Hi Everyone, My apologies for late notice, but I'm joining Tim and Julie Harris. To listen visit http://ow.ly/197LA Thanks,Valerie Fitzgerald 02/19/2010

Reporting from Washington - With all the bad news about underwater homeowners and strategic walkaways, you might think that U.S. homeowners' equity holdings are continuing to slide. But a little-publicized recent statistic on real estate is that home equity is again on the rise. Is that some piece of rosy propaganda put out by housing lobbyists to stimulate more home buying? Not unless you consider Federal Reserve economists to be shills for the real estate industry. The Fed conducts massive ongoing research into mortgage balances and home-value changes in hundreds of local markets around the country, and reports its findings quarterly. According to the Fed's most recent "flow of funds" survey, homeowners' net equity grew by nearly $1 trillion from the recession's nadir in the first qu... 02/16/2010

9200 Wilshire Blvd, ideally situated between Palm and Maple Drives in Beverly Hills, was meant to be a prestigious mixed-use condo development in the heart of Beverly Hills. The project, commonly known as "The Legacy Project", went through several public hearings before finally being approved after appeal to the City Council. The former owners (Legacy Partners) sold the unbuilt project to Real Estate Developer HDS Group and partner First Equity Group for $54 Million in 2008. At the time it was projected that the condos could command a price of $2000 per sq ft. As outrageous at that may have seemed, the Developer obtained finance from Broadway Bank. Fast forward to 2010 and a foreclosure sale was held after the owner lost the property to the bank after defaulting on the loan to the tune... 02/15/2010

    The Beverly Hills home sales statistics below are taken directly from the MLS and are for single family homes.  They don't take into consideration condos, income property and private sales.   8 properties sold in January '10 up from 2 in January '09 and down from 12 in December '09. The most expensive was $3,575,000  and the least expensive was $1,180,000.  Both were in the flats. The median price of $1,687,500 down from $2,413,500 in January, 09 and $2,465,000 in December '09. Days on the market for sold listings increased to 98 against January '09 and decreased from 110 in December '09. January is usually a slower month and we wait with interest to see the monthly trends. 02/12/2010

Sales of previously occupied homes in the U.S. were robust during the last three months of 2009, climbing 13.9% from the previous quarter, a national group said Thursday. Total existing-home sales, including single-family and condominium units, increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.03 million in the fourth quarter, a 27.2% increase from the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the National Assn. of Realtors. Distressed property -- either bank-owned homes or those sold by homeowners who can't make their payments -- accounted for 32% of all transactions in the fourth quarter, a decline from 37% a year earlier. Sales increased from the third quarter in 48 states and the District of Columbia; 32 states saw double-digit gains. Year-over-year sales were higher in 49 states and ... 02/12/2010

Is your work the means to an end or the epicenter of your life? Most businesspeople, on a conscious or subconscious level, want superiors, peers and other constituents to believe they are one of those unselfish corporate types who do whatever it takes for the good of the company. Everything comes in second place: family, friends and one’s very existence, including creature comforts such as adequate sleep and eating three square meals at a table, not a desk. If that is you, then you have checked the “live to work” box. But wait a second, does this really make a modicum of sense? When I interview management candidates, after I have determined the interviewee might be a fit, I always ask: “What comes first, your family or your job?” Those who immediately respond “my job” move down multipl... 02/09/2010

Suze w/ Girlfriend - Weren't You Dying to See What Her Partner Looks Like? For all the rich kids out there who are avid readers of my blog, you know that I am obsessed with Suze Orman. Maybe it's her highlighted wedge cut, those oh so stylish "jackets" that she wears each week, or maybe it's the satisfied feeling I get when she shrilly shouts "DENIED" to someone who wants to purchase something that they simply can't afford. At the end of the day, I find there is something oddly comforting about her.  At least to me, her financial information is easy to understand and entertaining at the same time (which is my goal when I write each of my blog entries). As Suze would say in a very loud voice, "listen up boyfriends and girlfriends (she is saying this as in a "you go girlfriend or boyfrie... 02/08/2010

