Just cause

So that it is not true that I have not yet blogged here, I thought I would jam off a few comments on the housing crash and burn.

What crash?

I live in Venice, CA. Prices are down, yes, but sales are up. The real dilemma out here is the rental market. With folks quietly pulling their second homes off the market and illegally converting them into summer hostels, actual rental stock is way down while vacancies are actually up. Wicked.

So I live in a place that is waaaay cute, but probably should have been listed as one of these short term rentals. The landlords liked me and were helping me out. Now, looking to get into my own larger, long-term digs, I am finding that the real estate agents are closing ranks seeking to keep the prices from tumbling any further. Let's be clear, these were women (yup, mostly women selling out this way) who were not up to their eyeballs in debt, just projects and now, empty homes.

Rolling with ideas of converting this and rehabbing that, they simply have readjusted their goals temporarily, sometimes even changing addresses to meet their tax needs. And on occasion, managing to make a before-list sale to access much needed cash. I could be bitter, but I am in awe. No where is it more obvious the power in positive group thinking than in the real estate market in Venice.

This amazing attitude even continue to draw people into Venice, mostly new families of the middle class white folks ilk, while the LA Unified is practically going bankrupt for building empty schools in childless districts, this influx of parents demands more classrooms, more teachers, higher quality teaching, better equipped and far thinking principals...they feel the enthusiasm, the lack of panic, and they come.

We hang out together on yahoogroups, go to Farmer's Market together on Friday, hang out at the Library for children circle times, and walk around the neighborhood after dinner. This is not the Venice of gang bangers and heroin junkies, though that part is still hanging on. Nor is it the Venice of working class black people who saved and bought cute bungalows by the beach near a gas & oil transport depot--yup. That's what I said. Those folks have not been able to transfer their "Wealth" to their families, often because those kids were not "available" to take over ownership, or if they were, they remembered Dogtown, not Venice, and wanted to have nothing to do with it.

Now the positive thinking, the visioning has brought about a transformation that is nothing short of impressive and terrifying. I am drawn like a moth to a flame. I believe that I will not get burned, but it is equally likely that I might get caught in the updraft and have to land else where.

The sales continue, but the real hidden story are the "conversions" that only accept residents on extended vacations at $400 - $3,000 per night. What this means for us renters is that new apartment buildings are going up, priced in the $3,000 range for 2 bedrooms, claiming to be of market value, when in fact, the market itself does not exist; as an open one at least.

I love Venice. I enjoy my neighbors most of the time. My son's school is considered a "rock star" of LAUSD as parents there like to point out. I can walk to the beach, the post office, the library an open air market on Fridays, and soon, Whole Foods. There is ample coffee culture and alt culture as well. Now, to manifest that $100,000 down payment...