Altadena Real Estate

We’ve just listed 2030 Jefferson Drive in Pasadena for $510,000. This lovely Spanish-style home, built in 1926, is located on a tree-lined street in a quiet northeast Pasadena neighborhood. It features two bedrooms, two full baths, formal dining room and an updated kitchen. The large master suite looks out onto the rear garden, and has ample closets and room for a home office or comfortable sitting area. Period details, including arched windows, broad front porch and hardwood floors, are found throughout. Recent upgrades include new central heat & air, fresh interior paint and new light fixtures. The beautifully landscaped yards offers room to play and garden, with grass areas surrounded by many flowering and fruiting plants.

Please visit our site, www.Haussler.com, for additional photos and details. And, stop by the Open Houses on Sunday, September 18th, from 2 to 4 PM, Tuesday, September 20th, from 10:30 AM to 1 PM, and Thursday, September 22nd, from 10 AM to 2 PM.

I just read an interesting article by Kathleen Lynn on RISMedia that very much reflects a trend that we are seeing in the marketplace:

In the overheated housing market of five years ago, buyers often felt they had to accept homes in woeful condition. But these days, most look at “as-is” properties and say, “No thanks.” “I try to stay away from things that need a lot of work,” says Michael Lisa of Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., who is searching for a home in northern Bergen County, N.J.

“Buyers will tolerate nothing,” says Maria Rini, a Re/Max agent in Oradell, N.J. A recent Coldwell banker survey found that 87 percent of first-time buyers said a move-in-ready home is important to them.

“This is absolutely the story of this market. It seems buyers will pay a premium, engage in a bidding war and even overpay just to avoid buying a ‘project’ house,” said Beth Freed of Terrie O’Connor Realtors in Ridgewood, N.J.

As a result, real estate agents strongly advise sellers to fix up their homes for quicker and more profitable sales.

For example, when Kate Conover recently listed a Franklin Lakes, N.J., colonial, she encouraged the seller to replace the roof and driveway, repair ceilings, rip up carpets and paint interiors.

Paying contractors to do the work cost almost $40,000, but Conover estimated it added well over $100,000 to the asking price.

“There is no question homes that have been spruced up for the market sell quicker,” says Conover, a Re/Max agent in Saddle River, N.J.

But she recommended against major renovations—such as replacing the kitchen and baths—in the Franklin Lakes home. Most agents agree with that philosophy, saying sellers shouldn’t risk spending more than they’ll get back in the sale price. That’s especially true with major kitchen and bath renovations because they’re so much a matter of taste.

“No matter what you do, it may not be the buyer’s choice anyway,” says Antoinette Gangi, a Re/Max agent in Woodcliff Lake, N.J.

On the other hand, agents say that major maintenance and safety issues—such as underground oil tanks and leaky roofs—must be dealt with before the home goes on the market, because buyers are unwilling to take them on.

Beyond those kinds of headaches, sellers can make a big difference with simple and relatively inexpensive fixes: painting the walls, getting rid of clutter and pulling up carpets to show the hardwood floors that buyers crave.

And spruce up the front yard and entryway to make a good first impression, recommends Pat Sudal, a Weichert agent in Ramsey. “Freshen the flowerpots, trim the bushes and mulch,” she suggests. In the same vein, Gangi recommends painting the front door if it’s looking tired.

“Curb appeal is very important, and the front door is the first thing you see,” Gangi says.

Getting rid of clutter (as part of an overall deep cleaning) is probably the most cost-effective step, agents say. When sellers resist this advice, Rini reminds them they’ll have to pack up their stuff when they move anyway.

“You’ve got to clean it out sometime; if you do it now, it’s going to benefit you financially,” she says.

Marie Ferraro, an Oakland, N.J. decorator who works with sellers, calls this “pre-packing.”

“You want to depersonalize the home so that prospective buyers can see their lifestyle happening there,” says Ferraro. Buyers may not even consciously notice that a room is cluttered or crowded with awkwardly arranged furniture, she said, “but they experience it nonetheless.”

“Get everything off the floor,” advises Cynthia Harkins, an agent with Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty in Franklin Lakes.

Harkins, who self-published a book called “The Savvy Seller,” says sellers can make rooms (and closets) seem more spacious by clearing the floor of boots, magazines, gym bags and backpacks.

Anne Landesman, who is moving to Austin, Texas, packed up books and artwork before putting her family’s Park Ridge, N.J., home on the market recently. She and her husband, Roy, also put a lot of furniture —including three sofas —into storage.

“I think it made a huge difference,” Landesman says. “People could get a good idea of the size of the rooms.”

Dawn Cox, a Weichert agent in Wayne, N.J., often counsels sellers to go beyond decluttering, by replacing outdated kitchen appliances and bathroom fixtures and installing granite countertops.

Alan and Mary Chris Bassman did a bathroom upgrade rather than a complete renovation by replacing the vanity and toilet and repairing a cracked shower door.

In all, the family spent about $5,000 to spruce up the home, following the advice of Ferraro, the decorator, who works with the Bassmans’ agent, Kathleen Falco of Re/Max of Franklin Lakes.

“We sold the house in a couple of days, which I was shocked at,” Alan Bassman says.

