Thanks to the recent changes in LA housing laws to more easily allow "granny flats", or small independent apartment units on property where home already exists. Construction of these by normal homeowners have exploded by 2375% compared to the prior year. 

According to researchers at Berkley, "Beyond their “natural affordability”, there are also opportunities to target ADUs for particular under-housed populations and help lower income homeowners build wealth. In Los Angeles, the organization LA Más is establishing an ADU Section 8 program that incentivizes homeowners tobuild ADUs specifically to house Section 8 voucher holders. The same organization also received grant funding to provide the knowledge and resources to low and moderate income homeowners to adopt ADUs as a tool to build equity and cash flow. Los Angeles County is also piloting a program that will incentivize the construction of ADUs through subsidies to homeowners willing to rent their unit to homeless individuals or Section 8 voucher recipients."

For new buyers trying to make a mortgage or generate cash flow, the LA pilot program for ADU "granny flats" could be a solution. From their website, 

 "The County will provide a maximum subsidy of $75,000 per unit to build 2-3 new ADUs. The County will provide a maximum subsidy of $50,000 per unit to preserve 2-3 existing unpermitted ADUs. The subsidy will be provided in the form of a soft loan or forgivable loan tied to a commitment to rent the ADU to a homeless family/individual or participant in the housing choice voucher program."

UC Berkley study.

Ahead of its first legislative committee hearing scheduled for next week, a Bay Area lawmaker has narrowed his bill aimed at building more housing near transit across California. 
Making sense of the story

• Under the newly amended Senate Bill 827 from Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), cities would be allowed to restrict building heights to four or five stories, down from a maximum of eight stories, within a half-mile of rail and ferry stops. Wiener also limited changes surrounding bus stops.
• The new version of the bill wouldn’t mandate height increases around bus stops, instead allowing for increased density and lower parking requirements. It also would apply only at bus stops with frequent service throughout the day, rather than just during rush hour.
• SB 827 tries to address the state’s longstanding shortage of homes and a push by climate regulators to build near mass transit through dramatically changing development rules, particularly in the state’s largest metropolitan areas. Earlier versions of the bill would have affected nearly all of San Francisco and, according to a Times analysis, about 190,000 parcels currently zoned for single-family homes in Los Angeles — roughly half such parcels in the city.
• Additional changes to the bill made this week try to address concerns relating to the promotion of gentrification. All projects greater than 10 units will have to set aside a portion for low-income residents. It further restricts the demolition of rent-controlled or formerly rent-controlled properties. And the developers will have to provide monthly recurring transit passes to all residents at no cost.

​Source: LA Times

Scary right? If your interested in buying a home, don't let the above numbers scare you. Keep in mind that California also has some of the most expensive mansions in the country, and that pushes these numbers so high. There are countless affordable homes still available in Los Angeles, hard as it might seem. Both through low home cost, and through the numerous government programs that can give you free money to special loan terms, even if you lack citizenship. 

If you are interested in selling your home, this benefits you greatly as the competition for your house increases astronomically when more buyers are able to make an offer, and offer more money to you.  Either way, get in contact and we can start putting a plan into motion that helps you achieve your real estate dreams!

Thanks to the government, buyers looking to use FHA loans will now have higher loan limits to help families get that dream house. 

As you all know the housing rates in Southern California are much higher than the rest of the country so buyers will now have up to $679,650 to purchase their dream single family home.

The complete new limits, including duplexes and 1-4 apartments complexes, are as follows:
​

Just a reminder for buyers as a few people have recently been held up from buying their dream home due to issues with unpaid federal taxes and getting FHA loans approved:


Borrowers with delinquent Federal Tax Debt are ineligible for FHA financing unless:
​
     I.Borrower has entered a repayment agreement with the federal agency owed to make regular monthly payments on the debt and the Borrower has made timely payments for at least three months of scheduled payments. The Borrower cannot prepay scheduled payments to meet the required minimum of three months’ payments.
   
     II.Mortgagee must include the payment amounts in the agreement in the calculation of the borrower’s debt to income ratio.

     III. If the delinquent taxes owed are in lien status, the Mortgagee must ensure that the mortgaged property will be free and clear of all liens, except the insured Mortgage and any secondary liens permitted by FHA. The lienholder will need to subordinate to our FHA-insured mortgage. 

If you have any questions or concerns about this issue, any home financing issues, or any real estate questions, please feel welcome to get in contact with me via phone or email. 


*Delinquent Federal Tax Debt refers to tax liens or prior years taxes owed. Prior years taxes owed would be any year prior to the current tax year filing and is not yet a lien.
*This topic was prepared by our friends at Alterra Home Loans. 

As a sign of the ever increasing gentrification of South LA, the $700 million dollar USC Village has finally opened. Primarily built to house 2,500 students, the complex also hosts new shopping and grocery options for residents both at USC and those that live near the university. Some people have voiced concerns that the new shops would be exclusively for USC students and employees, but all the stores are open to the public until 9 pm at which time campus ID or a companion with a campus ID is required. 

