Living in South Park

Monday will mark the three month anniversary of our arrival in Los Angeles. The majority of our time has been spent in and around our neighborhood as we get used to our surroundings and what daily life is like here in LA. I thought I’d share some random thoughts on our new digs, specifically our building and neighborhood.

• Our Space: It’s somewhat strange to be renting again once you have been a home owner - the space is technically where you live but it’s not “home” per se. Anyhow, our actual living space is bigger than the condo we still own in Chicago. The soft loft floor plan has worked out better than we thought so far. Most of our time is spent in the living room/kitchen area and it has a great feel to it. Sure we still need an area rug and the shelves for our bookcases but overall it’s a fun place to hang out. I’m not sure how we feel about shower doors as opposed to a shower curtain since the hard water here in California leaves a filthy, grimy film for us to look at all the time. Storage is a major issue and I am not thrilled with spending $85 a month to rent an off-site space for our ’stuff’. The gigantic windows in our place are fun, although we rarely have the ‘back’ ones open to let the light in. The only major downfall of the space is air circulation - there is none! It would be nice to open the window and a breeze come through but it just doesn’t happen in our place.
• The Building: It’s pretty amazing how little we hear in our unit with the windows and door closed. The only problem we’ve encountered with neighbors was this past Saturday when a dance party broke out beneath us. If the pounding bass, which started around 10 p.m. had concluded a few hours later it would have been no big deal. But when it woke H and I up at 3 a.m. and again at four we had to say something. A quick call down to the security desk and the problem was solved within minutes. On the topic of security, the crew has been really nice as we’ve gotten to know them. We enjoy using the community bar-b-que although we don’t use it as much as we should. The pool has been used once by H, and more and more lately the workout room is paying dividends for us. We have not taken advantage of the screening room yet but hopefully in the near future we will. The only downfall of the building, and it really isn’t that big of a deal, is the parking. It’s great to have a dedicated space, but being outdoors in LA means the car gets a thick coat of dirt and dust constantly. To make matters worse our spot is directly underneath a wire that birds use to sit on, and of course that means we have poop on our car constantly.
• South Park Neighborhood: It’s fun to be amongst ‘the action’ taking place here. There is something of an excitement in the air with all the new buildings and stores sprouting up. The downside being it seems to be taking forever for businesses and stores to open. The lack of green space in the area is certainly a pitfall of living here, especially with Carter. Having Ralph’s downstairs makes grocery shopping easier but their prices are way too expensive. It is tough not being around so many big box stores though, as we need to drive 10-15 miles to visit a Target, Sam’s Club, or anything else. Last weekend we were in Torrence and it was like heaven to see all the malls and stores you could visit. We would like to thank the girls of FIDM for providing constant fashion entertainment on our walks - keep up the good work! We’ve stumbled upon one or two decent places to eat here but there still is not enough ‘everyday/normal’ choices (Mind you that might just be LA and the way it is).

Overall we are happy with our choice of places to live - it coule be better and it certainly could be worse.

We Are Officially Without a Realtor

When the big hand crossed the little hand at twelve early this morning (or late last night, depending on if you are one of those half empty half full people) our listing agreement with our Realtor expired.

We are thrilled!

I’ve documented in the past the relationship we had with our Realtor and how unsatisfied we have been with his performance. He admits to showing up to less than 10% of the scheduled showings we had, did not use any signs outside on a regular basis or on the day of an open house. The biggest kicker for us however was the way in which he communicated to H and I, namely his condescending demeanor and his insistence on talking to us as if we were five years old.

He left a voice mail the other day asking me to e-mail him our decision on what to do with our listing. I wrote a short but polite e-mail, thanking him for his time but stating we would be moving in a different direction from this point forward.

His response was best of luck to us, and the phrase he loved to us over and over again:

“Wishing you well and know that I did my best to get you an offer in this
most difficult market.”

Wait a second, you did your best to get us an offer? I have conceded on a number of occasions that the market is quite difficult for sellers at this point in time. Buyers have the upper hand and there is plenty of inventory in our area. But please don’t tell me you did you best to get us an offer. Let’s see what his best consisted of.

• Not being present for more than 10% of our showings
• Having a grand total of two open houses in three plus months
• Having his administrative assistant cover one of the open houses for him as he had a friend in town and cited a prior engagement
• No signage on our property the day of an open house other than an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper taped to the main entrance door
• No permanent signage on our front lawn
• No advertisement in any local papers
• Utilized free marketing with the Chicago Reader and Craigslist
• We had to ask him for feedback from visitors and their agents, he never came forward and told us

We interviewed two agents initially and he came with good references and a well thought out plan. Little did we understand that as an independent real estate agent we were just a number to him. He listed our place and took a chance that someone would buy it. If it happened, great. If it didn’t, well that is the risk you take and what money did he lose in it all? Nothing.

