Burbank has a Zero Waste Plan that will aim to reduce waste in a significant way, by the year 2040.  To start, it calls for the gradual reduction and elimination of disaposable plastic bags and styrofoam.. The impact, at this point, is primarily on businesses that use styrofoam or plastic bags and at this point they will not be penalized.  This plan is intended to be a guide and will encourage both businesses and residents to conserve and do their part. The City has started to do their part by using recycled paper and printing reports on both sides of the page. In the future they will look at new rules, such as how garbage rates are structured, to provide incentives for residents to waste less and recycle more. The Public Works Department will present a detailed plan at a fut... 07/29/2008

Although there were no major economic reports out today and the housing reform bill was approved and signed into law this weekend,wil be signed into law, the market could not hold on to positive territory.  It's expected that this will help Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stay in business and will help mortgage originators who sell the loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.   The Financial sector dragged the markets down and what's being termed as a "bear market rally" stumbled in a big way.  Continued concern over earnings, financial sector mortgage writedowns and the economy are weighing heaviy on the stock market.   The warning from the International Monetary Fund that bad credit conditions will continue to be a strain on the economy certainly did not help.  I know we all want to declare th... 07/28/2008

Burbank homeowners and renters may be eligible for free state monies. This valuable program is offered July 2 to August 28th for eligible Burbank seniors at the Joslyn Center, on Wednesdays from 9- 10am and Thursdays from 1-3pm, by appointment.  Free assistance will be given in order to receive these dollars from the State of California. You must bring in proof of income, ie...federal and state tax return for 2007, earnings statements, proof of age etc. For more details, call (818) 238-5353. 07/25/2008

  Magnolia Park Vintage Car Show and Festival August 23, 3pm-9pm   The Magnolia Park Partnership and residents will be hosting a 4 block street fair and car show!  Between Hollywood Way and California. Admission is free and it promises to be a fun event!     I have lived in Magnolia Park for 15 years and this event is one of the many reasons I love being a Burbank resident!  Come out and join the fun. 07/25/2008

        Another interesting week as crude oil continued it's correction, but the market gave some gains back amid earnings and worries over the state of financial institutions.     The Fed approved new rules to protect consumers against mortgage fraud.  These rules are expected to go into effect October 1, 2009.  The intent is to protect against deceptive practices and establish a new set of advertising rules for mortgage lenders. California enacted a new Foreclosure Reform Law last week to stem the tide of high foreclosure rates.  The new law requires mortgage lenders to contact homeowners in order to go over options that would avoid foreclosure.  One important provision is that owners acquiring foreclosed properties would be required to maintain the exterior of vacant properties.  It... 07/25/2008

Don't forget that on August 5th, 5-8pm, is National Night Out!   This annual event will take place at the Chandler Bikeway and Keystone. The goal is to strengthen neighborhood spirit by encouraging residents and law enforecement to work together on community projects and goals. What's exciting is that they will be showing the master plan for future bike paths in Burbank.   Sponsored by the Burbank Police Department, Friends of the Chandler Bikeway and Burbank Park and Recreation and Community Services. 07/24/2008

Lupe Soto, Burbank Realtor serving Burbank Real Estate & all areas in SFV San Fernando Valley Real Estate, SCV Santa Clarita Valley Real Estate & AV Antelope Valley Real Estate  HABLO ESPANOL www.CasasConLupeSoto.com NEW CONDOS, NEW TOWNHOUSES, NEW HOUSES FOR SALE, click here BURBANK VIDEO BLOG - HOMES FOR SALE, click here BURBANK VIDEO BLOG - CONDOS TOWNHOUSES FOR SALE, click here   FROM REO'S CONDOS/TOWNHOUES TO BANK OWNED NEWER SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES IN SAN FERNANDO VALLEY.  YOUR DREAM IS JUST A CALL AWAY, CALL FOR A PRIVATE SHOWING     ABOUT LUPE Greetings from Lupe Soto, Inspirational Realtor Three priceless words are behind it all: "Inspired by Inspiration" When you search for that perfect home, affordable condo or extraordinary investment in Los Angeles, what inspires you? Lupe... 07/24/2008

