Grinch-proofed: Burglaries usually rise during the holiday season.

Get Totally wired
......But more homeowners are finding that security systems and vigilance pay off.
By Jennifer Lisle, Special to The TimesDecember 10, 2006

IT'S the season to be jolly — and to break into homes and steal, according to police and security specialists."Burglaries typically occur when no one's home, and a lot of people take vacations during December and January," said Maryvictoria Pyne, recently retired communications chief for the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services division.January and December in 2004, for example, were peak winter months for burglaries in Los Angeles that year, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. July and August, popular vacation times, were also peak months for burglaries in 2004.None of this is news to Lori Fontanes, a Los Angeles filmmaker, who a few years ago saw the number of break-ins rise in her Westwood neighborhood and decided to do something about it. She started her area's Neighborhood Watch program, which really took off this year after another round of burglaries last December.

Being watched
"People got scared and realized there was something they could do," Fontanes said. "We now have 50 block captains for 600 homes."

Fontanes already had a security system in her house but had been activating it only when she left for the evening or to go on vacation. Now, she puts it on for even the shortest daytime errands and sets lights and televisions on timers when the family goes out in the evenings.Police recommend that everyone take similar precautions to make sure they aren't playing Santa to a thief this holiday season. Homeowners leave themselves more vulnerable this time of year, said Lt. Don Hooper of the LAPD commercial crimes division, not only because they travel, but also because they attend more parties and may be less cautious about thoroughly locking up when out running quick errands.To outsmart a thief, Hooper said, homeowners need to think like one. He recommends casing your own house as if you were thinking of breaking in. Burglars "are looking for an easy way to get in when you're not there," Hooper said, "so you have to make it hard and make it time-consuming."

Neighborhood Watch
Since almost a third of burglars get in through unlocked doors and windows — and most break-ins occur between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. — it's important to secure all entry points at all times, Hooper said.Simply upgrading the main locks and installing extra deadbolts will deter many criminals looking for a quick hit. "If they see some weird kind of lock or an extra deadbolt, many of them just won't want to deal with it," said Avi Barhoum, owner of All-City Lock & Safe in West Los Angeles.He recommends installing a Mul-T-Lock deadbolt interactive system (about $165), a pick-proof and drill-resistant lock that opens only with a key that has been programmed by a computer rather than cut with a machine. "No one can duplicate it," Barhoum said. "It's highly secure."Blue Ashley, a La Cañada-Flintridge condominium owner, had high-security locks installed after a series of burglaries in her building last year."I feel a lot more secure now," Ashley said. "Before, I had keys all over the place. Now, I just have one key and I know that no one can make a copy, not even me."For those who want the Starship Enterprise version of security, keyless biometric locks (about $675) will open only if the right code is pressed or if the pre-programmed fingerprints are shown on the screen, or both. To protect residents while they're home, an electronic deadbolt, installed within the door frame and activated by pushing a button inside the house (about $600 to $1,000) will provide an extra layer of security, and a panic button or pad (about $1,000) can be programmed to directly alert police or an alarm company of danger or intrusion.A basic security system with one keypad and three motion sensors costs between $200 and $500. Having extra sensors installed on windows can cost from $60 to $100 per window, but homeowners can buy and easily install their own sensors for about $20 each in addition to the main system. Sensors are available at local hardware and electronics stores such as Radio Shack and Home Depot.A basic alarm system can be an effective crime deterrent, but homeowners must arm second-story entry points as well as first-floor ones, said Chris Ragsdale, senior lead officer of the West L.A. Division of the LAPD."Burglars know that we're creatures of habit and that the master bedroom and bath are where we keep our jewelry and valuables," Ragsdale said.In several recent break-ins at Westside homes, Ragsdale said, alarms had not been activated and upstairs windows and doors had been left unlocked."The burglars used the homeowners' own ladders to gain access and take valuables," he said.Safes can stall a thief, but they aren't always fail-proof, Ragsdale said. High-quality models (about $400 to $600) that are bolted to the house's frame or to a concrete base are the most secure. In many cases, Ragsdale said, burglars carry lighter, unbolted safes out the door or easily pry them open on the spot.Installing cameras is another popular option, said Mark Sepulveda, operations manager of USA Alarm Systems in Monrovia.

