History of the Red Front Door

There are lots of homes in the current market (and previous) that add a red door for various reasons. Whether it’s a pop of color or culture, I’ve got a couple of background info for you today. Now the pop of color, we’re seeing in many forms. We’re seeing the new teal, yellow, orange, the corals, and blues. There are plenty of colors that add pop and character to a home, but this is the history of what the red door.

Here are some fun facts for you:

•Adds a bright and cheerful statement to the exterior

•Curb appeal •Adds character

•There are The Red Door Spas by Elizabeth Arden

•It is rumored also that Einstein painted his door red so that he could easily tell which one his was.

Now for the historical facts:

•Feng Shui regards the front door as the mouth of the home. According to Feng Shui, painting it red is said to add cheer and stand as the entry point for abundance and opportunities. It also emits warmth and comfort from and into the home.

•Doors are painted red before Chinese New Year to bring good luck.

•In America, a red door was a sign of welcome to a fatigued horse and buggy traveler in the case that they need to stop for some rest.

•Some say it was a signifier that it was a safe house on The Underground Railroad.

•The Irish believe that a red door wards off ghosts and bad spirits.

•In the Catholic Church, the blood of Christ is symbolized by the color red and having the church doors red was believed to ward off disease and death.

Now, the historical fact that I knew growing up has Scottish roots. The red door was to signify that your mortgage was paid off. So, all the doors along the road were the same and anyone with a red-painted door meant it was finally theirs and the bank no longer owned it.

What’s the color of your door and what did it signify for you?

NELA August 2018 Update

Hi! I’m Jo with The O’Key Group and here’s your northeast LA market update.
Your home’s one of the biggest investments that you’ll make. Each quarter I work hard to bring you an update that keeps you in the know. Even if you’re not looking and thinking about buying and selling this year, it’s good to stay on top of what’s happening in the housing market.

Though there has been a slight increase in inventory, it is uncertain whether that increase will stay consistent. New developments are not keeping up with the housing shortage. This creates a seller’s market which is increased sales prices and decreased days on market. This doesn’t really impact the condos and entry-level homes. Starter homes are up 9.4% over last year, while inventory is down 14.2%.

Millennial Homeownership Probability:

Marriage- Increases by 17.9%
Having children- Increases by 6.2%

Obstacles to Becoming a Homeowner:

Limited Inventory of Homes with Desired Specs- 35%
Affordability- 30%
Down Payment- 28%
Access to Credit- 6%

We have had a 0.5% inventory increase over last year.  Now with prices rising, it’s still better than back in 1991. I know it’s a weird date, but it helps you see that way back then wasn’t easier, which is what everyone thinks. Mortgage rates are expected to touch about 5.6% before the new home buyers leave this current market. If numbers excite you, I’ve put a little bit more down below about mortgages:

Mortgage Affordability
The mortgage payments on the typical home are currently 17.1% and expected to hit: 

19% @ 5% Mortgage Rate
21.2% @ 6% Mortgage Rate
23.5% @ 7% Mortgage Rate

As of May 2018
(LTV = Loan-to-Value Ratio)

Millennials in General – (LTV) 89% (Down Payment)11%
FHA Loans – (LTV) 96% (Down Payment)4%
Conventional Loans – (LTV) 81% (Down Payment) 19%
VA Loans – (LTV) 98% (Down Payment) 2%

An important note is that the median rent has doubled since the early 2000’s. So it’s just good to know that rents are going up as well as everything else goes up, it’s the world we live in.

If you want to ask me any questions about if you qualify for a loan here’s a good fun tip: Work out your monthly rent, multiply it by 12 or the number of years you’ve lived there. It could add up to a down payment! Let’s talk in the near future and see if you can afford to possibly put that money to some better use than giving it away to your landlord. You may or may not qualify based on work history and all of those things. None of that’s bad, they’re just facts of where you are in today’s market and what you want to set, and future pace yourself and where you can be in the next 5-10 years.

If you want anything else answered, you can reach out and we’ll take care of all of those things for you. It’s great speaking to you all, I’m glad that you enjoyed this. We get great responses after every update. Let me know if there’s anything else; any other facts that you really are interested in knowing or stuff that you really don’t know. Give me a call, email me, text me, and let me know how you’re doing in this market, how it’s affecting you, and also if you are interested to see if you qualify for a loan, we can help out. Take care, Cheerio! Happy Home Buying!

Swimming Safety

Hi there! Most of you know me or follow my personal page. You know that I put my daughter Bronte through ISR classes this summer (ISR is Infant Self Rescue). I got so much great feedback, I thought I’d put a video together and tell you all about it!

So drowning is the leading cause of child deaths in the ages of 1 to 14, and 76% of those are in ages under 3 years old. And a little stat in California; 163 deaths happened in the summer, not the whole year, the summer of 2017 alone. And that’s just in pools and spas, not including the big bad ocean. So the ISR classes that I had Bronte take were as a five-week course, one-on-one tuition, in a private pool. You can look and have them elsewhere but that’s the scenario I had set up. She had 10-minute classes every day for the five weeks. Those 10 minutes were intense training. She was exhausted at the end of it, t’s amazing.

At the end of the five weeks, there were two tests:
One of them was in full summer outfits and the second was in full winter gear.

And none of that when winter gear was allowed to be waterproof, so it was all heavy clothing for the little munchkin. And they simulated a myriad of falls and tumbles that would happen: into the pool, side of the pool, going over headfirst, going backward, sideways, etc. They’re not teaching them to do breaststroke and butterfly, they’re teaching them how to live. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The final testing days were numerous exercises but each day started with her falling assisted with the instructor, of course, being kind of rolled into the water and then having to come to a float for three minutes. Absolutely heartbreaking to watch, and so worthwhile. I highly recommend you look into ISR training and classes near you.

Hope that helped! Any questions about this, ask me I’ll give you all the information that I’ve got in my hands. Of course, I highly recommend LA Water Babies. Andrea was a fantastic instructor, I love her to bits. Have a great day.