  There's always the good news and the bad news.......I'll start off and end with the good stuff, there's not much today. On a positive note crude oil prices have been much lower this past week as the bubble seemingly has burst on the speculation that was driving oil prices up.   Crude oil finished the day at $125.50, up $1.05.........but, quite a bit lower than the $145+ prices we were seeing in the last two weeks.  Hand in hand with that the dollar continues to strenthen. Stocks however, had a dismal performance....down 283 points to finish the day at 11,349.  The decline was led by financial institutions, which posted their worst drop in 8 years and home builders.  The amount of writedowns due to the mortgage mess continues and based on what analysts are saying, we're not out of the... 07/24/2008

    City New Listings Avg Listing Price Pending Avg Listing Price Sold Avg Sld Price % SP/LP DOM Burbank 91 $676,581 49 $525,641 70 $576,534 96.77% 57 This information in taken from the SoCal MLS. Housing starts in California in June rose 9.2%, but single family home construction declined 3.5% in the same period.   For more information, visit, Burbank Real Estate Report! 07/23/2008

  The big news for the week came late on Friday. After market close, it was announced, that IndyMac Bank, a leader in “Alt-A” loans, had been seized by the Office of Thrift Supervision, due to a run on deposits. This made IndyMac Bank the 2nd largest federally insured financial institution to be seized by US regulators. The largest failure, if you are curious, was in 1984, Chicago’s Continental Illinois Bank and Trust. A successor institution, IndyMac Federal Bank FSB, will open next week. About now I’m remembering two years ago, when many prominent individuals were talking about how the subprime situation was under control said it would produce minimal fallout. What caused all this was the huge number of defaults on mortgage loans made to, well, people who could not afford them. More ... 07/13/2008

By Alexander Bermudez  How many times have you heard the statement, “ If only I had bought property, back when it was so cheap”? Even the most successful real estate investors have been known to mutter these words from time to time. Suffice to say, the best time to buy has always been in the past, short of that, and providing the property can achieve the economic objectives of the investor, now is as good a time as any to start investing in real estate. The population of the world is continually expanding and with this, comes accelerated migration to areas with the greatest economic opportunities. As demand rises, prices of well-situated real estate will trend upwards, triggering a surge in development until equilibrium is achieved, thus the market cycle. However in mature markets or ar... 07/09/2008

By Alexander Bermudez Now that we have discovered the miracle of compounding property values, it may be a good time to discuss the inherent shortfalls of real estate.   Remember all investments harbor risk, in the case of real estate; the lack of liquidity is its Achilles Heel.   Liquidity is a term that refers to an asset's ability to be sold (liquidated), in a short period of time and with minimum loss of value. Although one of the best asset classes available to individuals with long term investment horizons, real estate can take months, if not years to sell.  In a slow market, pricing may be unpredictable and adding insult to injury the transaction costs are high.  In a poor market leverage only exacerbates the problem, by increasing the volatility of the asset.  Needles to say, you... 07/07/2008

By Alexander Bermudez In this increasingly material world we live in, many people find themselves living beyond their means, and the prospect of investing takes a back seat to consumption. Ironically wealth is so coveted by our society, many people, not disciplined enough to invest, take the easy road and consume, often more than they make, in an effort to appear wealthy. Our culture seems to promote this behavior, how many times have you heard the term, “rich man’s car”? A car may be expensive, however this does not make the man who drives it rich, surely any car a rich man drives regardless of price, quality or condition is a “rich man’s car”, after all, it is the man who defines the car. Not content with the facade of keeping up with the Joneses, many high net worth individuals resis... 07/06/2008

What is the one thing you are most concerned about regarding the current real estate market? Anonymous Dear Anonymous, The problems we face in Real Estate today, were spurred out of a global, low yield environment, due to the lowering of interest rates by the Fed and other central Banks around the world, after the tech "bubble" crash and 9/11. This phenomenon stimulated massive investment in real estate, through the use of cheap capital. Unfortunately consumer debt also increased substantially, leaving Americans for the first time in history, with a negative savings rate. This is of grave concern, as it leaves Americans with little or no financial cushion, for the hard times upon us. Investment Banks yearning for higher returns, responded to the historically low yield environment, by va... 07/06/2008

