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This future sounds cool

Nordine Realtors | September 20, 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Suburb of the Future, Almost Here

Nordine Realtors | July 12, 2017

1925 Beach Drive in Curbed

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s hot out there and getting hotter. And with that in mind, let’s take a look at a few properties where refuge from the heat lies only a few steps away in the cool waters of the Pacific. Here are five oceanfront homes on the market around Southern California. …read full article

Stop the madness petition

Nordine Realtors | July 5, 2017

(click on image for full story)

Despite Fed rate hikes, mortgage rates will not go up this year

Nordine Realtors | July 5, 2017

Clouds are forming over the bond market

The Future of Roofing is Here

Nordine Realtors | May 22, 2017

Tesla has started taking deposits for their beautiful solar roof tiles. Includes tax credits and lifetime warranty. Hopefully it’s as good as their cars, which are currently the best in the world.

Nordine Realtors | May 19, 2017

Selling soon? Read this!

YES ON S

Nordine Realtors | February 22, 2017

The environment comes first for me, always.
 

One of my favorite tools for L.A. properties 

Nordine Realtors | January 31, 2017

With just a couple of clicks, LADBS.org will show you almost everything you’ll want to know about a property before buying, including permits, violations, etc. Whoever designed the site is a genius.

 

Leo quoted in Thursday’s L.A. Times

Nordine Realtors | January 19, 2017

Best Deal on Hermosa Beach/Manhattan Beach Strand: 1830 The Strand, Hermosa Beach

Nordine Realtors | January 16, 2017

Leo quoted in Saturday’s L.A. Times

Nordine Realtors | January 16, 2017

 

Scott Garner

East Los Angeles is both a place and a mode of being, a physical homeland and the spiritual heart of the Mexican diaspora in the United States.

The cultural and political effects that this vibrant neighborhood have had, across the country and around the world, are hard to overstate. It’s impossible to imagine Los Angeles without East L.A., but although the two are often conflated in the popular imagination, the latter is actually an unincorporated part of L.A. County, lying just across the Indiana Avenue city limit from Boyle Heights.

Don’t do business with this guy

Nordine Realtors | December 22, 2016

mariogonzales1mariogonzales2

Mario C. Gonzales, AKA Michael Sevilla, AKA Jimmy Moody, AKA Edgar Lozano has stolen 10K to 35K from dozens of buyers, and still has an active broker’s license.

 

Buying is somehow still cheaper than renting in L.A.

Nordine Realtors | December 1, 2016

Despite the 5-6% annual price increases of the last few years, it is still cheaper to buy than rent in L.A., and always will be. I’ve seen these analyses for many years (won’t say how many!) and it’s never even close.

http://la.curbed.com/2016/10/20/13349520/buy-vs-rent-los-angeles-prices-save-money

 

Best Refi Opportunity Ever Is Over

Nordine Realtors | October 13, 2016

Rates have been creeping up, and it’s looking like the fed will finally raise rates on Dec. 14. The stock market won’t like this of course, which will send investors to bonds, which should drive mortgage rates back down a bit, but not to the near all-time lows we saw this year.

refi-opportunity

Foreclosures are down a whopping 42% from this time last year.

Nordine Realtors | October 13, 2016

Fed Rate Hike (Finally) Likely Next Month

Nordine Realtors | September 28, 2016

14 of 17 FOMC members expect a rate hike before the end of the year, so it’ll probably happen in December. Last time they did this (Dec ’15) mortgage rates actually dropped. The economy can’t support higher rates. The high end market has slowed dramatically recently, and price gains are slowing nationwide.

See DS News article here. 

New Fun Way To Find Houses Sans Realtors

Nordine Realtors | September 19, 2016

Haus was started by the guy who founded Uber. They don’t have every house on there yet, but when they do this will be big.

http://beta.haus.us/

Nationwide REO Picture for August

Nordine Realtors | September 16, 2016

Exclusive Report for Equator Agents:

MARKET INSIGHTS

August 2016 Activity

Equator REO

Understanding your market is essential to being a successful REO Agent.

