Lower Price! Hip Highland Park Bungalow. Remodeled 2+2 for 297k

New Listing: Hip Highland Park Bungalow. Remodeled 2+2 in the hills of HLP for 297k

I love this job. Sometimes I get to sell houses that I really like and would buy myself.

6162 Strickland Ave. Highland Park CA 90042

It makes it so much fun to move properties that you enjoy. This new listing I have in myNELA home turf is one such property. It is a house in my neighborhood that is rehabbed well and is a bargain to boot. This is a great deal for a first time buyer. Freshly remodeled bungalow in the hills of Highland Park done right: Two Bedrooms, Two bathrooms. Big deck with amazing south facing views. Huge back yard that is both terraced and flat. Low water eco-minded landscaping, indoor laundry, Garage you can actually park a car in. On a quiet street with mostly rehabbed houses in super trendy Highland Park (HLP),this bungalow is well priced at $319,ooo. It is a compact house, but it is intelligently designed and super efficient. If Ikea can do a 400 square foot house, this one has room to spare. The property is centrally located: Five minutes from Pasadena, 10 minutes from Downtown LA and a 15 minute walk to the Gold Line. If you don't know about what's going on up in Highland Park yet, call me and I'll show you around.

When you stop to do the math on this house, it becomes apparent that buying it is actually cheap than renting it. With a 20% down payment the monthly payment on this house including everything (property tax, insurance) is $1505. You can't rent a 2 bedroom house in the hills of Highland Park for that, and if you find a place it probably wont be as sexy as this one. Even with a minimal FHA down payment of 3.5% (only $10400) the monthly payments are just a bit over $1900. That's not a lot to pay own your own house in an up and coming area like HLP. Smart money.

For a showing, contact Sky Minor your favorite East side broker.

Real Estate Porn in the Hollywood Hills

I was out previewing properties with my protege in training Brandon in the Hollywood Hills yesterday and we came across the most beautiful modern home I think I have ever been inside. It is at 5699 Holly Oak Dr. in the 90068. Listed at $1.99m this 3+2 house is every bit the stunning modern architectural triumph. LA has quite a few breathtaking mid century modern homes and this is perhaps one of the finest specimens around. I'll quit yapping and let the pictures do the talking. For more information about this property contact Sky Minor at 310-709-8283

Want to know about how much mortgage you'd qualify for? Divide your gross salary by 0.2. That's it!

Now that interest rates are below 4% for a 30 year fixed mortgage, my phone seems to be ringing off the hook with people who want to see how much mortgage they can qualify for and how much house they can buy. (I know it's a recession, but in Los Angeles alot of people still have work). Always being a fan of brevity, I came up with this ultra simple mortgage qualification tool. It is only two steps:

1. Determine your household gross income if salaried or adjusted gross income if self-employed/business owner. (Line 37 on tax returns)

2. Divide this number by 0.2

The result is about how much mortgage you could qualify for at 4% interest. Now this is different (lower) than how much house you can afford because you will need to combine this mortgage money with a down payment-either 20% for conventional loans or as little as 3.5% for FHA.

Let's do an example: Joe and Jane Homelookers want to buy a house in Eagle Rock. Joe earns $95,000 salary at the widget factory and Jane has a cookie baking company with net income of $35,000 per year. Their combined household income is $130,000. Can they afford that gorgeous craftsman bungalow for $600,000?

130000\0.2 = $650,000. They can afford it. Let's write the offer up.