If you are a real estate investor, what kind of cap rate do you look for? Anonymous   Dear Anonymous, "Capitalization Rates" much like "Gross Rent Multipliers" are useful as a preliminary measure of any given building's ability to create cash-flow, relative to other available properties. Different markets will have different Cap Rates, the better the neighborhood, the lower the Cap Rate and vice-versa. One could look at recent sales of comparable buildings, to ascertain what a typical Cap Rate would be, for a particular sub market. In doing so, an investor could calculate how much he or she, is paying for each dollar of income, relative to other investment properties in the same sub market. Cap Rates however do not take the expense of financing into account, thus they do not give a comp... 07/06/2008

We have seen how raising oil prices have affected the auto industry, how do you foresee the high prices of oil affecting the real estate industry? Anonymous Dear Anonymous, No other city in the world has embraced the automobile as enthusiastically as Los Angeles and its satellite communities. The perpetuation of 'suburban sprawl' and the extensive freeway system, are products of an economy based on cheap petroleum. Because of this, the ramifications of sky high gasoline prices will be particularly impact-full on real estate and future development within LA county. As gasoline prices continue to climb, alternative transportation will become increasingly attractive to many commuters; this would lead to further development of LA's mass transit rail system, in an effort to satisfy the growi... 07/06/2008

  How Can I Start Flipping houses? Anonymous   Dear Anonymous, I strongly believe in adding value to real estate, through rehabilitation and redevelopment. This simple idea has been the foundation of my investment strategy over the past several years. However it is important to note, our firm focuses on the rehabilitation of small, 6 to 12 unit apartment buildings and we have, for the most part, held on to our properties in order to capitalize on the resulting cash-flow. This strategy, while being lucrative is of course quite different to 'Flipping' in the context of your question, but the experience my team and I have acquired over the years, in addition to my market knowledge as a Realtor, has led us to explore, on many occasions, the opportunities flipping real estate could present t... 07/06/2008

I am writing an article on the dangers of trying to time the real estate market or the pros and cons of a first time homebuyer buying a home now. Anonymous   Dear Anonymous, Buying at the absolute bottom in the Stock Market, a highly liquid, publicly quoted, market is difficult, to say the least. "Private Real Estate", a fundamentally illiquid market comprised of emotionally charged buyers and sellers, with limited pricing data, makes timing the bottom next to impossible. If one is interested in attempting to time the market, I assume it is for investment or more precisely, speculative reasons. This brings up another important point; a home is not an investment. Historically house prices have followed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) quite closely over the last hundred years, hardly an at... 07/06/2008

There are a lot of hassles to owning rental property: late rent checks, maintenance expenses, insurance, vandalism, etc. Is it better to own REITs instead? There are six REITs that pay MONTHLY dividends, for consistent income, and have the same total return on investment as apartment buildings. Also, you never have to answer a phone call from a renter late at night. Anonymous   Dear Anonymous, Over the years, I have repeatedly considered buying REITs in an effort to diversify my existing real estate portfolio. However, to date I have not bought, due to the lower return's associated with REITs. In many ways real estate is more about people, than bricks and mortar. Serving the needs of one's tenants must not be looked upon as a hassle, one must remember it is in-fact the tenants that, ove... 07/06/2008

In balance, do most of the people that you deal with feel like the US Commercial Real Estate Market is a) softening to the point that better value opportunities are available, or b) has a long way to go before any real value opportunities are out there - therefore today's value opportunities will look like Fool's Gold when we eventually bottom out? Anonymous   Dear Anonymous, In Los Angeles, multifamily investment opportunities in reasonable neighborhoods are priced so high, that prospective buyers putting 35% to 40% down, would not likely enjoy any free cash-flow, and would have to rely solely on capital appreciation for financial gain. The same can be said for other classes of real estate, such as office and industrial properties in the same sub markets. This market environment implie... 07/06/2008