Need parking for the Metro? 221 guaranteed spots up for grabs Sunday Morning!!

With the Metro Expo Line extending its service to Santa Monica beginning May 20th, a total of 221 Metro Expo Line parking spots will be up for sale Sunday morning, enabling early-morning commuters a guaranteed place to park at three Expo stations.

The passes will be available at Expo/Sepulveda, Expo/Bundy and 17th St/SMC as part of a 2-year pilot program that will be evaluated every three months.

The passes will allow access to spaces on a first-come, first-served basis from 4am to 9am, Monday through Friday. After 9am the spaces become available to all. An additional 239 spaces will also be available for a daily rate of $2 at the same stations, Metro announced Tuesday.

Expo parking: • 17th St/SMC: 67 spaces of which 13 are reserved for monthly permits. • Expo/Bundy: 217 spaces of which 131 are reserved for monthly permits. • Expo/Sepulveda: 260 spaces of which 77 are reserved for monthly permits.

A new walk-and-bike path parallels most of the Expo Line extension as well to facilitate reaching stations by foot or bicycle. Bicyclists will have the option to bring their bikes on trains or place them in bike racks or lockers at the new Expo station.

Due to limited parking at the new Expo stations, Metro encourages customers to consider walking, biking or taking the bus to reach the trains. To buy a spot head to lametroparking.net.

Source: Edited article from the Santa Monica Mirror

Designer to meet with residents about the Santa Monica Airport Park Expansion

Mark Rios, recently hired by the City of Santa Monica to design the 12-acre expansion of Airport Park at Santa Monica Airport, will give a talk to residents at a special meeting hosted by the Santa Monica Airport2Park Foundation, on Friday, May 13th, at 7:00 p.m., at Mount Olive Church, 1343 Ocean Park Boulevard, Santa Monica.

According to Neil Carrey, President of the Airport2Park Foundation, “The evening will be an opportunity for the community to hear from acclaimed designer Mark Rios about the parameters of the project for expanding Airport Park on land the City has reclaimed from aviation use, and Mr. Rios’ preliminary ideas for the possibilities there, as well as give feedback to Mr. Rios on what residents would like to see in the expanded park.”

Mr. Rios’ firm, Rios Clementi Hale (RCH), has been tasked by the City with community outreach, research feasibility and concept design, and ultimately design of the park expansion. RCH previously worked in Santa Monica on Euclid and Douglas Park and also designed iconic parks and public spaces in Southern California, such as Los Angeles Grand Park, the Rancho Cienega Recreation Center and the L.A. Zoo Event and Play Space.

The park expansion became possible in 2015 when the City’s 1984 Agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration expired, freeing up land that had been used to park airplanes, which have recently been removed.

Source: Article from Santa Monica Mirror

Live in style in the heart of Silicon Beach! $2.349M...

A superb location that is one block from the famous restaurants and shops of Main Street, three blocks from the beach and close to Abbot Kinney. This FAIA Award winning Michael Folonis creation is an entertainer’s dream! Filled with tons of natural light, it melds with a sleek contemporary style to provide an open and expansive feel. Chef’s kitchen with open living and dining areas. Fireplace in living room.  Generous loft leads to the secluded rooftop deck with ocean and city views. Master suite has its own outdoor sitting area and fully remodeled and expansive master bath. Brazilian cherry oak floors and cabinets throughout. Huge storage/flex space (around 300 additional square feet) and side by side parking in gated garage with room to possibly park more cars. Unique end unit with each bedroom having access to an outdoor area. This rare opportunity is not to be missed!

Check it out: Property Web-Site

Mar Vista Listing- 3242 Rosewood Avenue…accepted offer within 4 days of listing...$1.899M list price

Charming 2,600+ sq. ft. home on a large corner lot in one of Mar Vista’s best neighborhoods. This 3 bed/2.5 bath, light filled traditional with beautiful updates is great for entertaining with the chef’s dream kitchen situated next to the dining room and opening up to the family room and backyard. The remodeled kitchen has custom cabinetry, granite counter-tops, great storage and stainless steel appliances.  Enjoy California living with a private backyard complete with patio, lawn and versatile hardscape area. The generously sized master suite has custom built-ins, a sitting area, dual-sink bathroom with soaking tub, large walk-in closet and peaceful balcony with tree top views. Features crown moldings and plantation shutters throughout, large formal living room, hardwood floors, A/C, wood-burning fireplace and custom built storage shed. Enjoy the benefits of this family friendly neighborhood while being minutes from the beach and all the Westside has to offer.

Check it out: Property Web-Site

The areas that have benefitted the most from Silicon Beach…-Mar Vista, Culver City, Westchester to name a few…

The tech boom has benefited Los Angeles as a whole, but the residents that should be thanking their hi-tech friends the most are in Mar Vista, South Santa Monica, Playa Vista, Culver City and Westchester. These areas used to be considered the “affordable” adjacent areas to the uber expensive locales of Venice, North Santa Monica and Manhattan Beach.

Fun facts to know-

*The average 2015 sale price in Playa Vista was up 38% vs. 2014. 

*In 2011, Mar Vista had 1 home sell for over $2M…in 2015, 31 sold for over $2M with three homes selling for over $3M. 

*The average sale price in Westchester was $798K in 2013…in 2015, it was $1.040M. 

*The average sale price in South Santa Monica was up 14.5% in 2015…Culver City was up 19.3%! 

*A home in South Santa Monica on 32nd street between Pico and Ocean Park is in escrow for around the $3.8M asking price.

The Pocket Myth...the new buzz to get your business

With inventory tight, one of the go-to lines sales agents use in trying to pick-up business is that they or their company “know about all the pocket/off-market listings”.  Though most brokerages (including Partners Trust) will state that off-market sales accounted for over 20% of the sales in some zip codes in 2015, a deeper look into the numbers shows these numbers are inflated.

Some of those sales were properties that didn’t originally sell at a higher price when they came on the market earlier in the year. Another portion may have not been on the MLS but were marketed to all of the agents which in essence is exposing the property to the market.

We are not saying off-market sales do not happen. In fact, we have been involved in a handful of them over the past few years. They just do not happen at the frequency that is being told to buyers.

Another factor to remember is that most of the time, the seller in an off-market transaction will want a premium price along with generous contract terms they would get in a multiple offer to be comfortable they didn’t undersell the home by not fully exposing it to the market. A buyer has to be comfortable paying a hefty premium.  Also, most reputable agents have clients who are willing to sell if someone is willing to pay 15% above market…but is that really a legitimate pocket listing?

It is important to have an agent who has good relationships in the brokerage community and is aware of the handful of legitimate pocket listings that are competitively priced. However, based on what we see and hear from, it is not happening at the level that is being marketed to potential buyers.

Mortgage rates well below end-of-2015 level for spring home-buying season

Despite increasing for the second week in a row, mortgage interest rates are still well below levels seen at the end of last year.   The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.68%, up from last week’s 3.64%. A year ago, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.86%.  Mortgage rate remains 33 basis points lower than its end-of-2015 level.

(Source: Housing Wire)