DeGeneres Dances Off With $4 Million Profit On California Home

by Broderick Perkins
© 2007 DeadlineNews.Com

Deadline Newsroom - Who says you can't make a profit on real estate in the current market?

Emmy Award-winning TV-talk show host Ellen DeGeneres likely performed her famous sneaker dance after recently selling her Southern California estate with a $4 million profit.

She purchased the home little more than a year ago -- stealing the wedding site of another celeb, Sandra Bullock, who has had her own home issues.

The comedian and actress had to settle on a $20 million offer rather than her $24 million asking price. But DeGeneres boogied off with a 27 percent profit on the Santa Barbara County property, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Fifteen months ago, she purchased the Montecito, CA property for nearly $16 million. The home is near Oprah Winfrey's 40-acre estate.

DeGeneres sold the home with the help of a comedic video home tour she hosted and aired on her daytime TV show and Web site. She also upgraded the interior and grounds during her ownership.

The property was listed by Suzanne Perkins with Sotheby's International Realty in Santa Barbara.

The four-acre compound built in 1926 includes a four-bedroom, two-story Spanish Colonial main home with a three-car garage and 5,000-bottle wine cellar. There's also a guest home, fruit trees, swimming pool, tennis court and 5,000 bottle wine cellar on the grounds.

The town of Montecito, where DeGeneres house is located, is in Santa Barbara County's posh South Coast region where single-family home sales were down 33 percent in October from a year earlier. But prices in the region rose 22 percent during the same period, according to the California Association of Realtors.

Brisk sales in California's high-end housing markets like Santa Barbara as well as Silicon Valley, San Francisco and other Southern California hot spots is what has kept the statewide median price from falling until recently.

California's single-family median price plunged 9.9 percent over the past year ending in October.

That's the largest year-to-year price decline since the California Association of Realtors has been keeping records. Sales are down more than 40 percent.

More California Market News That Really Hits Home!

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© 2007 DeadlineNews.Com

Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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Smart Growth Awards Promote Smart Growth

by Broderick Perkins
© 2007 DeadlineNews.Com

Deadline Newsroom - Smart growth isn't just about cutting back on sprawl and building high-density housing, but includes rebuilding existing communities and engaging its residents.

Take it from Manhattan, which joined Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; Vermont and Barnstable, MA as the nation's smart growth leaders for 2007.

The accolades, the 2007 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement, are granted for innovative community development that protects the environment, preserves community identity and expands economic opportunity.

The Environmental Protection Agency sparingly doles out the awards to promote smart growth strategies, because such efforts help communities enjoy cleaner air and water, open space and critical habitat preservation, and redevelopment of vacant land -- qualities that make for a nice place to live.

Smart growth efforts also preserves community identity and expands economic opportunity.

Winners were selected based on how effectively they used smart growth strategies to improve their communities and how well they engaged citizens and fostered partnerships.

The details are available online on the EPA's Smart Growth Achievement page but here are some highlights revealing why the winning communities are smart growth leaders.

• The award for "Overall Excellence" went to the Housing Authority of Portland, OR. The agency created a public-private partnership to redevelop an isolated and distressed public housing site into New Columbia, where local residents engaged in design workshops and were employed for portions of the construction. The project increased the number of houses, including affordable units and maintained the neighborhood's ethnic diversity.

• For "Built Projects" the Seattle Housing Authority, similarly turned a dilapidated neighborhood into High Point, a mixed-use, mixed-income, and environmentally sensitive community. Using green building principles, High Point's more than 1,700 new units are expected to consume less water, electricity, and natural gas than the old community's 716 units. The new community includes new parks, a public library, and a health clinic. Retail space will come in 2009.

• The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) got the nod for "Policies and Regulations." The independent, state-supported agency, promotes compact settlements surrounded by countryside, pursues affordable housing, land conservation, and historic preservation initiatives. Since 2002, VHCB investments have supported developing more than 3,000 affordable homes, the preservation of 44 historic buildings, and the conservation of more than 37,000 acres of farmland, natural areas, and recreation lands.

• Barnstable, MA created a development strategy for one of its seven villages, Hyannis, to encourage growth and development in the town center and reduce growth pressure on environmentally sensitive areas along the coast to win the "Waterfront and Coastal Communities" award. These policies have resulted in almost 100 new residential units (nine of which are for lower-income households), with nearly 150 more planned; 22,000 square feet of commercial space, with another 100,000 square feet planned; and more than 300 jobs.

