Claremont LIVING 2016

8/17/2019 Claremont LIVING 2016

1/26

Cour er il remont

claremont-courier.com

Living Living ClaremontMy

favoriteroom

2016


2/26


3/26


4/26

Claremont COURIER/Claremont Living 2016 5

A solarium / 16by Sarah Torribio

A kitchen /6by Matthew Bramlett

A work room /9by Mick Rhodes

An office / 11by Kathryn Dunn

My favorite room

Living Living Claremont1420 N. Claremont Blvd., Ste. 205B

Claremont, CA 91711

(909) 621-4761Office hours: Monday-Friday

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cour er il remont



5/26


A room for nourishment with

Liisa Primack’skitchen was infull swing on

Friday morning as shewas busy preparing

food for Passover. Itwas gearing up to be aspecial weekend—herdaughter, Emily, wasvisiting from Israel andmissed good Mexicanfood, so a touch of Latinflavor was being addedto the traditionalPassover cuisine.

“We’re on full throttle,” Ms.Primack said.

Liisa Primack

COURIER photo/ Steven FelschundneffClaremont resident Liisa Pri-mack chose the kitchen as herfavorite room, because it is thesocial focal point of the home.She says that lots of peoplecome and go through the roomeither to help cook or to makecrafts.

PRIMACK KITCHEN/ ext page


6/26


COURIER photo/Steven FelschundneffLiisa Primack’s kitchen opens onto the central courtyard of her north Claremont home, which is built similar to a traditional Mexican hacienda.


7/26


The scene was not unusual for thekitchen at Hacienda la Encantada,the hauntingly beautiful custom

home built by the Primacks in 2000.Amid the mural-adorned walls and dramatic out-

door sculptures, the kitchen, Ms. Primack’s favorite

room, brings the family together.“The kitchen is the heart of the home,” Ms. Pri-

mack said as she chopped a bushel of cilantro, thesmell of simmering food wafting through all cornersof the room.

One look and you’ll agree. The space is a perfectblend of modern amenities with an old world Mexi-can flair.

The kitchen is situated between the formal diningroom and the living room, claiming its rightful placeas the center of the house.

Ms. Primack has a deep love for Mexico, and visitsas often as she can. She spent her early childhoodthere, and has always been enchanted by the coun-try’s natural beauty and mysticism.

The kitchen is well suited for heavy duty cook-ing—two impressive restaurant-style stoves sit in the

center of a grand concrete and tile stage. The outersurface of the refrigerator is a silver intricately de-tailed, custom-made plate imported from Mexico, andthe tops of the cabinets are lined with vases and pots,each telling their own story.

At the center of the kitchen is an island that is largeenough to hold a dozen people for virtually any occa-sion. Ms. Primack makes good use of it, invitingfriends on a regular basis for parties and events.

All of these elements evoke the feeling of being ina legitimate Mexican kitchen.

The room also contains a long and grand woodendining table that would not look out of place in a tra-ditional Mexican hacienda, but Ms. Primack says shefound the table at a garage sale in town.

“It’s a Claremont original,” she said.Much of the artwork in and outside the house is

from local Claremont creative types, including sculp-ture artist Leslie Codina and Mexican folk artistSandy Garcia.

At the edge of the kitchen is a beautifully intricateplate with a Star of David in the center—a tribute tothe small but influential Jewish population in Mexico.

Ms. Primack noted that her guests always have thesame reaction when first entering her kitchen.

“They’re pretty much overwhelmed,” she said.Once the house was built in 2000, Claremonters

who were lucky enough to experience it wereamazed. The city awarded the house an architectureaward in 2001, Ms. Primack said.

Ms. Primack’s favorite part of Mexico is SanMiguel de Allende, a city that is historically knownfor its artistic community and architecture. The city’sinfluence can be seen not only in the kitchen, but also

throughout the Primack house, from the dramatic en-tryway and high-vaulted wooden ceilings, to thewrought iron light fixtures positioned around thekitchen.

The Primacks have been training seeing-eye dogsfor about 12 years, and every so often a tail-waggingblack lab would wander into the kitchen, checking upon his human pack members. “This is the heart of their home, too,” Ms. Primack joked.

A big part of why the kitchen is important to her is

the feeling it evokes. No matter where you go, Ms.Primack says, the senses associated with the familykitchen will always be with you.

