Kerin Cantwell in Pasadena

Pasadena Showcase House

kerincantwell — Thu, 13 May 2010 21:57:40 +0000

I saw the Showcase House this week and it is beautiful, as usual. The lighting is especially wonderful — don’t miss it, and support the arts at the same time!

From Pasadena Now:

In case you weren’t aware of it the Showcase House of Design has taken over the Craven’s Estate the current headquarters of the Red Cross. Don’t miss your chance to see the estate restored to its former glory. Over 30 designers have been brought in to restore the historic estate on “Millionaire’s Row” back to authentic life. The Showcase House is open through Sunday, May 16th and then it reverts back to the American Red Cross. For tickets and more information click here.

Rose Bowl Stadium Games

kerincantwell — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:08:08 +0000

Come Inside the Rose Bowl Stadium and Play

Sunday, May 16 the Rose Bowl Operating Company is inviting everyone into the Rose Bowl Sunday for the Rose Bowl Stadium Games. Mayor Bill Bogaard will welcome people of all ages to have fun on the Rose Bowl field, play foosball and interactive video games in the Home Locker Room and tour the Stadium. And, you’ll learn first hand about the exciting proposed Rose Bowl Renovation Plans. Admission is free.

The Games will bring people together in a new way – “playing” together on the Rose Bowl field while finding out about the history and traditions of America’s Stadium.

The gates will open at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 16, 2010 and the games will begin at Noon and run to approximately 3:00 p.m. There will be great music with the day’s games and activities shown up on the Rose Bowl Jumbotron.

Those attending will be able to win great prizes drawn throughout the day – game and concert tickets, golf outings, spa treatments and more! At 2:45 Mayor Bill Bogaard will host a brief program consisting of a short video of Rose Bowl history and highlights and draw great prizes: LCD Flat Panel TV and a ride in Pasadena Police Helicopter.

In the Court of Champions Pasadena Heritage will offer fascinating facts about the revered stadium during a Rose Bowl tour that concludes in the Press Box. Inside on the field, the Turkey Tussle teams will oversee some football action. Many other activities will be offered including baseball speed pitch, penalty kicks with the Galaxy Street team, bean bag toss, sack races, face painting and bounce houses. Out in the Court of Champions enjoy basketball free throws and good food while visiting event sponsors.

Go to www.rosebowlstadium.com/games or call 626-577-3100 to RSVP to attend and to learn more about the Rose Bowl Stadium Games.

Doo Dah Parade this weekend!

kerincantwell — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:53:52 +0000

From Pasadena Now:

The Doo Dah Parade will bring its notorious brand of wackiness across town on Saturday, May 1st, stepping off at 11:00 a.m. The relocation to East Colorado Boulevard places the parade in an older, retro neighborhood reminiscent of its long-ago ‘Old Town’ roots. In fact, this year’s Grand Marshal is Corky Peterson, former proprietor of Chromo’s Tavern where the Doo Dah Parade was actually born. This year the ever-present element of surprise and hilarity will again run full throttle when inventive, if zany, art cars and floats accompany a legion of frolickers past the mom-n-pop shops along their shady tree-lined streets.

The 33rd Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade takes off at 11:00 a.m. starting on Vinedo Street at Nina Street to West Colorado Boulevard, circles again back up Vinedo. Come early and bring a lawn chair! For more information call (626) 590-1134.

Tax Credit Update

kerincantwell — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:11:26 +0000

Here is some usefule information on the new California homebuyer tax credit which will take effect beginning May 1 and an update on the federal first-time homebuyer tax credit, which will run out at the end of this month. Hope you find this information helpful.Governor Schwarzenegger Signs $10,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit Legislation

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today returned to the La Ventana Homes project in Fresno where he kicked off his campaign to extend and expand the hugely successful homebuyer tax credit to sign legislation that will do just that. AB 183, authored by Assemblymember Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) and Senator Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield), will provide a tax credit of up to $10,000 to Californians who are buying their first home or purchasing a brand new home. This legislation, part of the Governor’s larger California Jobs Initiative, will play a key role in getting our economy moving again by encouraging home ownership and stimulating job creation.

“I have been up and down the state pushing this important housing bill that will get people off the fence and into homes while creating jobs and stimulating our economy – and today I am proud to take action and put it into law,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “Creating jobs is my number one priority and I am glad that I have been able to sign two job-creating bills in two days. I applaud the legislature for their great work and encourage them to keep it up and pass the remaining job-creating elements of my California Jobs Initiative.”