SurveillanceBasic Internet Protocol cameras ($300 to $400) can be installed above front or back doorways or hidden inside floodlight bulbs, potted plants or false rocks, for instance. The system can then be tied into a DSL line to allow the homeowner to watch the house online from anywhere, Sepulveda said.High-resolution cameras have built-in infrared illuminators (from about $700 to $1,100 installed) that allow the camera to work well at night, and a digital video recorder (about $1,250) can record and store the images.Scott and Heather Perren of Chatsworth had no security systems in place until two nearby homes were burglarized a few years ago.The couple now have an alarm system and the house is monitored on all sides by Internet Protocol cameras hooked up to a website that Scott Perren can access from anywhere."It makes me feel really secure, and nothing has happened, except that we caught some kids putting up pink flamingos on our lawn as a joke," he said.But no matter how much equipment a home is loaded with, common sense is equally important, said Al Radi, owner of ACS Security of Bel-Air. In addition to locking up spare ladders and stackable patio furniture, homeowners should make sure it always looks like someone's home.Motion sensor lights can be installed outside, and for homeowners who don't have dogs, there are motion sensors that trigger barking noises. The Electronic Watchdog (about $80) sounds like an angry German shepherd about to bust through the door. Putting up a "beware of dog" sign also can be a deterrent.Shrubs should be trimmed so they don't provide cover at the side of the house near windows or the garage, Radi said.During the holidays, especially, some people tempt thieves without realizing it."Don't leave expensive gifts by the Christmas tree," Radi said. "Someone could smash a window, grab boxes and be gone in one or two minutes."He recommends testing alarm systems to weed out costly false alarms. Last year, 98% of the alarms the LAPD responded to were false.For L.A. homeowners with permits (which are required by law and cost $31 initially and $30 annually), the cost for answering a false alarm is $115 the first time, and the charge goes up by $50 for each subsequent occurrence. Homeowners without permits are charged $215 for the first time, and the bill goes up $100 for each additional false alarm.

Jennifer Lisle can be reached at jenlisle1119@aol.com.*(INFOBOX BELOW)Register your possessions onlineSeveral new websites can help homeowners catalog their valuables. A record with photographs, descriptions and serial numbers of possessions can help police recover stolen goods. In most cases, the sites are free and are maintained by current and former law enforcement personnel.

Among the sites:• http://www.juststolen.net/Developed and run by Patrolman Tom Shea, a Brookline, Mass., police officer, this site allows users to register valuables free of charge. The LAPD has used the site when trying to locate the owners of recovered property.• http://www.911find.net/Produced with help from the Seattle Police Department, this site allows users to register all of their valuables. A small fee is charged if users wish to publish a photo of an item. Stolen items can then be transferred to the Hot Sheet part of the site to alert police.• http://www.nsnr.com/Set up by the National Security Number Registry Corp., the site allows users to register serial numbers on a variety of products for free. In addition to recovering property, the site can also alert property owners of factory recalls.

Magic Mountain to Remain Park

By ALLEN P. ROBERTS Jr. - 12/13/2006
Los Angeles Business Journal Staff
Magic Mountain in Valencia will remain an amusement park and will not be converted into a housing development or retail complex under a new strategy outlined by owner Six Flags Inc.

Earlier this summer, the New York-based amusement park operator floated the idea of selling some of its 30 amusement parks to developers in order to curtail its spiraling $2.2 billion debt.

"Magic Mountain is open for business and will stay open for business," said Six Flags Inc. Chief Executive Mark Shapiro during a Tuesday conference call with analysts.

Shapiro also said that the company was pushing forward with several initiatives to reverse the ongoing trend of declining attendance and decreasing revenue.

He said that the company will focus on drawing more families to the park and increasing revenue by going after character licensing deals with Thomas the Tank Engine and Australian children's entertainers the Wiggles, adding steep discounts on season passes and forming corporate alliances with retail outlets such as Cold Stone Creamery.

Shapiro said that momentum from these initiatives is already being felt with about 110,000 season passes being sold so far this year, compared only 52,000 during the same period last year.

State's on short end of stick on loan limits

Gregory J. Wilcox, Staff writerLA Daily News
Article Last Updated:12/02/2006 07:20:34 PM PST

It happens every time this year. California gets snubbed.
Lumped in with some other states where a typical house doesn't cost more than a half a million bucks. (California's median price in October was $548,680).
But that's how Washington views us for purposes of establishing conforming loan limits. That's the maximum size of a mortgage that industry giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy or guarantee. Buy a house above that limit, and your mortgage is going to be more expensive.
This limit is determined by the change in the average home price nationally from one week in October one year to a week in October the next.
It is set by law and implemented by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.
And it didn't change from last year's $417,000, which tells you where this residential real estate market is heading.
Down.
This year the average October price declined $501, or 0.16 percent.
It's the first time that's happened since 1993.
Get the idea that the great wind of appreciation is no longer blowing? A year ago the limit was increased 15.9 percent and 7.8 percent a year before that.
But residents of so-called "high cost" places - Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands typically have a loan limit 50 percent higher than those for the rest of the country. That comes courtesy of some nimble legislative toe-tapping.
Some California lobby groups are not amused.
"While we understand the reason for what they did, we stand disappointed once again that the conforming loan limits provide regional discrimination depending on where someone lives," said Michael Faust, vice president and chairman of the governmental affairs committee for California Association of Mortgage Brokers.
"A person who happens to live in a high-cost area like many areas of California should not be required to pay more for a loan than someone in a low-cost area."
This limit can put many buyers into a position of getting a jumbo loan, which typically boost the interest rate by a quarter to a half point.
Using a more realistic approach could save homebuyers nationwide from $375 million to $750 million annually, Faust said.
If that was $100 a month and the homeowner put it in a simple savings account, it would total about $318,000, before interest, in 18 years, he said.
"Now that's real tangible dollars that the consumer isn't sending to a mortgage banking operation. They can use it on themselves."
Robert Kleinhenz, deputy chief economist at the California Association of Realtors, notes that the OFHEO third-quarter numbers show that California has the nation's third-highest housing price, putting it ahead of Hawaii (seventh) and Alaska (39th).
"It has been a problem ... but even more so the last several years as the median price has increased at a rather rapid rate," he said.
Once again there will be a push next year to change this disparity.
The mortgage brokers group, in conjunction with Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar, tweaked Section 123 of HR 1461, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform legislation.
It would increase the conforming loan limit in high-cost areas to the median home price of that area up to a cap of 150 percent of the conforming loan limit.
Under this proposal, many areas in California would see a conforming loan limit of about $600,000.
The brokers group said that this slight change would significantly lower the costs of financing for California homebuyers and millions of other Americans.
This year a Republican-controlled Senate pushed loan limit reform aside.
Now with Democrats coming into power, Faust is hopeful change will prevail.
But in politics there is no slight change.
There is a general consensus on a couple of topics, though. There is a big need for more affordable housing in this country, especially here. And affordable housing is extremely difficult to build.
So maybe the policymakers should start working on a way to make the housing that's already here more affordable.
Realistic loan limits are a start.
greg.wilcox@dailynews.com
(818) 713-3743