So we have interviewed two more agents, one at length and we are wating for a market evaluation from the other. We hope to list again some time next week and hopefully we will have better luck “in this most difficult market”.

Progress in Downtown Los Angeles is Slow

I’ve learned quite a bit during my first month here in Los Angeles … Coyotes will come down from the hills and take your kids away … People wear winter clothes in 70 degree weather … Drivers are not very aggressive on the highway and that is one of biggest reasons for all the traffic … You’re either trendy or you’re not … and things are slow to happen.

Today I would like to focus on the slow pace of progress when it comes to businesses opening up in downtown Los Angeles.

Back in January when H and I made our first trip to L.A. to find a place to live we visited the Market Lofts. At that time the ground floor currently was busy with construction as Quiznos, Robeks and some small Italian fast food place. We also visited the Met Lofts where signs were up advertising the impending opening of a wine store type place. Over in the bottom of Luma South they were talking about a bakery heading into the space. Pretty exciting eh?

We returned again in early March to narrow down our search and for H to do some business and guess what? All those businesses were still under construction.

Fast forward to the second week of May and they are still working on all of these places and none looks close to opening.

I can speak intelligently about the businesses under the Market Lofts since we live there. Every day they are working on the Italian place and Quiznos but I am not sure what they do. Same with Robeks whenever Carter and I wander over to that corner of the block. I am not a contractor but I don’t think it is unreasonable to think that you can’t get a Quiznos up and running in five months. A place where you make juice requires half a year of construction? I know there are plenty of things that have to happen - electrical, plumbing, decorating, installation of equipment, but five months?

How can they build a house in a weekend on tv but these places can’t get up in running yet? Mike Holmes wouldn’t be impressed.

I hope one day the downtown core is full of thriving businesses, green space for dogs to pee, and overall a great place to live.

I also hope this happens some time while I am alive.

Our Realtor Is a Pain In the You Know What

I can’t stand our realtor.

It takes a lot to get me mad or upset, I am usually pretty good at rolling with the punches and dealing with things as they come my way. But I am now at the point where I can’t stand this guy.

I was debating on writing a long post detailing our experience with Bad Realtor (BR) but I decided that people probably didn’t care that much about it all.

So the short story is this - it has come to the point where he is calling us out.

He sent us an e-mail the other day wanting us to drop our price again. We sent an e-mail back talking about our margins and how tight they are in terms of sale price and we also shared our position that price alone isn’t going to sell our place. You see BR is never at any showings, he just lets the potential buyers and their agent grab the key from the lockbox and look around. So we called him out on it, in part saying …

“…Our biggest concern is the comment that the only thing that will sell our house is a ’sharper price’. We believe that someone has to sell our house, in addition to the price. A concern we brought up at
our meeting with you in February is that nobody represents us at showings/visits. Therefore, benefits of the area, the building and our unit are not being explained. When the size of the bedrooms comes up
someone isn’t there to spin how the space could be used effectively (office, nursery, non-traditional bedroom for occasional guests). A buyer and their agent come in, do a walk-through and form their
opinion without hearing an different spin or thoughts on the unit. Bottom line is the unit isn’t going to sell itself and someone should be there to sell it, and with all do respect not your administrative
assistant. So while we believe price may be an important factor it is not the only factor. All other families relocating from H’s work have had their agents present at each and every showing.”

That isn’t too harsh, is it? The first part of the e-mail talked about price and then we mentioned the part above regarding the actually selling of our place. The dig about his administrative assistant is because he had her host an open house and show the place another day.

Below are excerpts from his response:

“I’m disappointed to read your recent response, I’m a veteran in this business of many years, and know the signs of concern when they occur and always advise clients immediately … Other owners would be ecstatic to have the kind of 1st rate internet presence, 350 hits to date, and 45+ visitors to their door …”

Am I over-reacting to his tone and words? This isn’t new as he has a tendency to talk down to us for one reason or another. For the longest time we blew it off saying it’s just him and if he sells our house I don’t care. But now it has gotten to the point where he is just being a jerk.

I haven’t sent a response yet, I was wondering if we are jumping the gun here or if he really is being an ass.

What do you think?