“There’s nothing like the smell of your childhoodhome’s kitchen,” she said.

—Matthew [email protected]

PRIMACK KITCHEN/ from previous page

Bougainvillea blooms throughout the yard of the Pri-mack home, in keeping with the Mexican theme of thegarden and home.

Cour er iClar emont


Every Friday in print.

Every day online.www.claremont-courier.com

621-4761


8/26


Henry Barnes’ work-space, while his sanc-tuary and creative

wellspring, also has its darkside. “It’s very easy to lose lit-tle items because the magneticgravity isn’t the same backhere,” he said of the repairshop at Claremont’s FolkMusic Center.

“Like, if you drop a screw, or a littlebolt or something, you can see it disap-pear in midair. Before it hits the ground,it’ll go ‘poof’ into this other realm. Andthen, it’ll just turn up by itself some-times. It’ll come back out of the otherdimension. There’s a wormhole some-where around here. It’s crazy.”

Mr. Barnes, who has been repairinginstruments at “The Folk” for 14 years,

says the rambling, artfully chaoticspace is nonetheless the coolest place tobe, despite the alleged mystical attrib-utes of the 106-year-old building.

“It’s definitely a unique place towork,” the Claremont resident ex-plained. “There’s nothing like it. It’ssomething different every day. Andevery guitar is different. They’re likefingerprints.”

Mr. Barnes, a 1977 Claremont HighSchool graduate, has a long historywith the FMC. His brother Rufie wasthe shop’s repairman for several years.His mother, the poet Kate Barnes, andhis Pomona College professor/musicianfather Dick Barnes knew its founders,

Charles and Dorothy Chase. Like theirson Henry, the elder Barnes’ were mu-sicians. Mr. Barnes’ father had the 12thStreet Mini Band, and later the RealTime Jazz Band, and often played

shows at the former Nick’s Cafe (nowCK Cafe) and the Press.

The Folk Music Center, which isnow run by Mr. and Mrs. Chase’sdaughter Ellen Chase, is owned by their

grandson (and Ellen Chase’s son),Grammy award-winning singer andsongwriter Ben Harper, who alsoworked at the store. The FMC has beenoperating continuously in Claremont

since 1958, and has been at its currentlocation at 220 Yale Ave. since 1970.

Mr. Barnes’ workspace is imbuedwith the broad, storied history of theFolk. Flakes of sawdust from long-ago

repairs dot all manner of still-function-ing handmade parts drawers, designedand built by Mr. Chase. Along with thesawdust, the drawers hold a combina-tion of treasure trove and treasure hunt.

“They’re full of stuff that’s been herefor 50 years,” Mr. Barnes said. “Weirdstuff that you’ll never see anywhere.”Indeed: an old iron sash windowweight, a vintage green glass electrical

insulator and a lovely polished piece of agate emerge from the shelves. Also inthe archives are hundreds and hundreds

A room for music-making with Henry Barnes

COURIER photo/Steven FelschundneffMany people build or design a special room in their home or business. However, the instrument repair workshop at the FolkMusic Center evolved over time, with each new technician leaving a mark. Henry Barnes has worked there for 14 years nowand, with his co-worker John Roy, has contributed to the evolution.

MY MUSIC ROOM/ next pag


9/26

of small instrument parts such as banjobridges and hooks, mandolin tailpiecesand nuts, violin parts and instrument-making wood, as well as tools, sawblades, screws, sandpaper, dowels andbolts.

It’s an OCD nightmare, but it works,Mr. Barnes said. “It’s full anarchy. Youcan’t mess with it too much. Too much

organization actually ruins the feel.”Currently, Mr. Barnes is repairing alate 19th century German Saxony bassthat once belonged to the late, great

jazz bassist Charlie Haden. On thewalls of the shop are disintegrating vin-tage flyers, yellowed photographs andvarious other musical mementos, mostof which feature legendary artists whohave passed through the Folk MusicCenter over the years. Many of thosemusical souls, some now departed,have left their mark on Mr. Barnes.

At the top of that list is Mr. Chase,who died in 2004 (Mrs. Chase passedaway the following year). He wouldoften encounter Mr. Chase around the

Village when Mr. Barnes was workingat another job nearby.

“He always had some pearl of wis-dom to pass on,” Mr. Barnes said of theFMC co-founder. “He was great.”