Here, we provide the latest Equator REO data and intelligence we have on our system. Our goal is to help you succeed in REO so you can become the highest performing agent you can be.

25a2c70e-reo-market-insights-082016_0qo0yi0qo0yi000000

(click picture for full story)

July Home Sales Slow, and Prices Dropped a Bit Since June

Nordine Realtors | August 25, 2016

 

PropertyRadar-California-Real-Property-Report-July-2016-1

Real Property Report – California, July 2016

California’s Underwater Homeowners Fall Below 500,000, Down 50 Percent from July 2014

July Sales Dive 12.8 Percent Y-o-Y, or Did They?

California Median Price Edges Lower in July, but still Up 5.0 Percent Y-o-Y

“At first glance, it looked like July sales fell off a cliff,” said Madeline Schnapp Director of Economic Research for PropertyRadar. “Looking closer at the data, we noted that July 2016 had two fewer business days than July 2015. That calendar quirk was enough depress July sales. When the missing days were taken into account, the sales decline was approximately 3.0 percent for the month and 5.0 percent for the year, in line with expectations.”

       “The silver lining to rising prices is in the past two years 575,000 California homeowners have escaped their negative equity prisons,” said Schnapp. “Now armed with positive equity, these homeowners can take advantage of near record low mortgage interest rates to refinance, sell an existing home and buy a new one.”

READ FULL REPORT 

PropertyRadar-PropertyRadar-NegEquity_July_2016-1024x697

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Nationwide REO Numbers for July per Equator

Nordine Realtors | August 19, 2016

EQ REO activity

June Home Sales: HOT!

Nordine Realtors | July 25, 2016

Despite all the chaos in the world, the 2016 real estate market is looking like a carbon copy of 2015:


PropertyRadar-California-Real-Property-Report-June-2016-1200x600

 

Real Property Report — California, June 2016

Year-to-Date Sales Nearly Unchanged Since 2009

Median Price Hits 9-Year High, Up 6.3 Percent from June 2015

Cash Sales Remain Strong Despite High Prices

“Sales have trended mostly sideways for eight consecutive years,” said Madeline Schnapp, Director of Economic Research for PropertyRadar. “While sales volumes appear to have hit a ceiling, prices continue to reach new heights. Lack of inventory, near record low mortgage interest rates, and increase in demand due to California’s continued economic vitality are pushing prices higher.”

PropertyRadar-Y-o-YSales_June_16-1024x696

PropertyRadar-CASales_June_16-1024x696

 

“The increase in home prices is not surprising given the fact that new housing inventory is difficult to deliver within California’s burdensome regulatory environment,” said Schnapp. “While inventory remains constrained, California’s economic growth engine continues to churn out an impressive number of new jobs, 448,000 in 2015, driving up demand. That, combined with investors buying real estate to shelter cash, continues to push up prices beyond reasonable levels.”

VIEW THE ENTIRE REPORT PLUS ELEVEN VISUAL CHARTS COVERING:

Home Sales, Year-over-Year Home Sales, Median Sales Price vs. Sales Volume, California Home Owner Equity, Cash Sales, Flipping, Market Purchases by LLCs and LPs, Market Sales by LLCs and LPs, Trustee Sale Purchases by LLCs and LPs, Foreclosure Notices and Sales, Foreclosure Inventory.

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row 3 left graph bottom row 3 right graoh bottom

 

Another 100% Financing Option

Nordine Realtors | July 22, 2016

It’s getting REALLY easy for first time home buyers again. Check this out!

financing 2Financing 1

New Zillow Review

Nordine Realtors | May 28, 2016

Leo Nordine is the best realtor we have ever dealt with, and we have just sold 5 properties, each with a different realtor. We are on the east coast, and Leo handled every aspect of this sale. He correctly estimated the selling price. he provided a contractor to remodel the property – and the contractor did a great job, was incredibly fast, and waited for the property to sell in order to be paid. when I weakened and considered taking a low offer, leo counseled us to wait for a higher offer. the property closed today. we received a full price, all cash offer with a ten day escrow.