AB 183 was passed by the legislature on March 22 and gives the Franchise Tax Board authority to extend a total of $200 million in tax credits to California homebuyers; $100 million for buyers of new, unoccupied homes and another $100 million for first-time buyers of existing homes. The credit will be extended from May 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. The tax credit will be available to buyers on a first-come, first-served basis and is applied in equal amounts over a period of three taxable years. To qualify, the buyer must not be a dependant and must purchase a home that does not belong to a relative.

Governor Schwarzenegger fought hard to extend and expand the homebuyer tax credit after its successful run in 2009. That $100 million tax credit, which was approved in February 2009, ran out after just four months with 10,659 Californians claiming the credit – increasing home purchases, jumpstarting building projects and boosting local economies. In fact, La Ventana Homes saw a 300 percent increase in sales when the tax credit went into effect.

The homebuyer tax credit is a part of the larger California Jobs Initiative that the Governor proposed in his State of the State address in January to create jobs and stimulate the economy. Today’s bill is the second piece of it to be approved by the legislature. A sales tax exemption on green-tech manufacturing equipment was also approved.

Federal Tax Credit Update

Time is running out on the federal tax credits for first-time and repeat buyers. First-time buyers who enter a binding contract by April 30 and close escrow before July 1—and meet the income limits—are eligible for the full $8,000 credit (maximum, or 10 percent of the sales price, whichever is less) on their federal tax returns. The first-time home buyer credit applies to homes purchased for $800,000 or less, and does not require repayment if buyers live in the residence for three or more years. Existing homeowners may be eligible for a tax credit (10 percent of the purchase price, not to exceed $6,500). To be eligible for this credit, homeowners must have lived in their current home for five consecutive years out of the last eight years and must enter a contract to purchase a new or existing home by April 30, 2010. Existing homeowners do not need to sell their current home to qualify for this credit, but must close escrow before by June 30, 2010.

California rebound boosts 20-city home price index

kerincantwell — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:15:53 +0000

Good news for home sellers in the Los Angeles area from the LA Times. Check out this article:

By ALAN ZIBEL and ALEX VEIGA (AP)

LOS ANGELES — A surprisingly strong rebound in California’s real estate market helped lift a key home price index for the eighth month in a row.

That’s good news for people who plan to sell their homes this spring. Prices are now up almost 4 percent from the bottom in May 2009, but still almost 30 percent below the May 2006 peak.

Prices rose 0.3 percent from December to January on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday. Prices increased in 12 cities in the index.

The biggest monthly gain was in Los Angeles, where prices rose 1.8 percent from December. And real estate agents say there’s a distinct sense the worst of the downturn is over.

Buyers are “seeing that prices are creeping up,” said Tony Middleton, a real estate agent with ZIP Realty who concentrates on the San Fernando Valley. “They’re losing bids on homes and they have to bid again.”

Prices in San Diego, meanwhile, rose by almost 0.9 percent. Phoenix had the third-largest gain at 0.8 percent.

Compared with the same month last year, the 20-city index was off just 0.7 percent from last year at a reading of 146.32. That was the smallest decline in almost three years and in line with analysts’ expectations, according to Thomson Reuters.

Rising home prices also could boost consumer optimism. For most Americans, their home is their largest asset, so as values climb from the depths of the housing bust, homeowners feel wealthier and more comfortable spending. And, for homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth, rising prices rebuild equity.

Consumer confidence rebounded in March after a February plunge, according to a survey released Tuesday. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index rose to 52.5 in March, recovering about half of the nearly 11 points it lost in February.

Still, shoppers remain cautious and there are signs that last year’s housing rebound won’t last. Home sales sank during the winter, and government incentives that have propped up the market are ending.

Another reason for the positive news is simply that the Case-Shiller index measures a three-month average of home prices. So January’s report included November’s strong home sales.

However, bargain-hunting homebuyers continue to pack open houses in California, often facing off with investors for foreclosed homes.

“We’re seeing multiple offers in most of the markets here in the San Francisco Bay area,” said David Kerr, an agent with ZipRealty in Oakland, Calif. “People are getting off the fence.”

In February, bank-owned properties made up 44 percent of all resales in the state, according to MDA DataQuick. In Southern California, they accounted for more than half of resales.

With such high demand, supply is dwindling, driving prices higher.

Meanwhile, the state’s unemployment rate has flat-lined of late, and that’s made buyers more comfortable about purchasing a home than they were just six months ago, said Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California.

California home sales will likely get a boost in coming months thanks to a new serving of government stimulus.

Last week, state lawmakers enacted a tax credit of up to $10,000 for homebuyers that kicks in May 1. The state allotted $100 million for first-time buyers and another $100 million to anyone who buys a newly built home. California had a round of tax credits last year that proved to be popular; that program ended in July.

