Beach City Digs

Deepening American Divide > > Big Impact on Local Real Estate Markets

2012-01-21T11:26:00.000-08:00

Patterns of personal life choices, impacting local demographics and therefore real estate values, are discussed in this hugely insightful essay from Charles Murray on the New American Divide. - David

The Biggest Mansions For Sale In America

2011-12-28T16:36:00.000-08:00

Just for fun (unless you want to buy one), here are the largest homes currently for sale in America, courtesy of Forbes. Looking for something a little smaller? Contact your blogger! - David

Mira Costa's Model U.N. program ranked nation's best

2011-12-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

This is pretty impressive. This article from The Daily Breeze leaves "No Debate" that Manhattan Beach' Mira Costa High School continues to achieve great things for students with the will to aim high. - David

Residential Housing Ready to Awaken?

2011-12-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

The actual numbers behind the housing market are starting to signal recovery, as discussed in detail in this article from CNBC and Yahoo! Finance forwarded by BeachCityDigs.com friend Steve Newman. To be sure, this will be a slow recovery, played out over a number of months and years. Slowly enough, in fact, that we'll probably only know it in hindsight, once the lowest prices and interest

MB Council Overturns Arbitrary Denial by Planning Commission

2011-12-08T16:31:00.000-08:00

The Manhattan Beach City Council ruled to overturn a puzzling Planning Commission denial of Journey of Faith Church's application to replace it's 1950's-era changeable letter sign with an attractive new sign of the same size in the same location, using current technology. A good result, and your blogger is grateful to have had the opportunity to help. Our leaders need to be open to using good

TAX SAVINGS OPPORTUNITY: Assessor Extends Deadline to Apply for Decline-In-Value Reassessment

2011-12-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

Your blogger had the opportunity to meet Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez today at County Supervisor Don Knabe's Annual "State of the County" Luncheon. I took the opportunity to thank him for extending the deadline for homeowners to apply to have their home's value reassessed, from November 30 to December 31. This is an important second chance to reduce your property taxes based upon a

Fireworks at the Pier

2011-12-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

Don't miss the annual Manhattan Beach Fireworks at the Pier, coming up this Sunday Dec. 11! A snow park, the Hyperion Outfall Serenaders, and the John Brown Band highlight the pre-fireworks entertainment. Then the skies light up at 7pm. Walk to the beach and be a part of a great annual celebration! See City of Manhattan Beach Holiday Fireworks Festival for more info. - David

Post-Recession Real Estate Terms & A Great Picture of Ralphie

2011-12-02T11:15:00.000-08:00

Via Trulia and Forbes, 14 Translated Real Estate Terms for the current market. How many of them did you know? BTW, the South Bay has a far lower proportion of distressed properties (REO, S/S, etc.) than the county, state, and country as a whole. In fact, current inventories of homes for sale are unusually LOW. - David

The Food Coma: Will Turkey Dinner Make Me Sleepy?

2011-11-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

The real scoop on that mental haze that develops right after Thanksgiving dinner. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends, and may God bless your home. - David

FHA Limit Back to $729,500; Fannie and Freddie remain at $625,500

2011-11-21T12:22:00.000-08:00

From Grant Norris of mortgage broker Platinum Capital: Congress passed a bill, and President Obama signed it, that allows the FHA to back mortgages of up to $729,500, six weeks after the limit dropped to $625,500. The move makes it easier for more buyers to get low-interest FHA loans. Obviously members of Congress had trouble letting Freddie & Fannie take on any more risk given the billions in

One Site's Top Ten Cities of Interest to Buyers

2011-11-19T23:24:00.000-08:00

Might not have guessed that Riverside and Oxnard were among the top ten cities in demand, but who's to doubt the search statistics of a popular real estate site? Here, according to Forbes via Trulia, are the Cities Where People Are Hunting For Homes. - David

Worldwide Architecture for Sale - - In the USA

2011-11-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

Forbes Magazine presents a brief tour through several of the world's most recognized styles of architecture, represented by homes presently for sale right here in the States, including several in Southern California: Real Estate Globetrotting in the U.S.

Happy 236th Birthday USMC!

2011-11-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

A cool 236th Birthday Tribute to the United States Marine Corps, Bob Parsons style. Thank you for your service, Marines!

More on Keynesian Economics: Next Topic for Today's Big Fail?