Interest Rate Hike Déjà Vu

Nordine Realtors | May 21, 2016

The media is once again predicting a rise in mortgage interest rates when the Fed meets June 14-15. This has been going on for 3 years now, and they’ve been wrong every time.

chart-interest rate hike deja vu

My opinion (unchanged in 3 years) is that rates will hold, and drop a bit as we get closer to the election.

April Sales Chart Porn

Nordine Realtors | May 20, 2016

Property Radar’s economists are always overly pessimistic (they’re in the business of selling info on foreclosures to investors) but their charts make me swoon.

Sorry, no bubble here

Nordine Realtors | May 12, 2016

A lot of people are saying we’re in another real estate bubble, but the truth is not even close. 2016 could hardly be more different than 2006:

1. Inventory is extremely low.

2. Interest rates are the lowest ever, and will continue to drop.

3. All the loans funded in the last 8 years are quality (i.e. borrowers actually had to qualify and put money down).

4. Foreclosures are down 23% from last year, and the delinquency rate is 3%.

Low inventory, low rates and decent demand is the perfect formula for continued appreciation. Yes, a recession is coming, eventually. It is a natural part of the business cycle. But when it does, it will be nothing like the last one. Real estate will be the safest place to be, and when the recession ends it will shoot up again, like it always does.

30 year fixed drops to 3.58%

Nordine Realtors | April 22, 2016

For 4 years economists have been promising higher mortgage rates, and for 4 years rates have slowly dropped. I can’t find a graph to prove it, but rates are as low, or lower, than they’ve ever been. Despite all the talk about prices being too high, people will look back and wish they’d bought in 2016.

Chart Porn

Nordine Realtors | April 22, 2016

I completely disagree with Property Radar’s forecast, but their charts are awesome.

Goldilocks market continues – prices highest in 9 years

Nordine Realtors | April 19, 2016

Prices jumped again last month in all 6 SoCal counties, and will continue to climb through the summer. See details in L.A. Biz.

NO DOWN, NO CLOSING COSTS, NO CATCH – NACA LOAN

Nordine Realtors | April 6, 2016

NACA has an amazing loan for low to moderate income home buyers. Your lender will never tell you about this program because they make ZERO on it. This is a no-brainer for anyone renting in L.A.!

Freddie Mac forecasts best year for housing in a decade

Nordine Realtors | April 6, 2016

Bank forecasts are usually conservative/clueless, but Freddie Mac is right on the $.

Square’s new business loans fund in 1 day

Nordine Realtors | March 28, 2016

Silicon Valley startup Square wants to be the Tesla of banks. Their new business loans are easy to get and lightning fast.

So Cal Market Update

Nordine Realtors | March 28, 2016


(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

If you’ve been waiting for a price correction to buy, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. The Goldilocks recipe of slow but steady economic growth, strong-enough demand, low inventory and amazing interest rates are all still here and will continue all year. The graphics in today’s L.A. Times story by Andrew Khouri do not lie.

L.A. Times hypes Inglewood real estate market (Leo quoted)

Nordine Realtors | January 27, 2016

The Inglewood real estate market began heating up when news broke that the Rams were coming, but REALLY took off after this L.A. Times article came out. I’ll never go to a game, but the stadium is so cool!

L.A. Times – L.A. County’s Hottest Zip Codes

Nordine Realtors | January 19, 2016

Great article by the L.A. Times’ Andrew Khouri Saturday, basically showing where to buy, no matter what price range you’re in. The two hottest cities last year? Santa Monica and Hermosa Beach (fool’s luck: the 2 cities I’m most invested in ☺).

L.A. Times: L.A. County’s hottest zip codes

Loan Approval in 10 Minutes: Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans

Nordine Realtors | January 14, 2016

Want to buy a house but don’t like being tortured by mortgage brokers? Quicken Loans has a new “rocket loan” mobile app called Rocket Mortgage which touts loan approval in 10 minutes, all done from your phone, without having to talk to a single human. The programs aren’t optimal, but welcome to the future! Expect all the major lenders to eventually follow suit, as they vie for those coveted millennial buyers.