The latest incentive picks up where a federal first-time homebuyer tax credit of up to $8,000 is scheduled to leave off when it expires at the end of April. Should the Obama administration extend the federal tax break, that could give homebuyers in California even more reasons to buy.

Still, there remain pockets of weakness. Sales of homes priced above $500,000 are sluggish. And despite rising prices, more than one-third of all homeowners with a mortgage still owe more on their loans than their homes are worth, according to First American CoreLogic.

Among the cities showing monthly price declines in January, the biggest drop was in Portland, Ore., where prices fell 1.8 percent from December. Chicago and Seattle saw declines of 1.7 percent, while prices in Atlanta fell 1.5 percent.

Many analysts expect the Case-Shiller 20-city index will again turn downward in the coming months as more foreclosures in other states hit the market.

“It is only a matter of time before the index records a double-dip in prices,” wrote Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics, who forecasts a 5 percent drop. The market will be tested in the second half of the year, he wrote, when a tax credit that has boosted sales is gone.

The Case-Shiller index measures home price increases and decreases relative to prices in January 2000. The base reading is 100; so a reading of 150 would mean that home prices increased 50 percent since the beginning of the index.

Alan Zibel reported from New York.

Home of the Week

kerincantwell — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:26:52 +0000

561 Woodland Road in Pasadena is amazing – 5 bedrooms, 6 baths, and has many green features, including solar panels, solar pool heating, tankless water heaters, low VOC interior paint, and low UV structural recycled glass. Along with secret attic playrooms, this modern home has a guest house, pool and spa.

California Expands $10K Buyer Tax Credit

kerincantwell — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:25:11 +0000

By Inman News, Thursday, March 25, 2010.

Inman News

The state of California has re-established and extended a $10,000 homebuyer tax credit.

The new law, AB 183, signed today by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, allocates $200 million to the credit for homes purchased between May 1 and Dec. 31, and between Dec. 31 and August 1, 2011. That’s twice the amount allocated to a similar credit passed for purchasers of new homes last year. Those funds were quickly depleted and builders have been asking for the credit’s return ever since.

The state has extended the new credit to first-time buyers of existing homes as well as buyers of new homes. The funds will be split evenly between the two groups, and buyers will have to occupy the home for at least two years.

The legislation had the backing of the California Building Industry Association and the California Association of Realtors.

“The tax credit will help push prospective buyers off the fence, clear out inventory, and jump-start the homebuilding industry, which will help create jobs and reinvigorate the state’s economy,” said Liz Snow, the building association’s CEO and president, in a statement.

“AB 183 also will significantly contribute to efforts to stimulate jobs creation within California’s housing market by helping to incentivize first-time home buyers to purchase homes that have been abandoned, foreclosed upon, and returned to the lender; or have been sitting on the market for extended periods of time,” said Steve Goddard, the real estate association president, in a statement.

“It is these homes that will require substantial rehabilitation by the new owners, which will in turn generate a tremendous increase in jobs and accessory purchases connected to home improvement activities,” Goddard added.

Snow said the credit would be paid out over several years and therefore lessen the blow to the cash-strapped state’s budget.

“Additionally, recent studies show that building a new home generates roughly $16,000 in state tax revenues alone, which supports the notion that the credit will more than pay for itself,” Snow said.

The Franchise Tax Board concluded that losses to the state’s General Fund will equal $200 million: $6 million in 2009-10; $69 million in 2010-11; $67 million in 2011-12; $54 million in 2012-13; and, $4 million in 2013-14.

“The bill appears to represent a blending of policy goals, including: increasing demand for housing by lowering the effective purchase price; decreasing the existing market inventory of homes; and, encouraging construction of new homes. Supporters claim this bill will result in the generation of additional jobs in California. No formal jobs analysis has been conducted,” according to a legislative report.

Designer Furniture Sale

kerincantwell — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:51:44 +0000

From a professional stager with whom I’ve worked, info on some great furniture deals!

THIS SATURDAY March 20
Warehouse Sale – One Day Only
Mannigan Design clearing out over 3000 square feet of furniture,
accessories, outdoor furniture & decor and vintage finds.

CASH ONLY

8am – 2pm
FYI – At 1pm we start to slash prices!

LOCATION: 617 S. Raymond Ave. Pasadena
(Half Block South of California)

Affordable delivery service available day of the sale. Purchase and deliver – same day!