Asked if he had ever felt the presenceof the Folk’s co-founder on late nightsaround the repair shop, Mr. Barnes wascircumspect. “You never feel likeyou’re completely alone,” he said. “Oldman Chase, his vibe was pretty strong.”

And the supernatural properties of

the 1910 building aren’t confined to theoccasional sensation of a spectral pres-ence.

“It’s a weird space,” Mr. Barnes said.“I mean, this place does have somemetaphysical properties. One of themis, no matter how much you take out, itstill gets more in than you take out.Even if you don’t put anything in, it justseems to grow by itself.”

No matter the ghosts, no matter the“anarchy,” Mr. Barnes loves coming towork each day in a space so rich in mu-sical history. It’s got a good vibe, hesaid.

“It’s not the kind of job that younever take home. You actually do take

it home sometimes,” he said. “Youthink about stuff you’re working on.

You have to problem-solve. And it’sdifferent every day. There’s never thesame thing twice.

“I think the important thing is toenjoy the soul of the room, and I reallyenjoy it. And I put that into the guitars Iwork on.”

Mr. Barnes, in addition to repairinginstruments, designs amplifiers, pre-amps and an assortment of musical in-

struments. He also has played the guitarsince the tender age of seven. “But Istill have a lot to learn,” he added.

More information on the Folk MusicCenter is available atfolkmusiccenter.com.

—Mick [email protected]


COURIER photo/Steven FelschundneffRepairman John Roy tunes a banjo recently in the workshop of the Folk Music Cen-ter. A skilled technician checks and tunes every instrument the shop sells so thatthe customer receives the best products.

MUSIC ROOM/ from previous page


10/26

It had been nearly fiveyears since the couplelost most everything in

the Palmer Canyon fire. In2005, Nori Murphy—whohad spent a dozen yearshappily settled in the quiet

canyon community—wasrenting a place in town.

Her boyfriend at the time, NormBarajas, lost everything but the

clothes on his back when the GrandPrix fire gutted the Claremontcanyon.

The couple was longing to settleagain. Their list of wants wasshort—two bedrooms, two baths, afireplace, a detached garage andlots of room for outdoor living.

“We wanted to recreate our

Palmer Canyon experience,” Ms.Murphy said.

Good luck struck, and a house on


A room fortasks and solitude

with

Nori Murphy

COURIER photos/Steven FelschundneffNori Murphy’s office is a simple 128-square-foot out-building at the Clare-mont home she shares with her husband, Norm Barajas and, their daugh-ter Phoebe Murphy. The couple bought a standard garden shed for $3500,then added a custom door, insulation, drywall and an extended roof tomake a very livable work space.

WORKING OUT/ next page


11/26


COURIER photos/Steven Felschundneff

The 128-square-oot office not only has enough room for a desk and a computer but an exercise space as well. At

right, a sign outside Norm Barajas’ converted detached garage invites guests to kick back at their “Irish” pub and

gaming parlor for friends and family.

Marylind Drive went on the market. Just afew doors down from a close friend, thehome had everything they wanted. The 1300-square-foot house was small but it offered anopen floor plan, lots of natural light and was

nestled under a grove of mature trees.Shortly after settling in, Ms. Murphy, whoworks for the University of La Verne, set up ahome office in the large family room. Shehad enough work space, but her centrally-lo-cated desk offered one major problem.

WORKING OUT/ next page


12/26


“When I was teaching classes online, the family hadto tiptoe through the house,” she said.

When sushing her family became unmanageable—and with both bedrooms in the home occupied—Norilooked to the outdoors for a solution.

Tucked away in the far southwest corner of the prop-erty, under the giant ficus, is an 8-foot-by-16-foot Tuff Shed, complete with a corrugated tin roof, dark bam-

boo floors and high-end double-swinging doors. Theroom isn’t huge, but it offers all the comforts of home,including heating and air, warmly-painted tangerinecolored walls and a small exercise area.

With the exception of an intermittent squawk fromone of their pet chickens, the intrusions are scant.

“I can be very productive here,” Ms. Murphy ex-plained. “It’s just far enough away from the house thatI have to make a plan to be interrupted.”

She still keeps her office at University of La Verne,but said she starts each day in her space, checkingemails, scheduling appointments and holding meetingsvia Skype.