Hometrackr: Like CarFax for Homes

Nordine Realtors | December 24, 2015

With Hometrackr you can learn about the history of a home before you buy: fire/water damage, permit records, inspections, etc. Seems like a good tool, I think this one is going to take off.

That’s a lot of perfume, Chanel

Nordine Realtors | December 11, 2015

chanel-rodeo drive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the same week we found out the middle class is no longer a majority in the U.S., Chanel just paid an astronomical $152 million for the 11,500 sq. ft store they were renting on Rodeo Drive. The property taxes alone will be $1,900,000 a year.

Fed rate hike imminent, but mortgage rates could actually drop

Nordine Realtors | December 8, 2015

On December 16, for the first time in 9 years, the Fed will finally raise short term interest rates. Despite what the media is saying, mortgage rates will remain stable, and could actually drop a bit. Inflation is still very low, and the real estate market is still soft. Lenders know a significant rate hike would ice the market. They tried a couple summers ago and it was a fiasco. Sales just stopped, and a lot of mortgage reps were laid off. The economy is slowly improving, but not enough to support higher rates.

Probate Junkies

Nordine Realtors | November 25, 2015

Want to buy probates but don’t have time to go to court?

 

Check out ProbateJunkies.com.

Awesome Home Loan Toolkit for First Time Home Buyers

Nordine Realtors | November 17, 2015

If you know someone contemplating their first home purchase, tell them they’d be wise to check out this excellent resource put out by the CFPB: Your Home Loan Toolkit

Ted Cruz is Scary/Funny

Nordine Realtors | November 17, 2015

Republican lawmakers are proposing to oversee the Fed. It sounds so preposterous I can’t even write it without smiling, but of course they’re serious. The Fed is made up of the brightest and arguably most important people in our government. I’d like to think Ted Cruz means well, but like his other ideas (getting rid of Fannie, Freddie, HUD and the CFPB), this would be a disaster.

DS News – Presidential Hopeful Ted Cruz Demands More Transparency from the Fed

Goldilocks Housing Market

Nordine Realtors | October 29, 2015

I’ve never seen a market like this: lukewarm demand, near-record low inventory, near-record low interest rates, 5% annual appreciation. This could be sustainable for years. If you own real estate you are smiling right now. If you don’t you should, somewhere, whatever you can afford.

Interest Rates Aren’t Going Anywhere

Nordine Realtors | October 20, 2015

The Fed has been hoping to raise the Federal Funds rate for 2 years now, but the economy is still too weak. And when they do finally raise it mortgage rates will barely move. Because mortgage interest rates are more tied to inflation, which remains very low, rates will be great until the economy REALLY picks up. Which means, if you’re on the fence about buying, I’d do it now.

Teardown Photo Op

Nordine Realtors | October 6, 2015



Kevin Cody/Easy Reader News

The historic Kelsey residence, home to only 2 families in over 100 years, is tentatively scheduled to be demo’d next month. Seeing lots of people getting their photo taken in front of the house lately.

Easy Reader News: Kelsey home sells for Hermosa Beach record of $15 million
by Kevin Cody

Don Guild was leaving the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles one day in 1958 when he ran into Bill Still, a former Berkeley classmate of Don’s wife Barbara.

The two were sometime neighbors in Hermosa Beach. The Guilds owned Guild Drug in downtown Hermosa and lived at 1920 The Strand. Still had married into the Lacey family, which owned a home at 1942 The Strand, two doors north of the Guilds’. Still told Guild that the Lacey family’s majestic, pitched-roof home was to be sold at auction.

He asked Guild if he or anyone he knew would be interested in purchasing the house.


The Kelsey home looks much as it did upon its completion in 1913, with exception of some modern conveniences.