Have you heard about the $365 Million Loan Default in Beverly Hills ....? The Beverly Hills Courier reports that "9900 Wilshire Boulevard, the former Robinsons-May building slated to become a luxury condo building, will be put up for public auction after developers Project Lotus LLC (CPC Group) were unable to secure payment for the $385 million loan due last year." "On February 19, 2010 the 7.95-acre property (once intended to get a 235-unit luxury condo development with retail and restaurant space) will be sold at a public auction on the courthouse steps in Norwalk. The project was supposed to break ground last summer and take 30 months to build, but it was put on hold after Kaupthing (The Icelandic Bank that was a partner in the project) declared bankruptcy in the fall of 2008." CPC ... 02/06/2010

FROM REAL ESTATE MAGAZINEJobs, foreclosures, option-adjustable-rate mortgages, and interest rates are among the top trends that could dictate what will happen in California's housing markets this year. Here's what you need to know to make sense of how these trends could affect the real estate market.1. Market FundamentalsThree market fundamentals that turned positive in 2009 could be good indicators this year as well. First, home prices have fallen lower than replacement costs in many markets. This means a home can be bought for less than the cost to build it.Second, home prices are "a lot more attractive" relative to rents than they have been in many years; and  third, inventory of for-sale homes has "dropped very dramatically," says Richard K. Green, director of the USC Lusk School of... 02/05/2010

There's energy in the air! Sales for January were robust in most Westside neighborhoods. It's been said that California is a "tale of two states": while foreclosures have been high in many areas of southern California, there are areas with very few distressed properties. In all of the 58 counties in California, joblessness has had a significant impact on the local economies. Yet in the coastal areas (and specifically in our Westside markets), unemployment is starkly lower. As we know, housing is a leading indicator relative to economic activity and the month of January showed positive progress. The consensus is that people are feeling better and more confident about their financial standing. Since many buyers have been sidelined by high home prices for two or more years, they see that p... 02/04/2010

PropertyShark.com has put together an interactive map that plots Malibu homes and condos sold in 2009. When you go to the site map -- not to be confused with the screen grab shown here -- click on a location for the sales price, sales date and links to additional property details. By PropertyShark's count, 148 homes sold in Malibu during 2009, compared to 145 in 2008. Peak counts included 275 in 2005 and 240 in 2007. The median sale prices were $1.8 million for 2009, $2.7 million for 2008 and $2.66 million for 2007. That's a 33% drop in the median sale price from 2008 to 2009. Another tracker of sales data, MDA DataQuick, shows 130 existing single-family homes sold in Malibu 90265 last year at a median sales price of $2 million, a 29.8% drop from 2008. It also reports 66 condos sales a... 02/04/2010

Taking borrowers at their word for how much they earn was a major cause of the mortgage meltdown. That practice may also be why an Obama administration program has struggled to convert temporary loan modifications into permanent ones.The government said Thursday that it would overhaul the program by requiring homeowners to document their incomes before trial modifications are granted. Borrowers previously could have their interest rates lowered and the terms of their loans extended on a trial basis without providing pay stubs or other financial documents. Banks and other mortgage service providers were supposed to collect those documents during a three-month trial period, with the modification becoming permanent if the borrower made three reduced monthly payments and submitted the requi... 02/01/2010

If 2009 was the year of the foreclosure (and loan modification), then 2010 may be shaping up as the year of the short sale. In the Phoenix metro area, the number of completed short sales, where lenders allow a home to sell for less than the value of the mortgage, increased by 60% in the last three months of 2009, according to Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. In December and January, sales of bank-owned homes fell by 25% from one year ago, while short sales increased by 16% and traditional sales rose by 9%. For years, real-estate agents have groaned about the difficulty of pulling off a short sale, which can involve a handful of third parties—the first and second mortgage holders, the mortgage insurance company, or Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Locking up all the approvals for a short... 01/29/2010

The Obama administration's $75-billion program to help troubled borrowers hold on to their homes appears to be keeping more California families out of foreclosure, data released Wednesday showed, but the relief may be temporary.The number of homes entering the first stage of foreclosure declined 24.3% during the fourth quarter from the previous three months, according to MDA DataQuick, a San Diego real estate research firm. The decline in the default number is significant because any new wave of foreclosures, which could swamp the housing market's recovery, would be preceded by a surge in defaults.So far, thousands of California borrowers have had their mortgages modified through Obama's Making Home Affordable program, but only 7.8% of those modifications were permanent through Dec. 31,... 01/28/2010

