the quiet tree-lined street, a brick fireplace, a door to a side porch, and an opening to the formal dining room. The dining room is bathed in sunshine and it opens to the remodeled kitchen with breakfast area. The laundry room is off the kitchen and it opens to the backyard. There are 3 nice sized bedrooms and 2 remodeled bathrooms. The primary suite has a large walk-in closet and so many jets in the shower. The yard is gated + hedged, and it has a great pergola-covered outdoor living room + a large grassy yard surrounded by fruit trees. A 2 car garage and a nice wide driveway round out the offering. I counted now as our seventh time working with this family and I love how excited all of us are to work with each other again! I can’t wait for our open house today from 1 pm – 4 pm!
I went to see a spectacular off-market property on Friday. The price of the house is over 5M. Measure ULA begins April 1. The sellers are offering any agent who brings a buyer who can close before March 31 an extra 1% of commission; the increased transfer tax under Measure ULA is 4% so offering an agent 1% for a quick close will save the seller 3% of the sales price in taxes to the city. Measure ULA terms will appear in real estate negotiations starting this month and continuing until ULA goes away.
As of July 1, 2022, low-income households in Los Angeles County are protected from eviction for nonpayment of rent under new city regulations. To qualify for this protection, a tenant must be unable to pay rent due on or after July 1, 2022 and their total household income must not exceed 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). (For example, this means household income for a family of two cannot exceed $76,250, and for a family of four cannot exceed $95,300.) An agent on our team was working with a tenant who was looking to lease a place and given the new regulations, the landlords’ requirements to apply for the rentals were so rigorous and exacting over and over again. So our agent introduced the tenant to our creative lender, and the tenant is now in escrow buying a single family house with an ADU on an 8000 square foot lot in Van Nuys for 950k. They discovered that the requirements for this client to get a loan were less strict and stringent than the requirements to qualify as a tenant and buying became easier than renting. It makes sense because low income status by the city is based on five years of tax returns while lenders approving a buyer for a loan only ask for two years.
A lot of the buildings in our city are 100+ years old now. Some 100+ year old properties were never touched or improved by their owners from the time they were built, which makes them ripe for being torn down and built from scratch now. As of January 1, 2022, if a developer wants to tear down a multi-unit property, the newly constructed property needs to have the same number of housing units as the torn down property. Also, if any low income tenant ever lived in a unit on the property, then a replacement unit designated for low income tenants needs to be built on the newly constructed property. The most expensive duplex in our area sells for around 3M. The most expensive brand new construction single family house in our area sells for around 5M. City laws that require that duplex properties stay duplex properties and not be converted to single family homes diminish the value of those properties that should be torn down and rebuilt. Laws designating properties as low income housing for years and years discourage: a) investment in income properties, b) development of properties that need to be rebuilt, and c) processes that allow tenants to easily and efficiently rent a space to live. I wonder if the laws ultimately end up accomplishing the intended objectives.
I’m so moved and inspired by a friend I had the honor to visit in the hospital yesterday. Life can be shockingly out-of-the-blue hard and it’s entirely out of our control. The only things each of us has the power to control are our attitudes, our efforts, and our actions. People who have the gumption to choose an attitude of courage, grace, and generosity of spirit in the face of adversity are remarkably inspiring! I saw a plaque once that said “Stay close to sunlight.” I love sunlight everywhere – large deep windows in crisp white houses, optimistic grateful attitudes no matter the circumstance, and the weather in our Golden State that is mostly filled with sunshine even through the rain drops. The sunlight is fabulous at 6650 Colgate – come check it out today!
Wishing all an awesome week ahead!!!
Xoxoxo,
Sheri