Checklist for increasing your houses' curb appeal.

When I was starting out in the business a great real estate agent once told me that houses are bought or sold as soon as the car door slams shut. Now that I'm getting up there in number of closed escrows, I can see that she was right. "Curb Appeal" is the term to describe that magic feeling that people get when they first set eyes on a property. It's not always a quantifiable thing, more of a "vibe", a feeling. Curb Appeal is the most valuable thing any home seller can have. Here's a basic checklist of things that I have noticed contribute to Curb Appeal that can be done for free to any home being marketed for sale.

Sky's Curb Appeal Checklist (abridged)-


Inspect the outside ground. Remove any building materials, scrap wood, discarded household items, etc. from the property. Store garbage cans in the garage. Remove weeds from the sidewalk.

Check the home from the roof line down.
- Is the roof free and clear from obstructions and moss?
- Are the gutters clear and neatly hung?
- Are the windows clean and free from obstructions (such as overgrown bushes or trees)?
- Are bushes, trees and shrubs neatly pruned?

Inspect the condition of the paint or siding?
- Is it time to power wash the siding?
- Is touch up paint needed?
- Is the front door in good shape?

Do flower beds need an upgrade?
- Are plants neatly pruned?
- Is the bed free and clear of weeds?
- Is the bed properly mulched?
- Are flowers in bloom? For $50, one can purchase many wildflower seeds that will cover much more ground than the same dollar amount of plants.

Keep the lawn neatly groomed.
- Is the lawn free from weeds?
- Is the lawn free from grass clippings?
- Is the lawn neatly edged?

With just a little bit of elbow grease, home owners can make their home prettier. The bottom line is that clean, well kept houses have more curb appeal. If you want to sell the house make sure it looks more like this: Than this:

Fascinating take on why defaulting homeowners don't really OWE the money on their mortgage.

I found this very interesting writing out in the blogosphere. It is written by an attorney who has several good points about mortgages and who truly owes who.

His contention is that you don't owe your mortgage. Basically, the entity who gave you the loan was paid back when they sold it to a servicer and that servicer was paid back when they sold it to a mortgage backed securities pool. That pool of MBS's was paid back for their losses from the federal government bailout and all of our tax dollars. That debt has been paid. These lenders who are foreclosing are essentially being paid twice for the original mortgage money they lent out. They are a crafty bunch and they've already gotten us to this point, why should we let them go further?

Fannie and Freddie's announcement to modify loans and it's effect on pricing.

Here we are, deep into the slough of the deepest real estate downturn in my generation's history and today Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announce that they are going to be modifying loans based on the borrower's true ability to repay them. My phone starts ringing off the hook with enthusiastic folks on the brink of foreclosure (that's about 80% of the country by my reckoning) wanting to know my educated opinion of the matter. After I thank them for their flattery, I calmly delve into my grounded in reality pragmatic discourse.

"We've heard this before" says I. "First from the individual lenders, then the county of L.A., then the state of California, then the Bush administration that helped all this to happen, and now the biggest holders of mortgage paper in the universe." My caller is always speechless at this point, so I steamroll forward. "None of their interventions has made so much as a dent in the evil behemoth of foreclosures that is sweeping across our formerly great nation." Still no speech from the other end of the line. What did they expect? Good news? This is foreclosure we are talking about, the depth and breadth so deep that it literally bankrupted the world financial system. Sometimes I will offer my opinion. "I think this is electioneering/PR for the giants to give the public hope and distract them while they manuver behind the scenes and continue to rape this country. Thanks George." At this point, they are usually deflated. I'm sorry to do it but I don't see enough tangible action taken on the street level, house by house, block by block, to give me any cause to believe that we are going to get out of our foreclosure nightmare.

So what will this do with prices? Well, it will likely stabilize them in the short term because foreclosures will be abated...temporarily. The underlying problem is that hordes of people bought houses they will never be able to afford and until values and subsequent loan amounts are reduced to a level that is sustainable to someone making the median income for LA county, about $40000 or $2500 a month after taxes. According to the proposed modifications, mortgage payments will be pegged at 38% of monthly net income. 38% of $2500 is $950 including property tax and insurance that number is closer to $700 a month. At 7% interest a $700 payment affords about $120000 of mortgage. Therefore, that's what the median price will be adjusted to in LA county. According to current data, our median price is $370000 so we're still more than 300% above the federally mandated "workout" guidelines. We've still got a long way down.

CA$H FLOW is back in L.A.

I found an awesome piece of real estate today. It is duplex in Echo Park on a cute cul de sac with sweeping views of Downtown L.A. and specifically Walt Disney Concert Hall all the way to the Hollywood sign. Really gorgeous views. It is right up the street from a brand new city park and it's quiet and secluded yet less than 1/4 mile to the heart of downtown. It is a foreclosure and has been pretty badly vandalized, needing new drywall in several places. It has eight bedrooms, four baths and they are asking 63% of what they foreclosed on. It was built in 2005 which is about 70 years after most of the other properties in the area. The mortgage payment with 20% down would be 2997 so one could pretty easily rent the bottom unit for $2500 and live in the top four bedroom unit with master bedroom views of the Hollywood sign for $500 a month. If THATS not a deal, I really don't know what is.

So what's the downside? Well, to be totally frank the house is FUGLY. That's right, you heard it. Sky Minor called this Echo Park Duplex FUGLY, that means Fing ugly y'all. Although it's new it is not an attractive looking piece of real estate. I won't go into detail here in case the eventual buyer takes offense at the opinion of this broker.