What changes can you make to positively move your business forward? Without getting overwhelmed with the idea of restructuring your entire business model, think of simple changes, or additions, you can make that will positively and effectively grow your business. Take a look at your systems, your schedules, your expenses, and your goals. Each of these areas could use a little ‘touch up’, so without getting overwhelmed, take a look at these suggestions and decide to make the positive change. Systems – Systems are the foundation of which you work from. You can think of systems as the guide or rules for each particular area of your business. When your systems are effective and in place, you can spend more time generating business than crawling out from under piles of paper. What happens wh... 01/26/2010

If you've been holding back on the new $6,500 federal tax credit for repeat home purchases, you now have all the official IRS guidance you'll need to buy a house, qualify for the credit and pocket the $6,500. That's because the Internal Revenue Service finally published the rules for the repeat purchase credit along with key details for taxpayers that had been missing since President Obama signed the legislation creating the program Nov. 6. The IRS posted its revised Form 5405 on its website ( www.irs.gov) on Jan. 15, six weeks after the agency warned taxpayers not to file claims for the $6,500 credit without using the revised form and new instructions. The repeat buyer credit -- inelegantly dubbed the "long-time resident of the same main home" credit by the IRS -- supplements the popul... 01/25/2010

Residential Sat, Jan 23, 2010 03:25 PM RES MLS # Status P V H T Q Type A/D Address City Area Zip TGNO Trct/M Bd B t/f Sty Gar SqFt Yr Blt Price DOM   1  F1792230  S   20     H  T  Q  SFR  D 136 N LE DOUX Rd  BHL C01 90211  632J2  OTHR/0  3  2/1  1  2 D  2,024  1925  $1,050,000  27     2  CLW-08308217  S   17     H  T  Q  SFR  D 128 N STANLEY Dr  BHL C01 90211  632J2  /  3  2/       1,924  1932  $1,312,000  152  *   3  CLW-08301423  S   20   V  H  T  Q  SFR  D 227 S LE DOUX Rd  BHL C01 90211  632J2  /  3  2/    A  1,974  1928  $1,200,000  161  *   4  CLW-08329617  S   18     H  T  Q  SFR  D 216 EL CAMINO Dr  BHL C01 90212  632G2  /  4  3.5/       3,085  1929  $1,849,000  83  *   5  CLW-08331841  S   30   V  H  T  Q  SFR  D 118 N ELM Dr  BHL C01 90210  632G2  /  4  4.5/       2,800  1930... 01/23/2010

New Listings: 35 Average Listing Price: $ 2,388,356 Listings Under Contract: 13 Average Listing Price: $ 1,605,366 Listings Sold: 46Average Selling Price: $ 1,845,744 % Diference Between Listing Price versus Selling Price: 90.62 %% Sales Price Versus Old Listing Price: 79.87 % Average Days on The Market: 130  http://www.stoppayingrentinla.com  Bell Real Estate, Bell Probates, Bell Foreclosures, Statistics, Mortgage Loans.                                                          Beverly Hills Hotel                                                                     01/23/2010

“Tax reform is taking the taxes off things that have been taxed in the past and putting taxes on things that haven’t been taxed before.” – Art Buchwald Less than 3 months remain before your federal income tax return must be sent to the Internal Revenue Service. Now is the time to start preparing so you can take all of the deductions and credits authorized by law. True, you can file IRS Form 4868 and receive a six-month filing extension, but you still have to pay the full amount of the tax you owe for last year, which means you at least have to prepare a careful estimate of your liability. A good first step in determining your tax obligation is to go to the IRS Web site, where you will find a host of publications to download. Perhaps the most comprehensive publication is No. 17, a 280-pa... 01/19/2010

Beverly Hills homes are among the most expensive in the country, most of them north of Santa Monica Boulevard and up into the hills.  The flats of Beverly Hills, south of Santa Monica is a mix of single family homes, condos and multi-unit properties   The statistics below are taken directly from the MLS and are for single family homes.  They also don't take into consideration condos, income property and private sales. 12 Listings sold in December '09 up 100% over December '08. The most expensive was $13,000,000 in the hills, and the least expensive was $1,238,050 in the flats. The median price of $2,465,000, up almost 20% over December '08. However the days on the market for sold listings increased by over 100%. Overall, the Beverly Hills market remains steady. Below is a breakdown of ... 01/17/2010