Just a stone’s throw from Nori’s office is a secondspace with dual purpose: the Barajas’s Old Irish Pub, agathering place for friends who can often be found

gathered around the bar enjoying a beer and a round of Scrabble on a sunny afternoon.

For Nori, the affinity for her home was forgedthrough making the most of both the indoors and out.

“It’s just a cool little place to hang out.”—Kathryn Dunn

[email protected]

WORKING OUT/ from previous page

Norm Barajas customized the garage into his own space, which is part bar and part workshop.


13/26


14/26


SOLARIUM/ next page

A room for a better tomorrowwith

When it comes tohaving an en-

joyable hotel

stay, the preference is gen-erally a room with a view.Mark and Carla vonWodtke are lucky indeed,because the couple enjoya room with a lovely vieweach day they spend intheir Claremont home.

Their favorite room in the Cali-fornia Spanish house, which wasbuilt in 1927, is a solarium thatMr. von Wodtke—a landscape ar-chitect and professor emeritus atCal Poly Pomona—added ontothe house 40 years ago.

He built the glass-walled nookfrom a kit he ordered through themail and modified, adding doorsand side panels. It’s dominatedby a large dining table and looksout onto the backyard, which fea-tures a koi pond and is dottedwith fruit trees.

Mark von Wodtke

COURIER photo/ Steven Felschundneff


15/26


AT RIGHT:Glass bowlsmade by formerneighbor PaulBrayton decorate

the dining table inMark vonWodtke’s solar-ium. The vonWodtke family

share meals inthe room yearround.

OPPOSITE PAGE:Mr. von Wodtkerelaxes in the so-larium of his

Claremont Villagehome. Mr. vonWodtke, who builtthe room himselfabout 30 yearsago, heats hishome in the win-ter by drawingwarm air in from

the solarium.

“We used to have koi in the pond, but we found it was a veryexpensive way to feed the raccoons,” he said. “Now we havemosquito fish and goldfish.”

Mr. von Wodtke is chairman of Sustainable Claremont’s TreeAction Group, has a renewable energy company called Energy

Harvester and is a regular contributor to the COURIER, special-izing in articles on green living.

Considering his name has become synonymous with sustain-ability, it should come as no surprise that the solarium does dou-ble-duty as a source of renewable energy. The glass walls serveas a natural heat collector. The floor is covered with terra cottatiles, laid and grouted by the von Wodtke family when they built

SOLARIUM/ from previous page


16/26


the room. The earth-colored tiles complement thestyle of the house, but they are also excellent at ab-sorbing heat.

Air ducts draw the heat from the solarium into therest of the house. Awnings controlled with electricmotors can be positioned to block the sunlight on hotdays. The von Wodtke home also has solar panels onthe roof for heating water and generating electricity,making it 80 percent powered by renewables.

“Aside from making the house energy-efficient, it’s aplace to connect with the garden and connect with thesun,” Mr. von Wodtke said.

On April 14 it was announced that Claremont wonthe Cool California Challenge, sponsored by EnergyUpgrade California. Twenty-two cities in the state com-peted in the challenge, which involved getting as manyresidents as possible to track and reduce their house-hold energy usage, earning points for their town. “Thishouse was one of the top point winners,” Mr. vonWodtke noted.

The solarium may serve as a passive source of heat-ing, but it is foremost a room—a place where the vonWodtkes can begin their day with the newspaper and acup of tea, and end it with a starlit supper.

The sunroom is furnished in a simple and clean way,reflecting Mr. von Wodtke’s unique taste and the Dutch

roots of Ms. von Wodtke, who was born in Amsterdam.There is a large wooden table from Crate and Barrel,surrounded by old chairs that belonged to Mr. vonWodtke’s father.

There is a rocking chair from Virginia and a coupleof freestanding wooden chairs purchased from the Vil-lage shop On a Mission. In a sure sign of a couplethat’s in sync, Mark purchased one of the chairs forCarla one Christmas. It wasn’t planned, but that sameholiday, she bought him one as well.

The table was decorated with a vase from Italyfilled with flowers from the Claremont Farmer’sMarket. There were also two colored glass

bowls created by local artist Paul Brayton. “The waythe light comes in here, it does wonderful things to theglass,” Mr. von Wodtke said.

The room was embellished with blooming orchids, aflower that thrives in the sun-filled space. Adding to thesense of peace was the purring ginger-colored tabbyJohnny, who was sleeping in a cat bed. His brotherBello, another orange feline, had apparently found an-other place to snooze.