Not all sellers have the energy to spruce up. In those cases, agents sometimes pitch in themselves to help declutter and stage the home and hire painters, cleaning crews and handymen. Homeowner Jennifer Glusman was pleasantly surprised when agents Lois Fein and John Schwartz of Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty helped her prepare her family’s Edgewater condo for sale.

“John came in and helped stage items on our bookshelf and in the kids’ room and our room,” Glusman says. “He also lent us one of his own paintings.”

If sellers can’t or won’t prepare their homes for market, agents say, they have to lower their expectations on price.

This, in turn, can offer an opportunity for buyers who are willing to give up the search for HGTV-ready homes and look at properties that need “some love,” in the words of Tom Mikalouskas, a Re/Max agent in Montvale, N.J.

“I tell my buyers to look for the best bones or the best bang for your buck,” he says. “Basically, if you are able to get the worst home in a great neighborhood, you can only improve on your investment. You simply have to focus on potential in a down market like this.”

“Buyers who can look beyond the cosmetic issues usually can find treasures in this market,” Falco agrees.

People constantly ask us where we think the market will be 6 months from now. Unfortunately, without a reliable crystal ball, it’s impossible to know. This article from Inman News does do a fair job of predicting the future:

Two leading indicators — applications for purchase mortgages and the number of homebuyers entering into contracts to purchase homes — suggest sales of resale homes hit bottom in July and will rebound this fall, economists at mortgage insurer The PMI Group Inc. conclude.

In their latest monthly Housing and Mortgage Market Review, PMI Chief Economist David Berson and analyst Brett Soares make a case that existing-home sales will show “some modest gains” in August, September and even October.

After hitting a low in the first half of July, purchase mortgage applications have edged up slightly, the report noted, citing statistics gathered by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Because of the time it takes to approve a loan and close a home sale, loan applications submitted in August might not show up in statistics on existing-home sales until October.

Another leading indicator, which counts the number of homebuyers who have entered into purchase contracts — the National Association of Realtors’ pending sales index — was up 5.2 percent in July.

“This is consistent with the increase in the MBA’s purchase applications, and the two of them together strongly suggest that sales have bottomed out, at least for now,” PMI economists said.

A housing market index published by the National Association of Home Builders slid in August, but that’s probably an indication that a rebound in new-home sales will lag sales of existing homes, the report said, with buyers likely to bargain hunt for distressed properties.

“The leading indicators of housing demand suggest that the drop in home sales is probably over and that some modest gains may be in store for the (August through October) period,” the report said. “Beyond that, the underlying determinants of housing demand will have to strengthen in order for home sales to rise appreciably.”

Those factors include job growth, affordability, demographics and consumer sentiment.

PMI economists think unemployment will surge during the fourth quarter to a 2010 high of 9.8 percent, before gradually falling to an average of 8.7 percent by the fourth quarter of 2011 and 8 percent in 2012.

Fears of a second recession are likely overblown, the report said, although economic growth is unlikely to accelerate until the middle of next year.

Affordability is close to record highs, which should drive housing demand. And although household formation remains below average, it’s been increasing at a stronger pace, the report said.

Consumers remain concerned that large inventories of vacant or distressed homes will continue to put pressure on home prices in the future, making them less willing to make the decision to buy a home today.

With nearly one in four households with mortgages owing more than their home is worth, “a large segment of potential homebuyer demand has been eliminated in this cycle,” the report noted.

But faster economic growth in the second half of 2011 “should lead to a pickup in job gains and stronger household formation,” Berson and Soares predicted in their report.

Next year should bring “a stronger, but still historically modest, rise in home sales,” the report concluded.

In their forecast, Berson and Soares envision sales of existing homes rebounding from a projected 4.96 million this year to 5.5 million in 2011 and 5.67 million in 2012.

New-home sales are expected to total 342,000 this year, 485,000 next year and 590,000 in 2012.

The report suggests next year will be a difficult one for lenders, as the refinancing boom sparked by low rates comes to an end. Refinancings accounted for 69 percent of the $1.99 trillion in mortgages originated in 2009 and 67 percent of what’s expected to be $1.55 trillion in mortgage loans funded this year.

Refinancings will probably account for 43 percent of a projected $1.32 trillion in mortgage lending in 2011, and 35 percent of the $1.43 trillion in lending envisioned in 2012.

PMI expects that purchase loan funding will jump 47 percent in 2011 — which bodes well for the majority of Realtors whose commissions are determined by sales prices.

We’ve just listed 587 Punahou Street in Altadena for $535,000:

This lovely Traditional home, built in 1925, is set on a 10,000+ square foot lot in a wonderful neighborhood near the foothills. Its light-filled floor plan features three bedrooms, one and one-quarter baths, living room with fireplace, formal dining room and updated kitchen. High ceilings, hardwood floors, built-in cabinetry, crown moldings and other period details are found throughout. Modern upgrades include new smooth-coat stucco, aluminum-clad multi-pane wood windows, central heat & air, partial copper plumbing, tankless water heater, and re-built chimney. Outside, pathways through the drought-tolerant landscaping connect the gardens and patios that surround the house. Here is an exceptional opportunity to own a character property in turnkey condition.

Please visit our site, www.Haussler.com, for additional information and photos. And, join us at the Open Houses on Tuesday, May 11th, from 10:30 to 1:00, Thursday, May 13th, from 10:00 to 2:00, and Sunday, May 16th, from 2:00 to 4:00.