LA downtown news has posted a quick rundown of some of the other shops beside Trader Joe's and Target at the new Village.  

Hi everyone!

This is a reminder that our free first time home buyer seminar is tomorrow @ With Love Market and Cafe. There is going to be such amazing information about all the available grants and financing programs that are available for both buyers and investors. Please remember to show up if you can!

And remember,

English session is at 11:00 AM

Spanish session is at 12:30 PM

     So a few clients have mentioned this to me recently, concerned over what will happen to mortgage rates and if they  "missed" the chance to lock in a low rate. Simply put, no.  Weeks after the hike, mortgage rates are still incredibly low and holding stable. Especially low when compared to the historic pre 2006-7 rates of around 6%+. One thing people seem to be misunderstanding is that the Fed does not directly control mortgage lending rates. They set the rate for lending to other banks and institutions which in turn has some, but not direct impact on the rates that lenders can give to home buyers. Right now, the federal rate is at 1.0 to 1.25% (wouldn't we all like to receive such a rate!) after receiving the 0.25 adjustment. As any competent lender can tell you, the current mortgage rate for homebuyers is around 3.75-4.0% depending on the buyer and the type and length of the loan. Mortgage rates are being protected by low world wide rates which is thankfully outside the control of the fed. While the fed is planning on raising rates again this year, everyone expects it to happen later this September. So homebuyers and prospective homebuyers have a few more months of breathing room as long as they get in contact with a real estate agent and submit offers sooner than later. 

       The median home price in Los Angeles is over $630,000, signaling a continued recovery of the housing market in Los Angeles. First time home buyers are the primary force behind this upswing in the market, but investors and baby boomers are adding to the rise of bids 4% over asking on average. Multi-family construction, that is homes with at least one additional rental unit have begun to outstrip the single family residence that has traditionally dominated the trends for builders. Considering that lenders will give significantly more to prospective buyers of multi-family units instead of single family homes, this isn't surprising. On that note about rentals, the average rental in Los Angeles jumped to $2503. Combined with the fact that the federal government offers a mortgage tax break that can net returns of ~$11,000+ per year, many new home buyers can find that the slightly higher mortgage ends up being cheaper or equivalent to renting in Los Angeles.

Unbeknownst to most of it's residents, LA will be again voting this upcoming Tuesday. 

Since this election doesn't concern the current President nor his policies, the lone Measure C and school district elections have surreptitiously crept up on the city. This is a friendly reminder to everyone  that voting occurs more than every four years. 

As the latimes predicted, the police union backed federal lawsuit has appeared as a ballot measure.

Voters will see this, come Tuesday:

Measure C:

Shall the Charter be amended to allow the City Council to provide that a police officer who is entitled to a Police Department Board of Rights hearing for a disciplinary matter may select a Board of Rights composed of all civilian members?


The ACLU, latimes and it's sf valley cousin the Los Angeles Daily News, BLMla , and LAPD chief Charlie Beck, are detractors of the measure. The major point of concern is that according to the impartial chief legislative analyst: 

During the period from 2011 to November 2016, civilian Hearing Examiners were consistently
more lenient than their sworn-officer counterparts. In the 39 Directed BOR cases where the Chief recommended termination but a BOR acquitted accused officers, the civilian member voted for acquittal in every case. During this period, 16 of the remaining 190 termination cases heard by BORs were decided by 2-to-1 margins. In each case, the Hearing Examiner voted for the more lenient option.
Civilian BOR members have also voted for reduced penalties in every case where a BOR found an officer guilty of misconduct, and have also consistently voted for lesser punishments or acquittals in Opted Boards dealing with demotions or suspensions.



On the other side, the LAPD police union, Mayor Eric Garcetti, Councilman Mitchell Englander, and the commissioner for the LA Board of Police Commissioners Cynthia McClain-Hill. The leader of the union, Craig Lally, has made an argument that this measure is about 'fairness' in police review:

Our goal is to ensure that when an officer faces discipline, he or she is evaluated on facts and evidence in a fair manner. We think the voters will agree. Allowing police officers to choose a panel comprising all civilians eliminates any conflict of interest in the discipline process and increases public confidence in how officers are disciplined. The current discipline process puts command staff officers in the position of making decisions about colleagues’ careers and potentially overruling decisions made by their boss, the Chief of Police. Measure C eliminates this conflict of interest.



In addition to Measure C, certain residents have an opportunity to vote on school district members. This won't apply to everyone, so I won't give a rundown here. But this guide should help you navigate Tuesday's choices if you are still undecided. 


Those unsure where they are registered to vote can go to the LA County website to locate their polling station. Even if you missed the registration deadline, you should be able to cast a ballot as a provisional voter. Just ask one of the poll workers at your polling station. 


*As a side note, this is the revived site of mine. I may post my old work if I have the time and it hasn't been lost to the aether.