“This is the cats’ favorite room,” Mr. von Wodtkesaid. “And when cats approve, it’s a pretty good indica-tor that it’s a nice place.”

The von Wodtkes enjoy wonderful family dinnersand gatherings in their solarium. Earlier this month,they hosted a dinner for House of Ruth, earning $1,000for the organization that assists women and childrenwho are victims of domestic violence.

“You can pull back all the awnings on a moonlitnight and enjoy a moonlight dinner,” Mr. von Wodtkesaid. “It also makes a great place to sing in, because allthe glass creates a resonance.”

The von Wodtkes, who were married in 1969, lovetheir spot in the City of Trees. When they first movedhere in 1973, they weren’t sure they would stay longbecause of the choking smog that cloaked the PomonaValley at the time. But they had three children, thengrandchildren, and settled in.

Luckily, air quality measures have improved theskies immensely since that time. “It certainly gives methe realization we can make a difference by gettingpeople together to improve the quality of life,” Mr. vonWodtke said.

The solarium serves as a venue for those types of conversations. The Tree Action Group gathers there, as


COURIER photo/Steven FelschundneffMark von Wodtke grows orchids in the solarium ofhis Claremont Village home.

SOLARIUM/ next page


17/26

does the newly developed Eco-VillageConcept Group. As development inClaremont continues, Mr. von Wodtke ishoping to get the community to embracea vision of a sustainable downtown areathat you drive to, not through. He will beelaborating on the concept in a series of Eco-Village columns he plans to write inthe coming months.

The effort is typical of Mr. von

Wodtke’s inherent sense of optimism.“The best way to predict the future is to

invent it,” he said, quoting the notedcomputer scientist, Alan Kay.

Thus, the von Wodtkes’ gracious sun-room serves as both the centerpiece of their home and of their vision of per-sonal sustainability. And it all cameabout four decades ago.

“We were ahead of the curve,” Mr.von Wodtke said. —Sarah Torribio

[email protected]


Photo courtesy of Mark von WodtkeThe solarium, covered here by a tarp to protect the room from a summer heat wave,is centered along the back of the Von Wodtke’s Tenth Street home.



18/26

C

hildren of all ages can be seen thistime of year at Target, the mall andin the Village, glassy eyed, mouths

agape and a vague look of panic on theirfaces. That’s right, Sunday, May 8 isMother’s Day, and evidence of the desper-ate gift search for dear old mom can beseen all over town.

One option is, of course, the old standby: flowers.Trader Joe’s has a wide assortment of cut and livingvarieties. Candy? Sure, you could go that way. Thereare the unusual choices as well; a gift certificate for amassage or a lunch date with mom. How about con-cert tickets? The risk, of course, is mom opens her giftand there is that awkward pause, and then, “Oh, wow!I would have never thought of that...Um, thank you!”

Among the local options this year is a mom-centricmusical revue at Claremont’s Garner House in Me-

morial Park. The show, Broadway Mamas! is aMother’s Day-themed production from Ophelia’sJump. “Celebrate mom with this cabaret celebratingBroadway mothers of all shapes, shades and persua-sions,” said the producers. The event features music,food and drink, including a cheeseboard dessert, wineand craft beer. Tickets are $20-$25. Information can

be found at opheliasjump.org or at (909) 541-5850.Some of the more non-traditional options for mom

include a nice afternoon hike at Thompson CreekTrail. At press time, the weather for Mother’s Daylooks less than hospitable though, with a 20 percentchance of showers.

So what else would mom like to do? Some mothersappreciate a fancy meal at an upscale restaurant, whileothers would rather stay home and have their kidscook for them. If your mother leans more to the for-mer, there are a host of local eateries that fit the bill.But here are some suggestions if you’d like to giveyour Mother’s Day celebration a more personal touch

If you’re planning on cooking at home, or reheatingpre-made food so as to create the illusion of cooking athome (don’t judge), planning is a must. Speaking fromexperience, it is wise to ask mom what she prefers.Don’t assume she’ll appreciate the Thai feast you’ve


Plan a special day for Mom, right here in Claremont

MOTHER’S DAY/ continues on the next page

Photos courtesy of Mick RhodesLynn Bernard, at left, with her son, COURIER reporterMick Rhodes.