The Lacey home was built in 1913 by two brothers who owned Lacey Manufacturing. The brothers were given the property in payment for putting in the sewer and water pipes for the Hermosa Land and Water Company when the city streets were laid out. Subsequent generations of the large Lacey family kept the six-bedroom house as a summer vacation home.

The Guilds mentioned the Lacey home to their friends Vern and Virginia Kelsey, whose three children were the same ages as the Guild’s children.

Though the Kelseys had only recently built a home around the corner, at Hermosa Avenue and 20th Street, the opportunity to live on The Strand tempted them into attending the auction. Vern surfed and coached water polo at Harbor Community College.

Despite the couple’s modest income, Virginia Kelsey’s bid of $58,000 for the old house astride a double, corner lot was accepted. It was the only bid.

“It was a bankruptcy auction and most of the bidders were only interested in the manufacturing equipment,” Barbara Guild recalled.

Over the ensuing decades, the big, rambling Kelsey home, one of the few Strand homes with a yard big enough for a party, became a neighborhood gathering place.


Hap Jacob logo spray painted inside the garage.


Hap Jacob’s and Bing Copeland’s logos are still visible inside the Kelsey garage.

Hap Jacob’s and Bing Copeland’s logos were spray painted inside the garage.

The yard also provided parking for the Kelsey’s and the Guild’s guests.

“In appreciation for telling them about the house, Vern and Virginia gave us lifetime parking privileges,” Barbara Guild said.

But even lifetime privileges come to an end.

Vern Kelsey passed away a few years ago. Virginia is 94 and living in an assisted living facility.

Last month the Kelsey children sold the family home for $15 million, the most ever paid for a home in Hermosa Beach.

One of the two lots that make up the 80-foot by 83-foot property is to become a vacation home for a Pacific Palisades resident. The other lot is being developed by local builder Dennis Maloney.

Realtor Leo Nordine, who listed the house and is also a longtime neighbor of the Kelseys and a surfer, said he’s happy for the Kelsey family, though disappointed that the old home will be torn down. -Easy Reader

I Love Steve Lopez

Nordine Realtors | October 6, 2015


This is hilarious. Not sure who’s worse, the tenants or the landlord.

L.A. Times – Kardashian wannabes party hard and do what they want in the Hollywood Hills

You tend to notice when the new neighbors have a caged lion at their housewarming party, dress like Superman and Catwoman and install a mural of themselves on their garage door.

In Los Angeles, home to both abject poverty and unprecedented excess, nothing is really shocking.

Annoying? That’s different.

In Bel-Air, a homeowner is using nearly 12 million gallons of water annually while normal people go three days without flushing the toilet.

In Beverly Hills, video captured a Qatar sheik’s Ferrari dangerously speeding through neighborhood streets; when the police asked the sheik about it, he claimed diplomatic immunity.

In Venice, residents were rattled by what they feared was a midnight terrorist attack at LAX, but it was just a fireworks party on Santa Monica Bay, thrown by the Kardashians.

And in the quiet hillside hamlet of Hollywood Dell, people are talking about the couple who moved into a rental mansion in May, tastefully upgraded that garage door and began partying.

The neighborhood’s problems date back to the day a developer began carving four garish, roughly 12,000-square-foot behemoths into a hillside near Lake Hollywood. Just when neighbors thought there’d be relief from years of construction noise, a series of renters moved in, kicking off endless party time.

“We’ve had the streets terribly blocked and I’ve seen police helicopters coming and telling people to leave the party,” said neighbor George Scalpels.

The four four-story houses, which look like hotels and have “Hollywood” emblazoned on the wall behind them — lest anyone lose track of where they are — aren’t residences so much as event venues and adult playgrounds, according to Scalpels and others.

Neighbors said the biggest house has been used for a Playboy TV show about swingers, and the performers in the glass-walled, fishbowl mansions were neither discreet nor modest.

Justin Bieber rented one of the houses for a while, I’m told, and he was supposedly one of the quieter tenants.

“You oughta see the lighting at night,” said neighbor Jeff Dowden.

With rows of windows and lights on each level changing colors, it’s like watching the TV show “Hollywood Squares,” he said.