• Manhattan shines in the area of "Equitable Development" thanks to its cooperative strategy to expand the housing and commercial options for central Harlem. Work in the Abyssinian Neighborhood Project area, once marked by vacant lots and abandoned buildings, employed comprehensive programs linked education, job training, and cultural enhancement; developed 200 affordable housing units, with an additional 200 planned; and created 15,000 square feet of commercial space for five local businesses. The project also increased access to public transit, created new green space, and minimized storm water runoff by reusing paved surfaces.

• DeadlineNews.Com offers more green news that hits home.

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© 2007 DeadlineNews.Com

Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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Burning Down The House

by Broderick Perkins
© 2007 DeadlineNews.Com

The Deadline Newsroom - Insurance fraud investigators say they are bracing for an outbreak of home arsons set by cash-strapped homeowners looking for insurance money to escape from foreclosure.

Homeowners who resort to such tactics face felony charges including arson, conspiracy and fraud. The charges could be much greater if someone is harmed. If the charges stick, homeowners who set their homes ablaze likely will be jailed.

Coalition Against Insurance Fraud says the illegal tactic is not new, but the coalition fears current market conditions could trigger a home-based arson outbreak beyond normal levels.

Falling home values and tighter lending rules are making it difficult for many people to refinance their way out of trouble, get loan work outs or otherwise escape foreclosure.

The number of alleged mortgage-related arsons remain small, but this year the number jumped 50 percent above the 2006 rate in California, according to the coalition.

"I don't believe that it's had time to ripple through the market yet to the point that many people have reached the point of desperation, but I absolutely think it's coming" says Alex Ahart, a fire investigator with EFI Global, an insurance claims investigator.


The coalition has recorded a few home torching incidents, including a Houston, TX home owner who allegedly set his home ablaze after allegedly spray-painting racial slurs on the exterior to disguise his actions as a hate crime.

A Google News search turns up a host of home arson-for-insurance reports.

Fire officials suspect arson in a vacant home fire that killed an unidentified male in recentLathrop, CA. The house was in the early stages of foreclosure.

In Putnam County, IN the prosecutor says a home owner offered a neighbor $5,000 in a home arson-for-insurance scam.

Instead of participating, the neighbor told police of the scheme. And court records reveal a bank had filed for a mortgage foreclosure on the rural home.

In related news, Central Florida law enforcement officials have tied an unusual crime spree of auto arsons to the housing market as homeowners try to "burn off" excess debt in order to make the mortgage payment.

The right way to approach an impending default on a mortgage payment or foreclosure isn't with a box of matches. At the first sign of trouble, work closely with the lender for a workout or refinance or seek other assistance, consumer experts advise.

• More Foreclosure News That Really Hits Home

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© 2007 DeadlineNews.Com

Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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Renters Pay More For 'Sense of Community'

by Broderick Perkins
© 2007 DeadlineNews.Com

Deadline Newsroom - Silicon Valley apartment renters pay as much as $447 extra a month to get satisfaction from a sense of community.

Westlake Village, CA-based goods and service rater J.D. Power and Associates, earlier this year, conducted it's first Apartment Resident Satisfaction Study and Novato, CA-based RealFacts.com checked its database against the findings to discover renters will pay from $37 to $447 above average rents for the right kind of satisfaction.

Holiday Shopping That Really Hits Home!

J.D. Power took renters' pulses in four communities: Denver, CO; Las Vegas, NV; Orlando, FL; and San Jose, CA to determine what satisfies renters most about large apartment management companies.

The rating company measured apartment resident satisfaction six ways: amenities; condition of unit at move-in; rent/value; safety/security; sense of community; and service staff. Renters also rated management companies in terms of overall satisfaction.

Sense of community was the most important factor in determining satisfaction with apartment management companies, and residents who associated a strong sense of community with their apartment complex were considerably more satisfied than those who did not.

"Satisfying residents isn't necessarily about providing resort-like amenities, but rather about offering a lifestyle and a sense of home that resonates with tenants and creates feelings of pride, connection and identity," said Michael Drago, a senior account manager for real estate and construction studies at J.D. Power.

When renters chose management companies based on overall satisfaction, the top rated companies were also shown to collect rents higher than the market average.

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Rental market monitor RealFacts put a spin on the Power study and checked the rents for two-bedroom/two-bath units offered by top-rated apartment management companies. It then compared those rents against the average rent for the area.

In the San Jose area, renters choose Irvine, CA-based Irvine Company Apartment Communities as the most satisfying management company. It collects an average $2,328 a month in rents for two-bedroom/two-bath units. That's a whopping $447 more than the Metropolitan Statistical Area's (MSA) average rent of $1,881 a month, according to RealFacts.