19/26


prepared, just because you do. Ask momwhat she wants. If she’s non-committal,get out your roasting pan and cook aturkey. Thoroughly. And mash up somepotatoes. Be sure and have mom’s fa-vorite dessert as well, or you run the riskof disappointing her. Again.

And while it’s of course smart to plana good meal, the best gift of all may

simply be time. Some moms see theirbusy grown children all too infre-quently, and may like nothing morethan sitting down and talking for whilewith their offspring.

Then there are the mothers of youngchildren, who may see quite enough of their kids, thank you very much. Forthose stressed-out, stay-at-home war-riors or those working uber-moms, thebest gift of all may be to leave themalone for the day; Make them a bloodymary or two, then drop them off at themovies for a solitary afternoon enjoy-ing a world that isn’t dominated by dia-pers and baby...substances. There’seven a movie, crassly titled Mother’s

Day, that will be in theaters that day.If mom isn’t game for public con-

sumption, she may be perfectly contentbinging on Netflix and pie and havingher kids clean up the kitchen. If thissounds like your (my) family, then per-haps a few traditional Mother’s Dayflicks are in order. Mrs. Doubtfire,The Kids are All Right and My Big, Fat Greek Wedding are popularchoices. But if your mom is like some(mine), maybe an offbeat choice suchas Mrs. Bates, the incredible Austrian

horror film Goodnight Mommy orgood ol’ Mommy Dearest would betterfit the bill. Any of these would surelyprop up mom’s sense of her fitness asthe family’s maternal CEO.

Isn’t that what it’s all about? Should-n’t we all try and give our moms a paton the back, a cocktail or two, some en-tertainment and a nice meal?

No matter if your approach is fancyor modest, elaborate or simple, the dayshould be spent doing what mom wantsto do. So be prepared, kids; Mom’swishes may include your direct partici-pation, or they may entail you slippinga pizza and a bottle of something strongunder her bedroom door. Either way,

mama gets what mama wants.—Mick Rhodes

[email protected]

MOTHER’S DAY/ from the previous page


20/26


21/26


22/26


The real estate market has been onfire since completely bottomingout between 2011 and 2012. In-

vestors started the trend by realizing that

prices were low, and they pounced. In-vestors with deep pockets were grabbingup as much real estate as possible at asteep discount. At the time, cash was king,with nearly 25 percent of sales being pur-chased with all-cash.

With many people losing their homes due to de-fault, there was a swarm of new renters looking forplaces to live, and the investors drove the real estate

market in those early recov-ery years.

During the recovery, fi-nancing was tightly regu-lated. It became moredifficult for buyers to qualify

for a mortgage, compared tothe loose qualification crite-ria lenders had set before thecrash. However, the 2012market was perfect for buy-ers to enter as interest rates ator below four percent were incentive enough to getwould-be buyers off the fence.

Fast forward to 2016, where the average price of ahome in Claremont is only $10,000 shy of the ab-

solute peak of the market in 2007, and the year isn’teven finished yet. Spring and summer are typicallywhen markets see the biggest growth, and I predictthat 2016 will see prices on par with the market peak,and quite possibly, surpassing it.

Prices have rebounded so much, that we are now

seeing a slow down in investor purchasing, with cashpurchases of Claremont homes dipping to 19 percentof transactions. This is due to “cheap money” access,as well as higher entry barriers for cash investors.

So what does this all mean for the future of thehousing market? With prices likely to exceed thehighest peak in history, are we on the brink of anotherbubble burst? It’s hard to say for sure, but factors sur-rounding the housing market today are very differentthan they were leading up to the crash.

Here is a condensed version of how the first bubblewas created: The housing explosion that took place inthe early-to-mid-2000s was largely due to banks es-sentially throwing caution to the wind when it cameto qualifying buyers for a loan. They were givingloans to buyers who had terrible credit, poor job histo-ries and, at times, no jobs at all. They were loose with

their debt-to-income ratios to qualify and, on top of itall, were doing whatever they could to ensure the ap-praisals came back at or above value on any pur-chases. If that sounds bad, it gets worse.

If all of those loans were set as 30-yearfixed rates, perhaps the crash wouldhave been more like a bad fender ben-

der, but the majority of those “sub-prime”loans they were giving had adjustablerates, which nearly ensured that the bor-rowers would default when the rateswould inevitably jump well beyond theirability to afford them. So the rates

jumped, borrowers defaulted left and rightand the market crashed. Hard.