Savvy Pricing, Commission Incentive Help Listings Sell Fast

Thursday, December 07, 2006 - By Margarita Bauza, Detroit Free Press

DETROIT, MI (MCT) - Tracey and Doug Stelkic's real estate agent told them a fast sale in this market would not happen in less than 60 days.
So when the Chesterfield Township, Mich., couple received a call to view the house the day they put it up for sale, they thought it was a fluke.
The next day, they had two offers, one for $500 more than the asking price of $249,900, the other for exactly the asking price. The house sold a week after they put it on the market.
"I wasn't even prepared," Tracey said. "We were very happy of course, and surprised."
With the housing market slowing, sellers have to work harder than they did a few years ago to ensure a quick sale. Price plays a big role, but so do things like home renovations and being flexible with buyers.
What the Stelkics did right is no mystery to them. They believe it was a combination of fair pricing, aggressive marketing and timing. The couple had recently painted the outside of the house, refinished the floors, stained the trim and updated the landscaping.
The house, built in 1997, had many amenities: a brick exterior, 2,100 square feet of space, three bedrooms, a finished basement, an attached two-car garage, an in-ground pool and a six-person hot tub.
Since the couple had already bought a house in a neighboring town, they didn't want to deal with having a house sit unsold and paying two mortgages.
The Stelkics priced their home 3.5 percent lower than similar houses in the area and sweetened the deal for the buyer's agent. They offered a 5 percent commission to the agent - a typical commission is 3 percent - so he or she would push the house more aggressively.
Before the sign even went up, the couple's agent, Hank Mendez of Realty Executives in Shelby Township, Mich., had posted the house on two Web sites and gotten the word out with e-mails and phone calls.
"We marketed and priced it right and we offered a great commission," Mendez said about the incentive to the buyer's agent.
Timing also played a key role.
Buyers Jim and Heather Lewandowski, both 32, had been looking at houses for months. They had seen more than 40 homes and nothing seemed quite right.
They needed a bigger house where they could move Heather's mother, who has cancer and needs care. The night the Stelkics listed their house, the Lewandowskis' agent called Heather. There was no photo and no sign, but she agreed to see the home.
As soon as she saw it, she knew the search was over.
"Everything was neat and clean and updated," Heather said. "I knew I had to have it. I went back three times that night. I'm sure I was bugging Tracey."
By the time she made a bid the next day, the Stelkics were already entertaining an offer.
"I went home, baked a batch of cookies and wrote her a note asking her to please pick me," Heather said.
The Stelkics did. The Lewandowskis closed on the house Oct. 30.
Heather has her own fast-sale tales. Her house sold the week before she and her husband bought the Stelkics' home - in six days. Her mother, who was moving in with them, sold her condo in 12.
The Lewandowskis' old home, a 1,040-square foot, three-bedroom, one-bath ranch with a two-car detached garage, sold after two showings for $152,000.
"The buyers already had an offer on another house that they rescinded because they wanted my house," Heather said.
What did she do to complete the sale?
"We painted and installed new countertops in the kitchen," she said. "We upgraded the bathroom, too. We painted and upgraded the faucets and vanity.
"I think it has a lot to do with the inside," she added. "It has to be de-cluttered and staged."
Her mother's Sterling Heights, Mich., condo got similar prep work - an updated kitchen and bathroom - before it sold.
"The guy who bought it was commuting from Grand Rapids for work," she said. "He just came across it and bought it right away."
Realtors and other market experts advise taking these steps to sell a house or condominium:
Price the home realistically. Remember, what was realistic two or three years ago isn't realistic today. That's especially true of higher-priced homes.
Clean the house thoroughly before each showing.
Fix all the little problems you've been putting off.
Be willing to bargain.
Offer some concessions to buyers. Common ones include paying part of the closing costs, or paying a moving or decorating allowance.
Be patient.
(c) 2006, Detroit Free Press. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.