Most Irvine-managed apartment complexes in the area are clustered in the North Park development in north San Jose between N. 1st Street and Zanker Road and include The Pines, The Redwoods, The Sycamores, The Laurels, The Cypress and The Oaks. The company also manages a complex each in Cupertino (The Hamptons) and Sunnyvale (Cherry Orchard).

RealFacts only checked rents for the top-rated apartment management company in each city. However, in the Power study, other management companies for area apartment communities were also rated higher than the average market rating for overall apartment resident satisfaction.

They were Washington, D.C.-based Avalon Bay Communities with 15 apartment communities in Santa Clara County; San Mateo-based Prometheus Real Estate Group, Inc., with 30 communities; and Woodmont Real Estate Services with 14 communities.

As for the other three cities in the Power study:

• In Las Vegas, top rated Houston, TX-based Camden Property Trust collects average rents of $994, $37 more than the MSA's average of $957. The company does not manage in the San Jose area.

• In Denver, renters were most satisfied with Foster City, CA-based Legacy Partners, which collects an average $1,087 in monthly rents, compared to the $1,029 MSA average -- a $58 difference. The company also manages five communities in Santa Clara County.

• Renters in Orlando gave the nod to Orlando-based ZOM Residential Services which came in with an average $1,101 rent, $110 more than the MSA's $991 average. ZOM doesn't manage properties in Santa Clara County.

• More Rental News That Really Hits Home
• More Silicon Valley News That Really Hits Home
• More Housing Market News That Really Hits Home

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© 2007 DeadlineNews.Com

Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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Holiday Security For High-Density Living

Holiday News That Really Hits Home

by Broderick Perkins
© 2007 DeadlineNews.Com

Deadline Newsroom - It's buying time.

The holiday season includes more people carting more stuff around in their car and getting more deliveries left at their door than any other time of the year.

And that poses a unique security dilemma for high-density living, where a cast of hundreds can work for you or against you.
Theoretically, a Neighborhood Watch can put more eyes on the street in a concentrated high-density area than in a single-family development with the same footprint, but you may not always know if that visitor is neighbor's guest or a prowler looking for a heist.

The key to any security effort is based on a simple premise -- if you don't make yourself a target, chances are, you won't be a victim.

• Never leave items in your car, even for brief periods, unless it's concealed in the truck or other area out of sight. If there's nothing to see, there's nothing to steal.

Thieves don't have your value system. What you believe is worthless could prompt a crook to smash your window for a quick grab. Plain-view-goodies amount to a Vegas jackpot for thieves looking to score five-finger discounts without the sweat of shopping around.

• Don't have packages left at your front door, especially if your door can be seen from the street or outside the community. Have someone pick up packages for you when you know they are due to arrive. Know when packages will arrive by tracking them with online tracking services offered by the United States Postal Service (USPS), United Parcel, Fed Ex, DHL and other carriers.

• Likewise, stop package, newspaper and other deliveries when you are away on vacation, for business or for other extended periods. It gives your house sitter fewer tasks to perform, it gives you piece of mind and it gives potential pilferers nothing to grab.

Chris E. McGoey, the "Crime Doctor" offers these additional home security tips for all.

• Burglars look for occupancy cues like outdoor lights burning 24 hours a day, piled up newspapers, or advertising flyers hanging on the door knob. Use an inexpensive light timer.

• Burglars know to look for the hidden door key near the front entrance. Don't hide spare keys under rocks, in flowerpots, or above door ledges. Give the spare key to a trusted neighbor.

• Burglars prefer to enter through unlocked doors or windows. Sliding windows that are not secure can be seen from distance. Running outdoor Christmas light extension cords from an open window or door prevents it from being secured. Hire an electrician or handyman to install an inexpensive exterior outlet for your holiday lights.

• Don't post your family name on your mailbox or on your house. A burglar can call directory assistance, if your number is listed and call your home while in front of your house to confirm that you are away.

• Don't leave descriptive telephone answering machine messages that say you are away. Burglars appreciate knowing they have plenty of time to break in and ransack your home.

• After the holidays don't pile up empty gift boxes from your new iPod, high density DVD player, or big screen flat panel TV on the street for the garbage man and let burglars know what's inside your home. Break them down or cut them up to conceal the items better. After a lucrative burglary, the chances of being burglarized again are heightened. The crook assumes you've got replacement items.

• Keep your home fortified with solid core doors, heavy duty dead bolt locks, longer screws in the lock strike plates and door hinges, and secondary security devices on all accessible sliding windows.

More Holiday News That Really Hits Home

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© 2007 DeadlineNews.Com

Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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