What Is New With Us - Round-Up

Today I thought I would make mention of a number of things that we have done recently, what is on tap and some general thoughts and observations that I might elaborate on later.

• We purchased a new computer - Our old Sony VAIO desktop still works, but it has seen better days. We also wanted to purchase a laptop in an effort to maximize space in our new living area. So last Saturday we purchased our first Mac - a baseline Macbook from the Apple store in Pasadena. There was a rebate for a printer as well, nothing fancy, just a normal every day printer. We haven’t had a printer in our home for the last four years but there is the odd occasion when we wish a copy could be made or something printed off for reference. Now if my eBay seller would send me my cable I ordered …
• Moving making in downtown Los Angeles - It is always interesting to see something being filmed and in downtown L.A. there is no shortage of that. When my dad was in last week we stood around for half an hour and watched CSI: New York being filmed. H had to stop on her way home last night (literally stop, they weren’t letting people through) while they filmed a VISA commercial. This morning Carter and I ran into a Nissan commercial out in front of the Met Lofts and we saw signs for Criminal Minds the other day as well.
• Everything is in storage - Everything that needed to be put in storage is in storage. It took me three separate trips by myself one day last week but everything is where it needs to be. I still am not thrilled with the idea of paying $80 a month to store stuff but it is what it is.
• Condo sale - Our place in Chicago still has not sold. Our Realtor is suggesting a price drop and we might follow through on it. We have talked him into dropping his commission 0.5% to begin with but it still isn’t enough. I know the market it tough but I also think he is doing a lousy job in all honesty. Our contract with him is up at the end of May and I think we are through with him.
• L.A. Weather - Something I am still not used to. I love the fact that every day it is warm and sunny, it really is quite fascinating to be honest. At the same time I love the rain, especially a thunderstorm every once in a while and neither of those things happen here very often. On the flip side, it is nice to know that whenever you take Carter out there isn’t a battle with the rain, wind or snow.

Sorry for the Delay … Here is Our Update

Sorry for the lack of updates yesterday but we are without one of life’s modern conveniences: Internet access at home. Our ISP will only make the connection when we have a router which of course is on a truck somewhere in middle America. We also don’t have a home computer so I am left to use H’s laptop when she is home and then ‘borrow’ Internet access from our neighbors. I have found that the people around us are much more tech savy as there are very few open WiFi connections around. In order to get a signal this morning I am sitting by the pool which is located in the middle of the building.

I am not going to lie, it seems weird sitting outside on a computer in April. However, it’s 54 degrees out at 6:30 a.m. so I can’t complain.

The last few days have been busy on my end. On Tuesday I tried to find the local target which I don’t think was all that close - North Hollywood. I picked up a few things and then made my way to Sam’s Club which there are not a lot of here. Apparently Costco is more popular in the LA area so we might need to change our membership. Anyhow, we picked up a small 15′ LCD to serve as our television until our SONY arrives on the truck (with the router). Driving was kind of a nightmare as there was traffic everywhere and I had no idea where I was going. Thank goodness we purchased our GPS system before we left as it has been life saver on more than one occasion already. Of course when I got home I realized that the guy at Target not only over-charged me but I was missing an entire bag. More on this later … The rest of the day was spent unpacking the items we brought with us and giving the entire condo a good cleaning. I still have yet to get to the bathroom but that is on the list for today.

Yesterday was spent trying to shore up our banking here which has been a little crazy. The transfer from our Chase account has yet to go through and I get the feeling it isn’t going to so I might just take a cheque and make a deposit at Bank of America. Mind you I don’t know if I can do that but I am going to try. H’s bank card has the wrong name on it so she has to get that corrected. The good news is that I think I can now access our accounts online so we have that going for us.

Our DirecTV was hooked up yesterday and it is nice to have a little entertainment for the time being. Having the receiver and tv on the breakfast bar isn’t the most logical place but it was better than the other option - the floor. It is nice to have a DVR again though. I also drove back to Target yesterday and picked up our missing items. The clerks were really nice about the whole thing but it was just a pain to drive back up there for a few things. I then tried to swing by the DMV to get my license renewed but the line was out the door and down the street. The offices open at 8:00 a.m. today and I think I might take a chance and just show up.

H is busy with work and planning her first event for this Saturday.

Carter is doing much better and isn’t as freaked out by all the sounds of downtown LA.

I will try and provide some more insight into living downtown and what else is going on with us later today … so long as H brings her computer home and there isn’t any rain outside to dampen my posting.