The recovery, however, has been quite different.Lenders’ credit requirements shot back up. Regula-tions on the banking industry were put in place, andthose horrible sub-prime mortgages with adjustablerates and loose-to-non-existent criteria went away. Sowe aren’t going to see millions of homeowners de-fault on their adjustable rates like we did after 2006and 2007. This means we’re out of the woods, right?Well, not exactly. The problem now is that interestrates have been too low for too long.

Money is still so inexpensive that buyers have beenwanting to take advantage of that before rates in-evitably go back up. Lending requirements have alsoloosened up a bit again, and more loan programs keepcoming out all the time. Buyers can now get loanswith as little as 3.5 percent down for an FHA loan,and many lenders offer conventional financing withas little as 5 percent down. So we are putting a lot of buyers into homes who have very little skin in thegame. This works fine as long as people keep their

jobs and the market keeps moving upward, but whathappens when the economy turns around for otherreasons?

It is becoming increasingly more difficult to afforda home as prices continue to rise. Interest rates will begoing slowly upward, which will put even more pres-sure on affordability. If interest rates move up toomuch, affordability goes down—and so do prices.The other issue is incomes are not keeping up with thesame rate at which housing prices are rising.

In addition, the world is a very volatile place rightnow, with increasing tensions in the Middle East andAsia, oil volatility and many other global factors that

Are we heading for another real estate bubble burst?by Ryan Zimmerman

BUBBLE BURST/ continues on the next page


23/26


could cause a downturn in the economy. If thathappens, it could mean a loss in people’s incomes,or their jobs.

When lenders used to require 20 percent down,borrowers had enough built-in equity that theycould often weather the storm if prices declined.They had enough equity to likely prevent themfrom being “underwater” on their mortgage. Butwhat happens when prices trend downward, the

real estate market turns and people find them-selves needing to sell their homes, and they onlyhad 3.5 or 5 percent equity to start with? Thiscould cause another large string of defaults onhomeowner’s mortgages.

So what does all this mean? Without a crystal

ball, it’s really impossible to say what exactly willhappen. The last bubble—and eventual burst—were directly the result of unscrupulous activity bythe big banks and lack of regulation. We don’t ap-pear to have that anymore, so a more global eco-nomic issue is really what would have to happento cause some trouble for the housing market inthe future.

As things stand now, the economy seems to bedoing well, and interest rates are expected to only

gradually increase without making shocking jumps. So there are no major indicators of a “bub-ble burst” any time in the foreseeable future.There are some signs that do point to a possibleslow-down in the real estate market, but thenagain, maybe not. Economists have been wrongbefore.

BUBBLE BURST/ continued from previous page

Dear Realtor:

Once I decide to put my home on the market,

how much control do I have over people coming

in and out of my house? How do I protect my

privacy when showing my home?

—Concerned Seller

Dear Concerned Seller:Thank you, that’s a great question. Actually you

have more control than you think when it comes tohaving your home on the market. There are a numberof options available to you, which your realtor shouldpoint out to you:

1) Your agent can coordinate all of showingsthrough their office with prior notification to you.

2) You can choose to not have a key safe on the prop-erty and have your agent be in charge of all showings.3) Your agent can advise other agents of time and

day restrictions for showings. For example, you couldsay Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.only.

4) If you do have a key safe, the lock boxes areequipped with a computer chip that allows your agent toidentify who has accessed the box, and also the date andtime of that access. Your agent can then print out an ac-cess report for your review at any time.

As far as protecting your privacy when showingyour home, I always advise my clients to clear awayitems such as medications, jewelry, bills and paper-work or anything they perceive as personal and confi-dential. Putting all of these things in plastic containersand storing them in a safe place is best.

If your agent is holding an open house, it is impor-tant to make sure all of your personal items are storedaway. My practice is also to keep a keen eye on anyand all attendees of my open houses to make sure myclient’s home is not compromised.

Contact me to go over other ideas about keepingyou and your home safe during the selling process.

—Susan Emerson

Wheeler Steffen Sotheby’s International Realty(909) 447-7710

ASK YOUR LOCAL

Realtor

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?


24/26


25/26


26/26

Claremont LIVING 2016

Documents

Transcript of Claremont LIVING 2016