“Basically, it’s Las Vegas across the street,” Dowden said.

Alexa Iles of the Hollywood Dell Civic Assn. has fielded dozens of complaints from friends and neighbors over the years. She said residents are frustrated because City Hall has all but ignored their pleas for stricter enforcement of parking, party and traffic violations.

“The people using these properties aren’t members of the community, and their behavior … is completely self-absorbed,” Iles said.

She describes the offenders’ philosophy like this:

“If I have enough money, I can do whatever I want…. The rules don’t apply to me because I’m rich.”

I called the developer, Danny Fitzgerald, to see what he had to say about his critics, and let’s just say the man doesn’t need much prompting.

“They’re a group of vigilantes … with nothing better to do,” he said, insisting that parties in his houses are rare, shuttles are used to transport guests, and the complainers are a bunch of horrible people who aren’t cool enough to live in Hollywood. They should “go to Palmdale where they belong,” he said.

“Get out of Hollywood,” he repeated. “They don’t belong there…. [Blank] those people. I don’t care about them.”

There goes his shot at Man of the Year honors from the Hollywood Dell Civic Assn.

I asked Fitzgerald if it was true that he attended the housewarming party for his newest tenants, Bastian and Maria Yotta. He confirmed that he had, and said it was fabulous, with hundreds of guests on hand.

“They had sushi on top of women,” Fitzgerald said. “You could eat sushi off of the women.”

The wasabi must really have burned.

“They had a lion out front,” he said. “A movie star lion in a cage.”

That cat needs a better agent.

“They had models walking around the house, and natural food, and it was very healthy and a very good party,” Fitzgerald said, adding that nearby neighbors were invited and had a good time, but the vigilantes saw the movie star lion and called the police.

“So the guy had a lion,” Fitzgerald said. “Big deal.”

Curiosity got the best of me, so I paid a visit to the party house, even though neighbors said the Yottas are among Fitzgerald’s quieter residents in recent years.

“Welcome to the fabulous Yotta life mansion,” says the garage door ad, which features Bastian sitting on a throne, hourglass wife Maria next to him.

The first thing you see when you enter the house is a brass pole, and I didn’t see a tether ball, so I’m assuming the obvious.

A blond woman ferried me up to the fourth floor, where I met the Yottas.

Bastian, a buff young buck from Germany, told me Arnold Schwarzenegger is an idol.

Maria wore high heels and a white dress so tight it may have cut off circulation in the entire 90068 ZIP Code. If a neighbor kid has lost two basketballs, I think I may know where they are.

Three young women were slinking about in similar get-ups, and the Yottas explained that they invite young women free of charge to stay in their 10-bedroom house, where Bastian teaches them the Yotta life philosophy — “live life to its fullest” — free of charge.

Bastian Yotta and his wife Maria, second from left, are photographed with “Yotta Girls” Krystin Hagen, Diana Ehmsen and Debby Gommeren. Yotta recently put out an Instagram photo of himself @yotta_life in which he’s sitting under a downpour of money and questioning the notion that it never rains in California.

I’d say the price is right.

Yotta recently put out an Instagram photo of himself @yotta_life in which he’s sitting under a downpour of money and questioning the notion that it never rains in California.

Not that every day feels like a million dollars. But if he’s down in the dumps, he said, he takes hold of a sword, stands in front of the mirror and shouts: “I have the power!”

Yotta said he made his fortune in beauty products and technology, but he didn’t offer many details.

He said he and Maria moved to Los Angeles last year from Europe to enjoy life and share their discovery that Mondays can be just as fun as Fridays if you open your mind to the possibility and believe in your dreams.

And lo and behold, he thinks there might be a reality TV show in all of this, so he’s talking to some people.

Yotta told me he pays $34,000 a month for the mansion, which has two gymnasiums and a nightclub, but as he sat on a chair fit for a king, he said he might be moving on one day.

“In my mind I’m dreaming about a Yotta castle,” he said.

In my mind, I’m dreaming about what might have happened if that lion had gotten free.