About Palos Verdes Peninsula's Peninsula Center

The owners of the Promenade on the Peninsula shopping center in downtown Rolling Hills Estates proposed a major expansion of the center which would include the construction of 68 residential units over the two story retail stores adjacent to the parking garage, as well as the construction of an additional 30,000 square feet of retail space within the mall.

The new expansion would include constructing retail stores and cafes along the front of the shopping center along Silver Spur Road and Drybank Drive. The intent of the construction of the new residential units is to create more activity and foot traffic within the center.

The rendering above depicts what the proposed Promenade on the Peninsula redesign would look like.

One resident who attended the joint meeting of the Rolling Hills Estates City Council and the Planning Commission made the comment that the current mix of tenants at the center did not meet the needs of the local residents, saying "I can't even buy an ink cartridge for my computer on the Hill".

I completely agree that the current tenant mix of the center does not make sense, and is focused too much on women's apparell. A good office supply store would be an excellent addition to the center. I would recommend that the stores owner do a comprehensive survey of the centers customers in the local market area as to the stores that they would like to see at the center and would support.

For more information about Rolling Hills Estates, please visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

The 10th annual Palos Verdes Peninsula Holiday Parade of Lights will be held this Saturday December 6th beginning at 6:00 PM, and will run along Silver Spur Road, Deep Valley Drive and Crossfield Drive in Rolling Hills Estates. Additional information can b e obtained by phoning 310-377-1577

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The Federal Reserve announced yesterday additional plans to buy mortgage backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in an attempt to drive mortgage rates down to as low as 4.5% for conventional mortgages (those mortgages less than the new limit of $625,500 (previously $417,000 ). While these new low mortgage levels are great for those buyers who have a conventional job where they can provide documentation of their income by providing a W-2 tax form, the borrower who is self-employed is currently effectively shut out of the mortgage market.

Self-employed borrowers used to be able to qualify for a "Stated Income" loan where they would simply provide an estimate of their annual income. Most borrowers who are self employed utilize siginificant tax writeoffs that reduce their reported income on their tax returns, so even providing tax returns often do not support the borrowers ability to make the loan payments. Many lenders have simply stopped makikng stated income loans due to the abuses that many borrowers and mortgage brokers made in overstating income, that eventually labeled stated income loans as "liar loans".

There has been some speculation that investment funds may start to be formed soon to make loans to well qualified self-employed borrowers, but at the moment, the self-employed home owner is finding themselves with little or no ability to refiinance their home or to qualify for a new loan to purchase a home. The Federal Government must find a way to deal with this situation if they expect to free up the credit markets and actually benefit the housing market.

For more information about buying and selling homes on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

The Federal Reserve swooped in to bolster the flagging economy with a further $800 billion rescue package for the failing mortgage industry this week .U.S. mortgage rates fell more than three-quarters of a percentage point when the program was announced.

"This action is being taken to reduce the cost and increase the availability of credit for the purchase of houses, which in turn should support housing markets and foster improved financial conditions more generally," the Fed said in a statement. With this significant move in interest rates, now is an excellent time to buy as we approach the holiday season. This is definitely a buyers market, and those sellers with their properties for sale during the holidays generally are very motivated to sell, and therefore are very willing to negotiate.

The problem with the mortgage market going forward is that with the complete breakdown of the secondary mortgage backed security industry, there is a shortage of capital to make new loans. Mortgage banking companies source of funds to make new loans came from packaging their old loans into securities and reselling them to investors. I totally agree that way too many loans were made with lax underwriting standards, but even strong loans made today have a restricted secondary market to sell these loans to provide new capital for new loans.

Until investors are again willing to purchase mortgage backed securities because they again have conficence in the real estate securing these securites, I think that it is imperative that the government step in to purchase these new securities. If properly underwritten, the government should make a profit due to their cheap borrowing costs .

The following are approx. interest rates as of 11/26/08 , as provided by Michael Cordoba:

For more information about buying or selling a home on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, visit my webstie at http://wwww.maureenmegowan.com

Mortgage Interest: Mortgage payments are set up to be due on the 1st of each month, and pay both a principal payment, as well as interest owed for the prior month. If a buyer's loan closes on 4/15, the lender will charge prepaid interest for the last 15 days of the month that the loan closes, which will appear on the buyer's closing statement. The first mortgage payment for the buyer won't be due for approx. 45 days until 6/1, since the interest for April has been prepaid at closing, and the interest for May isn't owed until the first of June, in arrears.

The seller will also receive a charge for the interest owed on the seller's current loan from the date of their last loan payment until the closing date of sale, which will appear on the seller's closing statement. The amount of interest and principal owed by the seller is received by escrow through sending a demand notice to the lender requesting loan payoff information and a per-day interest calculation so that escrow may accurately prepare the closing statement based on the exact day of closing.

For more information about Closing Costs , visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

Image courtesy of mtgfoundation.com