2011-10-31T15:55:00.000-07:00

TodaysBigFail is a website and Facebook page devoted to videos of things going horribly wrong. I'm nominating the fatal flaws of Keynesian Economics as its next topic! So here's more on the demonstrated bust of Keynesian (stimulus) economics, touched on in this morning's post. This from none other than the nonpartisan think tank RAND Corporation: Where Keynes Went Wrong. The failure of

It's Not Easy Managing Green (the Money Supply, Interest Rates, Inflation...)

2011-10-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

Big Ben As mentioned in this article from New York Times (a source seldom quoted by this blogger), Ben Bernanke's Fed Panel Is Divided on Direction. Seems "too little too late" is the new "too much too soon" when it comes to his attempts to "manage" interest rates and inflation. Granted, it's a thankless job. But monetary theory, the antithesis to Keynesian economics (whose theories the

Thought about Updating your Kitchen?

2011-10-24T11:50:00.000-07:00

In these two slideshow presentation froms Fine Homebuilding, some interesting photos and layouts: Re-creating the Kitchen 7 Solutions for Kitchen Layout and Design You may have to click "Skip" on a couple of ads but the information is worth it. -David

Appraisal Coming Up? Here's How to Optimize It

2011-10-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

Ten Tips to Up Your Home’s Value During the Appraisal is a good review of what matters to an appraiser, and therefore to you if your home is being appraised for a sale or refinance. - David

A Risk Manager's Perspective on Causes of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis

2011-10-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

Incisive analysis of the interworkings of human behavior and risk management by David Rowe of Kamakura Corp. in his article Dangerous Adaptation: The Evolution of Risk. It's a quick read on the adaptability of the human wallet, er, mind. - David

Do the Research: South Bay Home Inventories are Not High!

2011-10-12T17:31:00.000-07:00

Do the research! Here are the actual levels of single family homes for sale in the South Bay Beach Cities and El Segundo. Note that although many factors would characterize this as a "Buyers Market," the level of inventories is low. This represents an opportunity for sellers to list their properties at a time when competition is quite limited, and when low interest rates make mortgages

It's Back! Misinterpretations of the 3.8% Medicare Tax Persist

2011-10-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

For all its problems, Obamacare does not impose the real estate transfer tax that the recurring viral email you may have seen says it does. Here's a key line from the erroneous email: "If you sell a $400,000 home, there will be a $15,200 tax." Fortunately, this simply isn't true. Yes, there is a new 3.8% tax, effective in 2013 unless Obamacare is overturned. But it would apply to the gain

Up through the ranks: Eve Irvine is the fourth female police chief in Los Angeles County history

2011-10-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to report that Chief Eve Irvine is not only an experienced professional, but also a delightful individual and a great new member of the Manhattan Beach community! - David

Help Fight Breast Cancer Today on Lee National Denim Day!

2011-10-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

Today is Lee National Denim Day, an annual event benefitting breast cancer research. This campaign has raised over $83,000,000 for breast cancer research since 1996. Join me in supporting Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs and head of www.mikeroweWORKS.com, who is this year's campaign spokesman. Click here to see the video, learn more, and participate! Many thanks, David

First-Time Buyers Losing Interest in Short Sales

2011-09-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

Short sales are certainly an important component of South Bay real estate sales these days, but not what I would call a dominant force. In fact, inventories of all types of homes are remarkably low already - - more like November and December levels. Still first-time buyers unaware of the delays often involved have been pursuing short sale homes in hopes of getting a bargain. According to

Living Peacefully with your Mother-In-Law

2011-09-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

This Forbes.com article highlights a new book by Michael Litchfield, entitled in-laws, outlaws and granny flats. Our aging population is resulting in a number of shifts in homebuyer preferences, including elevators, main floor bedrooms, and mother-in-law quarters. In the Beach Cities, that can mean a guest house (yes, a few properties have them) or even "bootleg" quarters crafted from a

No Help For Housing In Bernanke's Operation Twist

2011-09-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

Tough times in housing include the reduced effectiveness of the Fed's tools to enhance the housing market. As discussed in this Forbes article, the Fed's attempt to flatten ("twist") the yield curve (attempting to reduce long term rates by shifting its holdings from shorter to longer term Treasuries) can't can't help the housing market unless buyers are willing and able overcome uncertainty and