Lawndale, CA

El Camino Village is a small pocket of Lawndale and Gardena with a very different feel than the surrounding areas. I is an unincorporate part of LA with mailing addresses in both Gardena and Lawndale and the area is bordered by Crenshaw Blvd to the east, Prarie to the West, Manhattan Beach Blvd to the south and Marine Ave to the north. El Camino Village has a very unique neighborhood feel with a wonderful quality of livng as it is a very walkable neighborhood with local schools often just around the corner, and is primarily zoned for single family homes only with very few larger apartment buildings.

El Camino Village Real Estate - By the Numbers (as of January 19, 2012)

• Active SFR home listings - 6 - Median price $300,000 - Avg Days on Market - 74
• Pending SFR home listings - 4 - Median price of $287,000
• Sold SFR homes since December 2011 -8 - Median price $390,000 - Avg Days on Market 73

Keep in mind median prices are skewed by the sizes of the homes as the recently sold homes were almost all large for the area while the active listings are very small for the area with most only 2 bedrooms.

To view all El Camino Village and Bodger Park MLS listings view our El Camino Village website.

See below for a home tour for one of my past listings in El Camino Village. This is a fairly typical home for the area.

Keith Kyle is a licensed Realtor, short sale specialist and Top Producing agent with South Bay Brokers in Manhattan Beach. He serves his clients throughout the South Bay and his websites KeithKyleHomes.com, TorranceRealEstateHomes.com, ManhattanBeachLuxuryRealEstate.com and FindYourSouthBayHome.com offer the most comprehensive real estate destinations in the South Bay with free MLS access, current home listings, open houses, recent home sales information and more. Keith can be reached at 310-251-2344 or by email at info@KeithKyleHomes.com. For more information on the South Bay, visit my Beach Cities Real Estate blog.

SoCal Pool Builders just started a new swimming pool construction project in Lawndale CA Los Angeles County.

This is an undersized, simple pool with a finish size to be 225 sq. ft (24 x 12). It is going to be primarily for adult use only since there are no children at the residence. The customer wanted to retain most of the backyard space for decking and yard.

As you see in the picture, we are using a mini backhoe vs. the standard bobcat tractor because the access on the side of the house was very narrow. This mini backhoe was able to squeeze in to the backyard after we temporarily removed the adjoining fence along the side of the house. We, of course, had to obtain permission from the neighbors.

How did we get the dirt out of the backyard? Five workers running continuous wheelbarrels from the back yard to the street. It was then hauled away by a dump truck. In a normal situation, we would have used a standard bobcat tractor that scoops up the dirt from the dig site and drives it to the street.

These are the kind of challenges Kevin Clayton with SoCal Pool Builders faces on every project. To be a great swimming pool builder, you have to be flexible, creative and solution oriented. Call Kevin Clayton with SoCal Pool Builders at 805-279-8896 or 818-879-7946 if you or someone you know wants to build a new swimming pool or remodel an existing swimming pool.

First Time Buyers Can Receive up to $75,000 in Down Payment Assistance for Eligible Homes in Lawndale

LAWNDALE, CA - As one of the last cities to be annexed as part of the South Bay of Los Angeles County, Lawndale is also the smallest city in the South Bay.

With only approximately 30,000 residents, Lawndale has always maintained a small town feel to it (as compared to its more populous neighboring cities).

Lawndale is a "young professionals" town with a median age of 29yrs and more than half the residents working in professional occupations (managerial/professional/sales). This makes Lawndale a great place for young people and families just starting out.

With more than half of Lawndale's population falling in the low-medium income level (25k-50k for singles & 50k-75k for families), this makes Lawndale's residents eligible for assistance in purchasing their first home.

One of the best things about Lawndale though is that first time buyers can receive up to $75,000 in down payment assistance to purchase eligible properties through the HERO State program. Payments for these "silent seconds" are deferred until the home is sold, refinanced, title transferred or no longer owner occupied. So how does one qualify for this assistance? Well, here are some of the basic eligibility requirements:

• Applicants must be first time buyers - no previous homeownership in the last three yrs.
• Only purchased foreclosed (REO) or abandoned properties are eligible
• There are income guidelines but basically, you must be a low-medium income borrower
• Sales prices limits are $493,000 for single family residences & $394,250 for condos/townhomes
• Property must be located within a HERO designated census tract
• Buyers must contribute a minimum of 1% of the down payment, which may be a gift
• Buyers must complete a HUD approved homeownership education course

One of the challenges with this program was that many of the designated census tracts were in the unincorporated areas of the county where there were little to no active and eligible properties listed.

Now the LACDC has launched the HERO State program that has the same benefits and requirements as the initial HERO program but with the HERO State program, there are designated census tracts in some incorporated areas of Los Angeles County.

Here in the South Bay, there was only a smattering of eligible census tracts scattered around the area. Now, with HERO State there is the city of Lawndale with many eligible properties in these census tracts. Lawndale's eligible census tracts extend all throughout the entire city from Redondo Blvd. in south Lawndale up to Rosecrans in north Lawndale.

If you're interested in more info on how you can qualify for this program, please feel free to contact me at 805.5278554 or donne4loans@earthlink.net regarding eligibility requirements, available census tracts or if you just have a question. I would love to be able to assist you with finding the most affordable loan option available to you in purchasing your first home here in Los Angeles County.

HERO PROGRAM EXPANDS ELIGIBLE AREAS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY - BURBANK

HERO PROGRAM EXPANDS ELIGIBLE AREAS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY - GLENDALE

HERO PROGRAM EXPANDS ELIGIBLE AREAS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY - TORRANCE

HERO PROGRAM EXPANDS ELIGIBLE AREAS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY - GARDENA

HERO PROGRAM EXPANDS ELIGIBLE AREAS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY - SAN FERNANDO

HERO PROGRAM EXPANDS ELIGIBLE AREAS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY - MONTEBELLO

I am noticing an increasing trend with clients more and more everyday. Most clients would like to handle their financing needs online via emails. Believe me i love taking to my clients and prospects over the phone but for the most part its more convienient for them to talk to me at work via their work/personal email address. In explicit detail they are able to express what they would like to accomplish in theor refinance or new home loan. Its also easier for me as a loan officer to give them updates on their transaction or ask them for additional documentation if needed. This is alot easier than having ro leave messages on their voicemail and waiting for them to call me back. I am in front of a computer for most of the day so i can return emails quickly, i also check my emails at least once per hour during the workday.

What is the preffered method of contact for your clients?