DONT MISS OUT! We’ve got Sofas for $325, Club Chairs for $175, Dining chairs as low as $65 each, Console Tables, Armoires which we’re practically giving away, Coffee Tables, Dining Tables, side tables starting at $10, super-cool vintage iron patio furniture, pillows, cushions, accessories, garden accessories.

As always a portion of our proceeds goes to the Pasadena Humane Society

Southern California home prices rise 10% in February

kerincantwell — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:56:04 +0000

From the Los Angeles Times:

By Alejandro Lazo

Southland home prices jumped 10% in February compared with the same month last year as foreclosure sales dropped significantly. San Diego and Orange counties made particularly strong gains.

The increase in prices indicates that foreclosure sales are not dominating the market as much as they were a year ago. And it could signal that more traditional buyers — those with equity in their homes looking to trade up — are getting back into the game.

But the number of homes sold throughout the region was nearly flat, up only 0.8%. That was the lowest year-over-year increase since home sales began to rise in July 2008, according to San Diego firm MDA DataQuick.

A more normal market isn’t likely to emerge until the financing necessary to fuel larger purchases becomes more readily available, experts say.

“You still have people out there who historically would be considered very creditworthy but they can’t get a jumbo loan,” said Andrew LePage, an analyst with DataQuick.

“The jumbo loan market remains dysfunctional because the people who could revive the jumbo loan market — the investors who would have to buy the loans — still see a lot of risk in housing.”

Even so, Mark and Carrie Rackow believe the time is finally right to put their renovated Agoura Hills home, replete with solar panels and yoga studio, on the market for $1,185,000.

“People are out there a little more, looking,” Carrie Rackow said. “I think people are maybe a little bit more hopeful.”

According to DataQuick, the median price paid for Southland homes in February was $275,000, marking the third consecutive month of year-over-year increases.

The median — the price at which half the sales are higher and half lower — increased 1.3% from January.

The 10% year-over-year rise in the region’s median sale price came as little surprise to economists because the comparison is with a time when repossessed homes dominated the market. In February 2009, foreclosures made up 56.7% of the resale market. This year it was 42.3%.

The foreclosure factor will likely remain strong in the housing market and experts have long feared that a new wave of them is coming. Working against that, at least for now, are the Obama administration’s efforts to help troubled homeowners and a general reluctance by lenders to flood the market with cheap properties again.

With sales of cheap foreclosure properties becoming increasingly competitive, real estate agents said inventory on the low end has grown tight, even as many homeowners in California continue to fall behind on their house payments.

Regions where homes typically cost more saw some of the strongest gains. San Diego County’s median climbed 13% while Orange County’s was up 11.2%. L.A. County’s median rose 5.4%. San Bernardino County’s, meanwhile, fell 2%.

Last month, 15,359 homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was nearly the same as the 15,361 in January, and only slightly higher than the 15,231 in February 2009.

At the higher end, the number of jumbo loans, which DataQuick defines as mortgages of more than $417,000, accounted for 14.8% of last month’s lending. Before the credit crisis struck in the fall of 2007, loans above this price accounted for 40% of the market.

Adjustable rate mortgages made up only 4% of purchases in February, compared to 44.8% of all purchases since 2000, according to DataQuick.

Southern California’s market is not likely to return to full health until both adjustable rate mortgages and jumbo loans make up a larger share of the market, experts said.

“We need to have a mortgage market that looks sort of like it did in 1997-1998,” said Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. “A healthy market demand for jumbo loans, but being well underwritten.”

The gains in Southern California come amid a backdrop of pessimistic national housing news.

In a separate report Tuesday, the Commerce Department reported that construction of new housing units fell 5.9% in February, with poor weather in the East and South partially to blame. Starts gained 7.9% in the West.

Glenn Kelman, chief executive of online brokerage Redfin, said he was “bullish” on California’s prospects.

“California, right now, is its own market,” he said. “It started improving ahead of everyone else last winter . . . and I am not sure there is going to be another dip because there is so much demand.”

alejandro.lazo @latimes.com

Daylight Savings Time this Sunday!

kerincantwell — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:43:07 +0000

It’s that time again — don’t forget to jump ahead one hour this Sunday (officially at 2:00am). Yes, we’ll all lose an hour of sleep, but the sun won’t go down until 7:00pm!

Daylight Saving Time seems like a pretty simple practice, but the implementation of DST has always been fraught with controversy. Even today, regions and countries routinely change their approaches to Daylight Saving Time. In the United States alone, DST is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the state of Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Indian Reservation, which does observe DST).

Love it or hate it, if you live anywhere else make sure to change your clocks before you go to bed, you don’t want to be the one rolling in to an appointment as everyone else is leaving!